If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
Actually, my reaction is that you have far, far too much. There is stuff that shouldn't be there, stuff that the CFC does not and will not have the resources to do, and you don't distinguish between aspirational goals for that wonderful future of 10,000 members and actual goals for the here and now. And some of it is just good sounding blah, blah, blah with no actual consequences.
Goals for the here and now are not typically part of the strategic or long term plan until you set the long term targets. The here and now then becomes a way station on the path to that wonderful future. The here and now goals are usually part of the business plan for the year which is not really what we have been charged with though it seems to me that a few of the items in the long term plan that seemed pie in the sky are actually achievable in the short term based on what I have seen recently.
We are still at the throwing stuff against the wall phase and seeing what sticks. Your thoughts are welcome and helpful.
Success is more likely to come from a clearly articulated small set of goals that can be cleanly stated and measured.
Perhaps something along the lines of the following?
What are the CFC’s primary/core accountabilities?
The CFC is the governing body for chess in Canada.
Governance of rules for national competitions (eligibility, formats, time controls, etc) and general rules of the game within Canada.
Affiliated with and the primary Canadian liason with the World Chess Federation (FIDE)
Maintenance of a national rating system
Publication of a website and member forums and provision of other member services such as the email newsletter which can be used to keep members informed of the happenings in Canadian chess
Outreach to enhance the popularity of the game in Canada. At the moment we are not doing this as an organization.
Sanctioning and coordination of activities with provincial and regional bodies.
KEY PRIORITIES DURING PLANNING PERIOD
1. Regain charitable status or some equivalent.
2. Secure corporate sponsorship
3. Adjust membership fees and options to optimal level so members/potential members see the value proposition.
4. Develop specific outreach programs to improve top of mind awareness rankings among the general population.
5. Support top players on world stage and ensure media coverage of chess events.
6. Focus on chess evangelism and education particularly in the key demographic of children.
well, a lot of people would disagree with you, that the national organization should concern itself with national championships, the relationship with FIDE, elite player stuff, and generally only the stuff that doesn't get done at a local level.
Tennis Canada, Hockey Canada and even Golf Canada seem to disagree with you on that point for their sports and quite frankly they are doing a better job of promoting and getting sponsorship and infrastructure than we have been. If we keep doing the same things we are going to keep getting the same results that we have in the past. A couple of book titles come to mind: "Always Change A Losing Game." and "Do One Thing Different."
In particular, the current membership structure is actively hostile to encouraging recreational players, by which I mean those who play only occasionally, perhaps only at a club level, and who basically don't care about serious competitive play or national level chess.
The first step in changing that is to acknowledge the truth of that fact and to take steps and find ways to tap into that very large market that we are currently ignoring.
Really? There are lots of people and organizations doing just that. I don't know about you, but if a job is being done by someone else, I'm a lazy SOB and will go ahead and let them do it. It's certainly not something the CFC does now or has resources to do now.
You obviously haven't been reading Kevin Spraggett's blog. Lots of people and organizations are doing just that but they are not terribly effective at the moment. Being lazy and going ahead and let them do it is a scenario for more of the same pathetic results. The predictable end results of that strategy will be to ask the last person left standing to remember to turn out the lights on his way out the door.
Perhaps you mean something more specific such as norm tournaments or high level training but if so, that distinction should be made.
I am talking about actions that increase the base. Norm tournaments are really only relevant to 0.2% of the current membership and would not be sustainable without building up the base to make us more attractive to sponsors.
Well, I suppose it does no harm to incidentally quote this kind of thing in appropriate circumstances, but to make it an actual "GOAL" of the CFC?
To publicize key benefits of chess to a potential chessplayer, sponsor and the public at large is an appropriate goal for the CFC and one which most successful sport marketers manage to do for their own sports.
Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Wednesday, 30th May, 2012, 11:33 PM.
The CFC's objectives (or mission statement, if one prefers) as given in the CFC Handbook were fairly standard for a chess federation such as the USCF back then, or for the ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) for that matter (I think). I was told this by one past CFC president, who doubted updating or quibbling over such things would result in any real progress for Canadian chess.
I had been speaking with him at one time, and suggested that we confine certain of our stated aims to furthering the spread of just organized, CFC rated chess (i.e. to gain as many CFC members as possible), and that was his reaction, fwiw.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
I still feel that the CFC's prime directive in future should be furthering the spread of organized, CFC rated chess (i.e. for the CFC to gain as many CFC members as possible). This reflects the reality as it has been for ages, to a large extent.
Otherwise, what is there for the CFC to strive for, if millions of Canadians already play a casual game of chess at home or elsewhere on at least an occasional basis (i.e. they are involved in unorganized chess), as I seem to recall a 1979 Gallup poll paid for by the CFC established.
This prime directive could be stated as the CFC's primary objective, but that doesn't mean that the CFC neglects, say, assisting in the growth of grassroots (organized, but not CFC rated) chess, such as chess in the schools, as much as it might have in the past. In any long term plan, there can be resources devoted to such, as affordable, just as resources have been devoted judiciously to elite Canadian chess.
