Topic Archive

  

About "Topics" at the MCC
 
At the MCC, it is our practice that, whenever we have an extended discussion on a matter or "topic", that we create a Topic Summary which lists the issues and the pro's and con's generally agreed to during the discussion.   This saves us a lot of aggravation in the future because the essential arguments and elements of the discussion have been captured and can be referred back to should the topic come up again.  
  Our experience, and probably yours as well if you consider back through your own, is that  once an idea has been suggested, thought about in some detail and not used, it is likely that someone will think of that very same idea or something close to it and suggest it anew.  This is a natural byproduct of the decision making process and the passage of time.  When several choices are viable and one is selected, it is a very natural thing, once the basis of the original decision have passed from current memory to think that perhaps one of the other choices may be better suited.  Individuals who may not have even been present at the time of the original decisions are not aware of the considerations taken into account to reach the original conclusions and may believe their thoughts on the matter to be new.
 
When someone suggests something that is similar to or the same as a matter that has been previously discussed and acted upon or they believe we should revisit a topic, we politely point them to the Topic Summaries and ask them to present their argument after reading them.   Most of the time, after reading the pro's and con's of the relevant topic summaries, they understand how the current policy or decision was reached and decide the merits of their current suggestion should not be pursued.  It is also true that many times, the particulars of the situation have changed or more knowledge is available and the matter may merit reconsideration as the conclusions drawn may now come out different.  If the matter is taken up again, adding the new reasoning to the Topic Summary collection provides more depth and understanding to the issue.
  This process helps create an organizational memory whereby the knowledge and wisdom of those who preceded the current board and membership can be passed on.  Indeed, it takes effort to be organized and thorough.  The question then is if you or your organization would rather expend the effort now while it is still fresh in everyone's mind to document the reasoning or be forced to revisit the topic again each time it is brought up and trying to recover from someone's memory what the reasoning was at the time.  You could take the short term view and reason that effort "we" (or you) avoid now can be left to  "they" who follow.  Just remember you may be one of "them" to whom you left the work and we bet you'll be sorry you didn't take care of it back then when you had the chance.

Topics Listed Alphabetically
 

Advanced Byes
    Link   1998-12 Larry Eldridge  Important to read this as a starting point !
    Link   2001-11 Mark Kaprielian  
    Link   2002-01 Mark Kaprielian Discussion Summary
    Link   2002-07 Mark Kaprielian TD Discussion Summary
 

Attracting More Strong Players to the Club Byes
    Link   2002-08    
 

Awards
    Link   2009-07 Warner Smith Recognition Awards Proposal
 

Event - Format
    Link   2001-06   Changes in the format of the Big Events
 

Summer Chess
        See Scholastic section elsewhere on this site
 

Break Points and Place Finishers Analysis
    Link   1998-11 Alan Hodge Place Finishers Performance, July through October 1998
    Link   1998-12 Alan Hodge Place Finishers, July through October 1998
    Link   2000-04 Alan Hodge Break Points
 

Club Championship
            See Championships section elsewhere on this site
 

Computer Pairing
    Link   1998-01 Mark Kaprielian  
 

Electronic Game Capture
    Link   2009-04 Mark Kaprielian  
 

Entry Fees
    Link   1998-01 Mark Kaprielian  
 

Forfeits
Link 1998-12 Larry Eldridge
 

Marketing
    Link PDF 2005-01   Summary of discussion
 

Newsletter
    Link     Mark Kaprielian  
 

Elections
    Link       When should Elections be held
 

Monthly Event - Prizes
    Link   1998-01 Mark Kaprielian Section Prizes
    Link   2002-10   Increasing Prizes in the Bottom Two Sections
 

Presidents Report
    Link   1997-03 Mark Kaprielian  
    Link   1996-05 Mark Kaprielian  
 

Round Cancellation
    Link 1997-12 Mark Kaprielian  
 

Scholastics - Adding a Section
    Link   2000-03   Board Synopsis
 

Time Controls
    Link PDF 2005-08 multiple participatnts Create a faster time control for the lowest section
 

Sections - How many, Break points, Prizes, Playing Up
    PDF Prizes 1998-01 Prizes  
    PDF Sections 1998-01 Larry Eldridge How Many Sections should there be?
    PDF Sections 1998-01 Mark Kaprielian How Many Sections should there be?
    PDF Sections 1998-06   Discussion of Section Breaks
    Link Prizes 2002-10 Prizes  
    PDF Playing Up 2012-06 M. Kaprielian Playing Up
    PDF Sections 2013-01 V. Krishnamurthy, M. Kaprielian Adding a Fifth Section
    PDF Sections 2014-07 M. Kaprielian Player Distribution Analysis across Sections
New !   PDF Capacity 2017-07 M. Kaprielian Discussion of remedies for dealing with Over-capacity events and preventing them
 

USCF Grand Prix Participation
    Link     Mark Kaprielian  
 

USCF Tour Participation
    Link   1998-01 Mark Kaprielian  
         
         
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