CSM 2012 President's Message
By:  Bill Syrros   (2011/10/03)

I am incredibly excited to be taking on the role of President for this year's 2012 Canadian Ski Marathon. Having served as Vice President under Greg Koegl for the last 4 years and as a primary corporate sponsor, I'm looking forward to working with a new group of Directors to insure that this year’s event is successful and builds upon the tradition that has seen 45 memorable years of the Marathon.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greg Koegl for his full-time commitment over the years. He literally saved this event from financial disaster and poured time and effort into every possible detail, especially costs and operations. He is leaving knowing that the CSM is on solid financial grounds. Thank you also goes out to outgoing Board members: Kerry Donohue, Christian Marcoux, Robert Brunet, Derek Lecours and Geoff Blair. I'd like to welcome Paul "Boomer" Throop as incoming Vice President, Malcolm Hunter as incoming Treasurer and the always dependable John Hardie as Secretary. Each one of these gentlemen shares the same passion that I have for this event and I feel privileged to work with them. Robert Saunders (new), Bill Nowell and Sylvain Parent round out the rest of the Board and will also play key roles in this year’s events.

The Board aside, the CSM does not happen without the great contributions of Gaëtan Pelletier (our fearless leader in the field), Denis Marcotte (our groomer extraordinaire), logistics, safety, our hundreds of soldiers and reservists, scout troops and volunteers. A big thank you to them and to all skiers and friends of the CSM who have broken trail for all of us. We appreciate your past participation and service, and invite you to play a role as we try to take the event to the next level.

I see my mandate as President as follows:

1. Improve overall marketing of the CSM - How - Improving the information on the CSM website and taking advantage of traditional and new technologies to get our story out to a broader audience.
   
   
2. Improve communication with our skiers - How - We will utilize our email distribution to keep skiers informed more often while also using social networking to create more collaboration in the skier community.
   
   
3. Keep our finances in check - How - Making sure we continue the search for savings and make sure we get the most use of every dollar we raise and spend.
   
   
4. Increase skier count to 2000 - How - Better marketing and better promotions to clubs, families and skiers from across North America and Europe.
   
   
5. Attract the next generation - How - Establish an outreach program with ski clubs, school teams and health promotion organizations and give them a reason to invest in the CSM.
   
   
6. Fill the Le Chateau Montebello again – How - Outside of the Gold Camp and the Papineauville Dorm, the Chateau represents the historic heart of the CSM. We will be working with the hotel management to design more attractive multiple occupancy packages. Watch this space for further announcements.
   
   
7. DRIVE for 50 - How - We are nearing the CSM's 50th Anniversary in 2016. We want to make this a very special birthday. There are plenty of ideas being tossed around and organization for this historical event starts now. A few lucky sponsors will be given the opportunity to be part of it. The search starts today. Please feel free to send me your ideas.
   
   
8. Get More Snow - How - Develop technology that creates snow on the 160km of trail from Buckingham to Lachute. (kidding). Pray? As always, we are looking for volunteers and future board members, so if you want to join us for the ride and give back to the CSM, feel free to contact me at anytime.

Bill Syrros
President
Canadian Ski Marathon


New President Bill Syrros receiving the baton from Past President Greg Koegl. (Actually, Bill finished the last section of his 2011 CdB Bronze with a broken ski pole - but the symbolism was good.)