2007 CONVENTION MINUTES
Here are the minutes from the 2007 Annual Convention. They are available to view in PDF form.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT INDEX:
SPECIAL PROJECTS | AWARDS | BOWLER OF THE YEAR
LEGISLATIVE | SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP

SPECIAL PROJECTS COMMITTEE
Co-chairs: Nancy Chapman & Lyle Zikes

NBM/HF
Chuck Pezzano Scholarship
Mail-A-Graphic Tournament

This committee was appointed to review the above three projects. The BWAA board decided it wanted to continue with the two charities, but the logistics of implementing them will need immediate work should they go forward for the new season.

MAIL-A-GRAPHIC TOURNAMENT

• We have policy in place and may want to make a change in the divisions or rules. That can easily be done. Especially since the mailing list will include more male members.
• The name would stay the same.
• We can offer an incentive to the person who brings in the most entries.
• It is a fundraiser and is something for all members to support.
• Entries would be mailed/emailed to all BWAA members.
• Entry fee is $10. Three dollars of that amount will go to charity.

We recommend that BWAA hold a Mail-A-Graphic tournament as a fund raiser for charity.

We recommend that the board of directors select the charity from the following list:

NBM/HF
Chuck Pezzano Scholarship
Earl Anthony Scholarship
Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Research

Note: Last year the tournament had 218 entries for a profit of approximately $500.

CHUCK PEZZANO SCHOLARSHIP

• The name will remain.
• The criteria must be worked evaluated.
• The procedures for promoting the scholarship needs a lot of work. Scholarship information should be sent to state associations; colleges with bowling programs; to high schools with bowling programs; do we require that the recipient is a bowler? Another thought — have a venue for these prospective young people to provide a way for them to submit a "guest" column spot in the US YABA Bowler or the USA Bowler. Promote the scholarship at the Junior Gold championships or anywhere young people are bowling.
• Raising the funds to support the scholarship could continue as in the past with monies raised at the booth at Bowl Expo. We also could add other ways for members to donate.
• The key to the success of the scholarship program will be our ability to administer the applications, reviewing and awarding the scholarship.
  We recommend that BWAA continue to support the Chuck Pezzano Scholarship Fund.

IBMHOF

• This charity is more important than ever. We do know the BWAA board expressed a desire to continue the charity effort.
• This could continue at the USBC convention, but perhaps under a different format than what has been done in the past. The raffle in Nashville went very well and raised $1,200. Perhaps with a different format we could raise more.

We recommend that BWAA conduct an annual fundraiser at the USBC Meeting.

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AWARDS COMMITTEE
The challenge facing the awards committee was to merge the BWAA and NWBW awards programs and produce one program for the new BWAA.

BWAA had no writing awards. They were designed to honor outstanding bowlers in all segments of the sport and to long-term achievement by bowling organizations and individuals as well as journalists.

NWBW had primarily writing awards. It also had awards for achievement by organizations and individuals, but the majority were for writing.

We considered which awards were duplicates; how many were named for individuals; what awards could be consolidated, and what awards could be dropped.

We first considered awards which were for bowling accomplishment and which should be retained so we can achieve publicity for the sport and for the individuals who accomplish outstanding feats.

The following should be "must" awards:

Bowler of the Year — male and female
Bowler of the Month — either male or female
Amateur Bowler of the Year — male and female
Senior Bowler of the Year — male and female
Collegiate Bowler of the Year — male and female
High School Bowler of the Year — male and female (proposed new award)

The remainder were considered and we are proposing combining at least two of the awards which had similar criteria.

We also considered the various NWBW writing awards in conjunction with the recent announcement by the USBC that it was establishing amateur writing and promotion awards.

The committee realizes that the awards are very important to our members. When the final report is determined by the board, please realize that it would be impossible to merge two awards programs and not eliminate some and change others. We expect that all members will keep an open mind and give our proposal a fair consideration.

