D20 President Don Marsh appointed a Regional Review Committee to review and discuss, primarily, the number of regionals D20 should host in the next two years, and in what locations they should be held.
Members of the committee are: Allison Evans, Roger Thomas, Mike Eyer, Veronica Reeves, Jim Wheeler, Sheri Markwardt and Amy Casanova, with oversight from Don Marsh.
Currently, due to the expiration of contracts, D20 is slated to hold only two mainland regionals through 2025 (OTR and Seaside). We discussed the need for an agreed-upon level of reserves before planning to add a (third or fourth) regional because, historically, other regionals are likely to run a deficit. The primary question about a potential loss for a third or fourth regional would be, “How much would be acceptable for a third or fourth regional to lose?”
We agreed that three regionals seemed like an appropriate number, and rotating between Bend, Boise and Northern California would service the district. An important question is: who would be in charge of running each regional? And when should they be held? The third and fourth regionals used to be in May and August. We decided May was the ideal time to hold a third regional.
Another issue is that the OTR is in February and has suffered two snowstorms in recent years. The contract for the Vancouver Hilton runs through 2025; do we want to renew for February or try to host a Portland-area regional in May and look for an alternate venue for February.
Venues are getting very expensive and room rates, food and beverage obligations and rent for playing space are all going up. We discussed possibly shortening our regionals to Monday-Thursday so that hotels can book more lucrative events on the weekends. Unfortunately, this would mean that, combined with a daylight schedule, it would be virtually impossible for people who still work to play.
Jim Wheeler, tournament manager for Seaside and Bend, offered to scout locations for a possible May 2024 regional in Bend. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, it’s important for players to be aware of other opportunities to earn gold and red points. Be on the lookout for what is called an “I/N Regional/Open Sectional.” (BTW, I/N stands for Intermediate/Newcomer [and BTW stands for by the way].) These are typically held over a weekend and feature events like Gold Rush Pairs (or non-Life Master Pairs) that are upper-masterpoint restricted and offer gold and red points. They are run in conjunction with a sectional-rated event that is “Open,” which means no upper masterpoint restriction. The national board has voted to allow districts to hold more of these types of events.
Another opportunity to earn gold and red points is the scary-sounding North American Events (Grand National Teams and North American Pairs). They sound intimidating but they are really fun and flighted events, so if you are in Flight C, so are all the other participants. We run what is called our “district finals” on BBO. The district finals for the team games are held from January to May and require no prequalification. The pairs final is usually in October or November and DOES REQUIRE that you play in a NAP qualifier at your local club or online. Those qualifying games are happening now, through August. Even if you have no desire to compete beyond the district level, you can still rack up the points without leaving home.
A call to action!
The district is always looking for individuals to be involved in these decisions. Locals know their area – as much as we try to appoint members from all across the district to these committees, our geographical area is large. We need bridge players from all corners to talk to their unit boards and area reps with ideas about where we can host a regional.
