What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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Charles W. Wood
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:34 am

MR is right, I did put a compliant in about IM Andrew Martin. The reason was simple, both me and Andrew were arguing on this forum yet I had asked that Andrew was involved. He needed to be as he was/is the Manager of Coaching and central part of the whole Chess for Schools project. In that complaint I pointed out we (Andrew and I) should not be fighting but Andrew should get the full facts as they were at that time. At the June ECF Board (as in that e-mail) meeting I did not asked for IM Andrew Martin to be included, I demanded it. There was no other way to be able to get Andrew involved without the board wanting it, an act of desperation and frustration.

Interesting fact is that MR has now revealed a board level complaint which is against his contract with the ECF. I hope no-one else thinks that e-mails to MR will be kept confidential as I didn't post that MR did. Respect has just left the building.
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Nick Thomas
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Nick Thomas » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:07 pm

Charles W. Wood wrote:MR is right, I did put a compliant in about IM Andrew Martin. The reason was simple, both me and Andrew were arguing on this forum yet I had asked that Andrew was involved. He needed to be as he was/is the Manager of Coaching and central part of the whole Chess for Schools project. In that complaint I pointed out we (Andrew and I) should not be fighting but Andrew should get the full facts as they were at that time. At the June ECF Board (as in that e-mail) meeting I did not asked for IM Andrew Martin to be included, I demanded it. There was no other way to be able to get Andrew involved without the board wanting it, an act of desperation and frustration.

Interesting fact is that MR has now revealed a board level complaint which is against his contract with the ECF. I hope no-one else thinks that e-mails to MR will be kept confidential as I didn't post that MR did. Respect has just left the building.
Forgive me Charles W.Wood but what exactly was the complaint directed towards IM Andrew Martin :?: :?

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Charles W. Wood
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:44 pm

Nick Thomas wrote:
Charles W. Wood wrote:MR is right, I did put a compliant in about IM Andrew Martin. The reason was simple, both me and Andrew were arguing on this forum yet I had asked that Andrew was involved. He needed to be as he was/is the Manager of Coaching and central part of the whole Chess for Schools project. In that complaint I pointed out we (Andrew and I) should not be fighting but Andrew should get the full facts as they were at that time. At the June ECF Board (as in that e-mail) meeting I did not asked for IM Andrew Martin to be included, I demanded it. There was no other way to be able to get Andrew involved without the board wanting it, an act of desperation and frustration.

Interesting fact is that MR has now revealed a board level complaint which is against his contract with the ECF. I hope no-one else thinks that e-mails to MR will be kept confidential as I didn't post that MR did. Respect has just left the building.
Forgive me Charles W.Wood but what exactly was the complaint directed towards IM Andrew Martin :?: :?
Hi Nick

My friends call me Chaz. The complaint was about use of this very forum and the argument that had arisen because the then board didn't see fit to involve Andrew. This complaint was more frustration than anything, Andrew had done nothing wrong and the whole issue went away after the ECF Board resigned.
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Nick Thomas » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:30 am

Mmm. Knowing how to correctly address you is making me a bit dizzy!!
Going back to the question; "What did Charles Wood Do?????????????" (thats Charles W. Wood (the W. is my Fathers name, William, the man who influenced everything I do)).
My friends call me Chaz
Anyway, I think you are saying that you made a mistake and wrongly complained about Andrew which was born out of frustration on your part and that he had done nothing wrong....is that about right?

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Charles W. Wood
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:45 am

Nick Thomas wrote:Mmm. Knowing how to correctly address you is making me a bit dizzy!!
Going back to the question; "What did Charles Wood Do?????????????" (thats Charles W. Wood (the W. is my Fathers name, William, the man who influenced everything I do)).
My friends call me Chaz
Anyway, I think you are saying that you made a mistake and wrongly complained about Andrew which was born out of frustration on your part and that he had done nothing wrong....is that about right?
I wasn't a mistake as it highlighted to the THEN ECF Board what needed to happen. I.E.: Get Andrew into the CfS Project. The only thing I wish was that I'd contacted him direct and gone round protocol.

Hence the reason for the thread, it wasn't all sunshine and roses before the current ECF Board was appointed. Everyone seams to think everything was done right, but the truth is not so fluffy.

I got involved with the CfS Project on the 17th December 2007, for it not to go before the ECF Board until June 2008 was mad and was also right where the oil prices started to rocket. Oh and no-one had told Andrew anything with any detail until after that meeting in June.
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:04 am

Charles W. Wood wrote:and was also right where the oil prices started to rocket.
???
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Charles W. Wood
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:08 am

JustinHorton wrote:
Charles W. Wood wrote:and was also right where the oil prices started to rocket.
???
Plastic is made from oil, Haulage uses a lot of oil. Infact the whole project was dependant on oil. People are less likely to give you something for free when it is becoming more expensive.
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Matthew Turner
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Matthew Turner » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:25 am

Charles,
I would be grateful if you could clarify something for me. Who actually appointed you to be in charge of the chess for schools project? Apologies if you have answered this already, but it seems quite important in understanding exactly what has gone on.
I am also somewhat confused as to why you initially reported to Peter Wilson (Marketing). Surely, a Chess For Schools project would normally come under the remit of the Junior Director. Any idea as to why this might have happened?

