The Revolution in Education
This Meeting's Highlights
Program: The Revolution in EducationSpeaker: Mark Chatel
Meeting for the week of January 18th to January 24th, 2016* * *
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our meeting!Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 45 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time.Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you; read it while on public transit, waiting in line for coffee, or even at the park! Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
Greetings
Message from the President
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!Since I wrote you last week in this space, I've presented at three conferences in Illinois, Florida, and Nevada. At the moment, I'm in a hotel room, getting the last pieces together for this week's program.In short, I'm busy. However, I'm certainly not the only one. We all are, and that's part of the point of being in an eclub.My travel schedule is such that, were it not for eclubs, I would have left Rotary eight years ago. I love the weekly hit of positive energy that Rotary provides, though, and I was thrilled to find then when my work changed that moving to an eclub was an option at all.And last year, when a group of us started this eclub, our express intention was to find ways that all sorts of modern tools, especially digital media ones, can be used to bring Rotary to life in an online setting.The result is what you see here, our 52nd meeting. We're finishing up our first year! We're glad you've joined us, and we're happy to share what we're doing as a club, and what we're learning about the wide and wonderful world of Rotary.Enjoy!Rotarian guests, we ask that you consider contributing something - whatever for you is the regular cost of a Rotary meal, perhaps - to the efforts of our club. Please choose one of the options below:
Send via our secure Happy Dollars form.
Send via Google Wallet to: ecsv.rotary@gmail.com
Send via PayPal to: ecsv.rotary@gmail.com
Send a check via snail mail (see below for instructions)
To pay via Google Wallet or PayPal, you'll need to log in to your account with those companies.Those of you who prefer a more traditional approach can mail a check made out to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley to our treasurer: ℅ Allen Thompson, 13500 Cascade Ct., Bakersfield CA 93314.Non-Rotarian guests, there is no need for a donation from you. As we see it, your job is to simply enjoy what you read and watch, though at the end we do ask that you let us know you were here and also leave a comment letting us know what you think. This club is loaded with folks who love sharing ideas, and we look forward to your sharing yours!
Yours in service,
Rushton Hurley,
President
Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
The Power of Images
We believe that there is power in imagery, and that a great photo can inspire in its own unique way.
We have two for you this week! The first is designed to give us a sense of the immensity of the universe, and the second shows us the fun of finding one much smaller way to look at oneself.from the WISE Telescope (via Andrew Taw)"It's a mosaic of over 18,000 infrared images to visualize our visible universe. Nothing quite makes me contemplate world peace more than astronomy. Of course, a couple other good images for astronomy and peace could be The Pale Blue Dot (because of the passage from Carl Sagan) and Voyager's Golden Disk."Find this and other pictures at the JPL site.Keith's Cuba Selfie"Here is another photo from my trip to Cuba in 2014. One day, we hired several older convertibles for a sightseeing trip around Havana. At one stop near the beach, I took this selfie in the chrome bumper of a 1952 Oldsmobile with another old car in the background. For fun, I posted it to my National Geographic page and a few months later the magazine published it on the 'Daily Dozen' website."Good stuff, Keith!
The Power of Ideas
We welcome the chance to bring together ideas for making the world a better place, and tap the thoughts of thinkers near and far, modern and from the distant past.
We put forward three ideas this week, the first two being about resilience.If you stumble, make it part of the dance.- Unknown
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.- Henry Ford
The third is about resilience or something else. I know that description of the third wasn't very specific, but when Membership Chair Shags shared it, I was both confused and entertained, and asked that he share it in an email so I could see it in writing. I have to say, that didn't help me much, but I put it out there for you to interpret.We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.- Konstantin Jireček (info about this person)
Seeing Possibilities
This week, our South African team (i.e., Richard Knaggs) shared a video about an innovative piece of technology. It's cool for more than just what it does, but also for how the inventor is approaching it - watch and see!
Reminders for Our Members
Dues
This is the final week for the reminder of the dues for January to June! Use the link below to go to our dues page, or follow the instructions in the email sent by Treasurer Allen to send money via PayPal or Google Wallet. You can email Allen at treasurer@siliconvalleyrotary.com if you need a reminder for how to do that.
We also ask each member to donate something, however small, to the Rotary Foundation when paying dues. This is our way to unite with other Rotarians around the planet to address all kinds of issues. Let's make it happen!
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Dues Page
Time to Vote!
Members, you will be receiving an email this week to vote for club officers for the 2016-2017 Rotary year (July 1 to June 30). Please look out for this email, which will be sent out by the end of Wednesday!
Questions? Contact President-elect Mitty at presidentelect@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Events & Projects
This section of our meeting is where you learn about both recent and upcoming events and projects our club is leading or supporting. We welcome guests to all of our events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming Events:
Did you miss our past events? Come join us for any of our upcoming events! Guests, you are welcome too!
