Minutes

2011/02/20 Meeting Minutes

by  • 

WGPO Committees and Board of Player Representatives Meeting

Phoenix, AZ

February 20, 2011

Attendees:  Stephanie Steele, Keith Hagel, Peggy Grant, Steve Pellinen, Rick Wong, Laurie Cohen, Janice Kaye (nonvoting), Larry Rand (nonvoting), Melissa Brown (nonvoting).

Minutes recorded by:  Melissa Brown

Meeting Chair: Steve Pellinen

Agenda/Minutes

  1. Duties of Executive Committee (EC) and Board of Player Representatives (BPR)
    1. The duties of the EC and BPR are outlined in the WGPO Bylaws. EC shall be responsible for “day to day” operations and decisions, while the BPR shall be responsible for setting policy, either brought to it from the EC or from the players at large; this may or may not necessitate member input / vote of the players depending on the issue. Keith suggested that WGPO maintain a policy manual documenting the policy decisions.
    2. Peggy suggested that the BPR split up the members for representation, somewhat based on geography, but not solely. With discussion, Peggy agreed to take the membership roster and study how it could be distributed, and make a proposal back to the EC/BPR.

  2. Word Cup
    1. Schedule: Friday, July 1st: 8-game Early Bird. Saturday, July 2nd through Wednesday, July 6th: 35 games, 3 divisions. Entry fees will not be as disparate as in January, which was $150/$75. Would like something more in the range of $125/$100/$100.
    2. Discussion around having three divisions: Division 3 with a maximum rating of 1199, Division 2 with ratings above 1200 (the group did not reach agreement on whether the cutoff for division 2 should be 1600, 1650, or 1700) and an Expert Division; there will be unlimited play-up to both Division 2 and the Expert Division.
    3. Distribution of entry fee money to winners of the respective divisions was discussed, but conclusion not reached.
    4. A Word Cup Committee will be formed to continue discussing and to finalize the details of the event, at Keith’s suggestion, with Rick agreeing.
    5. Larry Rand would like the group to consider awarding prize cups in memory of the late Al and Vicky DeMers, to be sponsored by their daughter Sheryl DeMers. This will be decided by the EC.

  3. Growth and Development:
    1. WGPO Clubs: Currently, clubs are listed on the WGPO website under the title designated by individual club directors. Mary Rhoades has stated to Carol Dustin, Chair of WGPO Clubs Committee, that any NASPA club advertised on the WGPO website must include the official NASPA designation.
      1. Stephanie proposed a motion that the listing of clubs on the WGPO website shall not include the NASPA designation in the club name. Motion was seconded by Keith, with suggestion of including a footnote that clubs are sponsored by other organizations. Failed 2-3-1 (Steph and Keith for; Rick, Peggy and Steve against; Laurie abstained).
      2. Rick proposed a motion that that club directors should decide how they want their club listed on the WGPO site. Passed 5-1 (Steph, Rick, Peggy, Laurie and Steve for; Keith against). It was agreed that the club page would list at the top that these are WGPO clubs, some of which may be affiliated with other organizations as well.
      3. Peggy suggested a recruitment incentive for directors for running clubs and tourneys, and proposed that “free entry” to a WGPO tourney be considered. The EC/ BPR supported idea of incentives, and Rick suggested that Word Cup entry would be a good place to consider due to anticipated size of the tourney to support waived tourney registration for qualifying directors. Peggy will work on those details and get approval from BPR and EC. Peggy continues to work on the WGPO director’s test, and will coordinate with Susi T. as the WGPO rules are developed/ condensed for implementation.
    2. NASPA:
      1. Peggy suggested that there should be a designated person who acts as WGPO liaison with NASPA. Group discussed and concluded that such a liaison is not currently needed.
      2. Posting WGPO announcements on CGP was discussed. It was concluded that the policy on interfacing with other organizations will be similar to the previous informal policy. Also, any formal dialogue will be directed simultaneously and in writing/email to the three members of the EC.
    3. Outreach and Publicity: Rick proposed a motion that WGPO form a committee to handle outreach and publicity. Motion seconded and passed unanimously. Peggy Grant will lead this effort.
    4. Web development: Keith and Rick will discuss offline.
    5. Incorporation: The issue of incorporation of WGPO will be researched by Steve for presentation and discussion at a later date. It was agreed that Steve will lead a committee on the research.

