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Notices |
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18/08/2023 ECF Membership Proposals
ECF Members have received an e-mail from Chief Executive Mike Truran drawing attention to proposals to be put to the ECF AGM in October regarding the structure of the ECF Membership Scheme. The relevant document being put before the ECF AGM can be found at https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Membership-Options-Membership-Survey.pdf.
The first sentenced is somewhat misleading, creating the impression that delegates to the April Finance Council Meeting were pressing for a change, whereas if was actually the Board which was pressing for a change, and the Board was asking Council which of a number of options it would be most feasible to pursue as possibilities. Council was not asked to vote on whether a change was desirable. So, the proposal for change is coming from the Board.
For those in favour of change, the preferred objective seems to be to replace Gold, Silver and Bronze membership with a single membership category. It is recognised, however, that this might not go down too well the Bronze members who make up the largest category at present. Indeed, it is clearly feared that a simple proposal of merger of Gold+Silver+Bronze would founder on the rocks of Bronze discontent. The two proposals put forward, therefore, try to address the “Bronze problem” in two different ways.
Option 1 appeases present Bronze members by saying that a) all new members would join at the new flat-rate membership level and existing Gold and Silver members would renew their membership at that level, but b) existing Bronze members could renew at a legacy Bronze membership level for the present fee with the usual increases in time.
The effect of Option 1 would be that, when all present Bronze members eventually ceased membership, the Bronze level of membership would disappear.
Option 2 relents further by applying the flat rate only to Gold and Silver (so just merging Gold and Silver) while definitively retaining the Bronze membership level.
Under both options, the higher, merged level of membership would allow free ECF rating of Club, league and congress results, and presumably also free FIDE rating (latter not mentioned, which seems an omission). Non-members and Bronze members would generate such “pay to play” and “game fee” charges where relevant as they do at present.
The document addressed to Council does then go on to mention that “no change” is of course the third option, achieved by rejecting both the other proposals.
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