An important sub-goal of this prime directive could be to (proactively) recruit or retain enough organizers to help reach any targets for membership levels (whether adult or junior).
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
I still feel that the CFC's prime directive in future should be furthering the spread of organized, CFC rated chess (i.e. for the CFC to gain as many CFC members as possible). This reflects the reality as it has been for ages, to a large extent.
You can't gain as many CFC members as possible if you don't reach more people who are potential members. Based on my experience emailing people for the membership drive my current feeling is that we have to do a better job of retaining members because once they leave they are harder to bring back as compared to the effort in obtaining a new member. This is somewhat contrary to what most of the marketing experts suggest when talking about the situation in most businesses.
Otherwise, what is there for the CFC to strive for, if millions of Canadians already play a casual game of chess at home or elsewhere on at least an occasional basis (i.e. they are involved in unorganized chess), as I seem to recall a 1979 Gallup poll paid for by the CFC established.
The CFC can strive to convert some of them into CFC members. To do that you need to gain visibility with them. They have to know that you exist. Then you have to convince that joining the CFC and playing in OTB tournaments is a desirable option for them.
This prime directive could be stated as the CFC's primary objective, but that doesn't mean that the CFC neglects, say, assisting in the growth of grassroots (organized, but not CFC rated) chess, such as chess in the schools, as much as it might have in the past. In any long term plan, there can be resources devoted to such, as affordable, just as resources have been devoted judiciously to elite Canadian chess.
An important sub-goal of this prime directive could be to (proactively) recruit or retain enough organizers to help reach any targets for membership levels (whether adult or junior).
The CFC has managed only a few crumbs directed towards elite Canadian chess. This is understandable as you don't expect the starving to offer a banquet to anyone. We need to change the status quo. Ten thousand members with many of them being juniors would suggest an annual budget of about ten times what we enjoy now. At that point and at many points along the way we can start to do things to support our elite players (like paying for the Olympiad teams or lining up sponsors ahead of time so the players don't have to take out a mortgage on their house to pay for the out of pocket expenses of representing Canada).
Tennis Canada has a well developed program of community champions and resources for coaches to promote the game in local communities across the country. They give organizers a step by step approach for setting up youth training programs.
To build a tennis community you need some rather expensive facilities. To build a chess community you only need a room or a few rooms on a regular basis. They have a much more daunting task in front of them than we do when we wish to expand into an area that doesn't have much organized chess.
"The 'Tennis Pathway' consists of four components on a continuum: Try, Learn, Play and Compete. Each of these components can be put into action through various programs and activities depending upon community needs. For example, a Try activity might be a tennis demonstration area as part of a larger community event where children and adults can come and try the game in a fun environment. A Learn activity might be a series of lessons interspersed with opportunities to play the game. Moving participants from one level of programming to the next along the continuum is important to ensuring that participants stay involved." http://www.lovemeansnothing.ca/all-a...is-communities
Currently the CFC only targets those at the end of the continuum in the Compete category and perhaps less so the Play category. We need to put more effort into the Try and Learn end of the spectrum in order to get more players in the Play or Compete groups.
From the same link:
BUILDING TENNIS COMMUNITIES: MODEL DESCRIPTION
The model being used to guide the implementation of this Strategy is grounded in three key components: Community Champions, Community Partners and the Tennis Pathway.
A 'Community Champion' is a person or group who are passionate about tennis and well connected to other community leaders (e.g. youth group leaders, town/city counselors, health professionals, police, local businesspeople etc.) in his/her city or town. Community Champions might be retired persons, teachers, entrepreneurs or tennis coaches or volunteers...anyone with the time, interest and a general understanding of community needs. It is essential that the Champion live in the community.
The role of this individual is to ensure that strong partnerships with community leaders are established such that those community leaders clearly understand the role that tennis can play in contributing to the reduction or elimination of some community problems (e.g. overweight kids, delinquency, etc.) and to increasing community spirit (via community-based events, etc.).
'Community Partners' are community leaders that have been identified by the Community Champion as people who are important to maintaining the health of tennis in the community. Community Champions are encouraged to establish partnerships with education, tennis and parks and recreation leaders as a starting point and are encouraged to consider partnerships with others in the community such as: local businesses, media, politicians, doctors, police, etc. It is suggested that the Community Champion, with the assistance of his/her Provincial Association contact, host a 'community tennis rally' where community leaders are brought together to discuss the benefits that tennis brings to the community and to agree on an action plan that meets community needs.
Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Friday, 1st June, 2012, 11:04 AM.
I wish the CFC had a budget for advertising for this year that was significantly greater than nil. That would have allowed us to advertise to the general public, rather than just emailing ex-CFC members. As a necessary experiment, this didn't seem to regain nearly as many ex-CFC members as we might have hoped for, but now we know almost for certain that emailing (or other ways of contacting?) a large number of ex-CFC members (2100+) is not so promising. In past years much smaller numbers of ex-CFC members have been contacted, with results that apparently didn't prove that much.