Conclusion:  It was suggested that another meeting be held and documented in Reno at Word Cup 2011, and any other tourney at which we have a quorum of EC/BPR (which would be at least 2 of EC and 3 of BPR; would consider use of electronic devices to make quorum in needed).

Meeting Adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Brown

General

Volunteers Needed

by  • 

Volunteers are needed to work on the Rules Committee, chaired by Susi Tiekert.

The goal of the Rules Committee at this time is to simplify and clarify the existing NSA/NASPA rulebook in order to create a WGPO rulebook.

If you are interested in working on the Rules Committee, please contact Susi Tiekert.

Elections

Official WGPO 2011 Election Results

by  • 

The Nominations and Elections Committee has reviewed the election results, and unanimously agreed to certify them as posted. We congratulate all of the candidates for their participation and their high standard of campaigning, and look forward to a productive period for the next two years.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

CANDIDATE VOTES
Rick Wong 155 Elected to 3-year term
Stephanie Steele 143 Elected to 3-year term
Keith Hagel 124 Elected to 2-year term
Dan Pratt 56
Jeannette Kaufman 26

BOARD OF PLAYER REPRESENTATIVES

NAME VOTES
Steve Pellinen 151 Elected to 3-year term
Laurie Cohen 148 Elected to 3-year term
Susi Tiekert 116 Elected to 3-year term
Peggy Grant 113 Elected to 2-year term
Jeremy Cahnmann 90 Elected to 2-year term
Tobey Roland 79

Total number of members eligible for voting (Registered on or before 1/13/2011): 591
Total number of eligible members voted: 201
Percentage of eligible members voted: 34%

General

WGPO T-shirts

by  • 

WGPO T-shirts will be available for purchase in the February Phoenix tournament.

I have limited sizes, so if you are interested in reserving a shirt, email your size.

The shirt pictured is the women’s style.  The men’s t-shirt is the same, but in a standard crew-neck style.

Shirts are navy with white lettering.

Shirts are $20 each, with all proceeds going to the WGPO.

Contact Stephanie Steele to preorder your WGPO T-shirt at flamingjune45@gmail.com

Elections

Rules For Campaigning (January 2011)

by  • 

Campaigning by and/or for any candidate on the ballot for WGPO office will be permitted during the election period, starting with the publication of the final ballot on January 17, 2011.

Any member in good standing is eligible to submit campaign support for any candidate, subject to the rules following. Candidates are encouraged to submit a statement containing their positions and reasons for seeking the office for which they are nominated.

Campaign material must be positive in nature, and contain no profane or negative statements. All submissions will be edited where necessary. Accepted and edited material will be posted to the WGPO website within two days of receipt

Campaign material for the member websites may be submitted by e-mail between January 17, 2011, and January 31, 2011. Submissions supporting Executive Committee candidates should be sent to Ruth Hamilton (ruthhamilton@q.com); submissions in support of Board of Player Representative candidates should be sent to Mary Krizan (mekrizan@comcast.net). The Nominations and Election Committee reserves the right to edit and/or reject any material deemed unacceptable for publication. Rejected material will be returned to the sender for possible revision and re-submission.

In addition to the use of WGPO sites, candidates are encouraged to use the Internet at large. Internet campaigning will be direct, using whatever mailing lists are available to the candidates, with the specific exception of the overall WGPO members list. Any Internet submission is expected to follow the rules of conduct contained in Paragraph 3 above.