Dear friends and colleagues,
This is an absolutely critical election for the USCF. It’s also one of the most unique elections ever. Why? Because you, the members, have the power to set this federation on the right course for the next 4 years! You, the members, are in the position to take back control of our beloved federation.
What has happened to the USCF in recent years? Well, it hasn’t been great at all! Every time the USCF took a step forward, it also took two steps backward. There was little sense of pride. There was little sense of responsibility. There was little attempt to positively promote chess or the USCF. There was little sense of urgency.
However, there were plenty of internal political wars. There were plenty of horrific business and financial blunders. There was plenty of frivolous spending for political reasons. There was plenty of dishonesty and unprofessionalism.
Some believe that if it ain’t broken, why fix it? I would say something is broken when we’re losing money year after year. There’s hardly any room left for errors. As each day went by, this federation fell further behind. With massive overheads, shrinking revenues and outdated technology, we’re doomed to fail again.
Every year is a new excuse. Every year is a new finger-pointing game. The Executive Director and his staff weren’t allowed to do their jobs because some board members wanted to micromanage them. We wasted so much time, money and resources dealing with nonsense by chess politicians instead of focusing on improving many needed areas.
What are some of my areas of expertise? What can I bring to the table?
I spent the last 5+ years volunteering my full time to positively promote chess in the US, especially for the Susan Polgar Foundation. I was able to secure more publicity and media coverage for all the events that I was involved with than the entire USCF. I helped create countless headline-news chess events.
The Susan Polgar Foundation awarded approximately $400,000 in scholarships and chess prizes in the last few years. We did it with virtually a zero budget. I proved that we don’t have to spend tens and thousands of dollars to positively and correctly promote our game. We just need to know how to do it and have the passion and diligence to follow through.
I can bring my unique expertise in marketing, promotion, management and public relations, areas that the USCF sorely needs. When doubters said that the US Women’s Olympiad Training Program would not work, I spent two years without pay to help the team as their captain, manager and personal coach. We came home with an unprecedented 4 medals (2 Gold and 2 Silver), first ever in US history.
I can help restore the much-needed integrity, credibility and professionalism back to the USCF. If you’re happy with the status quo then I’m not the right person. If you want success and accountability then I can make a big difference immediately. Thank you!
Go for it Paul, and good luck.
JC
you can also have a video statement…
Do you really need Paul to site specific examples of mis-managment and financial blundering to see that the USCF is heading in the wrong direction? Just look at the state of the US Chess Championship.
I commend Paul for not making the message personal. Let’s face it. The USCF HAS been mismanaged for a long time now. They are losing sponsors, money and prestige. Something has to change.
I hope to see them succeed. Based on their own successes outside of the USCF I see no reason why they should not succeeed in making the USCF better.
Be VERY Careful of anonymous #1 in this thread. It STINKS of a Sam Sloan ninja-post tactic.
Pretend to be with you (“I originally felt fairly positive..”), then slide away (“..but as the campaign has developed…”), claiming he does not see the difference between the current admin and the one that is running (“Now I think there is probably little difference between you guys and any of the others.”).
Nice try Sammy Boy.
Shallow Hal got nothin’ on you.
about 2 weeks ago I began to read the USCF Forums discussions. They more than confirm all that Paul says. In fact I support that Paul does not bring up specifics that only cause flame wars at USCF.
This blog is kept nice and clean and POSITIVE by avoiding specific flame wars. The more I read over there. And I just came back here from reading 5 long pages on the Oklahoma war with Frank Berry and Jim Berry involved. That is so sad.
We certainly do not want people to bring their personal war at the state level into the EB boardrooms of the national USCF. No one wants that.
I view Paul as every bit as important to elect as Susan herself. Of course they bring different skills to the job.
These past 2 weeks I have read the USCF forums and am more and more convinced how much we need to elect Susan and all her slate to the EB. This is not an election to take lightly. Everyone who is well informed will agree that Susan and her slate is the best choice.
It is not necessary to make a long laundry list of what is wrong.
Such a list would be negative.
Everyone who is well informed knows many of the problems.
