Certificate of Merit

[Matthew Turner]

Carl,
If Friday's launch saw only one School receive sets then it isn't really a trial launch. There is no way that giving sets to one school can in any way be seen as a template to handing out set to 10,000. Chris Majer is not answering questions about Friday's launch, so I can only assumed that it was an absolute shambes. Chris has on a number of occasions staked his reputation on the success of the Chess for Schools Project and stated that he will not stand as CEO in September if the Project doesn't go ahead. Well with Summer holidays fast approaching (we have three weeks left!!) then as far as I can see nothing will happen until September at the earliest, which means Chris is morally bound to fall on his sword. Perhaps after he has done so, he could give us a more honest appraisal of the current state of the project.

[Chris Majer]

Matthew wrote

If Friday's launch saw only one School receive sets then it isn't really a trial launch. There is no way that giving sets to one school can in any way be seen as a template to handing out set to 10,000. Chris Majer is not answering questions about Friday's launch, so I can only assumed that it was an absolute shambes.

Matthew you can believe that if you wish, others may be a bit more sensible.

Chris has on a number of occasions staked his reputation on the success of the Chess for Schools Project and stated that he will not stand as CEO in September if the Project doesn't go ahead. Well with Summer holidays fast approaching (we have three weeks left!!) then as far as I can see nothing will happen until September at the earliest, which means Chris is morally bound to fall on his sword. Perhaps after he has done so, he could give us a more honest appraisal of the current state of the project.

Matthew I will do the honourable thing, and not stand for re-election if the Project doesn't go ahead. Will you do the honourable thing when the Project goes ahead and support both it and the ECF?

[Matthew Turner]

Chris,
I believe that you are a competent CEO and I don't see anyone better qualified to take the helm of the ECF, who would wish to do so. That is not to say that I do not find some of your statements on the Chess for Schools Project very puzzling. I have no desire to see you resign as the CEO of the ECF, but I believed that it was very unlikely that anything significant would happen with the Chess for Schools Project before the Summer holidays. This would seem to force you to step down as CEO. You have now supplied us with information about the event at Wilson School. Let's see what happens. To be honest, I cannot see 30 schools turning up at an event on the 27th June. I would have thought you have missed your opportunity to distribute sets at the Mega-Finals.
I have offered to be a regional base for the distribution of sets and I have and will support the Chess for Schools Project. However, I believe from what I have seen (in the public domain) that there isn't, never has been, and never will be, a Chess for Schools Project (involving Holloid Plastics). If the event happens at Wilson School on the 27th June 2009 with 30 Schools being given 10 free sets I will have to revise my whole perspective on the Project.

[Matthew Turner]

Chris Majer wrote
Matthew you can believe that if you wish, others may be a bit more sensible.

Perhaps you could supply us some details of Friday's 'first launch' to enable us all to be a bit more 'sensible'?

[Carl Hibbard]

Since Chris is without a doubt one of the good guys he should be given more than a little slack!

I too am a doubter and am still more than a little concerned about the total lack of publicity on the matter but am willing to watch this space and pray that this time Holloid come up with the goods...

The secrecy is strange however

[Chris Majer]

Matthew wrote

Perhaps you could supply us some details of Friday's 'first launch' to enable us all to be a bit more 'sensible'?

Caroline wanted to do this “event” alone so there was no ECF presence. Caroline visited the school and delivered ten sets. The teacher was very pleased and is excited about setting up a club in September.
I hadn’t reported on this because I consider the first launch to be the event at Wilson’s school.

[Matthew Turner]

Chris,
Perhaps Caroline was trying to find out how schools would use the sets or what follow would be required? It still seems a little strange to me to describe giving sets to one school as a 'launch', but I suppose we shouldn't get bogged down in semantics. Are we permitted to know which school it was?

[Carl Hibbard]

If the event happens at Wilson School on the 27th June 2009 with 30 Schools being given 10 free sets I will have to revise my whole perspective on the Project.

Where is it known about this 27th June event since I missed any information on that one?

[Matthew Turner]

Carl,
See the Free Chess Sets for Schools topic.

[Carl Hibbard]

Carl,
See the Free Chess Sets for Schools topic.

Thanks, naturally I did look on the ECF and Holloid sites but was unable to get that information

[Carl Hibbard]

Thanks for the interest. We will be progressing to the UAT stage for the end of June to make it available to coincide with the Holloid Plastics public launch.

Any sign of this software/web site yet John, it has now had a couple of months of UAT so is it playable with yet?

[John Upham]

An announcement is pending...

[Matthew Turner]

John Upham has previously commented

"I anticipate we will enter a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase during March - April 2009."
(Chess Sets for Schools Project - Coaching)

He also commented on the nature of his contract with the ECF

"Is this a formal contract, Yes"

"in terms of for a fee and an agreed timescale? yes to both"

Is the project on course to meet the agreed timescales? Is there a penalty if the agreed timescales are not met?

[John Upham]

Is the project on course to meet the agreed timescales?

Is there a penalty if the agreed timescales are not met?

There have been issues obtaining a working payment system in conjunction with the ECF Office. They admit to not having the requisite skill sets in house and have asked for my help. Kirstie Lapworth and I are attempting to get Joomla and its eCommerce plugin to work in the way that we need it to work.
For example, the only payment means right now is PayPal. I have asked for credit card methods to be added. I have no control over this and all I can do is badger....We no longer have a Manager of ICT which does not help.

I have asked for the database export of the schools expressing an interest in Chess for Schools. I still await that data. I guess I asked two months ago. This is crucial. Again, I have asked repeatedly.

The Questions and Answers content for the three levels is being finalised by Ken Coates this week.

On a personal level I lost a month of my life due to severe family health problems and have taken two weeks "holiday" to finish my parts of the project.

My original remit was application development. It has become Project Manager. I have had to devise the entire business process that envelopes the application and persuade the ECF Office of the tasks it needs to perform to make the process work. I did not count on having to do this!

Consequently UAT with children has been delayed until the start of the new term. I think we will use Yateley Manor children to test with.

I fully intend to deliver this application. If I don't then I do not get paid however the amount is so trivial it is not what spurs me on!

[Matthew Turner]

John,
Many thanks for that very comprehensive assessment, it sounds like I shouldn't hold my breathe for your impending announcement