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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:33 am

Matthew Turner wrote:Charles,
I would be grateful if you could clarify something for me. Who actually appointed you to be in charge of the chess for schools project? Apologies if you have answered this already, but it seems quite important in understanding exactly what has gone on.
I am also somewhat confused as to why you initially reported to Peter Wilson (Marketing). Surely, a Chess For Schools project would normally come under the remit of the Junior Director. Any idea as to why this might have happened?
I thought it should have been under the Junior Director too, but this was my first time dealing with the ECF (Ever) so I didn't ask too many questions. So I ended up as a Marketing Volunteer. At First I thought that being under Peter wouldn't make any difference, until I needed to ask what I could and couldn't do next and try to get other people involved. Chess people are a bit mad round the edges sometimes.
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John Upham
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by John Upham » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:44 am

Charles W. Wood wrote: Plastic is made from oil, Haulage uses a lot of oil. Infact the whole project was dependant on oil. People are less likely to give you something for free when it is becoming more expensive.
I'll take this opportunity to introduce a couple facts into this thread...

The plastics feedstock for the HP pieces was material normally / otherwise destined for landfill.
Its supplier was Chrysler / GM and was sourced from reclaimed / recycled automotive parts.

I suspect that the main cost to HP would be that of tooling and of operating / staffing the injection moulds (molds if you are of a US type nature) rather than obtaining the feedstock. HP were not going to be distributing the sets so the costs for that would lie elsewhere.

I hope I've reported this all correctly : its based on various telephone calls and email with FC.
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Matthew Turner » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:45 am

Charles,
Given you lack of involvement with the ECF, it seems strange that you would be appointed to a post which would potentially have the biggest impact on British chess for a perhaps a century. I think it is important for us, in understanding what has gone on to know who in fact appointed you.

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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:53 am

John Upham wrote:
Charles W. Wood wrote: Plastic is made from oil, Haulage uses a lot of oil. Infact the whole project was dependant on oil. People are less likely to give you something for free when it is becoming more expensive.
I'll take this opportunity to introduce a couple facts into this thread...

The plastics feedstock for the HP pieces was material normally / otherwise destined for landfill.
Its supplier was Chrysler / GM and was sourced from reclaimed / recycled automotive parts.

I suspect that the main cost to HP would be that of tooling and of operating / staffing the injection moulds (molds if you are of a US type nature) rather than obtaining the feedstock. HP were not going to be distributing the sets so the costs for that would lie elsewhere.

I hope I've reported this all correctly : its based on various telephone calls and email with FC.
Fuel was the biggest hit and haulage firms were doing the distributing for free as well, but we were ever mind full of the fact that raw plastic was sat around waiting to be used and its value was going up, the raw plastic was still someone outlay and could still be used if conditions forced the situation. This was becoming a problem at the time. Oil prices slowed everything down to a crawl, haulage firms started to falter, even Fortec were asking for us to wait until prices fell.
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:57 am

Matthew Turner wrote:Charles,
Given you lack of involvement with the ECF, it seems strange that you would be appointed to a post which would potentially have the biggest impact on British chess for a perhaps a century. I think it is important for us, in understanding what has gone on to know who in fact appointed you.
The answer to this may look strange but it is the truth, Peter Wilson and Gerry Walsh were both running the project and I guess it was them who asked me to help. In all fairness I didn't care and never ask so I couldn't tell you definitely who made the decision. All I remember was being asked how I would do then being asked if I would go to London to discuss details with the Sponsor. After that like standard practice in the chess world I found myself with the whole project sat on my desk.
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by John Upham » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:31 am

Charles W. Wood wrote: The answer to this may look strange but it is the truth, Peter Wilson and Gerry Walsh were both running the project and I guess it was them who asked me to help. After that like standard practice in the chess world I found myself with the whole project sat on my desk.
To what extent were the two Ws "running the project"? What did they do apart from send out press releases (apparently without the permission of the Board at that time) and engage in hobnobbing with various MPs? Did they work on the logistics of the project?
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Re: What did Martin Regan Do?????????????

Post by Charles W. Wood » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:39 am

John Upham wrote:
Charles W. Wood wrote: The answer to this may look strange but it is the truth, Peter Wilson and Gerry Walsh were both running the project and I guess it was them who asked me to help. After that like standard practice in the chess world I found myself with the whole project sat on my desk.
To what extent were the two Ws "running the project"? What did they do apart from send out press releases (apparently without the permission of the Board that time) and engage in hobnobbing with various MPs? Did they work on the logistics of the project?
Peter was a constant source I used to double check everything. Gerry did do an incredible amount of running round trying to get the logistic companies on board. This ended up with us getting Fortec in the first place. The rest of the board was not involved as far as I could see so they were literally all I had apart from the Office which did most of the donkey work. That changed in June 2008 when a more structured approach came from the ECF board, combined with an understanding of exactly how big the CfS Project was. Did the W's do a lot of work, compared to me, no, compared to a volunteer, yes.
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