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BOWLER OF THE YEAR COMMITTEE REPORT
Lyle Zikes and Bill Vint, co-chairs

Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., was elected Dick Weber/BWAA Male Bowler of the Year for 2006 and Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., was elected Female Bowler of the Year. Our plan was to present Jones and Kulick with their awards during the Columbia 300/BPAA Awards Dinner in Las Vegas.

After reviewing the statistics from calendar year 2006 PBA tournaments the committee sent a men's ballot including Chris Barnes, Norm Duke, Jones, Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Pete Weber. After deliberation, it was the decided to confine the women's ballot to those who would not be eligible for BWAA Amateur Women Bowler of the Year. Bowlers maintaining amateur eligibility rarely compete against those who do not, and vice-versa, creating a split in competitive opportunities. The women's ballot consisted of Liz Johnson, Kulick and Wendy Macpherson.

Duke and Johnson were runners-up, respectively, in the voting. There were 131 ballots cast in the annual voting.

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LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Chris Beard, Chairman
Syleta Halbert

The Legislative Committee recommends the following amendments to the BWAA Bylaws:

ARTICLE IV: OFFICERS & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SECTION 2

The Board of Directors will consist of 16 Directors who will be elected by the membership by plurality vote, the Executive Director and the Council of Life Members representative.

Directors shall be elected by a stagger system.

Directors 1 - 8 shall be elected in odd numbered years.

Directors 9 - 16 shall be elected in even numbered years.

The directors shall elect a President and Vice President for a term of one (1) year. Officers may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Recommended Changes:
The Board of Directors will consist of 12 Directors who will be elected by the membership by plurality vote, the Executive Director and the Council of Life Members representative. Note: To initiate this change, 2 directors will be eliminated in 2007 and 2 directors in 2008

Directors shall be elected by a stagger system.

Directors 1-6 shall be elected in odd numbered years.

Directors 7-12 shall be elected in even numbered years.

The directors shall elect a President and Vice President for a term of one (1) year. Officers may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Reason for Change:
It is not necessary to have a board of 16 members for an organization of this size.

SECTION 13

One officer and eight directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a Board of Directors meeting.

Recommended Changes:
One officer and seven directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a Board of Directors meeting.

Reason for Change:
If the number of Board of Directors is reduced, it only makes sense to reduce the quorum number as well.

ARTICLE V: MEETINGS

SECTION 1

The BWAA will have two meetings per year. The annual meeting of the membership shall be held at the time of International Bowl Expo.

Open membership meetings will be held at the time of the United States Bowling Congress Convention and Bowling Proprietors Association of America's International Bowl Expo. Both meetings shall be open to all members, including Supporting Members and Life Members.

One officer, nine directors and twenty (20) members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the annual meeting.

Recommended Changes:
The BWAA will have an annual meeting of the membership. Open membership meetings may be held at the time of the United States Bowling Congress convention and Bowling Proprietors Association of America's International Bowl Expo. Meetings shall be open to all members, including Supporting Members and Life Members.

Seven Board members and twenty (20) members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the annual meeting.

Reason for Change:
This bylaw would be less restrictive as to where the Annual Meeting or other meetings will be held. It may not be possible to hold meetings at one site or the other. It also makes the number of Board members required to be present more attainable.

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SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Bill Vint and Fran Deken, co-chairs

Under the new BWAA, we have a Supporting Membership category with $100 annual dues. This membership category is intended to provide a low-cost way for bowling industry companies, pro shops, tournament promoters, etc., to get involved with BWAA and support our programs. Companies that sponsor BWAA events or activities would automatically be classified as Supporting Members and would be exempt from dues.

The concept also is to earmark the bulk of the dues to the BWAA scholarship program, to give that project an ongoing source of revenue. Because of other priorities in getting the organization fully operational in the wake of our merger with NWBW, this membership program hasn't been activated or aggressively pursued to date.

Companies that qualify for Supporting Membership based upon their support of BWAA for the current year (as of May 15, 2007) are: BPAA, USBC, Ebonite/Columbia 300, Kegel and Brunswick.

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