Certificate of Merit

[David Shepherd]

The D-notice goes beyond the Csfs project and covers the entire forum even to the extent that reasonable English chess questions may not be answered by the office staff. I would suggest that CJ be made aware of this and attempt to overcome this pathetic state of affairs.

Once again we have found things out via the EC Forum rather than any "official" means.

This is a ridiculous state of affairs

The phrase damned if they do, damned if they don't springs to mind ..........

[Stewart Reuben]

John Upham >the CEO who is currently Stewart Reuben<

After meeting me at the office on Wednesday 25 October, John posted the above incorrect statement. Nothing before or since should have led him to believe such a ridiculous idea. As Andrew Farthing wrote, he is the acting CEO as Chris's alternate, as was agreed by the Board some time ago and is shown on the ECF site. Thus there needed be no alert.

I liked David Shepherd's comment. But at least John demonstrated how right I am to write that the EC Forum, still deliberately misnamed the ECF Forum, could never be an official ECFF.

Matthew, I cannot possibly confirm or deny what was said in a private conversation between Caroline Morris and Peter Wilson.

Stewart Reuben

[Matthew Turner]

Stewart,
OK, putting semantics aside. Have free chess sets been distributed to East Sussex and the Isle of Wight? This is a perfectly simple question, which surely in your capacity as Director of Marketing and the person currently in charge of Chess sets for Schools you should be able to answer.

[John Upham]

John Upham >the CEO who is currently Stewart Reuben<

After meeting me at the office on Wednesday 25 October, John posted the above incorrect statement. Nothing before or since should have led him to believe such a ridiculous idea.

Here is part of an email received from SR on Sunday, November 15th 2009 :

Dear Cynthia,
As you know Chris has had to step down temporarily for the rest of this
year because of pressure of business. I have taken over the CfS until
Christmas (a new-fangled festival arranged to celebrate the start of
the Hastings Chess Congress).

John

[Stewart Reuben]

Certainly the Isle of Wight sets are in the IOW, as far as I have been told. Of course I have not seen them there.
I am a bit confused about the East Sussex sets.
Sets are supposed to be reaching Dr Evan Harris's constituency by Friday 4 December.
I have been concentrating on finalising the CoM, which is the title of this thread. With the considerable help of John Upham, Andrew Martin, Kirstie at the office, Ken Coates and Mark Rivlin that should realistically be ready to launch by the end of the year.

John part of my private email of 15 November >As you know Chris has had to step down temporarily for the rest of this year because of pressure of business. I have taken over the CfS until Christmas<
You changed that to CEO, presumably accidentally, thus confusing forum readers.

Stewart Reuben

[Stewart Reuben]

I made a typing error. John and I met productively 25 November at the ECF Office.

Stewart Reuben

[Matthew Turner]

Stewart reuben wrote,
Certainly the Isle of Wight sets are in the IOW, as far as I have been told. Of course I have not seen them there.
I am a bit confused about the East Sussex sets.

So, you don't know if any sets have been distributed in either the Isle of Wight or East Sussex. Many thanks for that update, hopefully you will keep us informed when you know more.

[Carl Hibbard]

I liked David Shepherd's comment. But at least John demonstrated how right I am to write that the EC Forum, still deliberately misnamed the ECF Forum, could never be an official ECFF.

I still don't see the name as a big issue?

However the ECF request that they have moderation level access on this forum (which I declined...) as having more of an impact on that decision

[Roger de Coverly]

However the ECF request that they have moderation level access on this forum (which I declined...) as having more of an impact on that decision

I suppose the Forum could become a member of the ECF (and get a vote on council ). It's best that it should be the "unofficial" voice of the (English or even British) chess playing community even if the views expressed may not reflect the ECF party line. "Official" forums have the danger that if the ECF directors or even Council become divided, then moderation would be used as a weapon to suppress dissenting views.

I think CWW was using the Forum as a means of attracting publicity to "The Project". The problem was that he was apt to shout off on subjects on which he knew little ( such as the format of the British Championships). This involved him in flame wars with other ECF officers and serial feud-mongers. All of this showed up on Google if one searched for "The Project" or "The Sponsor".

[Carl Hibbard]

I think CWW was using the Forum as a means of attracting publicity to "The Project". The problem was that he was apt to shout off on subjects on which he knew little ( such as the format of the British Championships). This involved him in flame wars with other ECF officers and serial feud-mongers. All of this showed up on Google if one searched for "The Project" or "The Sponsor".

Nothing stops Google so official or not official (or approved or not) has very little effect, the ECF has to accept that they should at least acknowledge and answer some of the questions asked rather than ignoring this forum and hoping it goes away

If they don't like certain posts then they (as a member...) are able to either comment or complain or even ask for them to be removed as per anyone else, the catch being that me and Jack then make that call...

Or you can bury your head in the sand of course

[benedgell]

Apologies if I miss anyone from this list but CJ, Chris Majer, Stewart Reuben, Adam Raoof, Lawrence Cooper, Nigel Short, John Philpott, and myself have all responded to comments on here in our roles as ECF Officers/ Directors. Obviously it's up to each individual as to which posts they choose to reply to, and how often they care to post, but certainly in terms of answering any concerns/ questions people may express through this forum, the ECF is greatly improved of late.

[Carl Hibbard]

Apologies if I miss anyone from this list but CJ, Chris Majer, Stewart Reuben, Adam Raoof, Lawrence Cooper, Nigel Short, John Philpott, and myself have all responded to comments on here in our roles as ECF Officers/ Directors. Obviously it's up to each individual as to which posts they choose to reply to, and how often they care to post, but certainly in terms of answering any concerns/ questions people may express through this forum, the ECF is greatly improved of late.

Yes thanks Ben, I should always acknowledge the huge steps in this area and thank all of the members you mention!

If I could just get ANY information from ANYONE on the CFS project that would be of help as it should still be the number one priority for the ECF both in marketing and publicity?

But no silence

[Kevin Thurlow]

"If I could just get ANY information from ANYONE on the CFS project that would be of help as it should still be the number one priority for the ECF both in marketing and publicity?"

I've probably said this before, but I think Holloid have insisted that only they can market/publicise the project. If this is the case it is unfortunate.

[Matthew Turner]

Now that the recovery plan has been agreed with the government, it would perhaps be nice to have some information about that too. What is the ECF's vision for the future?

[John Upham]

What is the ECF's vision for the future?

Orange