Astro Photography with Keith Marsh

This Meeting’s HighlightsProgram: Astro Photography with Keith MarshSpeaker: Keith Marsh, Award-winning PhotographerMeeting for the week of December 12, 2016 to December 18, 2016

Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. 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 60 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!

Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!

Message from President Mitty

Astro Photography & Reminders for Members

Members and returning guests, it's great to see you again -- welcome back!New visitors and visiting Rotarians, welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley's meeting for the week of December 12th! My name is Mitty Chang, and I am president of this Rotary club! Our meeting this week is about Astro Photography, and our guest speaker is one of our own -- Keith Marsh. I am absolutely certain that if you like the stars or incredible photos, you'll enjoy this week's program!Our usual birthday baroness, Nicole, is currently traveling and on vacation. So I want to take this time in my president's address to wish a very happy birthday to members Lisa Highfill and Mahmood Khan, who are both celebrating their birthdays this month! Lisa and Mahmood, I hope you both have a wonderful birthday month!Whether you are new to our meetings, or you're a regular, something you should know about our Rotary club is that we're always evolving. I'm a strong believer that for a Rotary eClub to exist successfully, it needs to constantly change because technology constantly changes. And the truth is - we can always do better. We can do better for our local and global communities, and we can do better for our members. Many of these changes happen behind-the-scenes and are targeted for our members. From the new Coffee with a Rotarian initiative to members-only Secret Santa to the tech updates we're rolling out monthly to the website. There isn't a month that has gone by where our Rotary club has not evolved a little more. By joining us this week, you're playing a part of the history of our Rotary club, but we also would like to think that you're playing a part of the history of Rotary eClubs, as we continue striving to be a Rotary eClub that pushes the limits of what we can do as a club digitally connected with members throughout the world.And so, I just have a reminder for our club members before you continue on with the meeting."Members, are you reading the entire meeting?"Members, I just want to remind you all that I know there's a temptation to skip straight to the program, but I would strongly encourage you all to go through the other sections of the meeting too if you aren't. In particular, please give the Members Updates and the Upcoming Events segments a closer look each time, as they are regularly updated along with the rest of the meeting. Our leadership team is doing our best to also reach out via email for important messages. If you don't recall seeing any club related emails in the past two weeks, please reach out to me at president@siliconvalleyrotary.com so that we can make sure we have the right email address for you. Thanks for your attention!Everyone, please enjoy this meeting and have a great week!

Yours in service,

Mitty Chang,

President

Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley

president@siliconvalleyrotary.com

mitty-signature2

Photo of the Week

We believe that a good photo not only tells a tale of a thousand words but also can inspire. This segment is dedicated to a photo that we think does just that.

This week's photo is from our member and guest speaker this week, Keith Marsh. Keith specializes in Astro Photography. This photograph is taken during the Super Moon of a perched Heron.

Did you get to see the recent Super Moon with your own eyes? What do you remember about that night?

Weekly Inspiration:Swim Peacefully with Thousands of Jellyfish in Palau

Every week we bring you videos of innovation, inspiration, and entrepreneurship. This week we are featuring a video from Great Big Story, featuring a special marine lake where you can swim with jellyfish.

On Eil Malk Island in Palau, you can swim with jellyfish without getting stung. This marine lake was once connected to the ocean, but as the island changed, it was cut off. Now in isolation, it's filled with a jellyfish species found nowhere else. With no predators to keep them in check and plentiful algae to feed on, these golden jellyfish swarm and fill the lake like a cloudy dream. Ready for a swim?


Would you go swimming there?

Laughing Out Loud (L.O.L.) with our Lady of LOLs

yvonnebubble

We believe that laughing a little every day keeps you healthier. Every week we try to share with you something that will make you smile! This section is curated by Rotarian Yvonne Kwan, our club’s “Lady of LOLs.”

Photography puns for our photography master, Keith!

I think my pet crocodile is an amateur photographer.

He’s a bit of a snapper.

Ever since buying a digital camera, I can only think of its positive points.

There aren’t any negatives.

How does Santa take photos?

With his North Polaroid.

World of Rotary

Rotary is a 1.2 million member organization that exists in over 165 countries. This segment is dedicated to sharing a story or an update of what is going on in the global world of Rotary. This week we feature Rotary's Miles to End Polio, and the Rotarians and Rotary Staff members who raised over $10 million dollars to End Polio!

