Here are the results of the 2018 Member Survey conducted in late June and early July. The submitted individual answers on name, ABF number and date of birth have been removed to ensure anonymity of individual responses.
246 responses were received (more than 40%) which is remarkable in the survey world - thank you. Of these more than 85% were received online which made it so much easier - thank you again. There were a large number of members born in 2018 - hopefully this does not make it more difficult to seek Council and others' support for the value of the services we provide.
Peninsula on Sunday 15 July successfully defended its narrow win last year in the 2018 Sydney North Interclub Pairs Challenge. We entered a full contingent in this great day played at our club - brilliantly convened by Cassandra Mitchell and supported by the generous culinary offerings of our members.
You can see the photos of the day mainly taken by Heidi Colenbrander.
The event's 58 pairs were divided by average masterpoints into three playing fields of ten, nine and ten tables. And each of these fields was divided further into two categories for the purpose of awarding points towards the pair's club.
There was an excellent turnout for the Charlie Mitchell Shield on Saturday 7 July - though it seemed several players were unaware that the Charlie Mitchell Shield had come to their normal Saturday session, despite being listed in the Diary, on the website and being announced in the previous week's session announcements.
Many were also unaware of who Charlie Mitchell was, and what he had done to help make the club the success it is today. Fortunately Sue Riley, with a little help from Ada Duignan and others, was able to fill us in on his part in the club's rich history.
The much awaited celebration of Colin and Una Mingay's amazing 75th wedding anniversary has been rescheduled for Saturday 14 July.
The arrangements are as they were originally planned. Bridge will start at 12.15pm and run without a tea break till about 3pm - and then the celebration will commence to allow all to have a good time and still not leave the club any later than normal.
Sue Riley (0412 175 367) is coordinating the event and will respond to any questions. Come and join Colin and Una if you can.
I spoke last month to you about the importance of preparing for the future security of our Clubhouse.
It has been wonderful to hear back from you, and that you are overwhelmingly in support of this strategic direction. Thank you to all of you who took the time and interest to communicate your support, questions and suggestions for future savings.
The decision to no longer issue winner’s tickets is one part of a broader review of the club’s finances, to ensure that we continue to add to our surplus.
Member Robin Ho teamed up with guest expert Ed Barnes to win the Swiss Pairs on Tue 26 July, ahead of directors Alan Davies and David Farmer, and visitors Margaret Foster and Patrick Neary.
You can check the full results.
The Swiss Pairs followed a free pre-session talk by Ed Barnes on "Declarer play - Avoiding the hidden traps". This in turn followed his excellent one hour PBI workshop on "Passive defense - when and how to think about it" - and several hands in the Swiss Pairs benefited from the key points.
Some of the changes at the club have inspired discussions among members about the club's membership situation.
To help these discussions be well-informed and constructive, members may be interested in some recent membership trends, looking at both the joining dates of our current members and the number of lapsed and resigned members.
The joining dates of our current 607 members are as follows:
Recent changes have triggered some discussion among members at the club, including on the need for us to have registered for GST.
To help this discussion be more informed we have attached two papers that the ABF commissioned when GST was introduced and later when the GST thresholds were revised.
