COSMIC BASEBALL ASSOCIATION Annual Report 2002-2003

Dear Members & Friends of the Cosmic Baseball Association,
Right now, looking back is not as exciting as looking forward. We had a fine season but the future, both immediate and long-term is set to be extraordinary as the Cosmic Baseball Association embarks on its 22nd season.
There are still several carry-over issues the Association must deal with. Chief among those is the issue of cosmic team contraction. Several plans have been floating around but the Board of Directors has not made any final decisions. It is likely that the current structure will remain in place. The Board may actually decide that no changes are necessary.
Membership growth rates in 2002 began to level off. Without a clear membership plan it is anyone's guess in which direction the Association will go. Some favor a dues paying membership option; others prefer to retain the dues-optional option.
The beginning of the new year will bring about significant change as we prepare to relocate the Association's main headquarters from suburban Maryland to downtown Washington, D.C. A consolidation of all the essential components of CBA will occur as we transition to our new home by the Potomac River. Finally, the executive offices, operations groups and the Cosmic Baseball Research Alliance will be housed together at our new Waterside Towers headquarters. The campus-like atmosphere will surely be inspirational.
I would like to thank all of the staff, associates, members and visitors of the Cosmic Baseball Association for making this past season so enjoyable. I hope you all will join me in looking forward to another very productive season.

Catch you later,

Andrew Lampert
Executive Director
COSMIC BASEBALL ASSOCIATION

CBA Annual Report, Page 2

Elka Stein
Chairperson

The Board of Directors meets at least three times a year in various locations. Refer to the Calendar for upcoming meetings.

Major actions by the Board in 2002

Suspended dues-requirements for all current and new members.

Approved use of Urchin Statistical Web Service for Website Visitor Tracking

Appointed New Executive Director

Created Committee to Study Cosmic Team Contraction

Named New Board Member

CBA Annual Report, Page 3

Membership increased by less than one percent during 2002. The Cosmic Baseball Association remains just shy of the 3,000 membership mark. Some of the reason for this leveling off of the membership growth rate certainly has to do with the aborted revamping of the membership program. In June, 2001 the Board of Directors changed the membership policy so that membership dues were required. By the middle of 2002 this policy was suspended and the optional dues policy temporarily reinstated.
Needless to say, this created confusion for our existing and prospective members. At this time, the temporary optional dues policy is in effect. The Board of Directors is expected to decide on a final policy before the beginning of the 2003 playing season in March.
The membership division fielded just over 8,000 requests for information during the year. Twelve percent of the requests came directly from existing members.

SOURCE: Cosmic Baseball Research Alliance (COBRA)

CBA Annual Report, Page 4

Overall traffic to the Cosmic Baseball Association's website decreased 17% over last year. We are currently analyzing the causes for this dip in website traffic. Despite the decrease in traffic the website is experience a dramatic increase in the number of completed surveys by visitors. Late in the year, Website Operations augmented the statistical data provided by IDStats with data provided by Urchin Reports. The Urchin data will give us a clearer picture of visitor activity at the website, including time spent visiting plates and plates traversed during a particular visit.
A variety of new plates including four new cosmic baseball player plates were created and published at the website. Over 1,800 plates and thousands of graphic and sound files use approximately 80 megabytes of storage space on our World Wide Web Internet servers.
Major overhauls were undertaken and completed on the Umpire plates. New Cosmic Game Report plates were designed and utilized. Development of interactive cosmic baseball games continues unabated by our creative and technical designers.
The following tables detail and summarize website visitor activity for the 12 months ended November 30, 2002:

SOURCE: Cosmic Baseball Research Alliance (COBRA)

SOURCE: Cosmic Baseball Research Alliance (COBRA)

CBA Annual Report, Page 5

1. The financial situation of the Cosmic Baseball Association is currently stable.

2. Because the single most important commodity we transact for is basic time, and since the value of time fluctuates, sometimes radically, it is difficult to accurately assemble realistic budgets that will conform to reality over any given time.

3. Costs associated with the Cosmic Baseball Association's website operations are primarily a result of leased Internet server space. We currently lease from three separate vendors. Monthly fees hover around $80,

4. The primary source of money flowing into the Cosmic Baseball Association comes from membership dues, outside funding sources and random contributions from friends.

CBA Annual Report, Page 6

Sunday, January 26
Winter Meetings
Rifle, Colorado

Tuesday, February 11
Winter Rookie Draft

Saturday, March 15
Ides of March
Cosmic Season 2003 Begins
Paradise Pisces @ Vestal Virgins

Saturday, June 28
Spring Meetings
Yazoo City, Mississippi

Sunday, July 20
Summer Rookie Draft

Tuesday, August 19
Summer Meetings
Kents Hill, Maine

Tuesday, September 23
Regular Cosmic Season 2003 Ends

Wednesday, October 1
Subleague Series Begins

Thursday, October 9
CBA's 21st Anniversary/Fall Meetings
Washington, D.C.

Thursday, November 27
Thanksgiving
Cosmic Universal Series Begins

CBA Annual Report, Page 7

Other Annual Reports

2005 Annual Report
2004 Annual Report
2003 Annual Report
2002 Annual Report
2001 Annual Report
2000 Annual Report