Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix Dumont
I think I'm going to play in the Montreal Fossils' Championship, even if I'm 16.

We'll see about that ...

I think we'll have a one-page website; nothing but text. If you succeed in finding it, you're not allowed to play!

And another thing: no digital clocks allowed.

And desciptive notation will be mandatory - with adjournments after five hours of play :)

Will the site be the NDG Community Centre (where I played some of my early tournaments - next to the archery room, through which you had to pass to get in/out of the building. No incidents - but we always checked for arrows in flight before passing through :) The fencing room was much larger - and you could try out some of the headgear hanging on the wall :) )

[Neil Sullivan]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

Will the site be the NDG Community Centre (where I played some of my early tournaments - next to the archery room, through which you had to pass to get in/out of the building. No incidents - but we always checked for arrows in flight before passing through :) The fencing room was much larger - and you could try out some of the headgear hanging on the wall :) )

We'll be sure to pick an appropriately decrepit spot to play. It's too bad they revamped the downtown YMCA.

What else can we do to be authentic? I'm not sure I can fit into my 70's wardrobe anymore. (Nor would I want to, but that's another matter altogether)

Maybe we can have a blitz trmt. as a side event. We'll use the old 10-second buzzer from the Alekhine CC.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

OUCH! As the kids say Hugh, I think you just got pwned. :D

Wow. I'm astonished at the turn this thread has taken... (perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised, but I don't believe I personally know any of the organizers).

This debate(?) about the music and the other aspects of the website reminds me of users who first encountered "publishing" software and immediately started publishing a "newsletter" that used every font and every font size and embellishment known to the software. Then they discovered 'columns' and switched to two-column format because it looked 'cool'.

Damn the content; concentrate on the presentation layer!

lol (and no, I am not describing any of the CFC activities)

[Neil Sullivan]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

This debate(?) about the music and the other aspects of the website reminds me of users who first encountered "publishing" software and immediately started publishing a "newsletter" that used every font and every font size and embellishment known to the software. Then they discovered 'columns' and switched to two-column format because it looked 'cool'

Kerry, Thank you for this input from someone of your generation. We are sorry for the small problems this may have caused you.

(Dang! That may become my new favorite saying) :D

[Ben Daswani]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

I considered responding to your post earlier but decided not to because I don't actually care how successful your tournament is. However, now you are being a clown herb, and it is my duty to call you on such an egregious offence.

Your website is probably the stupidest thing of all-time. I'm 22 - I know, not young enough that I still wet myself like your supposed target demographic - and I can assure you that the fact that young people like video games does not ensure that we like lousy background music emanating from our speakers without warning.

I don't know how old you are, but if you're really trying to target young people, why did you not take into account the fact that YOUNG PEOPLE VIRTUALLY ALWAYS HAVE MUSIC PLAYING WHEN THEY ARE SURFING (not literally, guys, I mean surfing as in browsing) THE INTERNET?

When I initially opened this thread, I clicked on your link. Immediately, annoying racecar noises disrupted the eclectic fushion stylings of Clann Zu. This was extremely annoying, because Clann Zu own, and stupid racecar sounds do not own AT ALL.

Thankfully, I noticed some crap on the side that something like "Evite Intro". I don't know what Evite means, but my overwhelming ingenuity enabled me to discern that clicking on this text would make the racecar sounds go away.

Here, I found myself led to a whole new brand of crap: a picture of a chess board with shitty music playing in the background. Not even shitty racecar sounds, but actual SHITTY MUSIC, WHICH WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DISRUPTING THE MUSIC THAT I, LIKE THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO GREW UP IN THE "INTERNET AGE", HAD ALREADY SELECTED TO ACCOMPANY MY WEBSITE-BROWSING EXPERIENCE. Was there a way to shut off the music? Perhaps a sweet, turbo-charged music manager dropped down via some bodacious, totally righteous animation. I DO NOT KNOW because, as I was not able to mute your website's aurally offensive background murmur IMMEDIATELY, I closed the tab.

Let me enlighten you with regards to children. I know a lot about children, because I recently was one, and also because I employ many of them at my factory. Children are typically naive, gullible, impulsive, irrational and preferentially challenged, but they are NOT idiots. The Internet has produced a generation of twelve year olds with the politics/philosophy survey course-esque pseudo-intellect and unabashed cynicism of my generation's fifteen year olds. No child is going to see your website and think, "Cool, playing chess is like driving a racecar!" They will think, "Why is this weak marketing attempt disrupting my Abandoned Pools album? I AM TRYING TO BE DEPRESSED HERE!"

Furthermore, recent studies (and common sense) demonstrate that children tend to have a GREATER UNDERSTANDING of current technology than older generations do. To paraphrase Paris Hilton, your website is sooooo 1997. While I'm sure the "Vroom Vroom" intro took a lot of time and research (i.e. travelling back in time to conduct focus groups with the children of the early 90s) to produce, the unfortunate reality is that your annoying, cumbersome and graphically antiquated website layout is not only a hassle to navigate but viscerally infuriating.

