New post, with possible answer(s):
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/ … ixie-down/
“War is hell.” - General William Tecumseh Sherman
A. The Senior=Little Spud idea is great in terms of membership. I know of several
Seniors who would jump on board instantly.
B. Your story is from a decidedly Southern Viewpoint–which is just find. However, let me
point out that there a new book out about Sherman, from a very Yankee perspective,
in which terms like “insane” are replaced with “compassionate–and caring” in regard
to the march through Georgia. That is, by shortening the war, he saved thousands of
lives (same line used by Grant and Patton, by the way). And his point was to shock the
South into surrendering. My Aunt had a “history” published in 1912 in which ALL
Southern officers were described as “gentlemen” and the Union officers with other
terms.
Seriously, though, we do need to look for and examine way ways to bring our adult membership back, and into USCF for the first time.
Rob Jones
Still waiting for the Civil War to be over. The firing on Fort Sumter initiated the hellish war. The ending of the war at Appomattox Courthouse never seems to have been fully accepted. The political and economic repercussions of the failure to accept the outcome plague us to this day. Do Southerners really want a return to slavery, racism, and a plantation economy? I would think not, but still too many make up stories and extol the alleged virtues of a bygone era that was more myth than reality. This does not excuse the complicity of wealthy Northerners before the war who profited from shipping, manufacturing, and other businesses that provided the means to allow slavery and its infrastructure to exist. There are many biases in the history textbooks that our students use that have fanned the flames of continuing misinformation and discord. BTW, in none of those textbooks have I ever seen a mention of the great Southern chess hero, Paul Morphy, whose meteoric rise and success in Europe was the pride of the whole nation. They skip that while printing 40 pages on the history of Texas.
As far as the chess ideas to improve adult membership, some may be promising. However, they are going to have to be evaluated carefully to see whether they are economically feasible. It is one thing to offer discounts, quite another to find ways to pay for them. Seniors, for example, already receive a discounted membership. Many seniors I know bought Life Memberships at the $100 rate a long time ago. The USCF is still paying for that offered discount. Any plan to increase memberships has to be weighed against the potential costs if they do not pan out. With the new 501(c)(3) status, new revenue streams of different types might be developed that do not depend on membership alone. Attracting adults is going to take measures to provide them with both entertainment and time. Our traditional focus on weekend tournament play may need to be revised. Not everybody has the time or the desire to play chess for 20 hours in a weekend. We are not all Ironmen.
USCF needs to encourage inter-generational play in some way. It is a tough nut because adults hate losing to kids, which is one key reason that the adult memberships are down.
Allen Priest had an informative slide at the Finance workshop, a pie chart showing USCF revenue sources. Perhaps he’ll post his presentation.
Membership revenue was by far the biggest slice. His hope was that by 2015 donations would start to become enough of a slice to be visible on a pie chart.
I would donate more to USCF - but Harold Winston keeps hitting me up for the Chess Trust. 