Presenting – Lido Chilelli – Founder of the Toronto International Beaches Jazz Festival

Every year one entertainment event in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood attracts huge worldwide attention: the Toronto International Beaches Jazz Festival. Lido Chilelli, a local entrepreneur, is the person who came up with the idea and who keeps organizing the event year after year, and he definitely had to be included in the Beach article series.

I met Lido at his private home / office located on Queen Street East. The office was buzzing, mail was just being delivered, and important news from sponsors was just coming in. I realized I had to be speedy to catch this busy man in a few free moments.

Born and raised in Toronto, Lido has been living in the Beach for 25 years. His two children attended neighbourhood schools and are active in local sports and culture. Of Italian heritage, he originally grew up in Downsview and studied urban geography at York University. His early work experience included a stint with a special events tour company that would take visitors to NFL games, provide souvenirs for the Grey Cup as well as the papal visit. Event management has long been in Lido’s blood. He ventured forth to become an entrepreneur and opened a bar / restaurant called “Lido’s in the Beach” that was in operation for 17 years. Lido adds that he chose the Beach neighbourhood because it is a close knit, unique community with a wide Torontonian appeal.

He liked the neighbourhood so much that he wanted to open it up to the rest of Toronto. So he got to work, hired live bands, put on some jazz music and dancing at his restaurant. People from all over Toronto started flocking here. Lido’s drew thousands of people into the Beach neighbourhood.

Based on this experience Lido took his ideas to the next level: he concluded that there should be a jazz festival. He said “We have the park, we have the musicians, and we have the music lovers.” All the ingredients were there. Lido admits he knew nothing about festival organization; he simply used his common sense. In 1989 the first Beaches Jazz Festival was kicked off. It was held in the park – Kew Gardens – and lasted for two days with an attendance of a couple of thousand people. The great thing was that the festival was free, and its popularity exploded virtually overnight. A trip to the park to see some live jazz was the perfect family outing. Lido describes the setting in the park as “a recipe for a musical love-in.”

The residents wanted more, so he decided to develop an activity during the week and that is how Streetfest was born. Streetfest came into being as an original event showcasing bands between Woodbine and Beech Avenues. During the first few years it was held from 7 to 11 pm, and the roads were still open to traffic. The event’s popularity spread like wildfire, people were dancing on the sidewalks and spilling out onto the streets. Queen Street was finally closed off to road traffic in 1995, and as Lido says “The rest is history”.

The local impact of the Beaches Jazz Festival is enormous: Lido recently commissioned an economic impact study which concluded that the Beaches Jazz Festival directly or indirectly attracts about $38 million every year to the City of Toronto. For many local businesses it is the best time of the year. This year the Beaches Jazz Festival will generate over 120 million media impressions, and during 2006 the website had 25 million hits from all over the world. The Beaches Jazz Festival has become a tourist stop for people from all over the world and provides a tremendous boost to local hotels and restaurants.

But not only business people love this event, local and international music aficionados alike have fallen in love with this festival: in a recent ECOS/ Toronto Star Poll the Beaches Jazz Festival was voted Toronto’s favourite music festival. Now in its 19th year, musicians come from all over the world. They love the crowd and the area because it offers so much fellowship and a really special atmosphere.

The costs of putting on a free festival are funded almost exclusively through corporate sponsorships. Less than 10% of the budget is covered by funds from public sources. Lido adds it has become increasingly challenging to find sponsorships; particularly this year he has noticed a change in the corporate marketplace, and some corporations are moving away from sponsoring community events. Lido commented that it is a challenge every year to put the festival on because things like policing, insurance and garbage removal cost more. Every year it gets harder.

He calls the festival a labour of love; it is “like a baby that you care for”. He concludes when you are in the arts that’s the way it is. Next year the festival is going to celebrate its 20th anniversary and Lido sighs that “even after all these years essentially you are still a starving artist”.

Getting a street festival off the ground is not easy, and Lido adds that you have to be sensitive to the needs of the local residents. Working with the businesses and residents involves an educational process, and all the stake-holders need to find a good way of co-existing. What worked in Lido’s favour was that he himself is a resident of the neighbourhood, he is part of the community and works with the neighbourhood all the time. He would find out right away if something needed adjusting.

Lido works with a staff of 12 employees and about 200 volunteers. The Beaches International Jazz Festival Society is a non-profit organization that gets its funding solely through corporate sponsorships. But Lido’s organizational and promotional talents are not limited to the Beaches Jazz Festival: for 2007 his event management company, Beach Towel Productions, will handle a whole series of other events:

- The 3rd Annual Barrie Waterfront Festival featuring buskers, music, street theatre, fireworks and other activities.
- The 3rd Annual Distillery Blues Festival, highlighting Rhythm & Blues at Toronto’s Distillery District
- The 5th Annual 95.3 New Country Canada Day Festival, including food, arts & crafts and free concerts at Sunnyside Beach. http://www.country953.com
- The 10th Annual Toronto Fiesta, with more than 50 bands performing on St. Clair Avenue West near Landsdowne.
- Parti Gras! at the Distillery – Toronto’s very own “Mardi Gras” party, complete with live music, New Orleans style cuisine, street performers, artisans and a fashion show.
- The 19th Annual Beaches International Jazz Festival, featuring over 70 bands.
- The 2nd Annual Y108 Picnic in the Park where Y108 presents Canada’s premier up and coming bands at Gage Park in Brampton.
- The 2nd Annual Wasaga Beachfest, featuring Canadian performers, arts & crafts and a children’s play area in Wasaga Beach.
- The 16th Annual Beachfest – MIX 99.9 – showcasing top level Canadian bands, arts & crafts and a children’s play area at Sunnyside Park.

