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Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Qualification Cycle
Proposals on what to do with 32+ seats to WRC
Tech
Communications
US Rankings
Education
Professional Organizations
ARML
Rules and judging
Community engagement
Charity
Other Business
Board Members In Attendance
Steve Augusten
Jenn Barr
Dave Bresnick
Harrison Corp
Laura King
Nathanael Kozinski
Luke Morgan
Claire Pozniak
Jai Srivastav
Bichen Wang
Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Qualification Cycle
Survey is out for suggestions on what to do in the event we are given more than 32 seats to the 2028 WRC, form can be found here: https://forms.gle/3t95wPVVgq29jPQW7
Invitational is designed for 32 or fewer seats, and we will not know until ~Nov 2027 how many seats are given
With the invitational Jan 2028, we would need to settle what to do about additional seats no later than Feb 2028
Tech
Adjustments to the 2028 Qualifying Points results coming very soon!
Upgrading to a bigger server to address sight slowdown soon
If you have any questions direct them to Tech Working Group!
Communications
Making a one page printout clubs can use at events to direct people to the ARA Database map to find their local club
Update to Tournament Policies after Assembly vote
If you notice communication problems or points of friction, please put them in the communications working group channel in discord, or reach out to Claire/Harrison!
US Rankings
No current updates
Education
Complaints about Manzu and hard to read/different tiles at tables
Working on potential solutions to address this/what TO’s can do to help players
Professional Organizations
World Riichi Pros
Next World Riichi Pro test will be Oct 4-5th. Registration deadline is Sep 20th
Saikouisen
USA Pro Leagues B and C started last month and were streamed
ARML
ARML is the biggest it has ever been!
Registration deadline for next season is September 8th
Rules and judging
Strike System will be used at GLRO 2025
Steve going to work with Harrison to refine and get additional data at GLRO
Community engagement
First office hours were last Monday! Super great time meeting everyone and talking about mahjong, many good topics discussed and ideas exchanged
Charity
No current updates
IORMC
No current updates, announcement soon!
Assembly Updates
Two new clubs added to the Assembly!
Kansas City Riichi Mahjong Club, represented by Justin Nguyen
North Star Riichi Mahjong, represented by Calvin Chang
Event Announcements and Updates
North Texas Riichi Open just finished this past weekend!
Seattle Riichi Open September 13th! Currently at 38/80, signups until September ~8th!
Chicago Area Riichi Tournament (September 20th) has a few extra spots due to drops!
Contact Takahiro Sakurai if interested
Vegas Dragons Open is August 30th! Currently at 23/32, signups until day of!
Great Lakes Riichi Open is October 25th! Currently at 32/64
Berkeley Open is November 1st! Sign up now!
Philly Riichi Open is November 8th! Join the waitlist now!
Intercollegiate Riichi Mahjong Open will be held this Fall Semester! If you are an enrolled student by October 2025 you are eligible to play! Sign up now!
Closed Session
Discussion on player drops from tournaments
GLRO and Philly Certified, Berkeley needs to resubmit with additional information
Discussion on tournament certification process and how to improve going forward
Discussion on swiss pairing system and certification ability when chance of duplicates is present (mainly at smaller events)
Big Updates
Board Member Updates
The elected Board Members for the most recent election are:
Luke Morgan
Dave Bresnick
Jai Srivastav
Jenn Barr
Thank you Edwin and Al for all of your service as board members!
WRC 2028 Announced to be in NYC!
Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Qualification Cycle
Qualification cycle approved by ARA assembly, submitted to the WRC committee
Tech
2028 cycle points are reflected in the Database
Plans to get pro organizations seen, as well as redoing tournament entry for better user experience
Plan to add better Search Engine Optimization to help 1-day tournaments and events get more visibility
Doublecheck your state on your profile and make sure it is accurate
Coding meeting times changing, stay tuned
Communications
Made an etiquette guide to WRC players on how to be a decent person at events. Got it all in a document and emailed it to all 2025 ARA participants. 2028 cycle information is posted.
Made a temporary ranking system to give the Tech WG some time to get it on the website. Full system will be added in the future, stay tuned.
Making privacy policy to put on website
US Rankings
US rankings is currently discussing what we can borrow from other existing reaching systems, but we didn't have anything to report yet to the assembly!
Education
Etiquette guide for USA. Compiling etiquette guide atm. Send positive and negative experiences to Luke!
After we can adapt it to ARA Opens
Professional Organizations
World Riichi Pros
WPM officially released its class 1 professionals. Hard opening soon! Sign up now!
Does being a WPM pro have any restrictions?
Some limitations occur where you officially represent yourself with WPM pro status. Does not limit you from using any online client, and is an official agreement
Saikouisen
June 14th was the 50th season Saikouisen Pro Exam. There are now 34 Saikouisen pros in the US! Some of those include Saikouisen Trainees who still need to pass the written exam next year.
The Saikouisen league started last Sunday and VODs for the event will come out shortly
List of Saikouisen US pros: https://www.saikouisen-usa.com/members/
ARML
Season is going on, you can still sign up for future seasons!
Reminder that ARML gives 4 seats to the invitational that are not already part of the top 60.
Rules and judging
Will start handling observer reports
Community engagement
How to get more people registered for the ARA website?
3 weeks in Japan! So many photos!
Talk about US players’s experience with WRC.
Mahjong podcast? People would be interested in hearing a podcast about riichi. If you would be interested in being interviewed, send Laura a DM!
Round table discussions, hopefully by the end of august
5 seats left for the North Texas Tournament! Registration close[d]s in 48 hours
Charity
Pride month open was a huge success. $3300 raised and 264 sign ups. Thanks ARA for the support!
Other Business
Registration for the Seattle Open 2025 is open!
2028 cycle will likely get us more seats. Discussion on how to handle a huge increase in seats at a later date
Closed Session
Post WRC Discussion
US players left great impressions
After some debate, ARA will be requesting WRC to have an official alternate procedure for extra seats that pop up
Tournaments to Certify
Seattle needs small changes then can be approved
Toronto approved after changes were made
Two clubs applied to Assembly, votes going out
Goals and Objectives meeting to be held for board members at later date
National Tournament WG to be put on hold for the moment
Optional ‘Office Hours’ to be held for board members for discussion with US players
Aiming for first one to be August 11th!
