PAUL TRUONG
April 2007 Chess Life:
I have twenty years of experience in senior management, marketing and PR,
specializing in branding, customer retention, advertising and innovative
promotion.
I’ve been in chess for 37 years. I'm a Life Master and FIDE Master with numerous
national championship titles. My other chess experiences include co-authoring
best-selling chess books, coaching national scholastic and Olympiad champions,
organizing many high profile chess events, being an award-winning chess
journalist and photographer. I was also the captain/business manager of our
historic 2004 Silver Medalist U.S. Women’s Olympiad Team.
In electing me, you're choosing a uniquely qualified business professional with
a passion for chess, who will relentlessly restore credibility, integrity,
efficiency and professionalism to the USCF. I'll work diligently with other
board members to achieve sound and balanced budgets, create innovative and
effective marketing programs, increase revenues, promote memberships in all
categories and build a positive chess image.
Thank you for your support!
May 2007 Chess Life:
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 four 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overheads, shrinking revenues and outdated technology, we're doomed to fail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 U.S., 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 four medals (two Gold and two Silver), first ever in U.S.
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!
June 2007 Chess Life:
Dear friends and colleagues,
What has happened to the USCF in recent years? Well, it has not been good at
all! There was little sense of pride. There was little sense of financial
responsibility. There was little sense of professionalism. There was little
sense of urgency. There was little attempt to positively promote chess or the
USCF.
However, there were plenty of internal political wars. There were plenty of
horrific business and financial blunders. There was plenty of frivolous
spending. There was plenty of dishonesty and unprofessionalism. There were
plenty of unethical conducts. There were plenty of violations of the Standards
of Conduct for the USCF Executive Board.
Some believe that if it ain’t broken, why fix it? I would say something is
broken when we keep on losing money and sponsors. The USCF lost money again last
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
lack of strong leadership, we’re doomed to fail again.
Every year is a new excuse. Every year is a new finger-pointing game. This
federation wasted so much time, money and resources dealing with nonsense by
chess politicians instead of focusing on improving many needed areas. If we keep
on electing the same people, how can we expect different results?
What are some of my many areas of expertise? What can I bring to the USCF? I
have twenty years of leadership experience in senior management, marketing and
PR, specializing in branding, customer retention, and innovative promotion,
areas that the USCF sorely needs immediately.
While others were busy playing politics, I spent the last 5+ years volunteering
my full time to positively promote chess in the US. 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. It was done with a micro budget. I proved
that we do not have to spend tens and thousands of dollars to positively and
correctly promote chess. We just need to know how to do it and have the passion
and diligence to follow through. I can help do the same for the USCF.
In electing me, you’re choosing a uniquely qualified and highly successful
business professional with a passion for chess, who will relentlessly restore
credibility, integrity, efficiency and professionalism to the USCF. I'll work
diligently with other board members to achieve sound and balanced budgets,
create innovative and effective marketing programs, increase revenues, promote
memberships in all categories and build a positive chess image.
This is an absolutely critical election for the USCF. This federation cannot
afford to fail again. You, the members, have the power to set this federation on
the right course for the next 4 years! Together, we can fix the USCF! Thank you
for your support!
Editor's comment: Please see the editor's comment for Susan Polgar.
Paul Truong is part of the Polgar slate, and a very close associate of Polgar.
His campaign statements are similar to Susan's and make various attacks on USCF
without providing evidence. Actually, Paul's campaign as even worse than
Susan's. While Susan complains without giving examples of "bad decisions,"
Paul calls them "horrific." Never in the history of USCF elections can I recall
candidates who were so emphatic about attacking what they did not like, while at
the same time not telling the readers of Chess Life what it is they are
attacking!
While Susan complains of "too little focus on positive chess promotion in the United States," Paul goes further and says, "There was little attempt to positively promote chess or the USCF." He is in effect saying that an improved Chess Life, website, and Chess Life for Kids do not even represent an ATTEMPT to promote chess or the USCF. Incredible!
And to claim that those in USCF leadership have little sense of pride, financial responsibility, professionalism... this is a totally unwarranted attack on some hard working people, employees and volunteers alike, who have brought the Federation back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2003, improved our publications in 2006, and helped bring about the membership boom of 9/06-3/07, the second strongest seven month period in the entire history of USCF.
Susan and Paul both use the same phrase, "We're losing money year after year." This is misleading as USCF lost money in the seven fiscal years 1997-2003 but had a large surplus in 2004 and 2005, a loss in 2006 due only to prior period adjustments, and 2007 is still in progress.
Paul seems to be well qualified at publicity and media relations, however in reply to requests on the USCF Issues Forum to document his "twenty years of leadership in senior management, marketing and PR," he has declined.