2011-2012 CITL Executive Board Elections

Last Saturday morning, the Chess in the Library organization held its 2011-2012 Executive Board Elections, in which there were 8 candidates for 5 positions and 21 volunteers present to vote for the next CITL Executive Board. Candidates and volunteers rushed to the North York Central Library at 9am in the morning, shortly after the library first opens its door for patrons. Below are the list of candidates and with their respective target position. Click on the names to see their written campaigns:

President
Yuanling Yuan, Grade 11

Vice President
Gal Gross, 2nd Year University
Kevin Wu, Grade 10
Michael Kleinman, Grade 11

Treasurer
Mike Ivanov, Grade 10
Aaron Zhang, Grade 11

Director of Communications
Vivek Chachcha, Grade 10

Art Director
Linda Fu, Grade 11

Once everyone arrived, a special Chess in the Library T-shirt was distributed to them. We asked 2 different artistic students to design a T-shirt that would represent Chess in the Library. Below are the designs:

Designed by Hazel Smith

Designed by Lennart Batilando & Edited by Kevin Wu
The banner says "Chess in the Library" and the bottom of the king says "est. 2009"

We ended up using the second design by Lennart and Kevin but I want to thank Hazel for putting so much time into this. She learned how to use the vector draw software just for this - now that's what I call dedication.

I would say that the one of the most successful things of this festival was this T-shirt. This isn't just any T-shirt - it's something that unites all of us, like a big family of volunteers. Whenever someone walks past us, they would stop for a moment, just a split second, to see what is going on. We not only attract the attention of outsiders but also each other. Everyone felt as if they fit in and the barrier between those who previously did not know each other just came down. We are one big family.

Let's take a look at some pictures and short clips captured at the election:

front view of the conference

back view of the conference

Art Director candidate Linda Fu makes her speech

Director of Communications candidate Vivek Chachcha delivers his speech

Treasurer candidates (from left to right) Mike Ivanov and Aaron Zhang stand side by side during question time

Vice-President candidates (from left to right) Gal Gross, Kevin Wu and Michael Kleinman during question time

me making my presidential speech

I want to say congratulations to each and every single one of you who chose to run in this election. It means that you care. You care about Chess in the Library and moreover, the promotion of chess in Canada. You were brave enough to stand up in front of a crowd and present yourself so thoroughly. Even if you didn't win in the end, the fact that you took this initiative tells us all that you've already won. As the Founder and President of this organization, I am really, really, really proud of you all. This is exactly what I envisioned the program to be - full of enthusiasm and initiatives from the leaders. I couldn't possibly ask for more.

Some of your speeches were very inspirational and they really touched me deeply. Each candidate suggested something new for the program, from chess workshops to a meet-and-greet breakfast. We added in a 5-min question session after the speeches for each position were completed. I was a little surprised at how profound some of the questions were!

The ballets were counted by 2 random people at the festival that were not affiliated with any of the candidates in this election. They tallied the votes and wrote the results on a small piece of paper, which was then placed into a small envelope. It was only until the closing ceremony of the festival that I opened the envelope and announced the results.

I'm proud to say that we an amazing team of leaders that will be bringing the program to new heights in the upcoming year. I believe that you will do your best and I know that are capable. :)

A BIG congratulations to the 2011-2012 CITL Executive Board:

From left to right: Vice-President Gal Gross, Treasurer Aaron Zhang, President Yuanling Yuan, Director of Communications Vivek Chachcha and Art Director Linda Fu

To those of you didn't win - don't give up! If you set your heart on contributing to CITL, you can do so without being on the executive board. Like our new Vice-President Gal once said in this speech, we need the general volunteers to help out in whatever way they can. Remember - the 5 of us are on this executive board not for the glamour that goes with the title of our position but for the ultimate purpose of this program - to promote chess in Canada.

So if you are proficient in facebook - why not manage a facebook page for us? If you are proficient in twitter - why not setup a twitter account for us? As long as you want to contribute, there is always a way for you to use your specialty to show everyone what you can do. Most of you have lots of potential so if you didn't succeed this time, I encourage you to try again next year. To succeed, you must believe!

Finally, I want to dedicate a few words to the past Vice-President Michael Kleinman and Executive Director Kevin Wu: You guys have been amazing this year and I cherished the times when we worked hard together to create innovations for Chess in the Library. I want to thank you both for always being there for me, regardless of the situation. Your contributions to Chess in the Library will always be remembered and I hope that you continue to be a part of us! :)