People can think of what we can do if we get more than 32 seats to WRC 2028 (unlikely). Will do more with suggestions in August meeting
Candidate Speeches
Jai: SPM rep and to promote more competitive events and balance growth and competitiveness
Aldwin: Annual championships
Dave: USPML and Sparrow’s Nest head. WRC NA head. Instructor certification, expanding wrc pro orgs to the US
Jenn: Pro ama meets like comic con and sparrow’s nest and collab between pros and amateurs
Luke: Riichi out website during pandemic. Catfood bowl runner. Educational materials to be able to pass a pro exam
William (Whale): Whale cup. ARA independence
Voting Open Until July 2nd
Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Qualification Cycle
Survey results for phase 2 levers: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18Axwl2-IM5znfiSAVxeBB9jsIGGDWoK0IrBPUE0Dy1w/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p
Tech
Join our weekly coding meetings!
Communications
Had an introductory meeting with Canadian Leadership
US Rankings
We are restructuring data into spreadsheet
Extracting seating charts and their round scores
Asking Gemini mostly, first name last initial as well as results are fed into AI. not super personally identifiable.
Should we just switch to player number?
The data source is 2024 tournaments
Education
Pairing fairness in next couple of weeks?
Etiquette at WRC
Rate play in Japan? Info is value
Maybe have a clean guide in ARA and can link to an informational blog by Luke blog
We have to be real about expectations, reduces harm
If you’ve been to belbird, shibuton, janyuu club, or m league stadium please DM Luke
Professional Organizations
World Riichi Pros
US WRL event June 28th, September WRL event.
Let Dave know about WRL minors
Can take applications post WRC
Sample test coming soon, Erik K with more info
Saikouisen
51st test just happened. Cannot officially say how many passed, but can be proud for US pros
Rookie championships. Root for all the americans in the rookie cup!
Main pro league is starting.
Eric Chen accepted the invitation to Ryuousen in Japan for winning the US Ryuousen qualifiers!!!
Do you need to go to Japan to play?
You are not required to go to Japan. You have opportunities to do so but are not expected to go
Hoping to do some east coast events, Pros are not expected to come to California.
ARML
Going strong! Spring season is almost over, C1 to be split into two leagues
Rules and judging
Mods have been reposted (they were erroneously archived)
Community engagement
Office hours to be held probably monday nights after WRC
Round tables for discussion topics from community
WRC player bios on instagram
Laura to be filming at WRC!!!
Charity
Airi: 122 sign ups for Pride Open 6/28
Ember and Hana also helping out
Reminder if you’re a club admin, please accept people to your ARA portal clubs!
Closed Session
National tournament discussion
Lot of steps before real plans can get made
Working group can be created down the line to start to address what a ‘US National Tournament’ to crown a ‘US Champion’ might look like
Tournaments to Certify
Chicago approved after changes
Toronto needs small changes then can be approved
Dallas approved
PML Open approved
Rochester and DC uploaded results
Reach out for DC observer report
Changes and release of Invitational Observer Report
Next Meeting is July 21st
ARA should have a privacy policy
ARA Meeting Minutes
Board Summaries
Edwin/ARML
Represented ARML and is planning to step down from the board
Luke/Education Working Group
Collate, research, and create Mahjong information for clubs and assembly
Spreading of the info to be done by Comms
Claire/Harrison/Communications
Formally Outreach Working Group, rebranded to Communications
Claire handles website updates and postings
Harrison working on reaching out and getting info from clubs
Rebranded from NARMA to the ARA, made a new website, and did an invitational booklet
With the ARA Database we have over 50 clubs listed, and even more players
2024 Survey Launched
Responses weren’t as spread out as initially wanted, still working through the graphs and data
Plan to do more frequent shorter surveys, FAQ page for the database, increase club awareness, and blog post frequency
Dave
NARMA had a lot of issues then became the ARA with all its goodies
Partnering with WRC and EMA and the contributions to WRC via NAO and rules updates culminated in the US getting 16 seats to the 2025 WRC
Hopeful to get WRC to the US for 2028
Accounting and information availability/management, including player and event lists, was our biggest triumph for the 2025 cycle
Tamas/Tech
Created the ARA Database Portal
ARA ID’s, use them when registering for tournaments
You can set a handle or profile picture, if there are privacy concerns you can manage what is displayed. Also fill out your 2028 eligibility form!
Upcoming Features: Pro Orgs, tournament result uploads, calendar, APIs
Tech needs your help! If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out!
Laura/Community Engagement
Focused on social media and long/short form content, roundtables, and discussions
Activities to date are help with the Tech WG ARA database, Instagram and X accounts, ARA invitational content
Plan to do Youtube and maybe TikTok content, document journeys for WRC competitors
Have ‘Board member office hours’ for open conversations and discussion
Roundtable to help content organization, maybe do a podcast
Steve/Rules WG
WRC Competition Penalty Level Rules for WRC and invitational events and can be used for leagues/opens
WRC Open Level for most other opens as the replacement for “lower penalties”
Building ARA Rules Guidebook, relying on judges for tricky situations - codifying this when finished
Strike System (Piloted at DC Riichi Open)
Lots of things are warnings, but if someone does it repeatedly, there was no incentive to call a judge over without strike system
Adapt the penalty level to how many repeated infractions
From the judging side, this was great
Track all strikes and penalties
Google form that had a drop down of every WRC penalty and if it was a dead hand, warning, or chombo (plus notes)
Very easy to collect data on
60-70% were new people for those that gave feedback, and people thought it was a nice slap on the wrist without it being too punishing.
Bichen/2028 WRC Cycle
Lots decided already.
Next surveys are coming soon: Curves- WRC 2028 Qualification - Phase 2 QP Functions
Kyuu
National Championship Tournament project
Special presentation May 29th 2025 at 8pm central
Projected 2026 at Twitch: KyuuMJ
Nathanael
Audit of Invitational qualification standings
Member of Tech, Outreach, and US Rankings WG
Max
IORMC - ran US qualifier and acted as a representative of IORMC
Other Working Group Updates
Charity
We had 2 volunteers to staff with the one project - extra life open; Working with ARA we could have more outreach.
Help raise more awareness to these causes. Eg. winter clothing or clothes.
Maybe hosting another online charity tournament?
Can make ARA more inclusive and approachable.
Is extra life open is going to be part of ARA in the future?
