Our best product for the Public

[waynegober]

Always has been checker problems in my mind.

Many love puzzles and word games ect.

Newspapers are drowning and revenue is down. We could once again, as an organization, offer a problem a day to newspapers throughout the whole nation. Free.... or almost.
In return, we would want usacheckers.com at the bottom of each diagram. Also, every paper that accepted our daily puzzle would be asked to publish a nice article about the National Tournament in their paper every year. Virtually free advertising with minimal work in this electronic age. Syndication is a possibility. This is one idea. I have other simple ideas that will work and help.

A corporate sponser is over our head at this time... IMO
The local grocery store would be hard pressed to donate money in our current state. Can you imagine approaching a major corp. and showing them our Bulletin? The content is of course very good but we need a magazine style, slick finish ACF bulletin with pictures and articles, biographies, checker stories, ect. Image means a lot.

More realistic, common sense ideas to come,

Wayne Gober

[waynegober]

Another major untapped assett. USA is home of the World Champion.

Alex, IMO, is a very funny man. Part of it is cultural, part personality.

I can envision, him in a back room with a checker board and David Letterman playing him from his desk. Moves being sent back and forth at various times. Shots of Alex in deep concentration at the board, shots of his hand waving at the pieces on the board, shots of him pacing back and forth smoking in his nervous way. Letterman could have a time with that. Alex's method of conversation is perfect for a comedian to play off of. World Champions can open doors. Wiswell, Tinsley, Hopper and others used Television at once time. Don't think our game is worthy of such? Well, we need to think positively and look for good things.

Organizational ideas to come

Wayne

[Jay H]

Always has been checker problems in my mind.

Wayne Gober

Well then, Mr. Gober............and any others who share this particular opinion, prepare yourself.
Not to derail this thread and topic, but......you will be feasting before the year is up.....
Jay "Trust me" H

[Jay H]

Another major untapped assett. USA is home of the World Champion.

Alex, IMO, is a very funny man. Part of it is cultural, part personality.

I can envision, him in a back room with a checker board and David Letterman playing him from his desk. Moves being sent back and forth at various times. Shots of Alex in deep concentration at the board, shots of his hand waving at the pieces on the board, shots of him pacing back and forth smoking in his nervous way. Letterman could have a time with that. Alex's method of conversation is perfect for a comedian to play off of.

Organizational ideas to come

Wayne

HAHAHA
Brilliant Wayne !!!
I remember when Alex won the Gold in Beijing....some one mentioned that he was one of,if not the only, American, to win Gold, and how Steve Colbert would have jumped on that if he was made aware......should have been moved on then....

Jay "Admits he likes the Gober way of thinking" H

[waynegober]

Once again you are wrong Josh.....

many people still buy a paper everyday for the crossword, suduko , ect.

Papers are down but not dead and in some ways makes it easier to get a problem in them, free.

We have some free style "Swap Papers" in our area that have a large distribution. I have made my living advertising in them, so I know what they do. Sometimes, little boys, need to listen, reflect and learn.

I get my news from the internet ect., but rarely work a puzzle off the internet. But, in a doctor's office or sitting in an airport, ect. I have picked up and worked them.

Are you opposed to the idea or just me? You would desire to spend large funds on internet advertising?

Besides, in your opinion the ACF and the old men are done anyway.... why not go work with the future of checkers. You and your buddies build your club up and take the checker world over. When you have literally thousands, who can all play at grand master level, no dumb, worthless , talentless players for you guys, then get back too me.

Till then, I don't solicit your help at all.

Wayne Gober

"Leave some behind"
"We will not beg them to join, we will improve the product,so they desire to join"

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Wayne,

I'll check with "Columbus Dispatch" after my World Title Match. This Daily Newspaper already made 2 or 3 articles about me in the past several years. One of those articles eventually leaded to very nice bid ($5,000 huh !) for USA GAYP National 2005 in my home town Dublin - many thanks to Alan Millhone for negotiations.

As many other daily newspapers, "Columbus Dispatch" has chess column, Suduki and Bridge. It would be an interesting idea indeed to make a weekly checkers column here ... Not sure how realistic it is.

Josh, do you want to represent ACF in Internet world and deliver checkers publications on various news websites ? I think ACF will very appreciate such initiative and appoint you to approprate administration position ... "ACF Internet officer" ... ?

Alex

[Alex_Moiseyev]

if there is demand for checkers problems on news websites

I think demand is on our side ... isn't ? We want them to publish, not they ask us. So ... this person (whatever position is) should do some promotional job indeed by trying to attract them.

As Wayne proposed - we are coming to media. Same idea - we are coming to online media.

Jason can be involved at last minute when website shows an interest, but Josh (or whoever) still needs to attract them. Josh and other Internet fans can be ACF ambassadors in Internet world and working for ACF instead confrontating

[Jay H]

if there is demand for checkers problems on news websites

I think demand is on our side ... isn't ? We want them to publish, not they ask us. So ... this person (whatever position is) should do some promotional job indeed by trying to attract them.

As Wayne proposed - we are coming to media. Same idea - we are coming to online media.