All times are in Pacific Time (San Francisco, CA, USA time!)Service as an eClub
As we see it, an important part of what we do as an eclub is to find ways that we can marry service using new technologies to our interests of innovation, entrepreneurship, and education.
Service Chair Andrew Taw has been working on several possibilities related to our helping entrepreneurs get their start-ups into the next gear. We are working to gather teams who can connect with these entrepreneurs using video conferencing tools. We should note that we are focusing on entrepreneurs who are building ideas that can build communities in some innovative way.
Our first effort along these lines is coming up in the beginning of February, and we'll keep you posted. If you want to take a direct role, email President Rushton (president@siliconvalleyrotary.com), and he and Andrew will let you know how you can take part.
Rotary Means Business Online Networking Session on Friday, January 22nd, at 4:15p
Do you manage your own business? Are you looking to start a new venture? Or are you just looking to get some mentorship? Come join our Rotary Means Business session on Friday, January 22 at 4:15p over Google Hangouts! Members are encouraged to join the session ready to tell the group what is one thing they need help with right now. This could be “I need help with finding new clients” or “I need help learning about wine” or “I need help filing papers for a 501(c)(3) non-profit”. The sky is the limit! This 45-minute networking session will happen immediately before our happy hour online social.
Happy Hour Online Social on Friday, January 22nd, at 5p
We will be having a happy hour social over Google Hangouts on Friday, January 22nd, at 5 PM Pacific time! Bring your snacks or drinks to your favorite device with a webcam, and come hang out with our club! Tell us about your day, and what you have been up to. Guests are welcome to join in as well.
Hiking Adventures at Point Reyes on Sun. January 24th, at 10a
Our eclub is taking a wilderness explorers’ adventure into Point Reyes on Sunday, January 24th, at 10a. Pack your own picnic lunch, and prepare for a nice 5-7 mile hike! We may also do a pit stop at the world famous Tomales Bay Oyster Company’s oyster stand. Details such as the exact meeting location will be available by mid-January. Keep your calendar marked! All members and guests are welcome. Free to attend.
Those of you outside of California: we are considering having a half-hour online get-together starting that morning at 6a (7a in Utah; 9a in Quebec, Ontario, and Michigan; 4p in Cape Town; 5p in Nairobi; and 11p in Tokyo). Would you be up for it? (Pun intended for California folks.)
Sexy Salad Potluck & Wine in Livermore on Sun. February 21st, at noon
Come enjoy the local extension of Napa Valley in Livermore. We will be having a salad potluck at the awarding winning Retzlaff Vineyard Winery in Livermore on Sunday, February 21st, from noon to 2p. There will be live music and wine. This is a sexy salad potluck! Sexy salad is a way for communities to come together and give gratitude for good food and for good company. Members and guests should bring an ingredient to contribute to the salad. For example: you could bring a bowl of cranberries, a bowl of sliced steak, a bowl of cherry tomatoes, etc. We will be providing organic assorted greens, the salad dressing, along with plates and utensils. All members and guests are welcome to attend; this event is also friendly for anyone under 21 as well! (Though those not 21 or older can’t have wine, of course.)
Nightlife Exploration at the California Science Academy in San Francisco on Thursday, March 24th, at 7p
Come with our club to explore the amazing exhibits and experiences at the planetarium during the evening for California Science Academy’s Nightlife program! We will be meeting at the California Science Academy in San Francisco on Thursday, March 24th, at 7p for an exciting night of science adventures! Open to all members and guests. Tickets will be available for purchase. More details coming in early March.
More Socials!
You can sure expect more socials to be coming up! Members, if you are interested in helping plan socials, please reach out to President-Elect Mitty or leave a comment on this meeting. We would love to get you more involved with the social planning!
The World of Rotary
We are part of the Rotary International family, with over 1.2 million members in over 180 countries around the world. Rotary’s reach is global. Here we tell our members and guests about Rotary’s initiatives and events.
This month, David Goodstone, a senior writer for Rotary, added a post to the Rotary blog telling about his recent visit to India marking the one-year anniversary of the declaration of the country as polio-free. It's a moving piece with some great pictures, and you can find the full post at this link:
Service Survey
We at the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley work hard to make the world a better place. This happens via big projects and little acts of kindness, and we tell each other about it. Why? To brag? Certainly not! Instead, we believe that sharing cool stories of helping others can inspire us to find new ways to do good in our communities.
Members, if it's been a few months since you last filled this out, you're due! "But I haven't done anything for anyone recently," you object, rather horrified at the realization. Worry not - we're here to help! Make something happen today (or tomorrow, if you are doing this meeting late in the evening), even if it's just a good deed-ito, and that's fine. We look forward to hearing about it!
