ECF AGM aftermath

[Michael Farthing]

I'm not talking about junior chess advertisements, Roger.

[Peter Turner]

Michael Flatt wrote

Was it correct to publicly name the coach making a legitimate claim for loss of earnings?

No - carelessness on the part of the ECF Company Secretary in preparing the publication version, now corrected.

John, Thanks for correcting this so speedily. If none of us made mistakes we wouldn't be human.

Those who never made a mistake never did anything!

[John Philpott]

Richard Haddrell's account of the AGM has now appeared at http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/bcf.htm

[Roger Lancaster]

Whilst very sorry to learn of Chris Majer's resignation, I think this was inevitable. Chris recognised that it was impossible to continue as chair of the Governance Committee without commanding the confidence of, at the very least, the overwhelming majority of the board and clearly this was no longer the case. Having said that, Chris has made a major (no pun intended!) contribution to English chess over the years for which most of us will be very grateful.

[John Reyes]

Richard Haddrell's account of the AGM has now appeared at http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/bcf.htm

did he put on the report that he votes against stuff?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Yes:

"The CEO's report was accepted by 12 votes to 7. Your Webmaster, perhaps unwisely, asked the meaning of accepting a Report. Getting no answer he made a point of voting against (abstaining might have been more appropriate) on the remaining Reports. Well, what is the answer?"

[Mick Norris]

Time could be saved by not voting on the Reports - most AGMs I have been to have time for questions about the Reports but don't vote on them

Time does appear short enough at ECF meetings, no matter who chairs them

[Roger de Coverly]

Normal service has resumed as far as releasing the Minutes of Board Meetings.

The latest from October 23rd is at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -final.pdf

This precedes the resignation of the Chairman of Governance.

As regards the vacant positions on the Board, they've left it open (in public at least) as regards CEO whether to fill it from within the Board, from outside the Board or leave the position vacant until April.

The Commercial Director might be downgraded to a Commercial Manager with the vacant Director slot used to reinstate the role of non-Executive Chairman. Also they might put forward the idea of increasing the allowed number of directors.

The Strategic Advisor/Planner role is unfilled.

[Gareth T Ellis]

From the ECF site:

Senior vacancies at the ECF
The positions of Chief Executive (vacant following the election at the AGM) and Chairman of the Governance Committee (vacant as a result of the resignation of the incumbent) have been advertised by the Board on the Vacancies at the ECF page.
Any member of the ECF with an interest in filling either of these positions is asked to make this interest known to the Company Secretary by 6th January 2016.

Any takers ?

[Carl Hibbard]

Alex is still not allowed to post here and so unable to comment plus he is part of the nexus.

[Roger de Coverly]

Draft minutes are now at the ECF site.
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -draft.pdf

I think they are recently published.

[Carl Hibbard]

Draft minutes are now at the ECF site.
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -draft.pdf

I think they are recently published.

The plan for the 'other place' has stalled a bit it seems.

[Bill Phillips]

The advertisement on the ECF website

"Senior vacancies at the ECF
The positions of Chief Executive (vacant following the election at the AGM)"

This is such a key position at the ECF that it should not be just a board appointee. In our current structure I believe that the Chief Exec should have their own democratic legitimacy and surely it would be better for us and the eventual post holder that they should be elected at an Extraordinary General Meeting. There is a better chance that someone appointed now with the democratic legitimacy of an EGM will help the ECF avoid another "none of the above" embarrassment at the next AGM.

[Michael Flatt]

Draft minutes are now at the ECF site.
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -draft.pdf

I think they are recently published.

Although the minutes of the AGM are reasonably accurate I wonder whether it is necessary to report in detail which individual Council members spoke and what they are alleged to have said. It gives the impression of being a verbatim transcript of the meeting, which it is not.

What I said about accepting the Pearce report has not been reported entirely accurately. The point that I attempted to make in the meeting was that the Pearce Report contained more than 50 recommendations, each of which would need to be reviewed on its merits.

Given the length of the meeting I believe that Gary has done a good job in writing the minutes. I am not seeking a correction but suggest that in future minutes need not be so detailed in trying to report individuals' comments.

[J T Melsom]

I know that I say some daft things in the pub, but my observations as organiser of the entry from one of the Bucks clubs to the National Club were rather more nuanced than these minutes suggest, whether because the minutes faithfully reflect what Neville said or not (and I'm sure he was referring to dialogue with me rather than Roger in this case). It is clearly easier to organise teams if the event is local, but it can't be local to everybody. I enjoyed the event when it was in High Wycombe, more so than when we participated under the old format, but would not rule out travelling to another venue for a weekend. This year I simply ran out of organisational steam and faced with competition from a county match took the path of least resistance. I think as with Michael Flatts comments this highlights the danger of too much detail in the minutes. I don't think we want an entirely anodyne account, but nor should people seeking corrections put at risk the timely conduct of business at future meetings, and such corrections seem to me inevitable the more that one records.