YPN Newsletter, April 2011

2010-2011 has been a great year for the YPN! In our second year, we focused on providing more opportunities for member interaction by having a greater variety of events. During the course of the year we continued to see our event attendance rise as membership grew to over 90 and our bi-weekly happy hours continued to bring out increasing numbers of both members and guests. After each event, I am always delighted by not only the number of members coming out but also the quality of people we have within our organization. The YPN has succeeded in bringing together much of Nanaimo’s young talent and the result has been the creation of an amazing network of young professionals in Nanaimo.

 

Over the last year, the YPN’s community profile continued to increase with the completion of the Train Station fundraising, our Big Day Out Program with Big Brothers and Big Sisters Central Vancouver Island and our YPN Community Gardens initiative. We also can’t forget about the successful Silly Boat Festival build, and our Movember campaign that raised over $5,000 for prostate cancer research. We took part in our second year of Nanaimo’s CanStruction competition in support of the Loaves & Fishes Food Bank, although we were unable to defend our championship title. It is amazing to think of all we have accomplished over the last year and all the hard work individual YPN members undertook to carry the organization to new heights.

 

All of this hard work has paid off. I love to hear the great stories of how the YPN has influenced members’ lives. Some have said they experienced business success through the YPN, most have met new friends and some have even said the organization has given them a sense of purpose in the community. This has all happened because of the relationships we have created with each other by and pulling for a common goal. Like with everything else in life, you tend to get out what you put in. Those members who have been most involved in the organization have experienced most of the success of the organization.

 

This year the executive encouraged much more member involvement by creating committees in the management of the organization and community initiatives were all lead by nonexecutive members. These teams worked on Sponsorship, Events, Membership, Professional Development, Big Day Out, Community Gardens, Movember and Canstruction. In the coming year I encourage you to take a leadership role in whatever aspect of the YPN you are most passionate about.

 

On a personal note, my term as the President of the YPN has come to an end. Both the YPN constitution and my personal stamina suggest it is time for my role to transform from one of leadership into a loyal supporter of the organization. I have enjoyed two years as president of the organization and am overjoyed to have met all the people I have. This network is something I am proud to be a part of and plan to stay involved until that fateful day I turn 40. Thank you all for the wonderful past year and I look forward to many more years together in Nanaimo and the YPN.

 

Sincerely,

 

Andre Sullivan

2010/11 YPN President