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Happy Dollars
Good news is a good thing, and sharing it can spread that good news with others. It’s also a chance to get to know the club’s members a little better, so if you’ve got something fun to share, toss it in using the form below! The dollar amount is totally up to you – we’re happy for you to add a single dollar to the club’s efforts, but primarily happy that you’re sharing news!
Got something that has made you smile in the last week? Tell us about it, and throw a dollar or two into the Happy Dollars Hat to help fund our efforts, just to make it all the better!
Birthdays
This week, we have a pair of birthdays!First up is Art Taylor on Friday (the 22nd), whom you may remember from pictures of the Coastal Cleanup effort several months ago. Art, on your birthday in 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh computer during that year's Super Bowl (see the ad here). Epic piece of Silicon Valley history, that moment!And on Saturday (the 23rd), we have the never-boring Frank Trippichio, who spent plenty of time in 2015 looking for cool possibilities to help our club learn about The Rotary Foundation. Frank, on your birthday in 1986, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. If that isn't an epic set of folks to be associated with, I don't know what would be.
The Tidbit
Every week, we feature a new tech tidbit or life hack to make something easier, more convenient, or more fun!
Last week, President Rushton showed us how to install an extension in Chrome. This week, we'll add the Hover Zoom+ extension using our new knowledge!
Find the Chrome Web Store at: chrome.google.com/webstore
A Little Humor
We believe laughter is like medicine. We believe peace is easier when one is laughing.
Having completed 2015, some of you may already be thinking about your taxes. Here's a bit of wisdom for you:
A fine is a tax for doing wrong.A tax is a fine for doing well.
The joke above was found on the internet, which is the result of funding of the defense department decades ago. #justsayin :)
Selected Comments from Last Week
What do you think? That's what we ask our members and guests every week at the end of our meetings. It's a chance to share ideas and connect with each other, and unless you are looking for ways to build your bad karma point count, we're jazzed to hear from you, as well!
Last week, we heard from Dave Birch and Kelsi Cox in New Zealand about the work they are doing to help schools in Fiji. What did folks think of that and the rest of the meeting? Read on!
Member Linda Tangren (California, USA)This was a great program. Introducing technology and using it as a tool to learn is a win-win. It is worth noting that Kelsi was a Rotary Scholar, more evidence of the value of the Rotary Scholar program.
Member John Lozano (California, USA)Dave and Kelsi, thank you for an informative presentation. After watching the initial video, I wondered, "how does a project like this get implemented?" Your presentation answered many questions and it appears the project is on its way to success. I appreciate the inclusion of learning outcomes and how to make the tablets a learning and community tool. Great work!
Member Shags Shagrin (California, USA)The Coca Cola video is outstanding! The program was great. The tidbit is very helpful. The humor had some new ones for me!
Guest Sandy Abalos (Arizona, USA)Hello Rushton, Allen, Shags, Chris, and all the Silicon Valley E-club members. I LOVE what you are doing and applaud everyone for their ingenuity and creativity. Many cool points! Sandy Abalos, Scottsdale, AZ [The four of us mentioned served on the board of the Rotary eClub of the Southwest USA with Sandy. She and her husband Alan are powerful advocates for the possibilities of Rotary!]
Member François Tessier (Quebec, Canada)Despite your "connections problems" during the recording, we definitely can connect to the content and to this fabulous initiative! Congratulations, and thank you Dave and Kelsi!
Member Andrew Taw (California, USA)Great work, Dave and Kelsi! I love that this is a program that doesn't just raise funds and drop off devices, but one that really has a coaching element to make sure the students can get the most out of the technology.
Member Chris Cochrane (Ontario, Canada)Of course it comes as no surprise a Canadian is at the heart of yet another fabulous effort to help people. Keep up the great efforts!
The Program
Each week we share the stories of people working to make the world a better place, no matter where they are in order to inspire those everywhere else. This week, we hear from Mark Chatel, a TV producer and education entrepreneur who wanted to find a way to help students discover their passions, and develop their confidence and leadership through meaningful activities.
Mark holds a Bachelor in Political Science and Economics, and a Masters in TV Production and Media Management. He will explain the various interviews and field research that led him to the conclusion that education systems need to allow children to connect with who they are at an early age.Members and guests, welcome Mark Chatel!
Links:Hear from Dr. Stephanie Marshall about the work of the WIGUP team.You can also hear from actress Samantha Hill about how she supports "Camp Ooch."
Upcoming Programs
Now that you have completed watching this week’s program and meeting, here are some programs that you can expect in the coming weeks.
• Week of Jan 25th: Greening Saudi Arabia• Week of Feb 1st: Coworking, Creative Spaces, and the Rise of the Sharing Economy
You’re Almost Done! One last thing: The Attendance Survey..
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done. First, we have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeups.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you though.
More importantly, for all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment below in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!
