An Aesthetically Appealing Invitation

It's human nature that we're attracted to pretty things, nobody can deny that. Although the common sayings of "don't judge a book by its cover" is a good lesson to be learned, most often "what looks good will be good" is reality, especially with the psychological effect intertwined.

Now suppose there are two newly opened burger stores with no previous reputations of any sort. While the quality of the burgers in both stores are the same, store A has better sales, customer reviews, etc. Reason? Well, store A's flyers are much more professionally done, in way that anyone who sees the flyer would want to rush to the store and gobble down the delicious looking burger immediately. Well, you may say that I'm exaggerating a bit, but in reality, that's true, isn't it? Plus, if the owner of store B spent all his time complaining about why his burger business wasn't as prominent, you would think that he is foolish.

You might wonder why I am suddenly interested in burgers. Isn't this a chess-related blog??? Of course...I'm getting there! It was some time ago that I had received a printed invitation by mail. Never in my life had I seen such an aesthetically appealing invitation...for chess! It was simple, elegant and quite professional looking. Check this out:

As an ardent promoter of chess, I am crying of joy at this sight. This invitation is special because I can tell that the organizers have indeed spent a lot of effort and time into it. This is the positive attitude that everyone should have about chess. Perhaps many Grand Masters in Europe have seen much better invitations, but right now, right here, within our geographic boundary is a country called Canada, a place where chess isn't so important at all. Considering the circumstances, this piece of paper seems like a miracle. Perhaps to many people, this invitation will create no effect, just as if the burger flyer went into the hands of a vegetarian. However, to me it signals something - hope. Again, in this country, that is a feeling you'll rarely get when dealing with chess.

When I mentioned the burger example, it seems so obvious that a better flyer and better sales are positively correlated. The funny thing is, people don't seem to realize that this model can be used on chess. It's true that compared to hockey, this game isn't so popular. However, if everyone would just put some effort into changing this fact, then in a few decades, we might be able to see things turn around. Perhaps the owner of burger store B could spend his time on redesigning his flyers. With Chess in the Library, I am trying to create a model that can be duplicated easily. A model that promotes chess with low costs and some volunteers.

I simply must praise the organizers who sent me this invitation for doing such a wonderful job. One day, I shall frame it as if it is a delicate piece of art. As much as I would like to support this event with my participation, the upcoming months of April and May are critical to my academic studies. Nonetheless, I hope that this will turn out to be a very successful event!