Chess forum - Fire the Webmaster !!

Author

Fire the Webmaster !!

Sam Sloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

At 02:53 PM 10/21/2006 EDT, Beatchess@aol.com wrote:

quote:

> Do we have any information in the USCF website about the World Youth
>Championships?

Good question !!!!

It has been pointed out by Beatriz that although the USCF has
sponsored a delegation to the World Youth Championships in Batumi,
Georgia, there is no information on the USCF website about this event.

What are we paying our webmaster for and why are we paying to send
these players to this event, if we are not publicizing their
achievements??

USCF again sleeps at the switch.

Sam Sloan

Kenneth Sloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Sam Sloan wrote:

quote:

> At 02:53 PM 10/21/2006 EDT, Beatchess@aol.com wrote:
>
> Good question !!!!
>
> It has been pointed out by Beatriz that although the USCF has
> sponsored a delegation to the World Youth Championships in Batumi,
> Georgia, there is no information on the USCF website about this event.
>
> What are we paying our webmaster for and why are we paying to send
> these players to this event, if we are not publicizing their
> achievements??
>
> USCF again sleeps at the switch.
>
> Sam Sloan

Personally, I blame the EB.

--
Kenneth Sloan KennethRSloan@gmail.com
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

samsloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Kenneth Sloan wrote:

quote:

> Sam Sloan wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Personally, I blame the EB.
>
> --
> Kenneth Sloan KennethRSloan@gmail.com
> Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
> university of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
> Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

I do too, but you cannot blame me, even though I am on the board,
because the decisions that led to this situation were made before I was
on the board. I took office on August 12, 2006.

At the meeting on February 19, 2006 in Parsippany NJ, the board voted
to hire a guru and to pay him $50,000 to upgrade the magazine and the
website. The board also voted to hire and pay a web editor $40,000.

Look at what we have gotten for our $90,000.

Almost everyone agrees that the magazine is on balance worse than it
used to be before we hired this "expert".

The website was terrible, awful, horrible until a few weeks ago and it
was finally improved only because I kept complaining about it.

The content editor must have gone off to Uzbekistan because I am unable
to find any of this supposedly great content on the website.

They also blew $10,000 on a "retreat". What good did that do?

I think we should do to all of them what I hope that the voters will do
to George Bush in the coming election.

And, by the way, the USCF is suffering huge financial losses again.

Sam Sloan

Ray Gordon, creator of the pivot

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

samsloan wrote:

quote:

> Kenneth Sloan wrote:
>
>
> I do too, but you cannot blame me, even though I am on the board,
> because the decisions that led to this situation were made before I was
> on the board. I took office on August 12, 2006.
>
> At the meeting on February 19, 2006 in Parsippany NJ, the board voted
> to hire a guru and to pay him $50,000 to upgrade the magazine and the
> website. The board also voted to hire and pay a web editor $40,000.
>
> Look at what we have gotten for our $90,000.
>
> Almost everyone agrees that the magazine is on balance worse than it
> used to be before we hired this "expert".
>
> The website was terrible, awful, horrible until a few weeks ago and it
> was finally improved only because I kept complaining about it.
>
> The content editor must have gone off to Uzbekistan because I am unable
> to find any of this supposedly great content on the website.
>
> They also blew $10,000 on a "retreat". What good did that do?
>
> I think we should do to all of them what I hope that the voters will do
> to George Bush in the coming election.
>
> And, by the way, the USCF is suffering huge financial losses again.
>
> Sam Sloan

Who's in charge of the website? How much does this person get?

--
Money is not "game."
Looks are not "game."
Social status or value is not "game."
Those are the things that game makes unnecessary.

A seduction guru who teaches you that looks, money or status is game is
not
teaching you "game," but how to be an AFC. He uses his students' money
to
get women and laughs that "AFCs pay my rent."

Matt Nemmers

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Ray Gordon, creator of the pivot wrote:

quote:

> samsloan wrote:
>
>
> Who's in charge of the website? How much does this person get?

No, you can't have the job. And no, you couldn't do better.

Smegma Bin Cummin

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

"Matt Nemmers" <> No, you can't have the job. And no, you couldn't do
better.

quote:

>

Yeah, but he couldn't do it worse, either. Considering that $100,000.00 has
gotten nothing, anyone could do the same at half the price. Isn't that the
kind of bargain that the U.S. Chess Federation is famous for.

I put in the first bid: I promise to do the same crap job for only $45K. A
savings of $55K over the current crud.

WPraeder

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Kenneth Sloan wrote:

quote:

> Sam Sloan wrote:
> Personally, I blame the EB.
>
> --
> Kenneth Sloan KennethRSloan@gmail.com
> Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
> university of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
> Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

Ken,

I would agree that the current USCF Executive Board owns the
organizations issues and results be they operational, financial, legal
or ethical.

Regards,
Wayne Praeder
http://members.aol.com/wpraeder/account.htm

samsloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

At 08:43 AM 10/24/2006 -0400, Joel Channing wrote:

quote:

>
>

Sam's recurrent public lashing out at staff and other Board members
indicates that he must think that he is above the rules. This latest
missive was posted to BINFO when it clearly should have been
CONFIDENTIAL. Furthermore, it is clearly in violation of Sections
(1c), (2e) and (3d) of the Standards of Conduct for the USCF Executive
Board. I hereby request that Bill Hall instruct Mike Nolan to
reclassify it as soon as possible. In the hope that we might be able
to work better together, I would ask Sam to acknowledge his mistakes
and pledge to try to do better in the future. However, in the event
that he is unwilling to do so before our upcoming meeting, I want this
matter placed on the agenda for discussion and a possible vote of
censure or referral to the Ethics Committee.

Joel Channing

Sorry, but this is not a confidential matter. The members have a right
to know why the website is not working.

