My preference would have been to abolish the T option. It has been abused in recent years and moved a far distance from its original marketing purpose.
You either belontg to the national sporting federation or you don't.
My preference would have been to abolish the T option. It has been abused in recent years and moved a far distance from its original marketing purpose.
You either belontg to the national sporting federation or you don't.
Hi Ken:
Well said !!
The Grassroots' Campaign will be looking for your vocal support when we launch our motion later this year to replace the Tournament Playing Fee with our " First-Time CFC Member 40% Discount ". It will market chess by giving new players a substantial discount on membership, and at the same time get them to be " members ".
Bob
I think that would be an administrative nightmare, Bob. Also, I don't think we should be continually tinkering with our membership models. The current motion is a decent compromise.
I dunno, Ken, that sounds pretty pompous. we were considering have a little CFC rated round-robin, roping in a couple of former CFC members at the same time. Now you say those old guys have got to "join a national sporting federation".Originally Posted by Ken Craft
Gee, we were just gonna get together for a weekend of chess. I guess the CFC doesn't want us. Which makes us part of the majority.
Are we to assume that you were going to collect the (old) $10 Tournament fee from the former CFC members and now that plan falls apart because it is $20? [I think Bob Gillanders mentioned that the new fees are not until May.1?]Originally Posted by John Coleman
I can see people paying a tournament fee for a weekend Swiss or a Club championship Swiss or RoundRobin with a decent number of games, but to pony up $10/$20 to rate a handful of games seems like a longshot to me.
I don't want accuse you of being disingenuous, John because I know better. The concept of the tournament membership is a relatively recent innovation and it still exists. I think the Federation would be better off if it had never created the TM which was designed as a one time introduction to the Federation. From there it has morphed into the creature it has become today.
It may sound pompous but I believe it is incumbent upon chess players to support their national federation.
And everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Here is mine, again.Originally Posted by Ken Craft
We all know that the T option was created for first time players, and that it evolved into something else. What it evolved into was an option which allowed the casual player to experience the occasional tournament for only $10 as opposed to paying for a full membership. I'm not sure how giving money to the CFC fails to support chess. You are saying we have to pay $35 plus or whatever the fee is in your province. To me, it doesn't make sense. So now we will tell those players to fess up, or go away, we don't want you. Sounds all inclusive to me. And somehow, doing this will increase the number of members. Hmm. Interesting.
We all know that it takes about 30 seconds to process a tournament membership. There is no longer a magazine tied to it. So, the cost to administer is quite small. Note that the player still pays the rating fee. Yes, some will turn around and pay the full price. Others will walk away. In effect, you are denying these people from supporting the CFC.
And there are those who say $35 or whatever the fee is in your province isn't a big deal. Hey, the economy is doing good. What's another $35. There is no unemployment. All a guy has to do is drink a few less beers, and there is your membership. The timing is perfect.
Seems to me that those businesses that think this way soon find themselves in hard times. But don't take my word for it.
Again, just my opinion.
The CFC appears to be heading in the direction of a very small "national sporting federation", which excludes (or, does not include) a very large number of people who just like to play chess.
I would rather see a large number of players pay a small fee, than a small number pay large fees.
So, how do we get the larger mass of people to support the CFC? Certainly not by doubling the tournament membership fee, or insisting they have to "belong" to a national sporting federation.
Having savoured once more the sweet taste of success in our ongoing campaign since the summer of 2008, the Grassroots' Campaign now bids all adieu as it goes into hibernation for 6 months.
We will return in September, when there is new crop of governors, to move that our " First-Time CFC Member Discount ( 40% ) " replace the current Tournament Playing Fee ( TPF ).
Bob
What's the point of attempting to create constant instability in our fees structure, Bob?
Last edited by Ken Craft; 03-11-2009 at 12:35 PM.