USA Table Tennis
Board Meeting
September 10-12, 1999

Friday, September 10, 1999:

The meeting was called to order by President Sheri Pittman at 7:20 MDT.

Present (proxy): George Brathwaite (Jeff Davis), Jeff Davis, Tong Lee, Jimmy McClure, Khoa Nguyen, Sherri Pittman, Barney Reed, Dennis Taylor, Bob Tretheway, Jiing Wang (Sheri Pittman), and Executive Director Ben Nisbet.

Absent: Jim Butler, Diana Gee, and Lily Yip.

Invitees: Bob Fox, Alan Williams, and Larry Hodges.

1) President Sheri Pittman welcomed everybody and made introductions.

2) Sheri Pittman reviewed the agenda for the meeting and specifically stated which committee chair nominations she was recommending for the Board’s approval: Y.C. Lee to chair the Tournament Committee and Officials Committee (he has resigned as chair of the Organizational Committee), Diana Gee to chair the Athlete Advisory Committee, and (upon Dan Seemiller’s recommendation) Mark Nordby to chair the Coaching Committee.

3) Ben Nisbet gave a presentation of his priorities and activities as Executive Director.

There are great opportunities in the sport.

He wants to move much of the USATT merchandizing operation to retailers.

Tournament directors need to be encouraged to submit tournament results electronically in order to free up Fran.

Staff and clubs need to become membership sales units.

We need to synergize with international business organizations.

Staff members must be kept in the loop to increase their effectiveness.

Ben needs to fill a position on staff, either PR, Membership Coordinator, or marketing.

Ben wants to outsource the accounting function (25-30 hrs/month). It is possible pool resources for multiple NGB’s to obtain a talented person economically.

There is a need for a centralized USATT filing system.

There is a need for better monitoring of financials.

4) Tong Lee gave a presentation on the current status of the budget.

Candy, from Taekwondo, is now doing the bookkeeping for 20 hours/month.

In spite of the wide variances listed on several lines of the 1999 budget, in totality, we are now projecting $3,500 less deficit than was budgeted.

The meeting recessed at 9:05.

The meeting reconvened at 9:17.

5) Ben Nisbet spoke about the 1999 USOC markers.

#1. Coaching. Ben has conferred with Seemiller about fulfillment.

Club course material still needs to be produced.

#2 Increase number of elite youth athletes in the athlete development pipeline.

Making the marker depends on the ratings of these players at year’s end.

#3 Net/edge software.

Headquarters, primarily Margaret Smith, is working on this marker.

#4 Redesign the recruiting program, and research recruiting materials.

Ben Nisbet and Alan Williams believe they can accomplish this.

#5 Receive a gold medal at the Pan Am Games.

Made.

  1. Bob Fox, Chair of the National Teams Committee gave a committee update.

It is now firmly established that USOC has the final authority on eligibility issues.

The Pan Am team worked together outstandingly.

The Pan Am coaches did a great job.

There were many travel problems at the World Championships, including that most of the players’ baggage arrived four days late.

Olympics issues:

Gao Jun is now approved for the 2000 Olympics.

Gao Jun is a direct entry by virtue of her world ranking.

The US is guaranteed a minimum of two women and one man on the North American team.

The World Teams Championships date has been moved twice; it is now Feb. 19-26, 2000. This means that the North American trials date is back in flux.

On Saturday we will need to establish priorities in scheduling the world teams and the Olympic trials.

The meeting recessed at 10:25 p.m.

Saturday, September 11, 1999:

The meeting reconvened at 9:06 a.m.

All were present from the night before, plus Jim Butler and Diana Gee.

7) Sheri Pittman presented the President’s report.

Eligibility issue.

The end result of the eligibility issue was that the arbitrator found that Gao Jun was eligible under USOC rules to represent the U.S. in the Pan Am Games.

Her top three short-term goals had been met: making sure that the magazine stayed on schedule, hiring of the new Executive Director, and nominating a new Coaching Committee chair.

Pan Ams.

She did considerable networking, including discussions with Bowie Martin about the proposed North American tour.

Worlds.

She spoke with the Chinese delegation about opportunities for American players and coaches to learn Chinese techniques and methodologies. She had numerous discussions with officials from other countries as well as ITTF staff members. She was also appointed to the ITTF’s Media Committee.

She is working on increasing the professional presentation at our Open.

She presented an idea for silent auctions at the Open and Nationals.

ITTF wants us to add $20,000 to Pro Tour prize money, they will give us the extra money in exchange for additional barrier signage.

ITTF will send a consultant to aid in Pro Tour organization.

Marker information has been sent to the designated person for making each marker.

8) Rebecca Crawford of the USOC gave an overview of the HPP/ADP, the roles of Boards, and USOC – HPP interaction.

The meeting recessed at 11:17 a.m.

The meeting reconvened at 11:28 a.m.

