ECF AGM 17/10/20

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
Nick Grey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Nick Grey » Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:54 pm

on voting are there 100 or so non-attendees no proxy plus apologies. SEEMS low for a AGM when no need to travel.

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Sun Oct 25, 2020 9:46 pm

I am hoping to have the Silvers report out this week and also email the people that i had proxy votes at the ECF AGM
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:08 am

Here my Silver Rep that was sent out last week

I attended the 2020 ECF Zoom AGM on the 17thOctober 2020

There were 67 people at the meeting. This is a summary of the event on behalf of myself as a Silver Rep.


Board Report & Finance Reports – At the moment, 45% of members have either renewed or joined the ECF (in the Silver at the moment there are 899 Silver members so far with at least 876 were renewals and 1024 Junior Silvers with 1009 renewals) They discussed overheads etc and at this time, the ECF needs you to help and support them at this time of need. There was a discussion about the ECF looking to access the PIF funds, to keep the ship floating. However,the Merseyside Rep mentioned about looking at the CBIL- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, and while I have no knowledge of this, the ECF Board will look at this at the next board meeting. Also there was a Chris Fegan, Director of Woman’s Chess Progress Plan 2020, put in a document for discussion and whilst some of the targets can be achieved, it was noted that maybe it will be take a extra year due to Covid.


Elections – it was good to see some new blood coming forward for the job roles

Adam Ashton was elected at the Director of Finance with 266 votes, Rob Willmoth was elected at the Director of Membership with 229 votes and Natasha Regan for the Non Executive Director with 263 votes. Chair of Council Michael Farthing with 272 votes (He has mention that he will be stepping down as Voting Register Officer and if anyone is interesting in doing this role, please message Michael Farthing) The other roles and votes was Fide Delegate Malcolm Pein 268 votes with Members of finance committee Ray Clark (242) and David Eustace (236) and Members of Governance Committee Michael Farthing (248) and Stephen Greep (226).


The only competitive election, was the Director of Home Chess Nigel Towers, vs Tim Wall (Silver Rep)

Nigel went first and talked about restarting existing events competitively and expansion. He also shared the work he has done with all board members, and his leading role in helping ECF launch online events during Covid19. Tim talked about how new events can address the short- and long-term challenges of English chess. He cited examples of his work in local chess and English junior chess also.

As requested by members, all votes cast on behalf of Silver members were cast in support of Tim Wall.

The election result was as follows:

Nigel Towers 168

Tim Wall 92


Amendment of Permit Online Meetings in the Articles - Outcome: Next Meeting will be on Zoom on the 24th April 2021.

The Coventry rep asked about the cost of zoom vs venue and it cost the ECF around £12 per month (£144 a year) on zoom and around £1k-1.5k with venue.

Under the current circumstances, it makes sense to have the meeting on zoom due to safety concerns re Covid not to mention the cost and when it is time to meet socially again, I think there might be either a proposal of the AGM face to face and the Financial Meeting on Zoom to strike a healthy balance going forward.


Term Limits for Directors - there was a motion suggesting that Directors should be capped at 2 terms, with the option of Council inviting a sitting Director to continue if no candidates emerged. This motion from the NCCU hoped to encourage more people to get involved in the ECF, and avoid too many from sitting in perpetuity. However, there were technical issues unresolved, as the Directorship terms are not all 3-year terms, at the moment. The motion failed with 68 for and 182 against.

Direct Member Representative - a motion that myself John Reyes put forward to the AGM, asked that in the each of the five categories in 5.1 shall be entitled each year to elect two representatives (who shall be Direct Members of the Category they seek to represent) there was some good discussion about it, however the motion did not get through and it was 99 for and 127 against. Someone mentioned to me after that maybe I should have mention this “that based eligibility on the category of membership the candidate paid for at the start of the season as opposed to the one they might hold at the time of the election” and I hope to bring this to the financial meeting.


Working Group on Safe Restarting of Chess - This proposal was to set up a Working Group to work along the ECF Board, to provide support and advice for clubs that seek advice, on things related to restarting, i.e. risk assessments, etc. some people did suggest potential legal issues if the group gave people the wrong advice. The motion failed on a hand vote.



Meeting Closed 6:35pm
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Paul Cooksey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Paul Cooksey » Fri Dec 04, 2020 10:55 am

The draft minutes have been circulated this week.

There is a change in approach to questions. Instead of recording questions and answers, typically each section now concludes with statements like "both candidates gave a statement followed by a question and answer session"

I understand it is simper to do it this way. But I thought putting answers on the record was part of the point of the meeting. Given the meeting was recorded for the purpose of minutes, I suppose it would be possible to change.

I am wondering whether to let the ECF know I intend to vote against the minutes. What do people think? Are the informal reports people give here sufficient? Or should the minutes be more complete?

NickFaulks
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by NickFaulks » Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:30 pm

I think your first port of call should be the Chair of Council. We know he takes such matters seriously.
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Paul Cooksey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:57 pm

Or the minutes secretary. But I thought I'd ask if anyone else had an opinion first

Angus French
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Angus French » Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:46 pm

I agree with Paul. I'd like a flavour, at least, of what questions were put to the election candidates and what answers they gave. Presumably in four hours - was it? - of meeting there were points of interest and importance... Also, it's the AGM and members (and prospective members?) might like to know that the directors and senior officers were held to account by Council.

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