Compulsory Membership cop-out

[Roger de Coverly]

It's noticeable that the advocates of compulsory membership seem to seek concessions when their policies are shown to discourage participation. This parallels the 4NCL and other events organised by the voter.

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... office.pdf

From the recently published ECF Board meeting for May.

Motion from Sean Hewitt
Motion: “The ECF offers junior players ECF Junior Silver Membership free of charge if
they have never previously been an ECF member. In respect of ECF organised school team
events, an exemption is granted that players may play one game without the need to be an
ECF member.”
Agreed:
Unanimous

If universal or compulsory membership was such a marvellous idea, why offer concessions?

[Alan Walton]

Roger,

We all know about your distained about membership scheme

So either don't pay for it and stop playing chess, or just shut up, and let the rest of us live in peace

[Roger de Coverly]

So either don't pay for it and stop playing chess, or just shut up, and let the rest of us live in peace

Why shouldn't ECF Officials be held to account? Insistence on membership caused an organiser who was doing a lot to reboot secondary schools chess to stand down. Insistence on membership distorted the Counties Championship at the semi final stage. It now seems that a limited concession for junior players is being granted. Or is it an extended concession? Free silver membership sounds an expensive gift.

I'm reminded that "the North" and some BCF officials didn't accept Game Fee as a BCF funding mechanism and did what they could to undermine it.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Alan,

The clue was in the title of the thread.
If you want to live in peace (how boring?) then don't open the thread.

Hi Roger

Don't put clues in your thread titles.
If you want the thread read then add the word 'Grading' in it.

Hi Alan (part II)

I have a plan.
Pay Rogers ECF sub and peace shall return to the forum.

Hi Roger (part II)

They only way forward Roger is to join the ECF board and scrap it.

Hi Alan (part III)

Ask Carl to be a mod then you can chop Roger's posts.

Hi Roger (part III)

Ask Carl to be a mod then you chop the post of people who disagree with you.

Hi Alan (part........?)

What is Roman Numerals for 4?

[Michael Flatt]

Am I correct in understanding that this concession of free ECF Silver membership for Juniors is an introductory for one year and thereafter they have to pay to remain members?

For Juniors that are already ECF Silver members shouldn't they also be able claim free membership for one year?

Why do Juniors have to pay at all?

[Phil Neatherway]

I imagine it's a question of economics. If Juniors don't have to pay, the rest of us would have to pay more.

[Matthew Turner]

Presumably these concessions have been introduced to allow the National Schools Championships to run in 2013/14. I wonder if there is a plan for 2014/15?

[Roger de Coverly]

Presumably these concessions have been introduced to allow the National Schools Championships to run in 2013/14.

Any school considering entry will have to look very carefully at the financial consequences for themselves, if the school pays for membership, or their potential players in entering.

[Carl Hibbard]

Who applied as CEO in those minutes and was rejected?

[Angus French]

Motion from Sean Hewitt
Motion: “The ECF offers junior players ECF Junior Silver Membership free of charge if
they have never previously been an ECF member. In respect of ECF organised school team
events, an exemption is granted that players may play one game without the need to be an
ECF member.”
Agreed:
Unanimous

Does the membership software system necessarily know about previous memberships?

[Michael Flatt]

It will doubtless cause extra work for someone.

Do we actually know the split between adult and Junior ECF members, either by membership class or overall numbers?

[Angus French]

It will doubtless cause extra work for someone.

Do we actually know the split between adult and Junior ECF members, either by membership class or overall numbers?

As at 16 July and excluding memberships with a prior Due Date

MembershipCounts.png (9.85 KiB) Viewed 2151 times

[Michael Flatt]

Thanks, Angus. Very fast and comprehensive.

[Roger de Coverly]

Do we actually know the split between adult and Junior ECF members, either by membership class or overall numbers?

If you go to the ECF site, the current membership list can be viewed as an Excel file.

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/membersh ... ership.xls

Junior members have "J" in front of the code.

As of today's download, the aggregate count on the list was 9712 of which Juniors count as 1428.

By comparison, the parallel totals on the January 2013 grading list were 12780 and 3206 ( those with an entry in the Junior age column)

[Michael Flatt]

Motion from Sean Hewitt
Motion: “The ECF offers junior players ECF Junior Silver Membership free of charge if
they have never previously been an ECF member. In respect of ECF organised school team
events, an exemption is granted that players may play one game without the need to be an
ECF member.”
Agreed:
Unanimous

Were any of the schools participating in the ECF U18/U13 Championship on 30th June 2013 at Haberdashers' School aware of these concessions?

I was on the HSCA organising committee for this year's event and I had no information on these concessions on the entry. It certainly wasn't on the Entry Form, which stated ECF membership was compulsory for the U18 Open and U13 Open, but not the U13 Minor.