I have some reservations about some of the suggestions regarding our Election Party. Although I'm not against giving free plays for the game, here are my concerns:
- I believe that voting for the Board members and By-laws will take place at the Election Party and if that's the case, limiting the number of tables for the game will also limit the number of unit members who will vote (People who are not permitted to play in the game because of the table limitation probably wouldn't come to the Election Party just to vote and not be able to play).
- Our unit games are often attended by non unit members, but if we open the Election Party to non unit members, they won't be able to vote in our election, thus reducing the number of unit members who would vote if they were closed out by the 15 table game limit.
- Personally, I don't mind issuing free plays, but I would prefer that free plays are given for an event such as the Over Under game which enables newer players to learn concepts from experienced players. The Election Party is not really a learning opportunity of this sort.
- I realize that we could stipulate that the Election Party is open only to unit members, but if we did that, we would be restricting the number of participating bridge players in the game which would probably make non unit members resentful. On the other hand, a free play would encourage unit members who normally don't participate in unit games to start playing in the unit games. It's anyone's guess.
Sorry to be a rabble rouser. Hopefully we can resolve the Election Party protocol in emails without resorting to a Board meeting. Comments/ideas?
Richard