Council Meeting Highlights 2011-11

This summarises the major discussions and actions from the BGA Council meeting 6th November 2011 and preceding discussions:

• Matthew Macfadyen was nominated as representative for the 2012 World Amateur
• Management accounts for 2011 and an initial budget for 2012 showed a prospective deficits for both years, so a number of ways to eliminate these were discussed.
• The printed Newsletter has 137 recipients currently at an annual cost of £1250 and this was unsustainable. It was agreed to cease production of the Newsletter after the April 2012 issue.
• The Online Team League was progressing satisfactorily, but encouragement for the Individual League was needed. Fees for both of these would increase in 2012 and would be collected through Paypal. The Individual League would be restricted to BGA members from 2013.
• A possible Online Ladder system was proposed and details are being worked out.
• Tony Atkins had produced some nice display boards. A version of these would be made available shortly as a set of printable images.
• Tournament entries were down, but up for the London Open. A Korean Professional had been invited to teach there.
• Locations for the Candidates 2012 are still under investigation
• Paul Smith was investigating the possibility of holding the 2014 European Youth Championship in the UK
• The Club survey is still underway, but many people viewed the Internet as a threat to clubs. Anecdotal evidence is that the majority of British players on KGS may never have played in a club. Promotion of the BGA and making it relevant to online players was now a strategic objective.
• Richard Mullens had made two proposals, one of which was accepted as a change to policy: the BGA levy would be waived for people entering their first tournament.
• An extensive discussion took place on our Value Proposition. This resulted in a number of changes to our Membership Benefits and Front pages. Further proposals would be needed specifically for Online Players and Children.
• Alison Bexfield's proposal regarding the Tournament Calendar was discussed. It was agreed that the timing of the London Open was fixed, but a poll about reorganising the Championship calendar would take place.