Jason can be involved at last minute when website shows an interest, but Josh (or whoever) still needs to attract them. Josh and other Internet fans can be ACF ambassadors in Internet world and working for ACF instead confrontating

Looks like Dice-sanction amongst the ranks of the Ohio Team.....
Hey Chex....you got any fuel to throw on this fire...??? Let's get it blaring, and then slip in under the cover of darkness around the flank and BEAT THEM WHERE THEY LIVE....

Jay "Lives for this hassle" H

[Chexhero]

Hey jay. You referring to me? I am up for a PA versus Ohio. And I like the advertising ideas

[Danny_Alvarez]

doing something no matter how ill-fated it might be, is a million times better than doing nothing at all....

"the only way to learn is by doing"
so if we do something and it fails , we learnt .... and we DO something else....
please if we all got our heads together and just DID SOMETHING ... things would be better...

WORD TO THE DOERS
the fence sitters, the spectators, the couch potatoes.... they always criticise the doers....
you did it wrong, you shoulda done it like this, you are a good for nothing so and so....
don't listen to them and keep doing...
critics didn't conquer the world, doers did
cheers
Danny 'always doing something' Alvarez

[waynegober]

My brother publishes a weekly events magazine in Oklahoma City.
I am fairly sure a pdf formatted problem with (here's the internet part) "usacheckers.com" at the bottom of the diagram, along with an upside down solution to said problem, could be emailed to any interested publication in the United States. As far as not using Newsprint, because everything is internet based now; I wonder why the new car dealers are spending 10's of thousand's of dollars in the Daily Oklahoman with there url included in the ad? Anyone ever hear the story of the Pearls and the Swine? More ideas forthcoming but maybe not in a public forum. May start an email newsletter. Is that to outdated to work?

Best Regards,
Wayne Gober

[jaguar72]

All,

In accordance with this topic, here were some of my ideas, impractical though they may be, from a post I made over six months ago. They are in sync with what Wayne has proposed and still, I reckon, have at least some validity. John Acker and I have discussed the book idea a couple times. And, yeah, a lot of people still read both newspapers and books; literacy is still valued in some circles... .

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/Jaguar72

Gary Jenkins wrote:

Money would certainly help, but checkers also needs an author to do for our game what Stefan Fatsis did for Scrabble with Word Freak (2001), what J.C. Hallman did for chess with The Chess Artist (2003) and what Paul Hoffman also did for chess with his King's Gambit (2007). These were all terrific, brilliant, widely-read books.

All three of these books were aimed at a general audience (not just players; you don't even have to know how to play either game to enjoy the books) and were all excellent book-length studies of the games they described and the fascination and quirkiness of the worlds the games have created; they also took a long look at the ordinary and extraordinary people who play the games at all levels. All three books were extremely well written, hugely entertaining and did a lot to promote better understanding of both chess and Scrabble by a general population which would normally not care less.

Of the three, I felt (my opinion only, you understand; they were all excellent) that the Fatsis Scrabble book was the best. A gifted writer (Wall Street Journal) and athlete, Fatsis became so obsessed with the game he began to play competitively at the higher levels. The experiences he recounts are both fascinating and very funny. What's more important, after reading the book, you want to go out and play Scrabble...it has that effect.

There is certainly reason to believe that a similar book might do the same thing for checkers...all we gotta do is find a brilliant author who would devote a couple of years to the task... . It might cause the "explosion" we are talking about or, at least, help to achieve some sort of critical mass.

Maybe we should send Stefan Fatsis an email... .

Also, while I'm running on, a checkers column in the daily newspaper certainly wouldn't be a bad thing either...I don't know if any newspapers (a dying breed, admittedly...) have checkers columns anymore (I've not seen one) but a letter (or, better yet, a couple of hundred letters...) to an editor asking for a daily or weekly checkers column couldn't do any harm. I'm sure we have any number of talented people in the ACF who could write both an excellent letter and an excellent column.

Anyhow, just a little light food for thought.

Very Respectfully,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

PS: Incidentally, there have been similiar books about bridge, crossword puzzles and, ah, Lego blocks (!)...yeah, that's right, those plastic bricks from Denmark. Don't think building with Lego blocks is competitive? Think again. It's an adult hobby with many fans and particpants worldwide. Who knew??

V/R,

GJ/j72

[waynegober]

Good post Gary,

I had missed that when it was posted, but agree wholeheartedly. The Newspaper thing is doable.

[Danny_Alvarez]

Good post Gary,

I had missed that when it was posted, but agree wholeheartedly. The Newspaper thing is doable.

Gary I don't always say so but i pay incredible attention to anything you say ....
i purchased 2 of those books ( word freak + king's gambit) and one (word freak)is inside my bedside table but alas.... i never seem to have time to read them.... i will endeavour to do so soon

Wayne the newspaper thing is very doable... here in australia Mr Murdoch (fox's tv network owner)controls most of the paid and free newspapers.... could you approach some of them and see if it gets syndicated straight away???
the bigger the group you approach the easier to take this national. (just my 2 cents)

cheers
Danny Alvarez

[George Hay]

Kim is writing a children's book on checkers!