You're right when you say that you need to adapt to the current generation and cite Facebook as an example of a company that has done this. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON FACEBOOK? You go on Facebook, and BAM. You've got some updates on the main screen, a link to your Inbox at the top, some friend requests on the side, AND NO CHEESY GRAPHICS, STUPID SOUND EFFECTS, LENGTHY INTROS OR OTHER SUCH FATUOUS MARKETING TECHNIQUES.

I strongly implore that you FIX YOUR CRAP.

[Benoit St-Pierre]

Usability Matters More than Cool Design

We must adapt to the new world and to the new younger generations coming soon in our tournaments. Our Championship is targeting women, youth and professionnals to help solve a participation problem in Quebec. This category of users are used to a Facebook-like presentation with pictures and details.

Trees and flowers are not necessary neither on a residential street, we must agree, but they should not be removed for reasons we could debate for hours and among those reasons women and children are an important factor. As long as the road is still there everybody can make it way throught
it even if they don't like flowers.

[....]

There is a virtual button "SON" on the left upper side of the screen to shut the sound off. There should be a physical one too on the keyboard on the top right.

Splashing music is simply wrong. See for instance :

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20041206.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530_comments.html

If you read a bit about usability, you will certainly realize that your "cool" website goes against everything a usable and efficient website should do. Lots of chess players spend lots of time in front of a computer : most won't be that much impressed by cheesy lounge music. Please don't let your website be ruled by the instrospections of a graphical designer !

[Championnat de Montréal]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

I considered responding to your post earlier but decided not to because I don't actually care how successful your tournament is. However, now you are being a clown herb, and it is my duty to call you on such an egregious offence.

Your website is probably the stupidest thing of all-time. I'm 22 - I know, not young enough that I still wet myself like your supposed target demographic - and I can assure you that the fact that young people like video games does not ensure that we like lousy background music emanating from our speakers without warning.

I don't know how old you are, but if you're really trying to target young people, why did you not take into account the fact that YOUNG PEOPLE VIRTUALLY ALWAYS HAVE MUSIC PLAYING WHEN THEY ARE SURFING (not literally, guys, I mean surfing as in browsing) THE INTERNET?

When I initially opened this thread, I clicked on your link. Immediately, annoying racecar noises disrupted the eclectic fushion stylings of Clann Zu. This was extremely annoying, because Clann Zu own, and stupid racecar sounds do not own AT ALL.

Thankfully, I noticed some crap on the side that something like "Evite Intro". I don't know what Evite means, but my overwhelming ingenuity enabled me to discern that clicking on this text would make the racecar sounds go away.

Here, I found myself led to a whole new brand of crap: a picture of a chess board with shitty music playing in the background. Not even shitty racecar sounds, but actual SHITTY MUSIC, WHICH WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DISRUPTING THE MUSIC THAT I, LIKE THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO GREW UP IN THE "INTERNET AGE", HAD ALREADY SELECTED TO ACCOMPANY MY WEBSITE-BROWSING EXPERIENCE. Was there a way to shut off the music? Perhaps a sweet, turbo-charged music manager dropped down via some bodacious, totally righteous animation. I DO NOT KNOW because, as I was not able to mute your website's aurally offensive background murmur IMMEDIATELY, I closed the tab.

Let me enlighten you with regards to children. I know a lot about children, because I recently was one, and also because I employ many of them at my factory. Children are typically naive, gullible, impulsive, irrational and preferentially challenged, but they are NOT idiots. The Internet has produced a generation of twelve year olds with the politics/philosophy survey course-esque pseudo-intellect and unabashed cynicism of my generation's fifteen year olds. No child is going to see your website and think, "Cool, playing chess is like driving a racecar!" They will think, "Why is this weak marketing attempt disrupting my Abandoned Pools album? I AM TRYING TO BE DEPRESSED HERE!"

Furthermore, recent studies (and common sense) demonstrate that children tend to have a GREATER UNDERSTANDING of current technology than older generations do. To paraphrase Paris Hilton, your website is sooooo 1997. While I'm sure the "Vroom Vroom" intro took a lot of time and research (i.e. travelling back in time to conduct focus groups with the children of the early 90s) to produce, the unfortunate reality is that your annoying, cumbersome and graphically antiquated website layout is not only a hassle to navigate but viscerally infuriating.

You're right when you say that you need to adapt to the current generation and cite Facebook as an example of a company that has done this. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON FACEBOOK? You go on Facebook, and BAM. You've got some updates on the main screen, a link to your Inbox at the top, some friend requests on the side, AND NO CHEESY GRAPHICS, STUPID SOUND EFFECTS, LENGTHY INTROS OR OTHER SUCH FATUOUS MARKETING TECHNIQUES.

I strongly implore that you FIX YOUR CRAP.

Thank you for this funny dramatization of some aspects of our beautiful website. We could do this exercise for every website and any kind of car.

As you noted our website is bilingual at 95% to reach as much people as possible. Some the players descriptions are not translated yet but it will be done to allow you to know each of them.

Take a look everyday for the new faces since we will try to have a picture for most of the players. The main goal of the pictures is to convince kids, parents, girls and women that this Championship is for them too and that they will not be an exception.