467 players played in Extra Live (up from 200 something) - and had team incentives
USA Rankings
Still doing a lot of brainstorming
We got hanchan results for 2024 so now it’s time to format them and testing
Professional Organizations
Saikouisen
USA Pro Test - Registration deadline has passed
If you are interested in next year’s Pro Test, talk to Luke.
Ryuousen USA Qualifiers - seeds into Ryuousen; Reg is still open! May 30th, 31st, and June 1st.
Ryuousen seeded qualifier seats; if you are a club with autotables, contact Saikouisen USA
WRC Pros:
May WRL. June nationwide WRL: OK, Vegas, NY; US rankings are available.
Prizing structure year over year; if you’re interested in 2028, Application and testing dates are pending and probably after WRC.
ARML
Sign ups are a bit lower; probably getting close to saturation
Still going on strong
Other News
Elections
Submit nominations by June; Steve & Laura & one community member for training will be running it
Application is between now and June. Elections two weeks after.
If you are a current board member whose term is expiring, please submit your nomination
Tournaments
Lots of tournaments coming up including Dallas, check them out on ARA database and enter in tournaments you are running!
Closed Session
Discussion about Basengo (Big Honba) and whether it is eligible for ARA certification
Determined rule was fair, and NYC could run it in their ruleset and be ARA certified still
June meeting scheduled for 16th at 6:00 pm pacific
Discussion on meeting with Canada’s governing Riichi body for ARA board
Vegas ARA certification submission lacking enough information, will reach out to resubmit
ARA Meeting Agenda
April 21, 2025
Working Group Updates
WRC 2028 Cycle
Phase 1 Lever Presentation Summary: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Jbx-z4PgrGLiTvErguAlRungjrcysBSf76ZFI4Iq9B8/edit?usp=sharing
Proposals for Point Spread Functions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UkCqM0QVdSBU77Q0I9ohTZhKPpS5foXnUQjuDNp5BDE/edit?usp=sharing
Action Items: More surveys for further levers
Tech
Qualification points reset for players
Tournaments ready to be integrated into website
Communications
All socials are posting content, please check them out and give them a follow!
Action Item: Schedule meeting with Canadian overseeing Riichi organization to discuss collaboration to promote both scenes
US Rankings
Looking at ranking systems of other organizations
Discussion of what to do for varying skill levels and non-ARA tournaments
Education
Tournament metrics write-up
Professional Organizations
Next World Riichi League event is June 27th in Las Vegas, Oklahoma, and New York City
Saikouisen is going to have an online academy at TBD with Japanese and US instructors for a fee
Ryuousen qualifiers to be held May 30th during AMOS Fest with varying players sent based on numbers of entrants
Saikouisen USA Pro Test to be held on June 14-15th in Los Angeles at LAPOM, the fee is 250$ and the deadline to register is 5/18/25
ARML
C1 division is split this season in case there is to be an expansion
Still doing Wednesday broadcasts, please check them out on Twitch!
Rules and Judging
Harrison will be enforcing a strike system for the DCO
3 free strikes, then at 4th and up you will be eligible for a point penalty less than or equal to a chombo
Community Engagement
If you have a club, please share content with Community Engagement so we can repost it!
Plan to make short form videos after Mother’s Day
Board Updates
Elections
Four members serving the longest set to be up for reelection
Candidates will be eligible to apply at May meeting, and elections will happen at a later date
Closed Session
Request for a write-up for best practices
Discussion of how to handle cheating allegations and reporting for future tournaments
ARA Meeting Agenda
March 24, 2025
Working Group Updates
WRC 2028 Cycle
Please complete the surveys we put out!
Tech
We have a meeting this Sunday at 9pm EST, please join it!
Domain name change
Communications
Updating clubs and getting new clubs in the database
Updating the 2028 qualification form
Added tournament guidelines and certification to the website
Community Engagement
Just social media content for the moment, more plans after Mother’s Day
US Ranking System
Organizational meeting next week
Education and Resources
Discussion and plans for ruleset document including pros and cons of each for player and TO experience
Professional Organizations
World Riichi League just had their first US events, expect more in the future
WRC is also working on their second round of pro tests as well as additional member benefits
Saikouisen is having weekly pro study sessions, and 33rd Ryuousen is May 30th-June 1st
Next Saikouisen pro test June 14th-15th
ARML
Winter season almost over, Spring set to have a lot of hiatuses with 23-25 people joining
Discussion on possible small fee for joining to discourage no shows
Rules and Judging
All proposed lower penalty changes went in and are toggleable, mods are going away
Strike system proposed, Harrison to test out at DCO in a better version than last year
Discussion on passive vs active judging and how it works into strike system
Closed Session
Should we have a way to limit time on discussion topics?
Various discussion on ways to implement and need
Trying to host ‘office hours’ between monthly meetings for further topic discussion possibly
Discussion of eligibility for WRC form and how it factors into tournaments hypothetically and realistically
Portal changed URL
Discussion of where to have tournament certification forms
Adding hygiene to behavioral warning
Discussion of more guidelines for clubs and judges on how to handle specific scenarios
ARA Meeting Agenda
February 24, 2025
Board members in attendance: Laura, Harrison C, Steve A, Luke, Tamas E, Kyuu, Edwin D, Nathanael K, Max S, Claire P
Executive Board News
Results of special election for vacant seat: Welcome Tamas E. to the ARA Board!
Our regular annual meeting and elections are in May. Closed meeting will begin discussion on who is going up for re-election.
Working Group Updates
2028 WRC Cycle Format
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LFvOgl9ZmFLHLaogT7tNg_yI5ouqlFswtnJrry5WDO4/edit?usp=sharing
Action items: up/down for whether to utilize the tournament results from 2025.
Tech
Making admins more visible, Seeking feedback and feature ideas. Please join the working group!
Outreach
Splitting into communication and community outreach / socials
Claire and Harrison to head communication and Laura and Nathanael to head community / socials
USA Ranking System
Just started and branched off the 2028 cycle meeting two weeks ago. Kathy H is managing the WG. If you’re interested, please join the wg.
Education and Resources
Looking for someone to write up cost analysis for running a club and running tournaments
Looking for feedback on future education projects. Potential ideas:
How to play in a japanese mahjong parlor?
