Affiliate rates and the join/renew on the web.

Chess Clubs
1

The federation plan to have a quick membership approval of new or re-newing memberships. The director or the organization of the tournament can send the information too the federation, with the process taking around twenty-four hours, should not be more then four days if the event was on the weekend or a holiday when the federation office would be closed. As a director has up to seven days for the grace period, for sending the tournament report – would give the director the information of the new members id number before sending the official tournament report. Would help the affiliates, the director, and the new player.

There are two flaws with this system, that does not effect the above statement. If the affiliate use the webpage to take care of the members membership: the affiliate can not get the affiliate rate. Some chess clubs use that extra affiliate rate discount: to pass it onto the members, or save the extra money for the chess club.

If the federation does place this affiliate discount on the webpage, some of the memberships will abuse this system. As anyone can use the MSA to look up a chess club, find the number of the club, say they are the seller or find a certified tournament director in the MSA. Then be able to get the discount at the affiliate rate, without the approval of the affiliate or the federation.

If the affiliate rate discount goes does not go up, the affiliate/director would just send in the membership in paper, then collect the affiliate discount. The plan of the rating department and the membership department, working on this project be under minded just on the affiliates wish for the commission. As the affiliate rate commission is small, for some of the affiliates it helps with the cost of the chess club.

If the affiliate discount goes onto the webpage, the affiliates should get a pen number that only the president of the affiliate or the officers know the number. All certified tournament directors should get a pen number, when they sell a membership or send in a tournament report. As some people, not all people at first would cheat the affiliate and the federation out of the few dollars. As anyone could find a affiliate number, then find a active tournament director and say he/she was the seller, then get the discount.

Earnest,
Douglas M. Forsythe, Local TD
12313120

2

This is not the best place to discuss this, because it is not really a ‘club organization’ issue, but the plan is to have a separate web form for TD’s to enter memberships and it will have the affiliate rates. This form will be accessible only to TD’s and affiliates and will require preauthorization and a password login, to ensure that TD’s and affiliates get credit for the memberships they enter.

3

Chess clubs do have organization when they elect to become a USCF affiliate. When they plan for a event or take care of the club membership, they budget the idea that ten adult memberships would pay for the one year membership as a affiliate.

There are a great deal of chess clubs that never have or never plan to direct any event; when they use the affiliate discount to take care of the cost of the affiliate. Even some affiliates would not want or would be a affiliate if there was no discount. This was the reason that it was placed in this form, not the tournament directors form. As each and every affiliated organization would have to debate the idea if the federation was not going to place the webpage for the affiliate rate, if the chess club use their affiliate to take care of instant memberships.

Earnest,
Douglas M. Forsythe, Local TD
12313120

4

You miss my point. It is not a question of whether there is any relevance, it is a question of where someone looking for information on this subject would expect to find it.

There are better topics to discuss it, places that TD’s and affiliates are probably more likely to look than in this category/topic.

As the number of topics expand (and there is a request for more categories as well), it is increasingly important to keep each category and topic on focus.

I don’t monitor every topic in every category, so questions that I might be well-equipped to answer need to be in places people (including myself) would expect to find them.