Membership requirements for CFC rated events

[Vlad Drkulec]

In this thread there have been a number of references to "checking membership status with Bob Gillanders" - it seems obvious to me that *IF* the CFC membership rating list was maintained and was up to date on the website there would be no need to check directly with Bob... Of course, this means the membership list has to be updated in real time as much as possible - people who snail mail a cheque for example cannot expect their info to be up to date all that quickly, but someone who renews via the website should reasonably expect the info to be up to the day at least!

Elsewhere, I hear (again) about the need to update the entire website - wasn't the last update $18K (perhaps I am not remembering correctly). Many people at the time said that was a ridiculous amount and I guess they were right. Hopefully the next iteration will be more cost effective and will actually work out of the box and for many years to come?

We checked with Bob when the story was that they had renewed within the last few days. There is a gap of a few days from the time where a membership is renewed and the website is updated to reflect that fact. This is one of the things that made us consider the Go Membership platform. This gap will disappear for all memberships processed through the platform which eventually will be all memberships.

[Aris Marghetis]

At some point over a decade ago,I kinda snapped. Since then, I just won't pair anyone who hasn't either renewed with the CFC (confirmed by the CFC office), or hasn't just paid me in cash.

This approach has worked for me.

[Roger Patterson]

At Victoria Chess we have mitigated this nagging issue somewhat.
Our pre-registered lists display glaring red warnings beside the names of players with expired CFC memberships.
Two weeks before the event we e-mail individuals affected. We send PayPal invoices to those that have difficulty with the CFC site (we get this complaint a lot).
At onsite registration, the pre-registered list is posted with red letters "see registration" beside the expired members.
Pairing sheets for every round also display this.
It hasn't come to this but we're quite prepared to stop pairing expired members after a couple of rounds.
We pay the $25 affiliation fee annually and get reimbursed 15% for annual memberships sold.
Agree, a recurrent issue is juniors' parents who are not used to CFC membership dues. It helps a bit that we (Victoria Chess) offer a free tournament membership to new players and point out to them that next time they will have to join the CFC.
And yes, the whole thing is a royal pain.

.... and the registration process requires an affirmative statement that their CFC will be OK (or take the option of buying one on the spot).

[Christopher Mallon]

Elsewhere, I hear (again) about the need to update the entire website - wasn't the last update $18K (perhaps I am not remembering correctly). Many people at the time said that was a ridiculous amount and I guess they were right. Hopefully the next iteration will be more cost effective and will actually work out of the box and for many years to come?

I was one of those, at the time... it wasn't a ridiculous amount of money for a site, but it was a ridiculous amount of money for the site we got, which has always had major glaring issues and has proven extremely vulnerable to infections. I've also said in the past that the CFC should set aside $2-3K per year towards a new site; not sure if that ever happened.

Even if it had been the best site in the world, it's now old enough it would need replacing by now.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

While it is requires time to insure that all players are CFC members, it is not a difficult task. The final reminder, that the player will be not paired if a renewal is not presented, works like a charm :)

[John Brown]

If a player has an Expired membership and they cannot prove via a receipt issued by anyone then I say you have to pay a minimum tournament participation fee. I really hate when a player says I paid last tournament but can't prove it.
You pay to play so if you don't want to pay then you don't play.

[Gordon Gooding]

I agree with Mr. Brown.

[Larry Bevand]

Gary Hua just posted this comment...3. If your CFC is expired, please renew online with CFC instead of paying to us. It took us a long time to get all the payments at the recent Ontario Open

[Alex Ferreira]

The CFC office would like to remind all event organizers, TD’s, and club officials that it is their responsibility to ensure all participants are current members. They can either collect dues onsite and remit to the CFC office or instruct players to renew directly with the CFC office.

Gary Hua just posted this comment...3. If your CFC is expired, please renew online with CFC instead of paying to us. It took us a long time to get all the payments at the recent Ontario Open

Hi,

As an organizer I think this is great. It will give CFC headaches though.

Alex F.

[Aris Marghetis]

Hi,

As an organizer I think this is great. It will give CFC headaches though.

Alex F.

Hello Alex, I believe most people simply renew and pay online, there's no extra human work compared to when Organizers submit collected renewal fees. It seems better for everyone?!