Submitted by Melissa Brown
Meeting of the WGPO Executive Committee and Board of Player Representatives
Tempe, Arizona, August 1, 2016
Attendees:
Executive Committee
Keith Hagel, Larry Rand, Ruth Hamilton
Board of Player Representatives
Helen Flores, WI
Mike Johnson, IA
Bennet Jacobstein, CA
Susi Tiekert, FL (unable to attend)
Rick Wong, CA (unable to attend)
Treasurer: Janice Kaye (unable to attend)
Member Liaison / Secretary: Melissa Brown
Keith called the meeting to order at 1 pm
Treasurers Report
The Treasurer’s Report was provided via email by Janice Kaye:
Last year as of 7/28/2015 our account balance was $7,499.79. Our balance today is $6,466.28.
INFLOWS: $1,738.37 include auction/raffle/sales ($247.00), private donations ($385.00), one Director WC entry refunded ($125.00), Tourney donations ($981.37).
OUTFLOWS: $2,771.88 include seed money for Phoenix ($2,000.00), Director WC entries ($250.00), portion of WC Portland overage as donation to WC Phoenix ($222.00), and Website Hosting ($299.88).
Approved unanimously.
Word Cup 7 — Springfield, Massachusetts, July 28 – August 2, 2017
Mike reported on activities being planned, including a director’s dinner, speakers, community event / talk, and talent show, an Early Bird tournament, a Super Scrabble® event, or both.
Melissa mentioned local attractions in Springfield (including the Basketball Hall of Fame and Merriam-Webster).
A grant from WGPO funds of $2,000 in seed money was moved and approved unanimously.
The Main event will be 31 games, and will include a Collins division if at least 8 players are interested. Directors will be Mike Johnson and Anne McCarthy.
Word Cup 7 tee shirts are being designed.
Helen will oversee fundraisers.
Mike and Anne are working on the flyer design which will be posted to the WGPO web site in the near future<
Policies, Rules, and Guidelines
Helen recommended that guidelines be provided for tournament play.
Helen was tasked with putting together a work group to look at issues and brainstorm guidelines
Membership meeting
Agenda items were recommended for the membership meeting being on the evening of 8/1:
Ruth will chair the meeting
Provide an update on membership
Word Cup 7
Rules and Guidelines
Meeting closed at 2 p.m., to be continued on 8/2 at 7 a.m.
8/2 meeting continued
Elections
3 people are needed to run the elections.
Bennett volunteered to serve on the election committee (he is not running for reelection), and he will recruit two other WGPO members to join the committee
It was agreed by all present that the current method used for voting needs improvement. Ideas include:
Sending a direct link to the voting page on the WGPO site
Using a survey company
Vote by mail
Mike will look into contracting a survey company to manage the election process.
Keith’s term on the EC and Susi’s and Bennett’s terms on the BPR will be up for new elections
New members need to join by December 1 to qualify for voting
Helen stated that a succession plan is necessary to ensure smooth operation as EC and BPR members enter and leave their offices
Bylaws
The bylaws change process was discussed, and Mike suggested that the EC and BPR meet before the end of September to discuss possible changes for the bylaws.
Rules
Had a discussion of possible interpretations of rules; this subject will be pursued separately.
New Words in the Lexicon
Mike moved to adopt the new words (9s), which are being added by the other major Scrabble® organization. For WGPO the new words would be effective Sept. 5. Motion was seconded by Helen and it carried unanimously.
Meeting adjourned 8 am
# # # # #
Minutes from WGPO general membership meeting, 8/1/2016
Hosted by Ruth Hamilton
About 40 members attended
Topics discussed included:
Membership
New members: 90 people have joined WGPO since Aug 2015
WGPO membership is now over 1,150
Word Cup 7– Springfield, Massachusetts, July 28 – August 2, 2017
Tentative signup sheet to be circulated at the tournament on 8/2
Website
There was a discussion of improvements to the website. Accessing tournament information is difficult with a mobile device and detailed player statistics are not well-organized for reporting and can’t be downloaded for massaging.
Board of Player Representatives
It was suggested that the Board of Player Representatives be expanded and that members be elected as regional representatives. The majority of those present endorsed the idea.
Miscellaneous
Using the rules of the other major organization.
Mike Baron is working with a small group of players/directors to attempt to have a reunification tournament at the Grand Canyon in November, 2017. Larry Rand will begin working on the pre-tournament arrangements.