All the special events that Lido organizes take place in the busy summer months from May to September. He says you have to be really organized and work together with a good team of people to make it all happen. This year the Toronto International Beaches Jazz Festival will be held from July 20 to 29 and will be kicked off with Parti Gras! – a New Orleans style celebration in the Distillery District. The Ovation of Jazz will be held on July 25, 2007 at the Balmy Beach Club as the official launch of the Beaches International Jazz Festival. It is a tasteful event offering ample opportunity to rub elbows with the Who’s Who and Future Stars of the Jazz industry!

The TD Canada Trust 2007 Jazz Workshop and Lecture series provides a number of workshops such as “Afro Cuban Rhumba”, “The Art of Jazz Singing”, jazz composition workshops and others more. Streetfest serves up a whole smorgasbord of live music, from the finest Big Band, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues and Soul in Canada to an international collection of Acid, Bebop, Columbian, Dixieland, Flamenco, Folk, Funk, Latin, Reggae and Samba performers. The biggest stars are featured on the Main Stage on the Saturday and Sunday of the event.

Queen Street has been hopping east of Woodbine, and every year the festival gets bigger. At the moment discussions are underway about expanding the programming to the area immediately west of Woodbine. The merchants in that area have indicated an interest in becoming part of the festival, and even last year there were a couple of bands playing there on the street in front of local businesses.

Lido Chilelli has become a fixture on Toronto’s entertainment scene, and for his work in the community Lido has won numerous awards from community organizations, the city and the province, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. He was also honoured as the Lion’s Club’s ‘Lion of the Year’. He has been featured in a variety of national magazines and is a founding member of the Community Police Liaison Committee for the Beach.

One project that is dear to Lido’s heart is fundraising for the Toronto East General Hospital. The Beaches Jazz Festival raised $200,000 for the Hospital and built the brand-new maternity ward at Toronto East General. Lido and his organization work with the hospital on a regular basis.

His work day is packed, a standard work day goes at least from 9 am to 6 pm. Much of his job involves organizational duties in-house and meetings out of the office. The average work day has about one or two meetings, sometimes there are three or four. He says he has good staff members that he can rely on to help him get all these events off the ground.

From left to right: Rico Ferrara: Artistic and Stage Manager; Lido Chilelli; Diane Wilson: coop student from George Brown College, and Pat Carpignano: Operations Manager.

With almost 20 years of experience and diverse events throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario, Lido Chilelli is definitely the go-to man to bring together free music, special events and fun for the whole family.

Powerful Dynamic Leaders With Integrity Appear to Be a Scarce Commodity in These Present Times

Moses, an anointed and dynamic leader, who has much to teach us today, is also a man who is prepared to listen to others and learn from others. Now, there’s a lesson for each of us. These recent articles are based on the Old Testament book of Exodus and we are presently reading and studying in Chapter 18.

Moses’ father-in law spoke to him, and he took the matter to the Lord God Almighty. Moses is open to hear and learn, and the work load is to be shared.

Verse 7. Do check out the actual text. Note the attitude and respect – the warmth and the love – and Jethro is delighted.

On we go to verses 13 and 14. Moses was doing far too much, and it took his father-in-law to see this and advise him. He noticed it immediately.

Verse 17 – what you are doing is not good. If you go on like this you will wear yourself out. Moses was trying to hear all the complaints, grumblings, and whinings of the people!

Moses appoints some 78,000 to assist him in this massive task – 78,600 to be exact and precise, and they are to do the job he was trying to do on his own. This is remarkably similar to Acts Chapter 6 in the New Testament when a problem arose and the spiritual leaders would not be sidetracked. They refused to be diverted from their main task.

They must be men of ability – godly men – integrity is important – and they are to be impartial. If gifts are to be developed in these men they must have the opportunity to develop their gifts.

We so need leaders with integrity in these present days. They appear to be a very scarce commodity.

Every 10 to 12 people should have someone to look after them pastorally and personally. If a man does not have a covering he is in trouble. He can wander off and so easily become a loner. Such a person is in great danger.

There is spending and being spent – II Corinthians Chapter 12 verse 15. Paul was so willing to spend and be spent, but remember that when Paul returned from his journeyings preaching the Gospel and teaching the believers, he always took time in his home church at Antioch to rest and recover and be refreshed, and that is always vital.