Term glossary? And other basic information around riichi
Tournament types
Conversion from other types of mahjong to riichi
Professional Organizations
Saikouisen pro org
Pro ama, online lectures, pro test June 14th & 15th at LAPOM
DM Luke for pricing
ARML
11 Confirmed.
Rules and Judging
ARA Code of Conduct Ratified!
Closed Meeting
Discussion about WRC2028 proposals and the foundations. 8 assembly members did not vote - how can we increase their engagement?
Question on how to make conversations more productive and focused. Should we have stricter time limits?
Proposal for elections based on length of time on the board.
Dave, Kyuu, Luke, Edwin - up for election in 2025
Bichen, Claire, Steve, Max - up for election in 2026
Laura, Harrison, Nate, Tamas - up for election in 2027
Gauging interest in national championships?
Every wg should have a public counterpart for big updates for club contacts and the public to see.
Next Meeting March 24th 6PT/9ET
ARA Meeting Agenda
January 27, 2025
Board members in attendance: Dave B, Edwin Dizon (ARML), Laura King, Steve A (MI/MA), Harrison Corp, Luke, Max Suddendorf, Nathanael Kozinski, Kyuu (CAM)
Open Session
Executive Board News
Presentations of the candidates for the open board seats
Whale: Prioritizing getting ARA organized into an entity
Tamas: Rating system and goals. US Citizen but representing Hungary but also going to live in Japan for 6 months.
Brendan (halorien): Founded the Yakumen from Chicago. Ran last time. Serving as an ambassador for the game.
Jenn: Been playing mahjong professionally in Japan for 18 years. English content creation. Important for the US to have autonomous body. Would like to be in a central position to provide an advisory role. Visited Comic con twice and would like to expand such activities. Published a book this last year.
2028 WRC Cycle Format
Motion to create a system for the entire US that’s separate from WRC.
DC would like feedback on ARA approval
2025 Invitational
No observer report yet. Other next steps unknown at the moment.
Working Group Updates
Tech
arariichi.org all tournament results are in except invitational. Club details are not filled out. Now is a good time to look at it. Thanks to Laura, Tamas, Nathaniel and others who got the database online.
251 unique profiles but 81 not accepted
Outreach
Rules and Judging
Unsure when modified ruleset is going live.
All of the changes are getting put in. Mods document is going away. WRC ruleset is turning into WRC and WRC-R. Lower penalties is going straight into the ruleset as an option.
Education and Resources
Skeleton of creating your own club. Away 3 of the 4 weeks. Will be back soon. Will be ready to go by next meeting. Looking for helpers and still writing a bunch of copy, etc.
Tournament in a box is good to go
Pairings software is also good to go.
Professional Organizations
WRC pro: 3/1 & 3/2 in 3 locations - sign up today!
Luke - Saikouisen Fest two weeks ago. Plan on it every year. Next test is coming up next June in LA. Pro ama league which gives seeded spot into ryuousen USA.
ARML
First couple rounds went well of this season
Closed Session
Feedback on ARA Invitational:
¼ of players mathematically eliminated day 3
People like the term swiss
People would be more okay having duplicate pairings
Enjoyed set play in general
What other way do we have to get feedback about this format?
We should send a tournament feedback form.
Next meeting 2/24 6 pm Pacific 9 pm Eastern
ARA Meeting Agenda
December 16, 2024
Meeting Minutes
ARA General Meeting 16Dec2024
Board Members in Attendance: Dave, Steve, Harrison, Laura, Nathanael, Aldwin, Claire, Edwin, Bichen, Luke
Open Session
Executive Board News
Special Election Results: Welcome new board members Harrison, Laura, and Nathanael
Nima has resigned from the board, thank you for your service
We will have another special election to fill the vacancy
Nominations remain on the table until the January meeting in which the candidates may introduce themselves and give a short pitch
If you want to rerun, please use the form again and just put “See prior comments”
2028 Cycle Format
Question about having NAO every year
Discussion about regional invitationals
In person focus group meeting possibly to be held on Saturday night at the invitational, specifics TBD
ARA Dues Presentation by William
The presentation broke down the costs to travel versus the cost of tournament entry
Charging a few dollars, 5-10 more, for an ARA sanctioned event will not meaningfully change the cost as the bulk is due to travel and lodging
Over the course of a year this would give ARA a few thousand dollars to work with to do something, provided the open tournament schedule is maintained and all clubs opt in
Do we need a finance working group? Right now ARA is not set up to handle money.
2025 Invitational
Hotel block at venue
4/3/1/0 Scramble Sets
Tentative Schedule is up
Working Group Updates
Tech
The database is in sandbox mode and can be used at staging.arariichi.org
Demonstration on setting up users, admin pages, club updates and events
Uploading events has to be done by superadmins
Can be as many admins per club as necessary to maintain the database
Call for volunteers to test
Outreach
Club outreach survey has 76 responses
Social media posting is increasing
Follow the ARA instagram!
Rules and Judging
No further comments on lower penalties mod
Steve and Tamas participated in the EMA referee seminar at ERMC, some lessons learned to apply to ARA
Need to develop an appeals process for when someone doesn’t agree with a ruling at an ARA event
Education and Resources
Tourney-in-a-box is submitted to be placed on the ARA website
Document on how to start/maintain a club is in the works.
Other Business
Professional Organizations
Saikouisen pros announced, congrats to all the new pros
WRC pro system to be announced shortly
WRC pro league details coming soon as well, in Marc
ARML
Formerly the IORMC WG
A1 has been getting stale with nothing to play for other than the win or avoiding relegation
A lot of new players from around the country, 152 players right now with around 20 on hiatus
Closed Session
Claire updated the website with new board members and assembly info
Discussion on tournament timing
60+0? 65+0
Pace of play and calling clock on slow players
How enforceable is calling slow play?
