Is the U.S. Chess Federation really serious about its book and equipment
business? Judging by its online shopping listings on its website, I would say
not. A prime example would be the failure of (not yet) listing the latest
edition of the Official Rules of Chess. The September issue of Chess Life
includes an ad (buried, as far as I'm concerned) for the latest edition on page
49 (unnumbered), with a member's price of $14.95
The rulebook deserved greater promotion in the way of an ad in the September
issue. It was mixed in with a number of "USCF Club Ideas." In my opinion, the
rulebook should be marketed as a "player's item," not just something for the
club.
The USCF is still trying to peddle the 10-year-old 4th edition of the rulebook,
which can be obtained online at the member's price of $ 9.35
The federation is missing opportunities for sales by not listing the new
rulebook online. It is also missing the boat by underpromoting the book in the
September CL. I guess they are not interested selling many copies to players
and probably think that the only ones interested in buying the book would be
tournament directors, clubs and affiliates.How wrong they are! With the right
type of marketing, players would be willing buyers of this rulebook. Maybe they
are waiting for the October issue of CL to promote this book in a big way, but
I seriously doubt it. In fact, I seriously doubt if they are really interested
in doing B&E business the right way. They haven't had a sales-savvy person
since the 1980s, when Al Lawrence was ED. Al was very sharp when it came to
sales. He knew the business of selling. If the Redman gang, along with
accomplice DeFeis, had not destroyed the B&E business, the federation would be
better off today if they had someone like Lawrence at the top, spearheading
sales.

George Mirijanian

Subject: Is USCF really serious about its B&E business?
From: (Miriling)
Date: 8/22/03 9:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Is the U.S. Chess Federation really serious about its book and equipment
business? Judging by its online shopping listings on its website, I would say
not. A prime example would be the failure of (not yet) listing the latest
edition of the Official Rules of Chess. The September issue of Chess Life
includes an ad (buried, as far as I'm concerned) for the latest edition on
page
49 (unnumbered), with a member's price of $14.95
The rulebook deserved greater promotion in the way of an ad in the September
issue. It was mixed in with a number of "USCF Club Ideas." In my opinion, the
rulebook should be marketed as a "player's item," not just something for the
club.
The USCF is still trying to peddle the 10-year-old 4th edition of the
rulebook,
which can be obtained online at the member's price of $ 9.35
The federation is missing opportunities for sales by not listing the new
rulebook online. It is also missing the boat by underpromoting the book in
the
September CL. I guess they are not interested selling many copies to players
and probably think that the only ones interested in buying the book would be
tournament directors, clubs and affiliates.How wrong they are! With the right
type of marketing, players would be willing buyers of this rulebook. Maybe
they
are waiting for the October issue of CL to promote this book in a big way,
but
I seriously doubt it. In fact, I seriously doubt if they are really
interested
in doing B&E business the right way. They haven't had a sales-savvy person
since the late 1980s, when Al Lawrence was ED (1988-1996). Al was very sharp
when it came to
sales. He knew the business of selling. If the Redman gang, along with
accomplice DeFeis, had not destroyed the B&E business, the federation would
be
better off today if they had someone like Lawrence at the top, spearheading
sales.

George Mirijanian