Hi everyone!  

We have kicked off the 2023/2024 season. Thank you for your hard work last year. It was a very successful year.  

The big challenge last year was our organizational change to a functional model. At the time we knew it was an experiment. We all put in an amazing effort and we can say that the experiment is showing positive results! Its success has been due to your effort and your love of Odyssey.  

I want to thank you all for a successful year! There were many key efforts that we accomplished by working together, including:

1. Completed, using a new organization structure:
   1. completed 2 Spont days following a new format,
   2. two new qualifying tournaments (inventing a waiting list), and
   3. a state tournament successfully.  
2. The officials’ team has staffed almost all positions
3. Established an events director,
4. We created a Teams Function and a Membership Function from scratch.  
5. Massively improved the quality of our association brand and outward communications.  

I am sure I failed to list many other key efforts.  Listing them all would make this email much too long. 

We deserve to be proud because we have created a good foundation for the 2023/2024 season. It should be easier than last year, but still full of challenges and things to invent. We are Odyssey and creativity and teamwork are our heart. 

We have moved the dates of the Tournaments, so please mark these dates in you calendar:

• Qualifying Tournaments:  Feb 3 and Feb 10
• Clarification deadline Feb 15
• State tournament: March 9
• World Final’s Final Deadline April 24, 2024
• World Tournament: Tentative: May 24 – May 26, 2024

Here are links to the synopsis of the problem, and videos.

As an association, we have two principal goals:

1. Increase the number of collaborators and volunteers.  Here is the job jar of open positions. (Link). 
2. We continue to focus on adding teams so we can have more regional tournaments and more locations.  (Link)

A lot is going on.  We are a thriving, growing, organization. The 2023/2024 season should be fun and exciting.  I look forward to seeing you.

Bruce Mackinlay
Association Director

and

Marilyn Tamura
Assistant Association Director