Chess politics - Campaign Issues:

Author

Campaign Issues:

chessdon@aol.com

2005-03-28, 6:51 am

Campaign Issue Name: Stan Booz

Sam Sloan said:
"I feel and many others feel that Stan Booz should have immediately
been removed from his positions. Kindly explain why you feel
otherwise."

George John said:
"As is typically the case, Sam Sloan has reached an incorrect
conclusion
about what I think. I do not think it would be okay for a committee
chair to refer to a board member in this manner"

Here are the relevant motions as to what to do about Stan:

EB 05-33 (Hanke): The EB will send a letter to the CO-chair of the
Finance Committee Stan Booz asking him to cease and desist from
personal attacks on the Internet. PASSED 3-1-3. In favor: Bauer, Brady,

Schultz; Opposed: Shaughnessy; Abstaining: Marinello, Shutt and Hanke.

EB 05-33 (Reconsidered) - The EB will send a letter to the CO-chair of
the
Finance Committee Stan Booz asking him to cease and desist from
personal attacks on the Internet. FAILED 3-3-1. In Favor: Schultz.
Brady and Bauer; Opposed: Marinello, Shaughnessy and Hanke; Abstaining:
Shutt.

George John: George says a private phone call to Stan admonishing him
would be a better course of action than firing Stan or passing the
motion above. George, you are right that is an appropriate first step.
In fact however, that took place months ago. The result was a phone
call from Stan to me where he gave an unconditional apology and a
promise to mend his ways.

Since your recommended action of a phone call failed, what action or
non-action do you George, intend to take, if elected to the EB, on the
Stan Booz Issue.

Don Schultz

Sam Sloan

2005-03-30, 7:01 am

On 22 Mar 2005 22:00:03 -0800, "George John" <george@neosoft.com>
wrote:

quote:

>chess...@aol.com wrote:
>
>Don,
>
>[SNIP]
>
>
>This isn't exactly what I said, but I'm too happy with the Rockets win
>over Miami to quarrel with this right now. ;-)
>
>
>Good to hear.
>
>the
>
>I will paraphrase what I have said previously.
>
>1) The USCF Executive Board would most likely benefit from a written
>code of conduct for its executive board advisory committee members.
>(Note: the EB would also benefit from doing a better job of following
>its own code of conduct).
>
>2) Any discussion of EB advisory committee members should be done in
>closed session only.
>
>3) The only action that I think is appropriate in open session is to
>vote on committee member assignments.
>
>We need written guidelines that can be fairly applied to all. If you
>are having problems with EB advisory committee members, deal with it in
>closed session please.
>
>Best regards,
>
>George John

Note that George John never takes a stand on any issue. He just speaks
in generalities and makes statements everybody would agree with. He
will say anything to get elected, which means that he will never say
anything which will alienate any group.

George John desperately wants to be USCF President and will say
anything to achieve that goal. What we would really like to know is
what he will do if he achieves this. What are his actual plans?

Sam Sloan

George John

2005-03-30, 7:02 am

Sam Sloan wrote:

quote:

> On 22 Mar 2005 22:00:03 -0800, "George John" <george@neosoft.com>
> wrote:

All,

[SNIP]

quote:

> George John desperately wants to be USCF President and will say
> anything to achieve that goal.

This is an incorrect statement. I believe the USCF President should be
someone who has had a least one year of current experience on the
Executive Board.

Before I became the Texas Chess Association's President in 2003, I had
years of experience on the TCA's Board as a Regional Director,
Secretary, and Treasurer. That experience has significantly helped me
in more effectively carrying out my duties as the TCA's President.

quote:

> What we would really like to know is
> what he will do if he achieves this. What are his actual plans?

The USCF has many areas where it needs to improve, but one that stands
out in my estimation is in the area of marketing. Successful
companies have a good understanding of what the potential is for their
products and services. IIRC, Phil recently mentioned that Russia sees
the US as a sleeping chess giant. That might be right, but before we
spend a significant amount of money on a marketing campaign to generate
more interest in chess, we need to understand if that assessment is
correct.

The USCF has a high membership turnover rate. We need to understand
better why we lose members to see if there are any reasonable steps
that can be taken to improve membership retention. We need to better
understand what our current members like and dislike, so we can give
them the best mix of product and services.

To help accomplish the above we will need to do some scientific
surveying. Other companies and organizations do so. We should very
seriously consider doing the same. To not do so is to pilot a ship
without a rudder, or fly an airplane in a fog without instruments. We
may also benefit from using a professional marketing company or
consultant; although, we may be able to tap very valuable help from
within our volunteer ranks, too.

Best regards,

George John