CFC meeting - apathy?

I noticed that only 24 Voting Members bothered to participate in the latest CFC online meeting. As well as discussing penalties for players who forfeit - maybe there should be a penalty for VM's who don't participate?

Corporate annual reports often show the attendance of Directors at their various meetings during the year - perhaps we should do this with VM's?

The CFC web site seems to no longer have a list of all the VM's - shouldn't this be available publicly (or at least to CFC members)? (The French version of the page shows photos and details about all the VM's ("Governors" at the time) - but it's for the year 2010-11!).

The real problem may be a systemic one: Jon Berry once related that many, many years ago most of the power was taken away from the CFC Governors (now called Voting Members), and given to the CFC Executive. Take a look at one post by today's CFC President at the latest meeting:

Items on the CFC to do list

Here are the mostly short term items that we have to deal with as a federation over the course of the next one to three months

1. Fix the problem with PayPal (If we don't fix it we can't get paid)
2. Fix the problems with the website (virus/trojan warnings, security certificate possibly redo the website)
3. Implement Go Membership to hopefully free up some of Bob Gillanders time so that we can
4. Get a better handle on our financials so that we can make timely decisions in an informed manner
5. Create a communications strategy including newsletter, newsfeed, facebook, website and other social media
6. Determine what is going on with the FQE - CFC working arrangement.

This shows perhaps a typical situation for the CFC. Most/all concerns are to be dealt with by the Executive, since the concerns are mostly/all short-term. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just that what are VMs to do with themselves of much importance, perhaps other than ask questions of the Executive? One thing would be that they should belong to committees, or volunteer, on behalf of the CFC, but as one Governor basically put it long ago, as he saw it: 'The Governors' job is to govern', whatever positive result that may have, given the longstanding power imbalance mostly in favour of the Executive. It's even worse nowadays, because even a minor change to the Handbook (now unwritten?) costs a payment to the Federal government, thanks to the Harper administration's money grab years back that forced that and the overhaul of the Handbook to begin with.

When I was a Quebec Governor/VM, I often got questions from Quebec players regarding something about the CFC. Now - with no list of VM's, an inquisitive player doesn't know who to contact. (I still get questions - all I can tell them is "contact the CFC").

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hugh Brodie

When I was a Quebec Governor/VM, I often got questions from Quebec players regarding something about the CFC. Now - with no list of VM's, an inquisitive player doesn't know who to contact. (I still get questions - all I can tell them is "contact the CFC").

---

I remember a couple of years ago, Vlad had a "corporate" rationale for no longer listing the Voting Members (ex-Governors) on the Web site. Perhaps we should have a message on the web site telling Members to contact their Provincial Association to find a Voting Member in their area.

I don't even trust my laptop's security level enough to go to some chess websites anymore, including the CFC website that is apparently regularly infested. That means I get to find out my ratings, slowly, posted elsewhere, or if I ask someone with safer internet access to try looking it up for me. So, for me it's not just not knowing who the latest VMs etc. are, but it's a deterioration to the level of service provided to me by the CFC (due to repeated infestation). Getting an even cheaper website, due to financial worries, and hoping for no more such infestation would be irrational, unless somehow the website's security measures would be its most expensive attribute. I personally no longer care about a CFC mag of any sort, but I can see how many others want it as part of what they pay for.

Btw, I don't wish to start a fresh thread to talk about the many things on my chest that are really, really discouraging me from going back to my local chess club at the moment, even for a relatively short time, but I'm tempted to do a full dump on viewers here, say about how I'm basically a transit rider and Ottawa and Ontario are slowly ruining my social life as far as e.g. ever wanting to go back to chess at the club I usually go to. The LRT I'm tempted not to ride for at least a year if it's ever deemed by others as 'safe' to launch, but meanwhile buses to the far-away club I go to will all be cut out.

Undermanaged kids (e.g. running to their boards, or screwing and unscrewing the lids of their suckie-bottles when they think they've turned the tide), or the odd unstable person at the club over the years is not discouraging enough on its own, perhaps. Then there's how the building's bar & grill forces people outside on the patio in all weather in the summer, if they want food (I know I'm spoiled to have a bar & grill, regardless, though, but things have gone downhill - menu, seating capacity and prices too). If it's any consolation, to me at least, the Chess Variants website I go to, though generally well run, has e.g. people claiming not to know English and yet able to read how to take back moves repeatedly - at least I can delete the game, and never play them again. A chess server might do the CFC good, if the idea hasn't forever been abandoned as a purchase or part of a deal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kevin Pacey

I don't even trust my laptop's security level enough to go to some chess websites anymore, including the CFC website that is apparently regularly infested.

---

I'm not sure that is quite accurate. I think that like every other website we are under constant attack.

Well, in the (distant) past I've felt it was a good bet my laptop was infected by the CFC main website's (and CT site's) infestation at the time, due to fake warnings announced to me, to bait me into going somewhere on the web, I recall, besides other symptoms. I've never (maybe due to luck) had such an infection of my laptop when visiting the CFC Discussion Board, so perhaps it has better security measures than e.g. the CFC website (even at present). I do know this Discussion Board has had some sort of hack(s) in the past, though. Chessvariants.com, a big website I go to that I alluded to earlier, is run out of the USA these days, and it never seems to be hacked that I'm aware of, though it does go down now and then for other reasons apparently. Again it might have very high-grade security, if there is such a thing to be paid for. I may have jumped the gun about website security being very pricey, earlier, as perhaps it may only cost far less than $2000 a year (i.e. ongoing). There's also how active webmasters are at fighting infections when they do occur, but I know little about how vital such peopleware is in fighting regular infestation.

I also may have been in too pessimistic a mood about going back to my club when I posted. I might even risk life and limb along with the other transit Guinea Pigs in all weather and seasons on the Ottawa LRT if it does launch, if I can bring myself to fundamentally change my opening repertoire, which could improve my mood about chess in general, at least until the new repertoire might wear itself out, too.