AGM : 15 October 2011

[Roger de Coverly]

Fingers crossed for a proper ITT (Invitation to Tender).

What level of costs are likely to be incurred? The original assertion in the March paper is that membership would be cheaper to run than Game Fee.

[Paul Cooksey]

Fingers crossed for a proper ITT (Invitation to Tender).

What level of costs are likely to be incurred? The original assertion in the March paper is that membership would be cheaper to run than Game Fee.

I have a few friends who'd be happy to quote for a full SAP e-commerce implementation, but they might be outside the ECFs budget .

Andrew Farthing declined to be drawn on who he'd been talking to, and what cost per transaction would be involved. I guess the ECF will look at things like, for example, WorldPay

[Carl Hibbard]

Andrew Farthing declined to be drawn on who he'd been talking to, and what cost per transaction would be involved.

I bet he did, there isn't a cheap way to do it and I am surprised there was not more discussion before the membership plan was adopted

[Angus French]

Fingers crossed for a proper ITT (Invitation to Tender).

What level of costs are likely to be incurred? The original assertion in the March paper is that membership would be cheaper to run than Game Fee.

Andrew F stated that the suppliers he'd talked to tend to take a cut from each financial transaction but didn't (unless I missed it) elaborate further. I would guess the charge would be more than a Paypal charge as the supplier will be providing a IT system as well as the means to transfer money electronically.

I wonder whether there would be an extra charge to adapt the chosen system to meet the ECF's particular requirements?

Off course, much more that an ITT will be required. In particular, the whole thing will need to be project managed and will need a dedicated project manager. The ECF will need to ensure that it doesn't repeat its experience with the CoM implementation.

BTW, is the ECF yet in a position to state what the requirements are for an IT membership system? [edit: irrelevant bit removed]

[Adam Raoof]

Fingers crossed for a proper ITT (Invitation to Tender).

What level of costs are likely to be incurred? The original assertion in the March paper is that membership would be cheaper to run than Game Fee.

I have a few friends who'd be happy to quote for a full SAP e-commerce implementation, but they might be outside the ECFs budget .

Andrew Farthing declined to be drawn on who he'd been talking to, and what cost per transaction would be involved. I guess the ECF will look at things like, for example, WorldPay

Thanks Paul. There is software out there which already does everything a chess membership scheme needs, but they want a percentage of the turnover. I would think carefully about that. I think what we decide upon depends on other factors as well - I think membership should run from the date when you join, but I think the Board is minded to have a fixed membership 'season'. This will certainly place a heavy load on the office and the software! It will also cause problems calulating the pay-per-play fees if someone joins later in the year and we give them a membership which runs from October, and they have played a few events in the mean time. The whole thing can be very simple.

We will also be putting out to tender the redesign and management of The British Championships website, inviting separate bids for an online payment system for the British which would have to take account of the unique format of the Festival and all the events, and a system that will integrate with pairing software and the new grading database.

[John Upham]

What level of costs are likely to be incurred? The original assertion in the March paper is that membership would be cheaper to run than Game Fee.

Does Stephen Ashcroft (ECF Manager of IT in case you had forgotten) frequent this place?

I assume that he has been busy behind the scenes evaluating the options and talking with vendors?

[Carl Hibbard]

Does Stephen Ashcroft (ECF Manager of IT in case you had forgotten) frequent this place?

I assume that he has been busy behind the scenes evaluating the options and talking with vendors?

Even funnier

[Paul Cooksey]

Does Stephen Ashcroft (ECF Manager of IT in case you had forgotten) frequent this place?

I assume that he has been busy behind the scenes evaluating the options and talking with vendors?

He was name checked by Andrew Farthing, but appears he has not progressed beyond auditing current systems.

Andrew Farthing declined to be drawn on who he'd been talking to, and what cost per transaction would be involved.

I bet he did, there isn't a cheap way to do it and I am surprised there was not more discussion before the membership plan was adopted

Yes and no. It doesn't need to be cheap to cost less than the ECF currently spends collecting revenue.

I wouldn't want to underestimate cost and complexity, this kind of thing keeps lots of us in employment. But on the other hand, I think the ECF are at the packaged solution end of the market, as Adam just commented. We shouldn't have the famous open-ended government IT projects in mind.

[Angus French]

There is software out there which already does everything a chess membership scheme needs

And this includes everything that an ECF membership system will need?

Your assertion implies that you've already drawn up a definition of the requirements. Would you care to publish this?

[John Philpott]

John Upham wrote

Was this (Cricklewood United) the team supported by The Goodies? I assumed it was fictional or is it more akin to Fly Fishing by JR Hartley?