N.B.: We added the work "skip" on the intro movie.

Thank you for your visit

[Championnat de Montréal]

Re: Usability Matters More than Cool Design

Splashing music is simply wrong. See for instance :

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20041206.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530_comments.html

If you read a bit about usability, you will certainly realize that your "cool" website goes against everything a usable and efficient website should do. Lots of chess players spend lots of time in front of a computer : most won't be that much impressed by cheesy lounge music. Please don't let your website be ruled by the instrospections of a graphical designer !

This beautiful website will be the same for the next years. We will not insult or bring in justice people that did it for free. We can not ask for a refund neither. :)

By the way, did you like our posters?

Click here:
Montreal Open Chess Championship Poster

You may print it to bring in tournaments or Chess Cafe.

Thanks

[Benoit St-Pierre]

Now Who's Talking

This beautiful website will be the same for the next years. We will not insult or bring in justice people that did it for free. We can not ask for a refund neither. :)

These are strange assertions, if one is correct in suspecting that the one who is allegedly saying them is M. Carl Bilodeau :

1. the Ahuntsic Chess Club is organizing the event and M. Bilodeau does not belong to this chess club's comitee, and so can't decide all by himself what will be decided next year;

2. if we are to compare the championship site with his company's, www.recrunet.ca, M. Bilodeau is the one who decided about its design, and so is talking about himself in the third person.

[Benoit St-Pierre]

Hijacking Customers' Systems is not Cool

The music has been bought from a profesionnal company that make web contents for kids and this is the reason for its huge success. It is a profesionnal content. It has been picked because it is dynamic and creates a good impression of our Championship.

This claim seems baffling, since it goes against everything one can learn from the field of usability :

http://completeusability.com/regrett...kground-music/
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4...d-music/481287
http://www.redalkemi.com/articles/we...ity-tips-1.php
http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives...music-already/
http://www.zolmedia.com/TechVille/20...ith-Music.aspx
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-co...snt-need-music
http://www.usability.com.au/resources/flash.cfm
http://evolt.org/node/8968

It would be easy to cite more evidence about the overall opinion of people that study how to improve users' experience. But what would be interesting is to have the professionals M. Bilodeau is referring to provide us with some metrics backing up their claim. That would be in their interest too, since they would even be able to revolutionize an whole research field and become very rich along the way. That would be in their interest even if the professionals in question came out to be M. Bilodeau's own business partners.

[Carl Bilodeau]

Re: Hijacking Customers' Systems is not Cool

This claim seems baffling, since it goes against everything one can learn from the field of usability :

http://completeusability.com/regrett...kground-music/
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4...d-music/481287
http://www.redalkemi.com/articles/we...ity-tips-1.php
http://www.bestwebimage.com/archives...music-already/
http://www.zolmedia.com/TechVille/20...ith-Music.aspx
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-co...snt-need-music
http://www.usability.com.au/resources/flash.cfm
http://evolt.org/node/8968

It would be easy to cite more evidence about the overall opinion of people that study how to improve users' experience. But what would be interesting is to have the professionals M. Bilodeau is referring to provide us with some metrics backing up their claim. That would be in their interest too, since they would even be able to revolutionize an whole research field and become very rich along the way. That would be in their interest even if the professionals in question came out to be M. Bilodeau's own business partners.

My family quit the Championship.

Ma famille a quitté le Championnat et je l'ai annoncé au comité. Prend tes médicaments.

Tu dépasses les bornes espèce de con en attaquant indirectement une compagnie qui n'a pris aucune position. Fait attention à ce que tu diras d'une société privée qui a des clients et des employés. Cette compagnie ne sera pas de retour l'an prochain.

http://www.google.ca/language_tools?hl=an

[Championnat de Montréal]

Re: Montreal Female Champion 2009 and WGM announcement

Visit us at Twitter : http://twitter.com/championnat

Here is a tweet today:

Base on our statistic computations, we may expect from 166 to 248 players on the Montreal Open Chess Championship in september.

Montreal Open Chess Championship team

[Benoit St-Pierre]

Again, but with a Carmanesque spirit

Ma famille a quitté le Championnat et je l'ai annoncé au comité. Tu dépasses les bornes espèce de con en attaquant des compagnies qui investissent. Je ne serai pas de retour l'an prochain.

For those who can't read french :

<<

My family won't take part in the Championship and I told the organizing comity about it. You fool [that's me] are going above the limits by attacking companies that invest. I won't be back next year.

[M. Carl Bilodeau, <del>president</del>, I mean director of www.recrunet.ca]

>>

This declaration raises many interesting points by :

1. contradicting what has been said yesterday night in the name of the comity;
2. repeating in the first sentence yet again what was already been said and known;
3. rejecting criticism that might prove useful without any scientific spirit of inquiry;
4. implying that businesses serious in their community commitments normally react to criticism in a similar manner;
5. blackmailing freedom of speech, if we are to take seriously what M. Bilodeau said ad nauseam on the French board ;
6. simply showing harshness with immature name calling.

There should be other interesting aspects to analyze, if only that mattered.