Interim Committee Progress Report 20/10/2010

The IC considers that considerable progress has been made since its first meeting.

Following is a summary of activities -

• Quentin van Abbe became the second FABCV representative following the death of Nick Beaumont. He was subsequently elected as Vice-chairman of the IC.

• Geoff Chettle who had been elected Chairman of the IC resigned for personal reasons, so the Vice-president became Chairman.

• A voting model has been developed, based on the concept of dividing Victoria into a number of regions of approximately the same size in terms of registered players. We believe this model, which was submitted to clubs for comment, gives all players a voice in any future organisation. The model is not static but can be modified as demographics change within the state.

• Considerable work on examining the finances of the VBA has been done, with assistance from the VBA, to determine what is strictly state-related income and expenditure. This is a complicated exercise, particularly with respect to expenditure. It is most important that this be done to allow for future planning.

• Work has been done on developing a constitution for a new body should that be the final recommendation of the IC.

• An interim web-site has been set up, and information is being added to it from time to time. This web site may be accessed with the URL http://xrc.server101.com/interim

• Members of the committee met with the ABF council at its recent mid-year meeting held in Melbourne, at which useful information was exchanged. Much discussion centred around the different ways in which various states had changed or are changing their structures to better represent all players.

• Finally at its most recent meeting, the IC put together a number of proposals to be made to the VBA Council at its next meeting, with a view to gaining experience in exactly how the State body functions. The IC has already been invited to send a member to the VBA Match and Tournament sub-committee, and possibly to take the second ABF delegate position when that becomes available in March 2011.

• At its most recent meeting, the VBA Council accepted the suggestions made by the IC. These are aimed at giving IC members familiarity with how the VBA works, to allow a better determination of the future direction for Bridge governance in Victoria. The recommendations include, apart from the two appointments in the previous point, members of the IC joining a Promotions sub-committee, and a member joining a Finance sub-committee. We regard the last as possibly the most difficult area of resolution and look forward to working with the VBA Council.

• The Interim Committee welcomes input and comment from any player. Please direct input to any of the IC members, whose contact addresses can be found on the interim web-site.

Quentin van Abbe,

Chairman, Interim Committee.