Biking 104 miles to raise over $10 million to End Polio

On November 19, 2016, Rotary International General Secretary John Hewko and a team of staffers joined Rotarians from around the world to bike up to 104 miles in the El Tour de Tucson to raise funds for polio eradication. The annual event is one of the top cycling events in the U.S. attracting more than 9,000 cyclists each year. This year the team's goal was to raise $3.4 Million, which was tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a total of more than $10 Million, for the fight to end polio.Rotary has been raising money to fight polio by riding in this annual cycling ride for the past few years. Although El Tour de Tucson takes place in Tucson, Arizona, USA, Rotarians and Rotary staff from all across the world fly in to participate. Rotary didn't create this cycling event, nor does it organize it. This is a wonderful example of how Rotarians participate in an existing event, and bring it closer to humanitarian service by raising money to see a polio-free world.Here are some photos, courtesy of Rotary International and Rotary International General Secretary John Hewko.

What event would you want to participate in, and is there a way we can make it so that we can help others while having a good time?

For Members: Updates

This segment of the meeting is dedicated to our club members. This section includes announcements and new initiatives. Guests, you are welcome to read this section or just skip it.

What do you need?

Members, our club is here to help you become more successful and to be that vehicle for you to create change locally. That only works if you reach out to the leadership team, and tell us what you need. Take the initiative and send your own member spotlight videos to President Mitty so the club can hear about what you have been up to. Take the initiative to submit your service updates in the service survey, so we can see the good you do in your free time. Take the initiative and reach out to the leadership team or to the entire club mailing list, and let the club know what you need. If you aren't finding enough value in the club membership, then take the initiative to help us improve the experience by reaching out. Help shape how this eClub grows -- after all, we're not even 2 years old yet!

Dues are Due

All members should have received their semi-annual dues invoice. For members currently on the monthly payment plan ($28/month), you have to do nothing. For those of you paying per 6-month term, your member dues are due no later than December 30, 2016. If you have any questions regarding the payment, please email our club treasurer Allen Thompson at allen.l.thompson@gmail.com, or alternatively, you may always contact club president Mitty Chang at president@siliconvalleyrotary.com.

Reminders - Ongoing Initiatives:

  • Coffee with a Rotarian

  • Secret Santa

Welcome to December! Don't forget to update us with your service blotter!

Members, want to get your service update into the next service blotter? Please share what you’ve been up to, as it allows us to get to know each other better in the process! Just click on the link below to let us know!

For Members Only: Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey

Our Events & Projects

We hold our meetings online, but we hold regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley every month! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of our events and service projects listed here.

Also be sure to join our Meetup Group for automatic calendar updates and to RSVP for our events! These are open to all guests as well!

https://www.meetup.com/siliconvalleyrotary/

Upcoming Events:

All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)Stop Hunger Now Service Project (Cupertino), Sunday, January 8, 2017 from 8:30 AM to 12 PM

Come assemble Stop Hunger Now food packages with Rotarians from Cupertino and Sunnyvale during our Rotary Area-wide service project on Sunday, January 8, 2017 at Monta Vista High School, 21840 McClellan Road, Cupertino, CA! There will be two separate shifts - one from 8:15 AM to 10:30 AM, and another from 10:15 AM to 12:00 PM. Sign-up will be available on Meetup. Guests are welcomed but will need to check-in with our club. This is a great opportunity to make a difference in someone's life with a hands-on service project while getting to know some of the other Rotarians in our area!

Event chair: Mitty Chang (please check-in with Mitty once you arrive)

Rotary Wilderness Expedition to Big Basin (Boulder Creek), Sun. Jan. 29, 2016 from 11 AM to 3 PM

Join fellow Rotarians and friends for an adventure expedition into the gorgeous redwood giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. We will be meeting at 11 AM (exact location to be announced) and will aim to return to our cars by 3 PM. Please pack your own lunch and water.

Event chair: Andrew Taw

Rotary Area 8 Talent Show (Cupertino), Sat. Feb. 4, 2016

Join Rotarians from through Cupertino and Sunnyvale for an area-wide social featuring talent from every club! Details to be announced.

Happy Dollars

Each week we ask our members to share news with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal for this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each other, while giving back to a good cause.

Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it's appropriate!)

Last week's happy dollars went towards funding club projects including service grants! Here are messages from last week's happy dollars:

Thank you member Rory Olsen for his donation! No comment left.

Thank you guest Rex Young for his generous $25 donation! No comment left.

Thank you to member Brian Liddicoat for his kind $15 donation! Brian had this to say:"As a father of two elementary school children, I'm steeling myself for the gauntlet known as 'winter break'...."

Thank you member Kristi Govertsen for her kind $5 donation! Kristi had this to say:"Here's to another great week!"

