I have had the great pleasure of congratulating the winners of the contested races in the 2024 ISBA Election. (A full list of election results is available on the ISBA website.) Today, I’d like to address those who finished in a slot other than the top one. 
 
To them, I say “thank you.” Thank you for having the desire, courage, and ambition required to make the ISBA a great organization. We are different at the ISBA. Our office holders must earn the right to represent our members by sacrificing time, energy, and even their reputation. I say “even” because even if you did not prevail in this election, you have made the ISBA a better organization by running.
 
I also lost an ISBA election. I remember the sting and the disappointment. And I remember the confusion of having to ask myself, “What was I thinking—putting that much time and energy into a volunteer association.” But I learned something from my loss: running and even losing made me a better member of the ISBA; a better lawyer; and yes, a better person. 
 
As Teddy Roosevelt said in a speech before the Hamilton Club in Chicago on April 10, 1899, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
 
I know these words because it was after a stinging loss as a young man that my Grandad quoted them to me. Teddy’s remarks have sat on my credenza ever since. Because I know from personal experience that an election loss is followed by greater opportunities, new lessons, and most importantly, the respect earned by your willingness to "climb into the ring," I say “thank you” for your significant contributions to our wonderful bar association! 
 
Finally, I invite all our members to take a more active role in the ISBA. Run for office, be assigned to a committee, mentor a lawyer, or simply enjoy the social aspects of new and better friends. I know you will love every opportunity you choose to seize.
 
Shawn S. Kasserman
ISBA President, 2023-34