SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
On Friday I wrote about a recently published marketing study done in Brazil (the 5th largest country in the world). One of the important conclusions drawn from this highly regarded study is that chess can not compete successfully for sponsors' dollars. That chess, simply, does not have the visibility and prestige to warrant serious consideration from serious sponsors.
Since Friday, when the essence of that study was published on http://aladerei.e-xadrez.com/, a couple of other articles have appeared in response to this study. One very interesting response is http://www.gxbg.com.br/notaschess/2009/090627_paolucci.html .
While comparing Brazil and Canada might seem to some like comparing apples and oranges, we should not lose sight that in both countries chess has the same sponsorship problem: chess does not attract sponsors.
True, in the recent past the CFC has been lucky in getting some sponsorship for the National Team and the Zonal tournament. But this sponsorship is really from some stronger than average chess players who made it big in business and wanted to give a bit back. We have to thank them for their efforts. We should not be surprised that this sponsorship has stopped, either.
Chess does not return visibility and prestige to sponsors.
One of my conclusions in the Friday blog was that we chess players have to realize that the only way things are going to improve in Canada is if we chessplayers take control of our destiny and start doing the right things. Things that will change the way chess is viewed by sponsors.
Where do we Canadians start to change things around? A very important question. The article mentioned above (by Paolucci, who has a long list of university business degrees and has won some prestigious awards for his work ) recommends , among other things, that we improve the administrative structure of the national federation and attract qualified professionals who can:
1) explore ways to improve the marketing potential of the game
2) improve communication with the media so that they become aware of chess
3) use IT to create an online site that is interactive, visually attractive and updated daily (preferably several times daily)
But, as we know, the CFC has tried this to some extent (not very hard, it seems at times) but has failed to get beyond first base:
1) while some of those who have been elected may have professional qualifications, they don't have the specific qualifications to implement any of the above 3 suggestions. David Lavin, in particular, has not been able to transfer the skills that have made him a rich man as a promoter to the chess world. Neither David nor anyone else on the Executive know the first thing about marketing, nor do they have any ideas on how the CFC can do this. Have any of them even mentioned the word ''marketing'' this past year??
2) how can we expect to improve communication with the media when the President and the executive are not able to maintain even a low level communication with the Governors , let alone with the membership? There is zero communication in this administration. The GLs serve to inform the governors of decisions taken where they were out of the loop or to present nonsense motions that will change nothing.
3) a feeble attempt was made to implement a webzine, but it was doomed to fail before it even began because the President did not give a realistic budget for it. And what was produced was better than what the President deserved, but the membership found it unfriendly, difficult to access and tedious.
The only thing that the CFC can do now , is to try harder next year and hopefully learn from its mistakes. Hopefully be sincere about trying to solve problems and improve things.But what realistic chances are there for this coming about if David Lavin is going to be President?
Shouldn't someone who has failed at everything he has put his mind on NOT want to run for re-election?
I know that I have been very critical of David on this blog. But I have been sincere and honest with David! I have told him to his face: he is a DISASTER.
David is running on empty: pure 100% ego. He does not want to admit failure, no matter how much it is staring him in the face!
As pointed out last week:
1) David has alienated or fired virtually everyone he has met this past year.
2)he has exhausted the patience of the membership and depleted what little good will existed
3)he has failed with every project he has tried to bring to fruitation
4)he has brought in ZERO sponsorship
5)he has suggested no new ways to realistically improve revenue generation
6)he has no new projects in the pipeline
And there are other things to list, but , seriously, the truth is that David still wants to be Prez! I suppose that the CFC has fallen so low in the past 10 years that we should not be too surprised that we attract someone like David. The fit contains symmetry: we are masochists, and David is our sadist!
Fortunately, being President is not up to David. It is up to the Governors. Can the Governors be so stupid and short sighted that they re-elect
Fonte: espetacular blog do Kevin Spraggett
Grifos: de Maiakowsky.
Uma vez meu psicanalista disse: "Eduardo, os problemas são todos iguais!". Acho que é bem isso. Do texto sobre uma realidade canadense, grifei o que considero legal para refletir. Quem não manja muito inglês vale a pena usar com paciência um dicionário ou pedir auxílio a alguém para traduzir. As reflexões são muito boas!
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