Additional meeting for invitational minutiae scheduled for 12/23
Next General Meeting January 27, 2025
ARA Meeting Agenda
November 18, 2024
Meeting Minutes
ARA General Meeting 18NOV2024
Board Members in Attendance: Dave, Steve, Bichen, Luke, Claire, Edwin, Nima, Max
Open Session
Board Special Elections begin with a short introduction from each of the candidates:
Harrison
William
Laura
Phil
Brendan
Stephanie
Nathanael
2025 Invitational
Put together a plan and submit to WRC
Autotables, discussion on 5 or 6 hanchan per day
Google form to submit commentary and format design
Voting begins
Working Group Updates
Outreach
Many things in progress, nothing major to report
Shoutout to Laura for work with the ARA socials
Rules and Judging
Steve had an online meeting with Gemma and Sylvain to iron out final draft of lower penalties mod
No changes to accidentally revealing tiles, being reviewed and revised higher up
ARA and WG free to begin implementing strike system based on new draft
Tech
Update from Nathanael as Tamas is away
Trello board made with major action items
Import data looks good, see additional updates from Tamas on discord
IORMC
Tournament has concluded
USA made a valiant effort, but variance was not on our side
Education
Tourney-in-a-box is ready to share
Luke requests more input for the event hosting document on different types of paid event spaces
Club-in-a-box is a new resource being worked on
Charity
Nothing to report at this time for the WG
$4k raised for the Extra Life Open
2028 Cycle
Presentation about the plan for the 2028 qualification cycle
Discussion ongoing
Open Floor
Request for something in the Bylaws about discrimination – already in the works, the Code of Conduct was removed from the Bylaws to make it more agile in editing and will need ratification by the Assembly
Reminder to register and pay for the ARA Invitational
There is a vote in the assembly to approve a new club
Closed Session
The new Saikouisen pros are technically double dipping on WRC qualification, but this is a Saikouisen issue, and they need to finalize a solution (e.g. get a letter from Saikouisen to have relinquished their ability to qualify for WRC 2025 via the pro org)
Autotable in repair for the invitational
Next Meeting December 16th, 2024
ARA Meeting Agenda
October 22, 2024
ARA Monthly Meeting
October 22, 2024
Board Attendance: Claire, Aldwin, Edwin, Steve, Max, Bichen, Dave
Open Session
2028 election form/survey being sent out
Suggestion for a list of working groups available publicly so the community can identify what categories of work are being done and join if desired
Working group updates
Tech
Close but not quite finished
Current name “ARA Community Portal”
Demo including player spotlight and other features
Tournament placement form
Outreach
Content featuring players in the invitational, including player profiles
End of year surveys for tournament preferences
Harrison is currently just pinging/DMing each club contact, could add a club liaison ping or a club chat channel
More work is needed on socials, Laura volunteers to work on them
Rules/Judging
Meetings mainly between Steve, Gemma, and Sylvain
Lower penalties adjusted to needs of US opens, plan to go live Jan. 1, 2025.
An empty call is now a dead hand, which solves the community complaint about bad calls being warnings and wasting time
Warning/Strike system can be developed now that it is clear what infractions are warnings
Work on changing the mentality on dead hands in the US - a judge doesn’t need to call it
Resources
Tournament in a box is ready
Used at GLRO with customization and it was useful
The spreadsheet could use entry by table with a table checksum
IORMC
Coming up on 11/2. All players have confirmed they can play.
Other business
Board Elections
3 vacancies. The new bylaws increase the size from 10 to 12
Zac (Oklahoma Mahjong) is stepping down from the board. Thank you Zac for your service!
Nomination form to be sent out, currently can only self nominate because of required questions.
Pro Orgs - no additional news
Open Floor
Email advertising the working group for the 2028 cycle
This meeting was the first some assembly members had heard of specific working groups. Suggested making a public facing informal list of WGs
Closed Session
Discussion on nominating new board members
Audit of 2025 numbers, and registration process for the invitational
Creation of a temporary working group for the invitational - discuss what work needs to be done and create timeline.
Next meeting November 18, 2024, 9pm ET / 6pm PT
ARA Meeting Agenda
September 30, 2024
Agenda Items
Welcoming our First ARA General Assembly Members!
Process moving forward for Assembly to approve future Assembly Members
Recruitment of Assembly Members for Various Working Groups
Bylaws Updates and Feedback
EMA Recognition and Partnership
2025 WRC Cycle Planning
Moving time of meetings later for West Coast attendees
Working Group Updates
Tech Working Group:
Outreach Working Group:
Rules and Judging Working Group:
Education and Resources Working Group:
Professional Organizations:
IORMC:
ARA Meeting Minutes
August 19th, 2024
Open Session
Board Members in Attendance: Luke, Bichen, Dave, Nima, Edwin, Claire, Max, Steve, Aldwin
Working Groups Updates
Tech Working Group:
Tamas just got back from Europe. Nothing to report at this time but the WG hopes to have another demo ready for the next meeting.
Outreach Working Group:
Lots of outreach initiatives going on but nothing specific to report.
Rules and Judging Working Group:
Still waiting for WRC to approve the lower penalties draft. Lots of additional WRC initiatives are slowing down the process.
Tamas passed the WRC ref exam while in Europe (congrats!) and shared some information about it. WRC is hoping to be able to provide this exam in the US and it has 3 sections:
General reffing questions
Scoring hands
Chinitsu hands
The WG has had some discussion on certain outlying cases and is working with WRC to get answers.
Some discussion on active vs. passive ref for events.
Education and Resources Working Group:
Luke has a google doc style guide for the tournament-in-a-box that follows a basic checklist for running a tournament including pairing using a Good Enough Golfers style system so others can run their events using it.
Request for additional information added from board members and community members about venues and hotels as part of the overall package (Claire and Dave offered to help edit)
Other Business
Professional Organizations
WRC pro test announcement soon and looking for an option for an online test thereafter
Nothing new from Saikouisen
IORMC
2nd qualifying round has been completed
Next two sessions aren’t until mid-September due to competing events
A rules clarification is needed from IORMC about kiriage mangan
Community conversation about positive tournament experience - summary of points
Unnecessary actions at the table may worsen the experience, like revealing someone’s waits at ryuukyoku
Players often do not know how to challenge a ruling or appeal to the head judge
Assurance that time will be given back for judge calls should be clearly announced
How do we address chronic slow play?
Some people when having issues, will not call a judge, nor will they give feedback to the observer or TO, but they will tell their friends and then gossiping starts
Actively judging behavior, introducing a table strike tables that are too loud, giving a strike to noticeable bad behavior which will include individuals acting out and tables that might happen to be too familiar with each other that banter too much
Suggestion for an open and reserve division as the tournament scene grows
When your game is done, go to the waiting area and do not linger and make conversation in the play area!
Bylaws Proposal
A two-tiered structure consisting of:
A council with a single voting representative from every eligible club that serves to ratify measures from the board.
An executive board that leads working groups and other projects. These board members do not get votes on the council unless they are also serving as club representative.
