THE OTHER SHOE HAS DROPPED

EB 06 - 022 - Goichberg: The Board approves the offers from Paul
Hoffman to
redesign Chess Life and the USCF website, and authorizes the ED to
agree to and
pay a $5000 initial expenditure for each, with the intention of a
$20,000 later
expenditure for each. PASSED 6-0-0.

Having read the minutes of the Novebmer 2005 meeting, we
can say that the other shoe has dropped.

We now know that Paul Hoffmann will be paid up to
50,000 sweet ones for redesigning Chess Life (Frank
Elley did a swell job about 25 years ago for a coupla
thousand) plus the USCF website.

FIFTY THOUSAND BUCKS! For an overhaul?

Key-reist.

We note Joel Channing's call to hire a First
Amendment attorney to curtail certain behavior, which
we may take to mean postings here on rgcp. The USCF
will be putting Nebraskan Mike Nolan in charge of a
moderated forum to attempt to take the sting out of
this website and perhaps a coupla others.

The idea is to launch SLAPP suits, I figure. It
won't work.

As for a moderated forum, it will be
Snoozeville. Anyone who wants to learn just how sweet
a deal the architect gets in Cross-to-Bear, Jennifer
Shahade gets at the USCF without a public tender, the
real cost of the building in Cross-to-Bear, the actual
behavior of our FIDE "team" -- anyone wanting to learn
these and other things will have to come here to rgcp.

The sweet insider deals will not get ventilated
at the USCF. Instead, you will hear that there was no
pressure, say, to hire Harry Sabine's son, who was --
ah, eh, etc. -- "fully qualified." You will read
official pronunciamentoes by the political eminentoes.

The issue of hiring a website content
editor has nothing whatsoever to do with Jennifer
Shahade. I have repeatedly stipulated that she may
prove to be the freshly-squeezed-orange-juice of
content editors. That is for the future to decide.
If her mind is quick, her pen fluent, her work ethic
developed and her knowledge outstanding, then she has
just the right qualifications. In fact, the only
relevant qualifications.

The issue is: WHY WAS THIS POSITION NOT PUT OUT
FOR PUBLIC TENDER? No one has provided a satisfactory
explanation. From the Board, there is silence.

What is the pay rate of Jennifer Shahade when
compared with the CL editor? Approximately the same
or does Shahade make more money?

Here is the problem: Jay Sabine walks into the
Federaton office and wants a job. He and others are
"qualified," and the manager has to decide whether to
say no to one of Harry's boys.

The business stinks to high heaven.

Larry Parr wrote (22 Feb 2006 19:06:48 -0800):

WHY WAS THIS POSITION NOT PUT OUT FOR
PUBLIC TENDER? No one has provided a
satisfactory explanation. From the Board, there
is silence.

_
"we did not want to lose [Jennifer Shahade]
by causing a further delay." - Don Schultz
(Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:32 pm)
_
http://www.uschess.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=913

This is a big political payoff. I told you 3 weeks ago. Us chumps in PA
can smell **** pretty quickly.

WHERE YOUR DUES MONEY GOES

,Even though I feel strongly about these things, I pride myself on
having the grace to admit I was wrong if they flop. -- Joel Channing

"Sam Sloan asked about Jennifer Shahade's function. Bill Hall
indicated she will work on the website and help with the magazine. Sam
Sloan questioned the need for her or Paul Hoffman on the website."


Unofficial Summary of the USCF Executive Board Meeting - Feb. 17-19,
2006 - Parsippany, NJ (see USCHESS.ORG).

Dear Larry,

I see that we're not communicating well. Maybe it was a mistake to
have taken you seriously.

Joel Channing

Last week in Parsippany Paul Hoffman and his group showed the EB a
preview of concepts for the new magazine and the website that impressed
us very much. Paul's credentials and those of his associates are very
impressive.

So everyone else is automatically chopped liver? Ever hear of a BIDDING
process?


It was a campaign issue of mine that ChessLife should be
transformed into a modern magazine and I believe we've chosen the right
people to help accomplish that goal.

A belief so strong that the "wrong people" don't even need to bother showing
up?

I believe that we've committed
$25,000 of the total so far, and I think we're getting our money's
worth.

What if there are angles that aren't being "thought" of that would come to
light in a fully public hiring process? So far all I see is cheerleading
about a few individuals by a process which by necessity gives the middle
finger to anyone else who thinks they might be able to do an equal or better
job, for less money.

My recent musings about hiring a first amendment attorney to look into
the idea of having a code of conduct that would apply to directors and
members alike have, in the light of more experience, given way to the
idea of having a vigorous forum for debate within the USCF website.
The idea is try to exercise an absolute minimum of "moderation" (your
suggestion, in lieu of "censorship"). Even though I disagree with much
of what you say, your postings represent, to me, the limits of how
civil people should argue. Having such a forum in USCF would be
beneficial in two ways. First, serious, mature posters would not be
put off by the crude, childish language that now prevails, thus
enhancing the level of discourse. Second, the new forum should be a
far more effective venue for dissent, since it would probably have a
much larger audience.

Dissent and moderation rarely mix.

" writes:

"Sam Sloan asked about Jennifer Shahade's function. Bill Hall
indicated she will work on the website and help with the magazine. Sam
Sloan questioned the need for her or Paul Hoffman on the website."

Sam Sloan is an expert on website design? LOL!

What I saw from Paul Hoffman and his business partner on the website
and magazine redesign a few weeks ago (a preview for staff of what was
to be presented in NJ) looked promising, but I had a lot of technical
questions about the reformulated website that they didn't have answers
for at that time, hopefully they do now or will soon.

I'm inclined to agree with Larry Parr that the hiring process was done
all wrong but that Jennifer could turn out to be an excellent hire.

I guess my biggest concern is if she doesn't work out, will Bill or Dan
feel they can fire her without fearing Board repercussions?
--
Mike Nolan

wrote:

The sweet insider deals will not get ventilated
at the USCF. Instead, you will hear that there was no
pressure, say, to hire Harry Sabine's son, who was --
ah, eh, etc. -- "fully qualified." You will read
official pronunciamentoes by the political eminentoes.

Has Harry Sabine's son actually been hired for anything by the USCF?

Sam Sloan

"jr" writes:

I admire Channing but what Parr wrote was the truth. Many of us
share these concerns. What do we have to show for $25,000 of our
dues money for an outside consultant?

By this same logic, there are over a half dozen NFL teams who should
fire their newly hired head coaches before they have coached one game or
even conducted their first NFL draft!

With about 30 employees
already on the payroll, why can't this job be done in-house?

Who on staff would you have design the new website? Who has the time
or the expertise?

Who on staff would you have create a new look for the magazine? Who has
the time or the expertise?

I think the answers in both cases a Nobody on staff has either the time
OR the expertise.

When major magazines and newspapers decide they need a new look, they usually
bring in outside design firms, the fees can run into the millions of dollars.
(I think the Wall Street Journal paid over $5 million for their last makeover,
for example, and it took close to a year before the first edition of the
revised paper hit the street or their website.)

I wasn't at the meeting in New Jersey, but presumably there was a public
presentation of what Paul and his partner have come up with so far. It
will take some time for them to finish their work and for it to get into
production, and it will take some time before Jennifer's work can be
judged too.
--
Mike Nolan

"samsloan" writes:

Has Harry Sabine's son actually been hired for anything by the USCF?

Boy, Sam's really got a scoop on this one. Sam, have you looked at
the masthead of the magazine in the last 9 months?
--
Mike Nolan