I have been a member of the CFC for the last few years and I have never received an access code to view the CFC newsletter. To be fair, I've never really tried to receive one, but I did give my email address when renewing my CFC membership, so I would think that it should be common practice to update the members database and send an email to new members to make sure they have access.
Anyway, I'm not trying to pin blame on anyone here, my main point is that this should not be an issue at all because the newsletter should be available for free on the public site. I mean, there are dozens of sites on the internet that publish free high quality chess content - sites publish it because it draws traffic to their sites and pushes sales. It would do the same for the CFC, attracting interest in chess and promoting memberships and tournament participation. It might conceivably also add a new revenue stream in the form of advertising.
If the point of the CFC is to bring benefit to members then it's 100% better to have this content public. Members will still have the same benefit from the articles whether access is public or private (in fact more, since there are some members now who still can't access the content), but having it available to the public will promote Canadian chess on the whole, thus benefiting all members.
Unless the CFC can show numbers indicating that people have bought memberships only to receive the newsletter, I honestly don't see a single argument in favour of having it be members only. I hope some of the CFC governors will take heed of my points and act accordingly.
Anyway, I'm not trying to pin blame on anyone here, my main point is that this should not be an issue at all because the newsletter should be available for free on the public site. I mean, there are dozens of sites on the internet that publish free high quality chess content - sites publish it because it draws traffic to their sites and pushes sales. It would do the same for the CFC, attracting interest in chess and promoting memberships and tournament participation. It might conceivably also add a new revenue stream in the form of advertising.
If the point of the CFC is to bring benefit to members then it's 100% better to have this content public. Members will still have the same benefit from the articles whether access is public or private (in fact more, since there are some members now who still can't access the content), but having it available to the public will promote Canadian chess on the whole, thus benefiting all members.
Unless the CFC can show numbers indicating that people have bought memberships only to receive the newsletter, I honestly don't see a single argument in favour of having it be members only. I hope some of the CFC governors will take heed of my points and act accordingly.
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