Yearly elections are held with 4 seats up for reelection each year. A term is 3 years in length.
Questions from the community about bylaws:
What constitutes a club? Some guidelines are being discussed:
At least 12 people affiliated with the club inside the ARA database
Meetings at least once per month in a public location
Some sort of public facing available information such as a website
Can two people in the same club be members of the board?
Yes, the executive board has no voting power, but they get to direct the organization through the closed session and working groups.
The board may internally decide on initiatives and how to carry them out, but all final proposals are ratified by the club council.
Accelerated election cycle to allow people to get on the board?
A special election is planned for seats as we expand the board
Our WRC qualification cycle has worked well this year and too much turnover may hurt that continuity
4 seats/year should be sufficient
Votes of no confidence?
Suggestion that a 75% vote of no confidence can remove a board member
Closed Session
Sparrows Nest tournament on Oct. 26-27 approved. Needs to be announced soon or it will not count for qualification. Registration will open at a time that is not overlapping with NAO or travel periods surrounding it.
Etiquette data to be sent to the rules & judging WG for recording and adding to the pertinent sections of the tourney-in-a-box documents.
Establishing the Club Council and developing a system for asynchronous voting:
Need club info: discord information, club name, number of people, location, frequency of public meetups
Outreach WG responsible for initial list of clubs, to be registered by the Tech WG when the application goes live
When the council is formed, they can be responsible for approving additional clubs
Google forms will work for voting, especially for ranked-choice
Next Meetings Sept. 16 (bylaws special meeting), Sept. 30 (general meeting)
Possibly no meeting held in October because there is a tournament every weekend, if so the general meeting will be held as early in November as possible.
ARA Meeting Minutes
July 29th, 2024
Open Session
Board Members in Attendance: Luke, Bichen, Dave, Nima, Edwin, Claire, Max, Steve, Aldwin
Working Groups Updates
Tech Working Group:
Demo of the player interface
Questions about audit trail and admin/superadmin status
Question about club leaders having to enter their own members, or if members may sign up and affiliate themselves
Outreach Working Group:
Socials are live!
Next outreach meeting August 12th 9 pm EDT / 6 pm PDT
The outreach group is discussing balancing fun vs. informative for its social posts
Discussion of the badge system for the club map, clubs earn badges for having e.g. regular meetups, educational classes, presence at a local convention, a ranked league, etc.
Rules and Judging Working Group:
The proposed WRC Lower Penalties Mod changes are drafted and in review, but at the whims of the WRC schedule, which is very busy with the new WRC pro system, online league, and other league initiatives
There was a European refereeing seminar that the WG will share when the video goes up
There are plans for an additional WRC hosted seminar for refereeing targeted at North American time zones and will be shared when the information is available
WG to work on guidebook and strike system in the meantime
Education and Resources Working Group:
Currently writing up documents on running tournaments, including tournament software and pairing systems
Other Business
Professional Organizations
No updates from Saikouisen nor WRC
Suggested to have information available for ARA to share for both of these to better direct players
Currently must be in the relevant discord servers to be able to access information, can we partner with Saikouisen USA and WRC to make basic information accessible outside of these discord channels?
IORMC
Organization handed off to Max
Roughly the same format as prior years, qualifiers on Sundays now as to not compete with WRC Online Team League
Signups posted ASAP
NAO Announcement: August 9th cutoff date, hotels will also go up in price if you do not book the block by then
Closed Session
Michigan Open Tournament Proposal and Top Cut Discussion
Option 1 – Top cut 4, everyone plays all hanchan, if ARA points go to 8th place with over 50 people, it makes the final 2 hanchan meaningful for all competitors
Option 2 – Lock the top 8 as 1 – 4 and 5 – 8 and have them play in their brackets
Option 3 – Lock the top 8 and seed them as 1458 and 2367 and have a two-game final
Board approved the tournament proposal and decided that SEMI may choose between any of the three cut options as they are all acceptable ways of doing a cut.
Other events: Last day to announce is September 1. Any remaining events would need to be the first or last weekends in October.
Special Bylaws Meeting scheduled for August 12th 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET
Next ARA Board Meeting scheduled for August 19th 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET
ARA Meeting Minutes - June 17, 2024 8PM ET/5PM PT
Attendance – 16 in open session. Board members in attendance: Edwin, Claire, Luke, Dave, Max, Steve, Nima, Bichen
Open Session
Working Groups Updates
Tech
Tamas has had a lot of personal stuff going on this month so there has not been significant progress. Possibility of a presentation by next board meeting.
Outreach
Club survey distributed for top 3 desirables for ARA initiatives, awaiting responses.
Badge system for clubs where milestones such as membership, events, etc. are shown.
Fixed Kansas City club location on the club map.
Rules and Judging
Final draft of the lower penalties in review.
With the announcement of the WRC pro system and the online team league, Gemma is very busy and it may take some time to get responses.
Education and Resources
Luke identified that a lot of the documents from NARMA are gone, but the outline of tournament-in-a-box survived.
Recreation of these resources to be done later.
Other Business
Professional Organizations
Interest gathering phase for the WRC Pro org.
Kenji is the main point of contact for the Saikouisen USA and there is a confirmed October exam
PML Open Venue format: Split venue should be okay if needed.
Bylaws meeting has been rescheduled.
IORMC
Desire to get IORMC quals set up between now and NAO due to the break in the event schedule.
Saturday mornings no longer work for quals due to the WRC team league.
Plan to discuss keeping the current qualification system or making changes.
Invitational Tournament Structure
12-hanchan scramble then 6 hanchan playoffs in set play of 2 hanchan sets.
Everyone plays all 18 games.
The event will be all autotables!
Closed Session
No pressing business. Short discussion about encouraging clubs to utilize local universities and collegiate clubs to access cheaper event space, however this varies greatly from location to location. Helping club leaders recognize all the options available to them makes events easier to host.