9) Sheri Pittman gave an overview of the draft produced at the recent HPP/ADP meeting.

10) Jimmy McClure spoke about the NGB Council / Athletes meeting.

The meeting recessed at 12:20 p.m.

The meeting reconvened at 1:35 p.m. Jeff Davis was absent. His proxy and that of George Brathwaite were left with Bob Tretheway.

11) There was extensive discussion of what direction the association needs to adopt to achieve new goals.

The meeting recessed at 3:30 p.m.

The meeting reconvened at 3:40 p.m.

Consideration of the HPP/ADP continued with concentration on the mission statement, goals/critical success factors, and priority stakeholders. It was stressed that the HPP document only addressed the elite athlete program; strategic planning still needs to be done in the area of programs for the general membership.

MOTION 1: Moved to adopt the draft HPP as amended. (Addendum 1)

Proposed by Dennis Taylor; seconded by Barney Reed.

Passed: 12-0

  1. Khoa Nguyen gave a presentation on e-commerce opportunities.

    2. It is recommended that we change the web-site advertising policy to bring it in line with industry standards.

    Web content needs to be improved, especially in ratings.

    The banner software should be changed.

    There should be a separate section for sponsors.

    The URL should be placed on all official USATT documents.

    There should be on-line registration for the Open and Nationals.

    There should be on-line membership applications.

    Some of these items will need to be outsourced.

  2. Larry Hodges gave a presentation on the state of the magazine and the web site.

    3. There is a new production schedule that will sync the cover date and the mailing date.

    There are new content guidelines.

    There are changes in photo handling.

    At the time of Larry’s appointment, there were no records of any advertising contracts. Since then, most advertisers have signed one-year contracts.

    Another new printer has been engaged.

     

    The web page has been suffering from problems stemming from the use of different versions of authoring software.

    Larry is devoting the bulk of his time to the magazine, not the website.

    Larry Rose’s new IMS should provide much more flexibility on ratings access.

     

    The meeting recessed at 6:11 p.m.

    Sunday, September 12, 1999:

    The meeting reconvened at 9:10 a.m.

    All were present from the day before. Jeff Davis returned.

  3. Alan Williams gave a presentation on club development.

    4. Clubs are our sales force.

    A $1000 budget for 234 clubs isn’t sufficient.

    The committee is instituting a club incentive project. The club most named on year 2000 membership forms will win a Butterfly Centrefold table. There are also great second and third prizes.

    The committee proposes a revolving loan fund for clubs, with a one-time allocation of $10,000.

    We need to send marketing materials to clubs.

    We need to create a club awards system for memberships, tournaments, leagues, publicity, coaching, etc.

    15) Sheri Pittman nominated YC Lee as chair of the Tournament Committee and the Officials Committee, Diana Gee as AAC chair, and Mark Nordby as Coaching Committee chair.

    MOTION 2: Moved that the nominations of YC Lee & Diana Gee be approved.

    Proposed by Sheri Pittman; seconded by Jimmy McClure.

    Passed: 12-0.

    MOTION 3: Moved that the nomination of Mark Nordby be approved.

    Proposed by Sheri Pittman; seconded by Jimmy McClure.

    Passed: 11-1.

    IN FAVOR: GB, JB, JD, DG, TL, JM, KN, SP, BR, DT, JW.

    OPPOSED: BT

    MOTION 4: Move to direct Ben Nisbet to negotiate a clothing contract for the national teams.

    Proposed by Dennis Taylor; seconded by Barney Reed.

    Passed: 12-0.

  4. Ben Nisbet has resigned his seat on the Board of the USATT Foundation. The Foundation is nominating Diana Gee to their Board and seeks our approval.

MOTION 5: Moved that Diana Gee’s nomination to the Foundation’s Board be approved.

Proposed by Jimmy McClure; seconded by Diana Gee.

Passed: 12-0.

MOTION 6: Moved to upgrade the 2000 Pro Tour subject to the ITTF’s acceptance of pertinent USOC restrictions regarding the barrier signage.

Proposed by Dennis Taylor; seconded by Jim Butler.

Passed: 12-0.

16) Ben Nisbet reported that he is looking at outside fundraising for the next Nationals and Open.

MOTION 7: Moved that the National Teams Committee be required to draft standing rules and submit them for Board Approval at the November, 1999, meeting.

Proposed by Dennis Taylor; seconded by Barney Reed.

Passed: 12-0.

The Board went into executive session at 11:00 a.m. The discussion in executive session is confidential. No minutes are kept.

The Board returned to general session at 11:50 a.m.

Diana Gee, Barney Reed, and Khoa Nguyen departed, leaving proxies with Jimmy McClure, Sheri Pittman, and Tong Lee respectively.

The Board discussed methods for upgrading tournament operations. No formal action was taken.

The meeting adjourned at 12:22 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis M. Taylor, Secretary