In Mark Chapter 6 at verse 31, we have these words of Jesus – come away from the crowds – and from the hustle and bustle – and rest awhile.

It has been said that if we do not come apart we will come apart!

What followed was amazing, and without this advice from Jethro things might have been very very different.

Moses was left to receive and teach the general principles of God’s law.

What a sensible arrangement. God organises our time so much better than we can.

There are things we have to do – things to which we have to say “Yes” – and things to which we have to say “No”.

But can you imagine some people saying – “Well I used to be able to get through to Moses with my problems – and now I have to go to just one of these elders – my problem needs Moses – my problem is special! Well Moses hasn’t been dealing with the things he used to deal with – it has all changed since his father-in-law got him to introduce this new system.”

Moses learned that to delegate is important, or else you will impair your long term usefulness.

There is another side to Jethro which needs to be seen.

Jethro was a man who never got to the Promised Land. He rejoiced in what God was doing for His people. He was glad about what God was doing in the life of his son-in-law – verse 9.

He rejoiced. He was so sensible and practical but he never fully identified himself with what God was doing, and that is always sad. Jethro acknowledges and even sacrifices – but that is not enough – he never went along with them. He didn’t take the vital step of being one of the people of God and following the Lord God Almighty.

He was helpful and positive and practical. He was what the world might call a good man, but the most vital thing in life was missing – commitment to God.

We seek to be fully committed to Jesus Christ – and to what Jesus Christ is doing – and to be overflowing with the Love of the Risen and Living Lord Jesus Christ, even when we wonder what might be around the corner.

We seek to be identified with the purposes of God – and with Christ Jesus – and with the Moving and Leading of the Holy Spirit.

Personal experience, of the Power of God, is a potent means of bringing others to acknowledge the saving Grace of Jesus Christ, and to revealing His Glory.

We seek to have a testimony that is real and living – and to witness and to be a witness in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

Good-Looking On The Outside – You Are, After All, What You Present

I was reading a blog the other day written by a woman who was livid, positively livid, that a prospective employer had made a comment that she says alluded to her less than stellar wardrobe.

I don’t know what the comment was. The post was a rambling invective against the interviewer – another woman – that referenced the jealousy of females in general, the rudeness of that particular interviewer, and the unfairness of being judged by one’s looks.

So, I – intrepid I – dared to ask the question that just had to be on everyone else’s mind: what did she wear to her job interview?

Nice new T-shirt, aqua. Capri pants, aqua stripe. Sandals, aqua. New straw tote bag. She had done her research on the company, and she knew it was Casual Friday. Her outfit was completely appropriate, and moreover, it was brand-new.

So I sit here, hands above my keyboard. I want to ask for her phone number, because there is nothing I can type that will express the depths of my internal screams. NO! It was not appropriate!

The fact of the matter is that we are judged by the way we present ourselves. With just a resume and a browse through our networking sites, an employer has just a few minutes in an interview to determine whether her company is going to spend the time and money involved in hiring us. Why risk putting any doubt into her mind by showing up in clothes that are too casual, poor-fitting, poor-quality, or just plain inappropriate?

A Friday job interview does not qualify as an excuse to meet your interviewer in flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt. Casual Friday is for employees. They have earned it by working at the company. The employer knows what they look like in their workday wardrobes.

You, as the candidate, however, have just one chance to make a good impression. Yes, your resume is perfect, it’s posted in all the right places, and you’ve got a terrific homepage. I guarantee you that all the effort of intelligently marketing and branding yourself flies out the window when you show up – stupidly – at your interview in an inappropriate outfit.

Dress for your job interview as if you were meeting your company’s most important clients for the biggest deal in industry history. If you don’t know what the company dress code is, go sit outside their door and watch the employees going in and out. The ones in the best – most professional – outfits are the ones you should emulate.

A suit is never a bad idea for a man. The level of formality should be equal to the industry. If you are applying for a job in a law firm, a well-cut dark blue or gray suit that fits well, with a complementary shirt and tie and black shoes is the only way to go. Actually, if you are a woman applying for a job in a law firm, that would work for you, too. Suits should never be tight-fitting, loudly patterned, or made of shoddy fabric.

Jewelry should be minimal. Nothing throws off an interview like the jangling of earrings and your grandmother’s charm bracelets.

If you are in a more creative industry, you have more leeway to show self-expression through your wardrobe. Don’t get nutty with it, though. If you have a tendency to flamboyancy, edit yourself four times before you leave the house. Jewelry, funky hair, short skirt, torn clothes, and too much make-up are all deal-breakers. Picking a neutral suit or pants or jacket or skirt and jacket combination and popping it with one color is never a bad way to go. It also allows you to buy a very good piece for your interviews – which you can carry with you into your professional life – and accessorize it in several different ways.

And as for Casual Friday – hmmm. I had a boss once who, when asked if our company could adopt a Casual Friday policy, said, “We’re professional the rest of the week. Why would we not be professional on Friday?”