Pre AGM 2009 Interviews

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Coincidentally I have suggested to an ECF officer that a congress mailing list should be set up where players can voluntarily sign up to receive information on congresses (both by type and location) that are of specific interest to them and I believe that's looked at."

That is a good idea, and gets past the Data Protection Act, as you are giving permission in advance. People do sometimes complain about a tournament passing on its player list to another tournament organiser. I certainly complained when a tournament organiser used a player list from a series of tournaments he used to be involved in, and sent his entry forms to people on it...

[John Philpott]

On Thursday I wrote, in relation to the point raised about the contact details for direct members representatives (or rather the lack thereof)

I accept that the same is not true of John Paines, and will see what can be done to fix this.

I am pleased to report that the Officials' page on the ECF website at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/index.ph ... &Itemid=71 does now quote a postal address, a telephone number and an e-mail address for John.

[benedgell]

"Coincidentally I have suggested to an ECF officer that a congress mailing list should be set up where players can voluntarily sign up to receive information on congresses (both by type and location) that are of specific interest to them and I believe that's looked at."

I sent an email to all county presidents for whom I could find email addresses (about half a dozen I couldn't find one for) asking them to forward that suggestion to club level. That was about 2 weeks ago, and at the moment I've got one person's details with which congresses and so on they'd like to enter.

[Alex Holowczak]

"Coincidentally I have suggested to an ECF officer that a congress mailing list should be set up where players can voluntarily sign up to receive information on congresses (both by type and location) that are of specific interest to them and I believe that's looked at."

I sent an email to all county presidents for whom I could find email addresses (about half a dozen I couldn't find one for) asking them to forward that suggestion to club level. That was about 2 weeks ago, and at the moment I've got one person's details with which congresses and so on they'd like to enter.

It's a good idea, but I think a more efficient way would be to put something on the ECF website, and ask people to e-mail yourself with that information directly. If you tell county presidents, you have to rely on them telling all club presidents, who have to be relied on to tell all club players. There are bound to be a hoard of people missed out. If you can get it on the ECF website too, you may get a few more replies.

[Adam Raoof]

An even slicker way to do this is to either provide an RSS feed or Outlook compatible download for the ECF calendar so that anyone can subscribe to that feed and / or add it to their Outlook calendar.

I believe several major football clubs (I quote one entirely at random below) provide exacly this service for fixtures and it means that should corrections or updates (or cancellations of events) to the calendar take place then they get that information immediately.

http://www.arsenal.com/fixtures/fixture ... scriptions

The ECF Calendar is downloadable (there is a button top right) but you will see if you attempt it, that the feed needs some editing to be useful.

[Paul Buswell]

I sent an email to all county presidents for whom I could find email addresses (about half a dozen I couldn't find one for) asking them to forward that suggestion to club level. That was about 2 weeks ago, and at the moment I've got one person's details with which congresses and so on they'd like to enter.

That was forwarded to Kent clubs by the Kent Secretary on 17 September. I suggest that County Secretaries would be better in future, as Presidents might not be active workers in all counties.

One concern I have is that any notifications I might receive as a player would need to have section grading limits, and your e-mail didn't mention that.

PB

[benedgell]

It's a fair point, and indeed I failed to mention grading limits etc on the original email. I think a lot of tournaments tend to have grading- limited sections rather than just one open, and of course anything specific beyond what I put in the email is more then welcomed, as the more specfic your requirements, the easier it is to find tournaments, matches etc suited to your personal needs.
Thank's Adam and Alex for the suggestions. I'm using these email's as part of a larger trial run- if I get a decent response I can concentrate on ways to improve it, but if I only get a few responses then it obviously isn't a particularly popular idea, and I can leave it there.

[Sean Hewitt]

...but if I only get a few responses then it obviously isn't a particularly popular idea, and I can leave it there.

I don't think that's a reasonable conclusion if that happens. It's at least as likely that the request hasn't been passed on to the players for example.

I would have thought the better distribution channel would be via congress organisers rather than via county presidents. And I think that players need to be directed to a web page so that they can tick the boxes that they are interested in (standard play / rapidplay for example, geographic location, fide ratedness and of course grading eligibility). But none of this can or should be done until

1) There is a database in place structure in place
2) There is a way for organisers to sign up and access the parts of the database that are relevant to them

A trial is a good way to test the system. It could be tested in forumland first for example!

[Stewart Reuben]

Returning to the original string.
It used to be common practice in the BCF, where elections were contested, for the Board to offer their view. Wherever the majority view was not greater than 2/3rds, I always suggested no recommendation be made and this was always agreed to. After all, members of the Board must be prepared to work with the officer concerned. I noticed that the voting always showed the same proportions in both the Board and Council. But the Board was much more representative of Council in the BCF than it is in the ECF.
A good example is where Peter Wilson and Gerry Walsh both stood as FIDE Delegate in 1997. I was asked by a member of Council which candidate I favoured. I responded that it was arguable improper for the chairman to offer an opinion, but that I would have no problem working with either candidate. Council has only a limited time to assess candidates and should welcome an opinion by the Board.
Stewart Reuben

[Laurie Roberts]

I confess I'm confused as to the governance. What is council exactly?

There is an ECF board (comprising both executive and non-executives I assume?), but where does council fit in and who sits on it?

Thanks

Laurie

[John Philpott]

Laurie Roberts wrote

I confess I'm confused as to the governance. What is council exactly?

"Council" is the term for those entitled to attend and vote at General Meetings (AGM, Finance and and EGMs) and who elect the members of the Board. Council comprises the representative members of Constituent Units, Leagues, Congresses and Other Affiliated Organisations, the Direct Members Representatives, the Directors, the FIDE Delegate, the Chairmen of the two Standing Committees, the Trustees, the Patrons, the Past President and the Past Chief Executive,

[Laurie Roberts]

Many thanks. And the board comprises the ECF officers only then?

[John Philpott]

Laurie Roberts wrote

And the board comprises the ECF officers only then?

The Board comprises the ECF Directors - President, Chief Executive, Director of Finance (if only we would find one!), the two Non-Executive Directors and the Executive Directors. The FIDE Delegate is not a member of the Board, nor are the Chairmen of the Standing Committees, although the Chairmen are normally invited to be present at Board meetings in a non-voting capacity. Other Officers of the Federation (e.g. the various Managers, the Publicity Officer, etc.) are also not members of the Board (nor, indeed, members of Council), but will report to a particular Board member, who ultimately has responsibility for their activities.