As far as hoping to retain more CFC members in future, traditionally there has been a 33 or 50% turnover rate [edit: annually, in terms of members not renewing], depending on who you talk to. Some feedback suggested to one past president that members who didn't renew, at least quite a few years back, did so not because of anything the CFC did wrong in their eyes, but rather because they had moved on to other activities. Such a high turnover rate is apparently par for the course for an organization like the CFC, such as the USCF, or the ACBL (for Bridge), for example. As for retaining juniors who reach their adult years (i.e. beginning studies, jobs, families), I imagine the rate of retaining them as CFC members is depressingly low, as I think is common knowledge/sense. This is worrisome if the plan is for the CFC to have a high proportion of juniors in future years.
I had once proposed years ago, then without being a Governor, that we try mailing 500 households randomly, at a cost of roughly $300, but the idea wasn't taken seriously. For one thing, we'd need a volunteer(s) or a staff member with time to do the mailing, and we'd want to use official CFC envelopes and letters ideally.
Other than requesting and being granted a loan(s) from the Foundation, or having a sudden increase in revenue due to possibly risky measures such as substantially lowering membership fees, at the moment I am short of ideas for funding a proper membership drive (i.e. advertising to the general public), which is one reason I'm curious/eager to see the Long-term planning committee's report at the AGM.
All in all, I think my previous post suggests a flexible (though incomplete) set of guidelines for rewriting the CFC's objectives that are quite compatible with your second last post [edit: post #67] , Vlad. Part of what did the CFC in during the 2004-2007 approximately one thousand member decline in CFC memberships was simply that a number of key organizers in Canada dropped out, I'm told, and I hope attention is paid to the idea of trying to improve the number of organizers, nationally and locally. If it was CFC policies or actions back then that caused the decline in their number, this might be reversible in a reasonable time frame.
Last edited by Kevin Pacey; Friday, 1st June, 2012, 12:41 PM.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
I don't see direct mail as being an option as a recruiting tool for the CFC. The response rate is too low and even if you had a wildly successful campaign you would be extremely lucky to recoup the cost of the mailing with increased membership fees. If you managed to get a relatively high 2% success rate by mailing 500 households, that would be 10 memberships or $360.
I would be shocked if you could do the mailing for much less than $1 per piece so you would be looking at a net negative cash flow in the first year of about $140 under a relatively high conversion rate of 2% and very simplified assumptions. Of course this would be offset somewhat by the fact that the person might renew so in two years you might recoup your up front investment IF you got a relatively good 2% conversion rate. Also if my understanding is correct of something posted by Fred McKim on the CFC website there would be some increased costs associated with increased memberships under the contract the CFC uses to run the office. I can't remember if the figure was $13 or $15 per member used in the thread where you were asking about giving free membership to certain juniors. If you give a 33% non renewal rate then it becomes questionable as to the profitability of a cold call email campaign under even fairly optimistic scenarios. The campaign would have a negative cash flow associated with it at least into year three.
Most CFC memberships get sold when there is a tournament that requires CFC membership. Putting ads on kijiji or distributing fliers at events or in clubs where chessplayers congregate would seem to me to be a more cost effective way to troll for chessplayers who might join the CFC. Choose your headline carefully and know your unique sales proposition before you even attempt to distribute a flyer or place an ad.
I prepared a flyer for chess lessons the night before the Windsor Chess Challenge playoffs where about 180 kids were playing. I left about 40 of them on the tables where the parents were sitting and eventually got 5 individual and three or four students for the various classes I am involved with as a result though one was for only two lessons to prepare for OYCC and two were for students who were already part of classes that I taught. I also got back 20 of the flyers that hadn't been picked up.
I described my ideal student (someone who loves chess) and that is exactly who I got as students as a result of my flyer, which was a very pleasant surprise.
• les règlements du jeu d’échecs de FIDE avec quelques adaptations pour les débutants;
• un site de formation essentiel à la formation : http://sites.rapidus.net/blanchdo/;
• le chronomètre des joueurs – il faut appuyer sur son horloge chaque fois que l’on joue, disponible au www.echecs-fen.com;
• l’écriture des parties est faite par chaque joueur tout au long de la partie – formation en ligne au http://sites.rapidus.net/blanchdo/ leçon 6, la notation algébrique abrégée.
Just curious - were there any restrictions placed on entries?
1) Could entries come from only specific regions, school boards, or schools?
2) Could a non-Francophone (or anyone) from outside Northern Ontario enter?
3) Could a Francophone from outside Northern Ontario enter?
3) Could a non-Francophone attending an English school in Northern Ontario enter?
Just curious - were there any restrictions placed on entries?
1) Could entries come from only specific regions, school boards, or schools?
2) Could a non-Francophone (or anyone) from outside Northern Ontario enter?
3) Could a Francophone from outside Northern Ontario enter? 4) Could a non-Francophone attending an English school in Northern Ontario enter?
To the best of my knowledge :
1) NO
2) It seemed to me that it was opened to students attending french schools anywhere in Ontario;
3) YES. I was told that next year the event will be held near the Quebec border, opening up the possibility of accepting Quebec players, especially from the nearby Abitibi region;
4) I think not. The idea (besides chess) is to bring the francophones together and promote the french culture. Because all these kids are bilingual, but sometimes more fluent in english, they are formally asked at the start of the event to communicate in french.
Tweet
Comment