Susan Polgar is the only candidate who has the capability to raise corporate sponsorship. No one else is doing it. Some on the EB are throwing it away now.
Susan is the last hope for some positive change at uscf.
Paul is a super good person. We are so fortunate to get the opportunity to have him help chess in usa. Paul has my strongest support.
Hi Susan,
I have posted some commentary at my blog at the Chess Training Blog.
I plan on following it up with some opinion and copies of your E.B. teams qualifications in hopes that we, the membership, can correct the mistakes WE MADE 4 years ago.
Have you considered making an appearance at the Eastern Class Championships in March in Sturbridge, MA?
Regards,
Mark
I apologized for some of these outrageous posts. They came from Mr. Sam Sloan and his supporters. They know that he has no chance to win. Therefore, the best strategy for them is to lie and hijack threads. They will all be deleted. The posting IPs matched the same few people.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
Sam Sloan has posted contracts without permission. go to uscf forums and try to get them removed from the internet.
Sam is gone crazy
That is OK. If the KCF want to go after him, let them. However, he will have to answer for all of his conducts once he is out of the office and he can no longer use USCF money to defend himself. I think a 10 year suspension is appropriate. I’m sure the new team won’t let him get away with it. If you vote for Schultz, he will bail Sloan out again.
As a business man I think posting contracts is a fools game. who has allowed sam sloan to make a fool of USCF again. this is going to do great harm to uscf. what are corporations going to think when they find out contracts of USCF are publicly posted on the internet.
People when they sign contracts expect them to remain private between the signers.
Get rid of Sam Sloan. like most Trolls ignore him. He is a troll of the first order and people are allowing him to make fools of everyone.
The only way to handle trolls is to ignore them.
I can not believe that you allow sam sloan to blow the AF4C sponsors and now you continue to kiss up to him and do what he wants by posting official contracts on the internet publicly. at least if it was published in this restricted forum only members would have access. Now who knows who will make copies and what the results will be in the future.
I am floored by this insanity. total insanity. crazy. what is happening here. who is in charge. it seems sam sloan runs the place. sam does what he wants and everyone watches him destroy the place. get rid of sam immediately.
The uscf can not sustain any more insanity and survive.
Professional Chess
Support Susan Polgar for electioin.
Get rid of the amateurs that are ruining USCF and chess.
Right on, Paul. Hit the important points square on!!!
Good Luck!!
Anonymous Frank
“Do you really need Paul to site specific examples of mis-managment and financial blundering to see that the USCF is heading in the wrong direction?”
No, but we need them to know that he has some idea how to fix it. Anybody can say, with a lot of truth, that the USCF is broken, but unless you know how to fix it, why should I vote for you? Granted, not being Sam Sloan is a good selling point, but is that the only one?
Clearly the USCF has been ineffective.
But a lesson about voting is that people turn out to vote FOR something, not AGAINST something. (the people who say I will vote for anyone except person X tend not to bother to vote).
So I think it would be great if there could be a bit more focus on getting people excited about what the USCF could be under the right leadership.
Sloan knows his days are numbered. He’s a desparate man. He’ll be suspended for 10 years or longer once he’s out of the office. Schultz can’t protect him anymore once they’re both out of the office by August. It’s too bad that ChessDon’s career will end in a sour note. He’ll always be remembered as the guy who fed Sloan crap to harm his political opponents. That’s why SLoan refused to take actions against Sloan and stayed quiet about this mess. He knows that Sloan will sell him out. That’s what you get when you sell your soul to the devils.
Good luck Mr. Truong! You’ll have our full support. Thank you for standing up to the sleeze Sam Sloan. A convicted criminal should have no business serving on the executive board of the USCF. We’re with you. We’re also tired of the same faces like Sloan, Marinello, Schultz. Time for all of them to go.
Best,
You IL supporter
Yes, Paul will definitely be an asset to the USCF Executive Board.
An interesting commentary about candidate Jim Berry by the Oklahoma USCF State Chapter President and Delegate Chuck Unruh is HERE, with lots of other mentions in the same forum. Additional information is available on the OK State Chapter website HERE
The USCF certainly doesn’t need that kind of controversy.