A Message from our Club President

john

Greetings members of the North Shore Bridge Club. This article is by way of a summary of what has been happening at the Club in recent times.

It goes without saying that we have, like most businesses, been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. When the ABF advised, about a month ago, that affiliated bridge clubs should cease operating, we immediately followed their advice. Unlike some other clubs, we did not stand down our staff (office, directors, teachers), but we ensured that they all received income for the first 4 weeks, during which time we could make plans for later, in particular the means by which the Club could continue to offer a viable bridge service.

What has happened since that first day can be attributed primarily to the ingenuity and dedication of Mike Prescott, our Manager, who has been able to use his knowledge of, and contacts within, the bridge world to create what can be referred to as a ‘virtual’ bridge club. The club was already at the forefront of clubs using modern technology for day to day operations. At this point I will not to be specific, because we are using a facility from outside the club, namely Bridge Base Online (BBO). Many members have availed themselves of this service, but its operation has been subject to change, and will continue to change in the future, and we are indebted to Mike, along with Nick Fahrer (who members will associate with the Bridge Shop), for setting up our daily BBO duplicate sessions. Other directors are now also helping with these sessions, helping to improve the presentations, with reports containing real names rather than BBO user names.

For technical reasons, we have not been charging ‘table fees’, but have been looking to fund our operations via donations. To date, the response has been tremendous. BBO has been subject to changes quite frequently, and Mike and Nick have had to react quickly to keep the operation running smoothly.

The club now has a licence to use the ‘Zoom’ conference system. We hold our meetings via this facility, and it is already being used by Anita Curtis and Jessica Brake for on line lessons. We are charging for these, and we can do this because they are completely under our control. Rookie and Supervised sessions will be added shortly.

So there is income from these ventures which, along with the Government’s contributions via Jobkeeper, we believe will enable the club to stay operational without having to use much, if any, of our financial reserves.

This brings me to the question of future premises. This has taken a back seat in recent times, although prior to the Club closure we had looked at a number of potential locations to add to our present venue. We had planned to have a presentation/discussion prior to the AGM, but this has obviously been impossible. The many variables to be considered have been suitability, ambience, price (we have basically discounted the possibility of purchase, so we are talking about a long term lease similar to our current leases at CW and EL), proximity to public transport, proximity to car parking. We have examined a number of possibilities, but are deferring any decision for the time being.

To be borne in mind is that the concept of unlimited (free) parking is a thing of the past, wherever we go, and our final decision will be determined by how well all the variables are best satisfied.

On the subject of the AGM, this notionally has to be held by June 30th, but we have applied for a possible deferral until the end of the year. We can’t hold the meeting using teleconferencing, because there is no provision in our constitution for this to occur, and it needs a general meeting to change the constitution….   

For now, our intention is to retain our financial reserves as much as possible, while positioning the club for the post pandemic future; this means looking after our staff financially, while keeping them employed, as well as providing our members with ‘virtual’ facilities. 
 

John Mottram NSBC President