I cannot specifically remember, but the Goodies certainly wrote

One, two, three, four, where's the place that we adore?
Doin' it right and doin' it good, we're all going to Cricklewood

[CHORUS]
Do the Cricklewood Shakedown (Cricklewood Shakedown)
Do the Cricklewood Shake (Brrrrr)
Do the Cricklewood Shakedown (Cricklewood Shakedown)
Do the Cricklewood Shake

Oh would you like to shake your cares away?
(Yes I would, yes I would, yes I would)
Shakin' on down where the people are bright and gay
(Cricklewood, Cricklewood, Cricklewood)
They've a natural sense of rhythm (Doin' it, doin' it)
All they simply do is stand, and then they …

[REPEAT CHORUS]

The Cricklewood United in action today at Wanstead Flats is a relatively new team, now in its third season in the London Football Sunday AM Premier Division. The match finished in a 1 - 1 draw, with Charlie Graham heading an 85th minute equaliser for Ainslie Wood from a Dean Elsdon cross.

[Mick Norris]

Marketing Director: Tim Woolgar 95. Not this candidate 89, Abstentions 6.

Hard to believe

Does this mean I can ask the Director in question to stop sending me spam that I never asked for then?

I love an irony, so I wonder if the S&B blog contributed to Mr Woolgar's election?

The honourable delegate for Manchester asked S&Bs question about recognition by Sport England. The Marketing Director responded that he had preliminary discussions with Sport England and was informed that it was necessary to have two years certified accounts. Chess Boxing did not have this, but he felt the effort was justified, and will complete the requirement this year.

My impression was that the answer gave him some credibility, and he was not pushed further. A good answer to S&Bs question may have helped him over the line in a close vote

(I checked, this requirement is indeed in Sport Englands Recognition Policy)

To be precise, he said that he first spoke to Sport England 2 years ago, and they explained the process which he has been following and recognition will follow in 6 months

If this turns out to be untrue, he will need to resign his position, as he misled the meeting yesterday

He was so poor at marketing himself, I wrongly thought it was obvious to all he was unsuitable, and to my regret did not press the matter further

Just why no-one else said anything, I don't know

Paul, you should have introduced yourself to me, apologies for not knowing you were there

[Mick Norris]

The honourable delegate for Manchester asked S&Bs question about recognition by Sport England. The Marketing Director responded that he had preliminary discussions with Sport England and was informed that it was necessary to have two years certified accounts. Chess Boxing did not have this, but he felt the effort was justified, and will complete the requirement this year.

My impression was that the answer gave him some credibility, and he was not pushed further. A good answer to S&Bs question may have helped him over the line in a close vote

(I checked, this requirement is indeed in Sport Englands Recognition Policy)

I had this impression as well (I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the AGM as the representative of the EDCA [English Deaf Chess Association], but was also noting some personal observations of my own). The answer certainly seemed credible at the time. There was also (brief) discussion after Tim Woolgar had left the room preceding the vote, when some took the opportunity to speak more forcefully than they might have done had the candidate been present. This was the only part of the meeting where I was mandated to use my discretion for the one vote I held, and unlike the other votes it did turn out to be close.

I did take notes during the meeting, but don't really want to say more until I've first reported back to those I was representing, and until the public minutes are published (I assume they are published). Though if the public minutes may be a long time arriving, I may post something sooner (on various personal observations).

Incidentally, who was there? I recognised some faces (managed to note everyone sat up front on the somewhat crowded table), and was able to guess who some were in the audience by what they were saying based on what they've said here! But many I'd obviously never seen before (arriving a few minutes late didn't help there). Locations in the room would help - I think I remember where most of the more vocal people were sitting.

Chris, sorry I missed you too

the Welcome Collection was shut when i got there at 6 pm after the meeting, but thanks nonetheless for the recommendation

[Roger de Coverly]

but I think the Board is minded to have a fixed membership 'season'.

Do voters at Council ever read what they are voting for? You just voted for a fixed 1st September to 31st August membership year with only the amounts to be filled in at the April council meeting.

Provided That with effect from 1st September 2012 all Membership Fees shall cover the period from 1st September until 31st August in the following year (subject to the discretion of the Direct Membership Officer to extend the period of membership for a new member who has joined so as to play in the British Championship to cover that event and the period thereafter to 31st August in the following year) and any Direct Member whose existing membership expires after 31st August 2012 and whose category of membership is closed as from that date shall be entitled to a pro rata reduction in his or her new membership category from the date of such expiry until the following 31st August in accordance with guidance published from time to time by the Board.

[Sean Hewitt]

To be precise, he [Woolgar] said that he first spoke to Sport England 2 years ago, and they explained the process which he has been following and recognition will follow in 6 months

If this turns out to be untrue, he will need to resign his position, as he misled the meeting yesterday

He was so poor at marketing himself, I wrongly thought it was obvious to all he was unsuitable, and to my regret did not press the matter further

Just why no-one else said anything, I don't know

With so many people preferring none of the above to Mr Woolgar, his position must already be very dicey. Malcolm Pein declined the non-exec position last year (after the election cock up) on the grounds that if so many preferred no candidate to him then his position was untenable. Woolgar should do likewise.

[David Robertson]

On Planet PR, six months is eternity. And the truth is whatever gets you through the night