ECF AGM 2021

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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Michael Farthing
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Michael Farthing » Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:47 am

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:37 pm
Meanwhile, Tim Wall is busy maligning Michael Farthing on Twitter. During this morning he took time out to sneer at this Forum and to allege that Mike Truran couldn't be trusted to keep his agreement with Malcolm Pein.
Ooh is he? I don't do twitter. What's he saying? [It's OK I won't start a flame. Just curious]

Alex McFarlane
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Alex McFarlane » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:07 am

Scandalous that
@ecfchess
Chair of Council Michael Farthing has denied access to the ECF AGM to an independent chess journalist,
@jeupham
, claiming that the proceedings of the meeting are private. There is no such regulation.


Your wish is my command - though I don't use Twitter either.

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Michael Farthing
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Michael Farthing » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:27 am

Thanks Alex! How disappointingly tame :-(

NickFaulks
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:27 am

Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:45 am
Word of caution: That is a provisional figure. The tellers were working in great difficulty and made it clear there may have been some double counting and 380 does seem a very high vote, there being 394 votes in total for casting.
Fortunately, you could not think of two tellers more likely to work through it all scrupulously and reach the true result.

Regarding double counting, I believe my own experience was not unique. I filled out the voting form on the website, submitted it and then there was a spinning wheel until eventually I baled out and tried again. When the smoke cleared I received confirmatory emails suggesting that I had cast more votes than I held.

I remember a similar case. A friend was desperate to see a Crystal Palace promotion playoff match and, like half of South London, logged on to the site at 8am. It was slow and repeatedly crashed at the very final stage - he gave up in fury and misery around lunchtime. He discovered later that day that he was the proud owner of fourteen pairs of tickets.
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David Sedgwick
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:40 am

Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:27 am
Thanks Alex! How disappointingly tame :-(
My main point was intended to be that this tweet was made during the meeting. I like to think that a responsible representative wouldn't have taken time out during the proceedings to attack the Chair, even in a "disappointingly tame" fashion.

For the record, I responded on Twitter as follows:

"On the contrary, Michael Farthing has behaved entirely properly and refused to succumb to pressure. It is for Council as a whole to decide whether it wishes to make its proceedings public, not for @timpeterwall."
.

David Sedgwick
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:43 am

Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:45 am
Word of caution: That is a provisional figure. The tellers were working in great difficulty and made it clear there may have been some double counting and 380 does seem a very high vote, there being 394 votes in total for casting. I would also like to add my very great appreciation of their efforts. They coped cheerfully and competently with a great number of problems and it was clear that they were working very conscientiously, unstintingly and in total cooperation with each other. At the point where I had to leave for my train they were seeking to ensure that all paper information had been transferred accurately to spreadsheet. As the building would be closing it was then agreed that they would jointly agree the spreadsheet data by email contact (or otherwise).
I'm not seeking to put any pressure on you or on the tellers, but can you give any indication as to when the official results of the elections and of the other card votes might be available?

NickFaulks
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:55 am

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:40 am
I like to think that a responsible representative wouldn't have taken time out during the proceedings to attack the Chair, even in a "disappointingly tame" fashion.
Better that than his previous practice of disrupting the voting process by overwriting the link in the chat to the voting form with one to a Blackadder video clip.
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Alex McFarlane
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Alex McFarlane » Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:12 am

NickFaulks wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:55 am
Better that than his previous practice of disrupting the voting process by overwriting the link in the chat to the voting form with one to a Blackadder video clip.
Come on Nick, that was quite funny and something any 14 year old would have been proud to do!!

Mick Norris
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Mick Norris » Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:31 am

Alex McFarlane wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:07 am
Scandalous that
@ecfchess
Chair of Council Michael Farthing has denied access to the ECF AGM to an independent chess journalist,
@jeupham
, claiming that the proceedings of the meeting are private. There is no such regulation.


Your wish is my command - though I don't use Twitter either.
Independent chess journalist :lol:
Any postings on here represent my personal views

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by John Reyes » Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:43 am

Alex McFarlane wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:07 am
Scandalous that
@ecfchess
Chair of Council Michael Farthing has denied access to the ECF AGM to an independent chess journalist,
@jeupham
, claiming that the proceedings of the meeting are private. There is no such regulation.