Next meeting: July 29th, 8pm ET / 5pm PT
ARA Board Meeting Minutes - May 20, 2024
Board Members in Attendance: Claire, Dave, Bichen, Steve, Nima, Max, Edwin, Luke, Zac
Open Session
ARA Invitational community vote
Jan 18 – 20, 2025 won out of the provided options
The invitational will be all autotables with scoring
Since we do not have the WRC seat quota, everyone will need a precise placement
12 hanchan scramble into 6 hanchan set play
Working Group Updates
Tech
Looking at a bulk import feature to import clubs and people
Web app has some time before it is ready, NAO is a potential release timeframe
Outreach
Discussion on club affiliation and getting a list of all clubs
How big does a club need to be for ARA recognition? Discussion about club tiers based on size and accessibility of meetups
Logo discussion: 2 options, the circle one is currently more favored. There is an opening for more submissions by the next meeting
Rules/Judging
The US has been given leeway to build the lower penalties to suit open tournament culture here as we are the main ones using it
Based on community and working group discussion, we have suggested all empty calls to be dead hands
Due to use of red fives and commensurate uma, the WG has suggested to decouple the chombo of -20 from lower penalties so it can be adjusted
The draft lower penalties are complete and will be sent to WRC pending final review
After the WRC rules mods get updated with WG suggestions, work will begin on the strike system for warnings and a judging pamphlet
Riichi Nomi Open Pairing Format
Presentation of modified swiss system by Mike (Good Enough Jongers)
A few options proposed for how to deal with final rounds
Bylaws and Structure
Board is working on a draft bylaws to determine structure, how votes are held, who can vote, and classes of clubs and members
Closed Session
Proposal of PML Open 2024
Potential for split venue with some specifics on how the dual bucket system must be carried out to follow the WRC guidelines. More details to follow when venue is determined
RNO Pairing
As there are no issues with any of the proposed methods to deal with the final rounds or the system itself, the board leaves it to RNO staff to pick their preferred method
Pro Group Certification
MJStars is working with Saikouisen to bring the pro test to the US
WRC has partnered with JPML and NPM to do the same
The board and ARA will not align with one or the other, and all players are free to choose if interested
International Online Riichi Mahjong Championship (IORMC)
In the past, IORMC qualifiers were brought under the ARML umbrella and Edwin managed the setup
Edwin does not currently have the bandwidth for this, so IORMC is becoming an ARA initiative with a new working group. Edwin will continue to provide support as able, Max volunteered to assist
Education Working Group
Channel was created for this working group, members and initiatives TBD
Next Board Meeting: June 17, 2024 8PM ET / 5PM PT
Board Members in Attendance: Dave, Steve, Max, Claire, Luke, Edwin, Bichen, Zac, Nima, Aldwin (100% board attendance)
Rebranding: There will be a public ranked choice vote, including a feedback section so respondents can make the board aware if a name (or the associated acronym) is unintentionally offensive
List of proposed names:
· ARA (American Riichi Association)
· USRA (United States Riichi Association)
· NARMA (National American Riichi Mahjong Association)
· FARM (Federation of American Riichi Mahjong)
· USRMF (United States Riichi Mahjong Federation)
· USRMO (United States Riichi Mahjong Organization)
· RMA (Riichi Mahjong America)
Minimum Activity Levels and Board Turnover
The discussion included transparency about how one can work to be on the board and that board members should be more than just voting only. This can include being a public face and doing organizational work, or backend documentation or supporting of working groups. If a board member is doing neither of these, then they need some project that is for the greater good of the community, such as Edwin running ARML. No limits are yet in place.
Board members to review bios yearly and update as appropriate. Every board member without a picture should submit one for the website.
Mission and Vision Statement, Bylaws
There is currently a NARMA mission and vision statement. The board will have a special meeting to discuss any changes to the mission and vision statement that are out of sync with community goals and needs, and to work on drafting bylaws.
Working Group Updates:
Outreach – Harrison
Looking for a social media manager and other volunteers. The outreach group seeks to be the link between club leaders and the board and has projects such as a newsletter and social media in the works.
Tech – Tamas
The work is continuing with a goal of an end of June launch. The goal is an integrated system with NARMA point standings, club names and a backend where updates can be made. Only for reporting results for events, not event registration. The biggest need right now is volunteers for design work.
Rules and Judging – Steve
This is a new group looking for volunteers. The goals of the group are to close rules ambiguities in the WRC rules as a collaboration with Gemma and WRC, as well as to update the mods and reduced penalties in such a way that they are friendlier to US opens with a variety of skill levels while also maintaining competitive integrity. Long term goals include the creation of a US judging guidebook which may include a strike system for things that remain warnings only in reduced penalties, and the creation of judging seminars or workshops to improve the knowledge base of those interested in judging for club hosted opens.
Adoption of WRC Lower Penalties as the Standard for Opens
TOs may make their own choice on whether to use the competition rules or the lower penalties mod. There should be an update to the lower penalties to decouple a few items and make things a bit more a la carte for the TO. The primary request being a separation of the chombo amount from the penalty level so it can be adjusted for other factors such as uma and aka dora.
Observers at NARMA Events
There can be multiple observers, but there must be at least one that is not from the club hosting and must be publicly announced. Any discrepancies between multiple observer reports will be subject to an investigation by the board.
Making the Observer Reports Public
Observer reports can be made public with the names of the judges and staff present, but any participant names redacted. NARMA will provide a comment period for the TO and staff to respond to any items in the observer report that they think need clarification and both the Observer Report and Staff Response will be published simultaneously.
Invitational Format
This needs to be decided by the board, sooner rather than later and the information published on the discord and the website. Might need to be a special meeting.
Additional Public Discussion Items
· Mahjong convention
· What NARMA would like from club leaders
o Showing up to public meetings
o Outreach to their club members to be involved
· What club leaders would like from NARMA
o Basics on how to set up and grow clubs
o How to build a social media presence
o How to teach completely new players
o Tournament in a box (A wonderful resource provided by Luke)
o A general player ranking system
Making working groups public?
Board decision: each working group can decide. If a working group does not make their contents public, a progress report should be made public on a regular interval.
Tiebreaks for entry into invitational
Board decision: best placement at NAO is the tiebreak. In the case that 2 players tied both did not attend NAO, the top score from each event is compared. Example: the best placement for player A is 8th in a 68 person tournament for 20.6 points and the best placement for player B is 5th in a 65 person tournament, also for 20.6 points. In this case the 2nd best result is compared and player A got 100th in a 200 person tournament for 1.0 points, and player B got 80th in a 100 person tournament for 0.2 points. Player A wins the tiebreaker.
Lower Penalties:
Board decision: TOs may run their events at the penalty level they deem appropriate.
Chicago Open approved by the board. Announcement of event and signups to follow.