Also, you have no right to order Bill Hall and Mike Nolan to do
anything.

I am however prepared to acknowledge and pledge to start informing the
membership about what until now has been going on behind closed doors.

Already the members are starting to complain that I have sold out and
have become part of your problem.

Sam Sloan

Mike Nolan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

"samsloan" <samhsloan@gmail.com> writes:

quote:

>Also, you have no right to order Bill Hall and Mike Nolan to do
>anything.

But you do?
--
Mike Nolan

samsloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Mike Nolan wrote:

quote:

> "samsloan" <samhsloan@gmail.com> writes:
>
>
> But you do?
> --
> Mike Nolan

Of course not, but I have not ordered you to do anything.

By the way, it is time for the Credit where Credit is Due Department.

Mike Nolan did a much better job maintaining the website for free than
our highly paid webmasters are now doing for big money.

Sam Sloan

Smegma Bin Cummin

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

"samsloan" <> Nolan did a much better job maintaining the website for free
than

quote:

> our highly paid webmasters are now doing for big money.
>

Nolan is a major XXX-kisser, and they took advantage of his craven
personality and did not pay him a dime because he is such a suck-XXX. He got
what he deserved.

markgravitygood@gmail.com

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

samsloan wrote:

quote:

> Sorry, but this is not a confidential matter. The members have a right
> to know why the website is not working.

quote:

> Sam Sloan

Seems to be working fine for me. What actually is not working?

markgravitygood@gmail.com

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

markgravitygood@gmail.com wrote:

quote:

> samsloan wrote:
>
>
> Seems to be working fine for me. What actually is not working?

It should be noted that running a website is not the same as blogging
and posting on usenet.

http://chess-training.blogspot.com

Mike Nolan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

"samsloan" <samhsloan@gmail.com> writes:

quote:

>Mike Nolan did a much better job maintaining the website for free than
>our highly paid webmasters are now doing for big money.

Baloney. First of all, I wasn't doing it for free.

I also think you have a rather loose definition of what (and who) the
webmaster is. I handle some back-end technical matters, I am not a graphics
designer.

Second, while the website was in terrible shape 6 months ago, it is slowly
getting better as things get moved over to the new website design, which
was developed by the consultants that the Board hired earlier this year.

That structure still needs fleshing out, that's coming too. I did play a
role recently in facilitating that fleshing out process, since our web
consultants didn't do that task, as it apparently wasn't part of what
the Board hired them to do.

However, I have NOTHING to do with 'news' content, that's Jennifer's job.

Personally, I think she did a fairly good job on the World Championship
match, especially the last half of it, after we switched what the home
page was on October 1st.

Jennifer was not in Elista nor did the USCF have a reporter on site, so she
had to rely on reports from other sources.

Similarly, I think she's doing a reasonable job on the World Youth
Championships currently taking place in Batumi Georgia (aka Russia).
As with the World Championship match, the USCF does not have a reporter
on site. This event began on the 19th, by the 22nd the USCF website had
results, some games, and even some pictures from the event.
--
Mike Nolan

Ray Gordon, creator of the \pivot\

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Check IPs please.

I post from PGHconnect.com and a Comcast IP.

The previous post was through an AOL IP.

It was not me who wrote that.

--
Money is not "game."
Looks are not "game."
Social status or value is not "game."
Those are the things that game makes unnecessary.

A seduction guru who teaches you that looks, money or status is game is not
teaching you "game," but how to be an AFC. He uses his students' money to
get women and laughs that "AFCs pay my rent."

Matt Nemmers

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

Ray Gordon, creator of the "pivot" wrote:

quote:

> Check IPs please.
>
> I post from PGHconnect.com and a Comcast IP.
>
> The previous post was through an AOL IP.
>
> It was not me who wrote that.

Doesn't much matter, does it? It looks exactly like something you'd
write. After all, aren't you suing because you didn't know about the
job application?

I'm not optimistic that this'll sink in, but get with the program,
Gordy. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a
XXXXin' duck.

samsloan

2006-11-19, 9:05 pm

tanstaafl wrote:

quote:

>I think Mr. Sloan should be more concerned with an EVEN BIGGER scandal. Shocked
> Why isn't Mr. Sloan investigating the board member that has repeatedly violated
> Paragraph 2(e) of the STANDARDS OF CONDUCT FOR THE USCF Executive Board
>Quote: "... Specific criticism of other USCF employees should be conveyed discreetly to the Executive Director."

A special exception arises when the employee was hired by the board and
not be the Executive Director.

When the board has directly hired a person, the board needs to be able
to communicate directly with that person, rather than going through the
Executive Director.

This is especially true when the hiring was done as part of a political
deal.

For example, the USCF webmaster was hired by the board, not by the
Executive Director. A majority of the board feels that the webmaster
has done an unacceptably poor job and we have the right and even the
duty to say so.

I will give an example. I sometimes attend the weekly meetings of the
New York City Board of Elections at 32 Broadway, Sixth Floor.

A typical agenda item at these meetings will often be: Such and such
employee (by name) is often late for work. He calls in sick more times
than is normally allowed. He refused to work overtime on election day
when we needed him to count the voting machines. Should we fire him or
simply give him a reprimand?

The ten commissioners (two for each borough) then debate the issue.
After a half-hour debate, they vote. The vote might be 5 to dismiss,
four to reprimand, one to commend him for his good work.

Only if six commissioners vote to fire is the employee fired.

All of this takes place in Open Session, with people like me watching
and with the employee identified by name.

The reason for this is that this is the New York City Board of
Elections and all jobs are political.

However, the Executive Board of the United States Chess Federation is
also a political body. Therefore, I feel that when employees are hired
directly by the board, that should be a matter for open board
discussion.

Sam Sloan