Your wish is my command - though I don't use Twitter either.
Better then this tweet

Just home and seen this on Twitter

1/2: I plan to vote for ‘None of the Above’ instead of Mike Truran as CEO at today’s @ecfchess AGM, as I remain very sceptical that Mike will implement his agreement with Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) to move the ECF towards a more pro-active policy of growth & development.

2/2: While I respect the decision by Malcolm Pein (@TelegraphChess) to try to seek common ground, I’m afraid that Mike Truran’s record (no progress on fundraising or government recognition, plus a clear reluctance today develop the game beyond the @4NCL) speak volumes. @ecfchess
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

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Michael Farthing
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Michael Farthing » Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:03 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:43 am
Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:45 am
Word of caution: That is a provisional figure. The tellers were working in great difficulty and made it clear there may have been some double counting and 380 does seem a very high vote, there being 394 votes in total for casting. I would also like to add my very great appreciation of their efforts. They coped cheerfully and competently with a great number of problems and it was clear that they were working very conscientiously, unstintingly and in total cooperation with each other. At the point where I had to leave for my train they were seeking to ensure that all paper information had been transferred accurately to spreadsheet. As the building would be closing it was then agreed that they would jointly agree the spreadsheet data by email contact (or otherwise).
I'm not seeking to put any pressure on you or on the tellers, but can you give any indication as to when the official results of the elections and of the other card votes might be available?
Well David, you should know by now that I make pessimistic forecasts with things like this so as always to meet them - so shall we say 31.3.22?
Really, I don't want to set a deadline. I want the tellers to work without any pressure, when they feel alert and continue until they are happy they have the right numbers, so I've stressed to them that I have no deadline. We have problems of potential duplicates because several delegates in attendance sought to use the online voting system which failed under pressure. This left them unsure if their votes had got though and they submitted paper ballots as a precaution. This was done openly and without any intent to deceive but has left the tellers with a difficult unravelling task that could not be completed yesterday as the building was closing.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:09 pm

Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:03 pm
I want the tellers to work without any pressure, when they feel alert and continue until they are happy they have the right numbers, so I've stressed to them that I have no deadline.
Presumably we're talking about the uncontested elections where it's a vote for the candidate against "not this candidate" and the contested election for Governance. Were any of the motions put to an as yet undeclared card vote?

Angus French
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Angus French » Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:20 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:09 pm
Michael Farthing wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:03 pm
I want the tellers to work without any pressure, when they feel alert and continue until they are happy they have the right numbers, so I've stressed to them that I have no deadline.
Presumably we're talking about the uncontested elections where it's a vote for the candidate against "not this candidate" and the contested election for Governance. Were any of the motions put to an as yet undeclared card vote?
There were two non-election card votes referred to earlier in the thread:
Mike Gunn wrote:
Sat Oct 16, 2021 3:11 pm
... but there will be card votes on the NED report and Govrenance Report later in the meeting.
Breakdowns (showing how all votes were cast) should be published for the non-election card votes.

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Michael Farthing
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Michael Farthing » Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:30 pm

There were two card votes and results of these were announced at the meeting but with the proviso that they were preliminary, and they still are. This is for the same reason as already described. I believe 1 has been 'leaked' here. This figure will fairly certainly change but that is unlikely to affect the outcome. I don't want to publish the second provisional figure here but I won't stop speaking to anyone who does. The final figures for card votes will go to Council members first and then be publshed on the website but not necessarily at the same time as for the election figures.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: ECF AGM 2021

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Oct 17, 2021 1:01 pm

"I’m afraid that Mike Truran’s record (no progress on fundraising or government recognition,"

Three points,

One - fundraising is not easy (and I'm not accepting that MT has done nothing.) And you only want money from certain sources.

Two - as I have said many times, it is incrediby unlikely government recognition will happen. Why on earth should it? I doubt it even happened when Bonar Law was Prime Minister.

And Three, Michael Farthing is being placid and giving straight answers, what's that all about?

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