Thank you all for your donations last week! The money from the donations last week went towards funding club projects including supporting club service grants!

This week's donations will go towards the general club fund to power club projects!

So what are you happy about? Share with us below!

Selected Six

Every week at the bottom of our meetings, there is a comments section for members and guests to tell us what they enjoyed about the meeting or to ask questions to the speaker. We select six comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.

Here are six comments selected from last week's meeting about Celebrate the Beat:

From member Felmer Lenida (California, USA):

"Wonderful meeting this week! Thank for the fantastic presentation, Dan and Tracy. Dance has always been a big part of my life since High School, so I'm glad to hear about your program!"

From member Martin Fox (Utah, USA):

“Peilun's vision is inspirational on so many levels. Twenty years into the execution of his vision, he thinks the village may, or may not, be completed in twenty more years. Those are the kinds of visions that change things. Long-term focus is often discounted in our disruptive, fast-moving global economy. You need both.."

From member Nathan Gildart (Tokyo, Japan):

“Celebrate the Beat is awesome! Music and dance are an inherent element of the human spirit. (prehistoric societies have drums and likely had dances) It's great that you reach out to children in need and giving them these opportunities. These days fine arts are the first to get cut from school programs, sadly. You've reminded me of the Global Rock Challenge, started in Australia. Very cool things they do. (http://www.globalrockchallenge... - I don't dance, but used to manage a dance crew that participated in the Japan version of this)"

From member Hardeep Singh (California, USA):

“What an awesome program!! Tracy and Dan, thank you for being our guest speakers! CTB is so awesome!"

From member Yvonne Kwan (California, USA):

“I am a HUGE fan of the arts!! They influenced me so much in my own education as I grew up through band and theater, and I do what I can to bring the arts into my own classrooms. Tracy and Daniel, the work that you do with Celebrate the Beat is amazing! The way that performing arts can make children feel empowered is one of the many reasons why I love it. (Also, Tracy -- I LOVE Spring Awakening!! So cool that you were an associate producer!)“

From member Rushton Hurley (California, USA):

"Great effort by Tracy and Daniel and team - thanks for sharing your story with us! I loved the video about the Guizhou artist, as well. As I type, I'm finishing up my trip in Shanghai, and totally enjoyed the time exploring here, along with getting a few moments to connect with Brett Sham as part of our Coffee with a Rotarian project. Here's a video from a few days ago for the group" 

Rushton also posted this video message in his comments last week:


Be sure to leave a comment at the end of this week’s meeting after you watch the program below, and perhaps you’ll see your comment featured next week!

The Program: Astro Photography

Every week we bring to you a program on innovation, education, entrepreneurship, and humanitarian service. Our guest speaker this week is one of our own members, Keith Marsh! Keith will be speaking to us about his work in photography, with a focus on Astro Photography.

Keith Marsh has been a Rotarian for over 30 years and is currently a charter member of our club, the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley. He has attended Rotary meetings on five continents and has worked on International Service projects in five countries including a recent trip to Cuba with H2Open Doors. Several of his photos have been published in The Rotarian magazine over the past 20 years and he was the winner of the 2016 Photo Contest. His interest in photography started when he was a young boy growing up in northern Idaho. He has been active is local and regional photography organizations for the past 20 years and has participated in over 200 photographic competitions. He served as the President of the Marin Photography Club and was a founding member of the Marin Digital Group.His current interest is in Astrophotographic Nightscapes. He is a certified real estate appraiser and has been appraising custom homes in Marin County for 30 years. He lives in San Anselmo with his wife Helena who is also a Rotarian.Below is a small selection of photos by Keith to give you a taste of what's to come in the program!


Members and guests, please join me in welcoming Keith Marsh!


Related Links:

Reach out to Keith

If you have any questions for Keith, please feel free to leave a comment or question at the bottom of this meeting page.

Meeting Schedule

All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 to 45 minutes long and are subject to change without notice. (Sometimes speakers cancel on us!)

Upcoming Recordings:

  • Recording with DeAnna Pursai with the College of Adaptive Arts at 3:30 PM Pacific Time, Wednesday, December 14, 2016.

If you would like to join us for any of the live recordings, please email president@siliconvalleyrotary.com with your request. Requests will be checked up until 5 minutes prior to the recording time. Please note the timezone is all California, USA time.Upcoming Meetings:

  • Week of December 19 - College of Adaptive Arts

  • Week of December 26 - TBA

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. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.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!

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Celebrate the Beat: Teaching Inspirational Music & Dance Classes