Board Attendance: Dave, Edwin, Claire, Max, Steve, Aldwin, Nima, Luke, Bichen
Scoring Applications
Public discussion on scoring applications, continued from the previous open session. The general decision is that scoring applications WILL NOT be used for NAO or any other national events without additional discussion. For regional, club hosted opens the use of a scoring application is left to the discretion of the tournament organizer, however to be considered as a NARMA qualifier, the usage of the application must be all or nothing to ensure consistent competitive experience per the WRC rules. A table may not opt out.
Canadian Events
The current structure was unclear. Some players assumed that Canadian events would be counted based on the current organization name, as they are North American events. Others assumed they would not be counted because the application process says that US organizations may apply. However, it does not say that Canadian events may not. There is an east/west divide where many players in the east consider inclusion of Canadian tournaments as a nice to have, where the west coast player base sees this as further increasing the geographical imbalance of open tournaments for qualification purposes.
WRC Rules Ambiguities
The documents are up for board interaction, and shared with Gemma. A suggestion is being made to make the lower penalties the default and make the current harsher penalties something like a championship level. There was public opinion that some items, such as an empty call only being a dead hand in the harsher rules, should be a dead hand throughout. There’s some desire to mix and match a few of the elements and we can further discuss this with Gemma. Gemma has requested a meeting with the board to discuss.
Tournament Observers
At least one dedicated NARMA observer must be present, but any number of people may be an observer if they choose. There was a suggestion to modify the feedback form for electronic entry, and to add the opportunity for anonymous feedback to the website.
Prize Structure for Events
Legality varies from state to state, and TOs are strongly encouraged to review the local laws and/or receive legal advice to protect themselves. Regarding the prizes themselves, it is encouraged to provide an entry fee breakdown to show where the money is going and how much of it is covering operational costs versus going into the prize pool. For example, the $1500 prize pool may seem large for RNO 2024, but at 180 people, which is the cap and the number required to trigger that prize tier, it amounts to less than 10 dollars per person from the total entry fee being used for the cash prizes.
Due to the length of the open session, many points of discussion were tabled until the next board meeting:
Rebranding and name suggestions
Minimum activity, attendance and service requirements for NARMA board members
Additional discussion and a written guidance for cash prizes in events
Application for Eligibility
A player originally filled out the form as ineligible due to attempting to qualify in another country.
That player is living in the US and has re-entered the information and intends to qualify here.
The board has no determined no reason to reject this request. Points from placement in qualifiers were reinstated.
Scoring Applications
Usage allowed at TO discretion.
“Opt out” is not allowed. All tables must use it in order to maintain a consistent competitive environment.
If using a personal device it should be placed flat on the table, in do not disturb mode, so the whole table can see it.
The board has suggested a sandbox mode or demo version be created so players may familiarize themselves with the interface prior to the event.
Canadian Events
For this cycle they will not be allowed as qualifiers.
For the next cycle we will revisit.
Additional discussion surrounding the lack of events in some West Coast areas and how to grow the tournament scene there to provide a better geographic balance.
NAO Announcement
To be announced ASAP.
Using Discord and various club social media outlets to advertise.
Dave to work on additional graphics and logo.
Penalty Levels
At TOs discretion.
Currently the mods and rules as written do not allow a mix-and-match approach to rules levels.
Additional discussion needed with WRC around the rules and documents drafted, meeting to be scheduled with Gemma.
Action Items:
Board meeting decision summary to discord - Max
Announcement of NAO to discord and socials - General, board members to share with their own clubs, discord spaces and social media outlets
Graphic Design for NAO - Dave
Update of Observer Form for Entry - Unassigned
Schedule meeting with WRC for penalty and other rules discussion - Steve
Next Meeting Scheduled for April 15, 8PM ET/5PM PT
Attendance: Dave, Luke, Claire, Max, Edwin, Bichen, Aldwin, Steve
Minutes
Public Session
Meeting opened with welcome to new board members.
Introduction of working groups and their volunteer leadership:
Tech Working Group, led by Tamas
Outreach Working Group, led by Harrison
Tech working group is organizing a way to database and register players and clubs, to track qualification points for the WRC Qualification Invitational.
Public comment: WRC rules are ambiguous in places and the documents aren't immediately updated with clarifications received. Given that TOs need information on clarification and rulings quicker than the core WRC rules update schedule. Dave suggested the creation of a rules interpretation document. FAQs for judging and tricky rulings should be recorded. This can be shared with WRC to incorporate findings from the NARMA tournament circuit.
We need to reconcile the NARMA tournament guidelines with the WRC rules.
Lengthy discussion about scoring apps and foreign objects at the table.
Private Session
Scoring apps:
The scoring app cannot require use of a personal device to meet WRC requirements.
The guidelines provided by WRC for use of a scoring app set a very high bar, but any club wanting to use an app should be given an opportunity to meet said bar.
Board decision: App will not be used as part of NAO but the next meeting will have an open session where public community members are encouraged to join a discussion on the merits and demerits of scoring apps for events.
Rebranding
Rename to better show that this is a US organization. We no longer represent Canada or the rest of North America.
Replace the logo which has trypophobia concerns and doesn’t represent the organization.
Board decision: allow the community to submit name and logo ideas, make it clear that any graphic design is done pro bono.
Outreach WG Goals
Get clubs and leaders that are not aware of NARMA involved in some way.
Build a mailing list for communication outside of discord.
Build a social media presence.
Tournament Participation Number Tiers (the 100-entrant problem)
Board decision: The number of players who begin hanchan 1 is when the total number of players in the tournament are decided.
If player drops lower the number of players below a qualification point tier and are not backfilled back to that level either from a waiting list or with subs, the tournament will operate at the lower tier of qualification points distributed.
Nationality and Eligibility for WRC
Board decision: Participants living in the US full time, regardless of citizenship status may qualify for WRC provided they are trying to qualify exclusively as a US representative and not also through another country’s organization.
Action Items:
Dave – ask WRC about foreign objects such as notebooks to track scores at the table
Dave – set up website access for board members that need it
Steve – Draft WRC ruleset errata document
Claire – Set up suggestion box for NARMA rebranding ideas
Max – Make announcements to discord about board decisions
Steve – Draft document cataloging board decisions
General – Draft minutes for public and post to website
Next meeting proposed: March 18, 2024 6pm PST / 9pm EST