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| bucklehead 4/28/2005 15:38:45 [ report this post ] |
 Subject: Looking to Commit Some HeresyMessage: It's a scary prospect, since 1) I've never done such a thing and 2) I really don't like dealing with people. (You may think this is contrary to my impulse for OTB chess, but to me these are completely separate.) I seem to recall that, when I was a kid, there was a USCF-affiliated club in town with perhaps 15-20 people, and that's the sort of thing I'd hope to recreate. And so I come before you, gentle chessplayers, in search of some advice. Has anyone done this in their town? How did you gauge interest, and how did you eventually get the word out? In your experience, are people willing to pay some nominal membership fee to defray costs of equipment/USCF dues/etc.? Any advice/stories/warnings you could offer would be most helpful--especially if there's a "don't waste your time" point I haven't thought of. And of course, if you're a GK player in SW Connecticut, USA, who would be interested in such a thing, don't hesitate to send me a message. I'm just tired of feeling like a violinist (ha! more of a kazoo player) whose string quartet (i.e., kazoo band) meets over the phone. |
| wschmidt 4/28/2005 15:57:08 [ report this post ] | I haven't done it, but... Message: |
| roland_l 4/28/2005 18:59:10 [ report this post ] | Should have read your post first ... Message: I've done some traveling and while traveling I always tried to find a chess club to go get some games and meet people. The hardest thing is that most folks that start little clubs don't do much in the way of advertising, and then you can't ever find them! Do some internet/yellow page research for your area. Are there any other clubs you can find? If not, what kind of population do you have in your area? If you have over 25k population, and there are no other clubs, my guess is you could build a good sized club pretty quickly over the course of a few months by putting up some posters at the schools/grocery markets, etc. Also, try to get on some interent chess club directories ... especially the USCF one. People love chess, and if they know you are there, they will come. You would just need to try to overcome your "really don't like dealing with people" issues. (:-P) An organiser needs to do that. In Bangor, Maine (population about 30k) one gentleman approached the folks at the Barnes and Nobles book store. There was a coffee shop section with maybe 15 little tables or so. He asked if one-night-a-week they could meet there, and the B & N folks agreed. On any given Wednesday, we would have anywhere from 4 to 16 people show up. This with very little advertising. In my SMALL hometown of 4000, one fellow had a little club in his house, and we had about 5-6 come. I would start small like this and then decide if you think you can 'take it to the next level' ... ie paid membership, tournies with prizes, training, equiptment and book sales etc. etc. I think if there's going to be money involved, you really need to offer something special. |
| schnarre 4/28/2005 20:26:35 [ report this post ] | Exposure matters! Message: |
| nottop 4/29/2005 15:56:34 [ report this post ] | club Message: The younger players preferred blitz play and the older plays a more relaxed time control. But everyone could play. We drew over 30 people for the first meeting - (publicity for this sort of event is easy to come by - and free). We even had some matches against some nearby towns. It went very well - and it wasn't so much work. It went very well for several years - but when I could no longer run the club, for some reason it fell apart. It's not that hard to do and a tremendous satisfaction. But you won't want to run things forever - the mistake I made was in not finding people who would keep the continuity. That is very important - you won't want to do this forever. Even though the club eventually died, many people took up the game have continued to the present. It is also likely that somewhere burried nearby is a master who will give lectures and lessons - it's amazing what people will do for free. You can do this - and good luck. |
| ccmcacollister 4/29/2005 21:06:53 [ report this post ] | Hi bucklehead ... Message: We got a lot of publicity once holding a match between corporate clubs and it was an entire section of the Omaha World Herald, tho that was not necessarily the intent of the event. Anyway, advertising something in company newsletters helps. Or finding someone in them to have a company tournament or club . Being a USCF affiliate is always an idea. And member of your state assoc. To see what is going on areound you... Just some thoughts As an affiliate or director for an existing one you could advertise a tournament for free Chess Life (i think it may still be free?!) and then include a plug for your club activity in the announcement by holding a club activity on that day too... |
| alice02 5/01/2005 05:04:50 [ report this post ] | in the meantime you could try Skype Message: -> www.skype.com I always recommend people research a programme before they install it. So far I have only used Skype to call interstate - and it doesnt cost anything. So you can chat to your co-player ( a term suggested by ccomcallister - now I have spelt it wrongly) while you play chess. I know it is still phone contact, but it is a human voice rather than a virtual move.:) |
| nwalthall 5/02/2005 13:25:52 [ report this post ] | starting a chess club Message: For a small fee, you can purchase a mailing list from the United States Chess Federation, with names and addresses, by zip code. This will provide you with the names and addresses of active USCF members in your area; you can contact them by sending out a flier. My experience has been that this works beautifully. It hooks you up with more or less active players. You can find out more at the USCF website, www.ushess.org. The above is important because it is hard to start a club with folks completely new to chess. It can be done, but you are more likely to be successful with a mixture of players with varying expertise and experience When I started the club in Princeton, I spent four months trying to find people who were interested--not knowing about the USCF mailing list. I located exactly 3. When I sent out a flier using the list, I had 30-40 interested players on my list within a week of dropping the mailing off at the post office. :-) From there, it was easy. The hard part is not finding the players, provided there are some in your region. By far the most difficult part of getting my club going was finding the space. I don't know what it is like in CT, but I have to tell you, in NJ, public meeting space is at an absolute premium and was very hard to get hold of, particularly if you want to play USCF rated games at more or less normal time controls, which means you may need the space until 11 pm or so. Starting and running a club was actually quite fun, but it can be a fair amount of work and can wear you out and down over time. So one important thing to do, if you manage to get the thing launched, is set up some simple governance and recruit some fellow organizers who will share the work of keeping the club afloat. If you can find these folks, make sure the onerous tasks get split more or less evenly. Then you won't necessarily feel overwhelmed, and there will be nights where you can enjoy your club as a "member", rather than an organizer. By the way, I could not agree with you more. There is no substitute for the fun of OTB (Over the Board) play. Best of Luck, Ned Walthall |
| bucklehead 5/05/2005 14:31:27 [ report this post ] | Thanks one and all... Message: The USCF list idea is spectacular, and pretty much just what I needed. I'm most concerned about is getting the word out to active, adult players (I have no objection to teaching or working with kids, but it's enough work trying to keep my five-year-old from playing openings such as 1 h4 e5 2 Rh3)--I don't think I'd mind laying out a modest amount for supplies if I knew there was going to be interest and regular attendance, but I'd hate to be stuck with a dozen plastic sets and have no one show up. If there are 100 USCF members in my 50k town (a wild exaggeration, probably!), though, I can get mailing labels for the for just $25 and not be very much out of pocket. Again, thank you all for your input, and if you have any more suggestions, I'm excited to hear them! |
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