Hi,

 My name is Jerry Jaffe and I would like to self-nominate for the for the Central region. I have been a member of the AGA for many years. I recently served as the co-Tournament Director for the Go Congress held in Cleveland. Furthermore, I originally founded the Toledo GO Club and am active in the Cleveland Go Club. I currently blog for the AGA website, my blog is called “Barnacle Stones.”

 For many years, I lived abroad, include Japan and New Zealand. While in Japan I played GO at the Tsukuba City and Shimostuma City GO clubs as well as in a number of GO salons around Tokyo (there is a great one in Shinjuku I just love!). I earned a 1-dan (amateur) certificate from the Nihon Ki-in while there as well. While in New Zealand I was part of the Otago GO club. While there I helped run the city-based tournament many times and also one year served as the Co-Tournament Director for the New Zealand Go Congress Tournament. I can also explain the NZ rule set to anyone if you want me to!

 Especially since having the honor of helping to run the GO Congress I’ve been especially eager to serve the American GO Association. This is a natural outcome of who I am, as I currently volunteer for a number of organizations around where I live in Cleveland. Also, my job is teaching Theatre classes at a college: I was drawn to teaching because of my natural inclination to help my community, and I was drawn to theatre because it is a group effort and I am a born collaborator and problem solver. Other ways I have attempted to remain involved with the AGA include, in addition to my new blog, I have proffered advice to the Portland GO Congress, helped the current Austin Congress with outreach, and have begun serving as a liaison for local clubs. In that capacity, I have been contacting local clubs, finding out what their concerns are, and trying to help them understand the perks and benefits of being part of the AGA.

 Because of what I’ve learned being in touch with (only a few so far!) local clubs, my first priority if I am elected to the Board is to improve communication between local clubs and the AGA. I do honestly believe that benefits and perks exist— we can both strengthen such perks but more importantly communicate with clubs what they are and indeed help them access them.

 Because no organization is perfect, I also want to be a part of the problem-solving process that continues to improve the AGA. In addition to communication with clubs and members, I would love to see certain improvements to the tools used to action GO Congress. Costs inevitably rise but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek avenues to make GO Congress both more affordable and more accessible. Also, for our Cleveland GO Congress, my co-Director (Steve Zilber) emphasized first aid training for us and it indeed proved helpful. We had 3 different injuries requiring 911 calls as well as a small but not insignificant outbreak of Covid cases by the end of our week. I know other post-covid GO Congresses have had similar outbreaks, which suggests that we need to create a better policy and protocol for Covid.

 Finally, I’d like to add a personal note. A few friends have encouraged me to throw my hat into the ring, one saying, “the Board could use a sense of humor.” (smile). This comment refers to the fact that I also work professionally as a stand-up comedian. I also joke around a lot, like to tease, and in general have pretty good people skills. Let me say, that even if my personality is jovial, I will take the responsibility of being on the Board VERY seriously. So, please consider voting for me.

 Sincerely, Jerry