ECF Annual General Meeting 13 October 2012

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Reports from various participants continue to be published.

The NCCU report is at
http://www.nccu.org.uk/report-from-ecf- ... m-metclfe/

Golly

[Richard Bates]

Reports from various participants continue to be published.

The NCCU report is at
http://www.nccu.org.uk/report-from-ecf- ... m-metclfe/

Golly

I would recommend the use of a spell checker, but i'm not sure that it would be up to the task

[John Cox]

Wasn't Rhoof one of the lost lords they went to look for in the Narnia books?

Probably accounts for a lot if that's what some members of Council thought they were voting about.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Wasn't Rhoof one of the lost lords they went to look for in the Narnia books?

Close; it's actually Rhoop.

[Martin Regan]

PC wrote:

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Or pray.

[Richard Bates]

I suppose it could be worse. English chess could be run by the Polish FA or FIFA.

[Roger de Coverly]

Here's how Yorkshire see it.

Only one mark off for spelling.

http://yorkshirechess.org/forums/topic/ecf-agm/

[Andrew Zigmond]

Here's how Yorkshire see it.

Only one mark off for spelling.

http://yorkshirechess.org/forums/topic/ecf-agm/

That report was written by a termite who wasn't at the meeting and got virtually all his information from this thread.

I'm assuming the error was in Alex Holowczak's name, for which I apologise.

[Roger de Coverly]

*RdeC knew this point prior to posting and, because of this, I will likely be censoring him.

I've really no idea what he's talking about. I was playing at the London Classic Open and saw the signs. I thought they were just an "in the know" joke as did most of those playing. It appears they caused a row with a player or two.

[Michael Evans]

Disclosure: I am a clubmate of Bill Metcalfe's.

Proviso: The above does not necessarily mean that I agree with him on any given topic.

I have given some consideration as to how, and indeed if, I should respond to the abuse given to Bill. Rather than say exactly what I think of those dishing it out, which would involve much bad language and get me banned for a million years, I have decided to ask some questions instead:

1. Do you think there may be a reason for Bill's appalling spelling?

2 .Do you spelling experts think Bill's lack of spelling skills more important than his enthusiasm for chess and his organisational skills that are demonstrated by running a club, captaining two teams, organising and running congresses and taking on assorted administrative/representative roles including NCCU President?

3. Are you just a bunch of !@£$%^&* %$^@*&(£* £$%%^^%$ taking a cheap shot, or what?

Bill will never win a spelling contest or a diplomat of the year award. However, he is no fool and please do not treat him as such.

[Roger de Coverly]

Bill will never win a spelling contest or a diplomat of the year award. However, he is no fool and please do not treat him as such.

He is however making decisions on who should be the Directors of the ECF, so if the ECF matters in the slightest, he has more influence than posters on this forum. Like it or not, reports to bodies like the NCCU have become public documents in the Internet age and there would be an expectation, possibly wrongly, that they should be tidied up for grammar, spelling and punctuation before publication.

[John Cox]

1. Do you think there may be a reason for Bill's appalling spelling?

A very fair point. However, in my opinion there is little excuse for failing to spell Adam R's name correctly in such a context and at such a time, given the widespread availability of cut and paste technology. It doesn't show the proper respect.

>

However, he is no fool and please do not treat him as such.

If you say so. I don't know the man, but he certainly comes over to me on the present occasion as a fool, not because he doesn't spell well but because he's made a silly, pompous decision and seeks to justify it with silly, pompous arguments.

[Michael Evans]

>

However, he is no fool and please do not treat him as such.

If you say so. I don't know the man, but he certainly comes over to me on the present occasion as a fool, not because he doesn't spell well but because he's made a silly, pompous decision and seeks to justify it with silly, pompous arguments.

You could call Bill many things (and I often do...) but pompous is not one of them.

Which particular decision do you have in mind?

[Richard Bates]

Not that it's the most important thing, but there is a distinction between criticising somebody for appalling spelling/grammar, and criticising somebody for not taking measures to rectify their problem before publishing reports. Their are a myriad of good excuses for the former, few for the latter. The NCCU representative is presumably aware that he can't spell, and i assume he has a good reason for that (be it dyslexia or whatever). Why then not a) employ a spell-checker and/or b) run the report past somebody who can spell before publication? It wasn't an 'instant reaction' report or a live blog, it was posted 2 or 3 days after the event.

[John Cox]

You could call Bill many things (and I often do...) but pompous is not one of them.

Which particular decision do you have in mind?

Yes, another fair point. On reflection, I should have said 'petulant and thoughtless', and perhaps 'self-important' as well, rather than 'pompous'.

I was also, of course, criticising the decision to vote for none of the above. If Mr Metcalfe is indeed a friend of Mr Mcfarlane and Ms Baines, that makes it worse. People should be particularly careful to be sure they are acting in the best interests of the ECF before they vote with friends who are obviously pursuing personal vendettas.