CFC Member Stats

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Bob wrote:



Yes - but what about others living on Quebec? Does the count of CFC members in Quebec only include CFC life members? Are all others assumed to be FQE members only and not counted in the CFC count?

They are supposed to be counted in the total but they are not directly accessible by the CFC and therefore they don't tend to be counted in the statistics when doing these calculations.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Bob wrote:

Hugh, you have a Life membership with CFC, so you are included.
Your FQE membership is not included in these numbers.

Yes - but what about others living on Quebec? Does the count of CFC members in Quebec only include CFC life members? Are all others assumed to be FQE members only and not counted in the CFC count?

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Does that mean that the only CFC members in Quebec are those very few like me that are members of both?

Yes, that is correct.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: CFC Member Stats

And what happens with a player like me - I am a CFC life member, and have an FQE rating number, though I am not actually an FQE member.

Bob A

Bob, you have a CFC Life membership, so you are included.
Whether or not you have an FQE membership or rating, irrelevant.
You are only counted once.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: CFC Member Stats

How are players living in Quebec treated in these stats? For instance - I am both a CFC and an FQE member. Am I counted twice?

Hugh, you have a Life membership with CFC, so you are included.
Your FQE membership is not included in these numbers.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Does that mean that the only CFC members in Quebec are those very few like me that are members of both?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: CFC Member Stats

It does not include FQE member only players.

It should, though we have to overcome some hurdles to be able to accurately include FQE members.

[Fred McKim]

Re: CFC Member Stats

How are players living in Quebec treated in these stats? For instance - I am both a CFC and an FQE member. Am I counted twice?

It does not include FQE member only players.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: CFC Member Stats

How are players living in Quebec treated in these stats? For instance - I am both a CFC and an FQE member. Am I counted twice?

And what happens with a player like me - I am a CFC life member, and have an FQE rating number, though I am not actually an FQE member.

Bob A

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: CFC Member Stats

How are players living in Quebec treated in these stats? For instance - I am both a CFC and an FQE member. Am I counted twice?

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Ps. Numbers for May 1 were adjusted down to 2,133 after some errors found. Thanks Fred and Lyle.

Membership count for August 1 = 2,190. A nice increase of 57 members in the last 3 months.
We seem to be on a healthy upward trend. :)
Thanks to all the clubs, organizers, volunteers, and supporters across Canada. You make it happen.

The upward trend on memberships is continuing.
Final count as of Sept 1 = 2,207
Then 80 members dropped off the list expiring Sept 1 (2,127)
Then the count climbs during the month,
Count as of today (Sept 19) = 2,196
It looks like Oct 1 will be higher again.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Can't you just run a program that looks at expiry dates. If they expire after say Sept. 1, 2017,then 2018 or never(Life) then you'll have current members.
All the rest would be either expired or one time tournament players.

Should be able to target any/all data fields. Expiry dates and Age are two good points to begin, one time tournament data would also be useful, and to see if any of those players purchased other types of memberships.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: CFC Member Stats

Presumably 1200+ rated players enjoy playing OTB chess. Looking at the TD list again for players rating Over 1200, in the last 5 years (if 1200+ players are potentially club level players) then CFC lost 2601 potential club members, 878 of which never progressed past a provisional rating. If we knew how many rated games and tournaments these people played, or their associated chess clubs, then CFC could work with local chess organizations to get more OTB games in that area. I imagine it takes a couple years to shed a provisional rating due to the lack of rated games.

imho, there are lot of players who are dragged by parents to chess. When they become older their interest change and they have some word on choosing what they want. Who stay in chess advance higher.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: CFC Member Stats

We could do what other organizations do - the "membership fee" is a percentage of the tournament entry fee - e.g. 10%. If the entry fee is $40, the CFC gets $4 from everyone. No more need to process memberships and keep track of expiry dates - if you enter a tournament - you are automatically a CFC member (the organizer will still have to send the CFC the money - but they would be sending the rating fees anyways).

Throwing the name member around has some legal repercussions in the event of reorganizations or changing the structure of the CFC. A good idea in the case of people who pay memberships and who we can contact but not such a good idea in the case of people who have less skin in the game particularly when those people as a separate class could have a veto over any reorganization.

[Brent Golem]

Re: CFC Member Stats

We could do what other organizations do - the "membership fee" is a percentage of the tournament entry fee - e.g. 10%. If the entry fee is $40, the CFC gets $4 from everyone. No more need to process memberships and keep track of expiry dates - if you enter a tournament - you are automatically a CFC member (the organizer will still have to send the CFC the money - but they would be sending the rating fees anyways).

CFC already collects a rating fee per player from tournaments. Membership fee is supposed to incentivize members to play more tournaments to get better value. I'd be interested to see a membership revenue and renewal rates split by CFC rating.

Presumably 1200+ rated players enjoy playing OTB chess. Looking at the TD list again for players rating Over 1200, in the last 5 years (if 1200+ players are potentially club level players) then CFC lost 2601 potential club members, 878 of which never progressed past a provisional rating. If we knew how many rated games and tournaments these people played, or their associated chess clubs, then CFC could work with local chess organizations to get more OTB games in that area. I imagine it takes a couple years to shed a provisional rating due to the lack of rated games.

TD List Over 1200 Players Non-renewals
Expiry - 1200+ - Provisional rating
2016 --- 577 --- 141 (24%)
2015 --- 363 --- 134 (37%)
2014 --- 747 --- 288 (39%)
2013 --- 515 --- 184 (36%)
2012 --- 399 --- 131 (33%)
TOTAL -- 2601 -- 878 (34%)

I'd also be interested to know how much revenue comes in from annual membership of players rated under 1200 (Class E and below). If you abolished the junior fee and made 1 fee for players rated over 1200 of any age, and made membership free for under 1200 players, maybe you could make up the difference ($5-10k?) through a push for more tournaments and rating fees. Or even a Chess Club annual membership for say $100 (?) that gets a Chess club 1 free Club Championship rated tournament, and unlimited weekly rated crosstable submissions could make up that gap. More rated games to keep provisional and club players in the loop and playing OTB chess.

Maybe it wouldn't work, but although the ratings system is stable, the pool of players playing and the frequency at which they play OTB seems low. If the barrier for under 1200 players was reduced maybe they would stay in the CFC pool longer and progress past beginner to a level that they appreciate OTB chess. Right now the CFC fee structure is such that unless you are going to play 2+ tournaments a year (since that's the only way to get rated games) then you won't become a full member. CFC needs to work better with Chess Clubs, not just Tournament Directors, to promote rated OTB games since that is CFC's main service for the vast majority of members. So instead of needing to play 3 tournaments to get 15-20 annual OTB games, you could spread those games out through weekly/monthly rated play to get members more opportunity to get value from their CFC membership.

I guess on the flip side, if there were demand for these club-level rated games by adults it probably would have already happened, and if that's the case then CFC just needs to be happy with the current state of affairs, which is self-sustaining after all. I just don't see how CFC can offer anything else besides it's rating system to members, so my ideas would be focused on increasing use of the CFC rating system.