Meeting for the Week of Mar. 23rd, 2015
Greetings from President Rushton Hurley
You've found your way to the meeting of the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley for the week of March 23rd - welcome!As I write this, I'm on a plane on my way home after two conferences in four days in Detroit, Michigan, and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Needless to say, I didn't spend time sunbathing.The lower temperatures didn't carry over to the people, though, who in both places showed warmth and hospitality while sharing all sorts of cool ideas for new ways to help and reach their students.Watching the news, it sometimes seems that the world is loaded with those bent on conflict and disaster. Spending time with teachers working to learn about new technologies, though, is a nice reminder that there many more, if less obvious, people better characterized by their fervent desire to make good things happen for others.As a Rotarian, you are one of 1.2 million people of all backgrounds and faiths who have chosen to devote time and energy, and all of us believe that the world can be made better than it is now. You'll learn about this in all sorts of ways today, finishing with lots of good information about the greatest way we do this in Rotary: the efforts of The Rotary Foundation. If this is new to you, pay close attention; you'll soon have another reason to be proud of who you've chosen to be.This week, make something happen for someone who needs support or encouragement. It's what we do.Guests, we welcome your comments, as well, and ask that you consider contributing the cost of a meal to the service projects our club is putting in motion. While we do not yet have our online payment system in place (any day now!), you are welcome to mail a check made out to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley to our treasurer: ℅ Allen Thompson, 13500 Cascade Ct., Bakersfield CA 93314.
Service Survey
It's that time again! What have you done this last week (or since the last time you filled this out) that was (a) outside of the work for which you are paid, and (b) made the world a better place? Let us know by filling out this short survey.
Talk to Anyone
Each member will present to the club over the coming months, if it hasn't already happened! You also have the power, though, to contact anyone whose work you think is fascinating about the possibility of presenting to the club. Member Meg Taylor of the PR Committee offers these simple talking points for doing so:
I would like to invite you to speak at my service club, the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, where we meet online and record our meetings using Google Hangouts.
Our speakers usually discuss an important community, business, or social issue, and I think your work in xxxxxx would be interesting to our members.
We can schedule the recording date and time at your convenience. We aim for presentations to be about 15-20 minutes, followed by questions and answers.
We'll help you get up to speed using Google Hangouts if that system is new to you.
Please let me know if you are interested, and if so, let's set a date!
Ever wanted to contact someone interesting you thought was out of reach? Assuming that person's work is in line with our interests (service, innovation, entrepreneurship, and education), then you not only have the reason, but are encouraged to do so. If you're not sure, contact President Rushton about your idea or question.
Creating Connections
Later in this meeting, you'll hear from District 5170 Foundation point person Cecelia Babkirk about the amazing work of the nonprofit that directs many of the amazing international service efforts of Rotarians.International and intercultural connections can happen in many ways, including clever ones using newer technologies. Here's a video about a language school that demonstrates something important that the members of our eclub believe - that technology can bring people together to build goodwill and better friendships.
And if you didn't notice that the end of the paragraph before the video ("goodwill and better friendships") is a reference to the Rotary Four-Way Test, give that a quick look at this page.
Happenings
Club Happenings
Wednesday of this week (25th), a group of us will gather as part of the inaugural fundraiser for Justin's House, an organization dedicated to helping teens fighting alcohol addiction. A big thanks to all the members who identified auction items to help them with their efforts: kudos to Martin Fox, Shags Shagrin, Catherine Liu, Allen Thompson, Rushton Hurley, Chris Cochrane, Gene Tognetti, and Linda Tangren. Those of you who will attend, watch for an email on Monday from President Rushton with final details.For the coming weekend: all of our members within reasonable range, we hope to see you on Sunday the 29th for our party to celebrate receiving our charter from Rotary International. We'll gather at the South Bay Yacht Club (1491 Hope Street, San Jose) for a potluck dinner at 6:00, though as you've heard from the never-boring Secretary Dean, in the afternoon starting at 2:00 we'll do kayaking around the beautiful Alviso Slough. Plan to be there, and plan to have fun!
District Happenings
Our next major gathering is the District 5170 Conference, happening April 17th-19th. At this annual shindig, you'll learn about cool service efforts, consume great food, hear inspiring speakers, and enjoy entertainment from a wonderful choir and a circus group! The registration form is here, and we hope you will take part in whatever your schedule and distance allow. (Do note that there are plenty of pieces of the weekend gathering that don't cost anything.)
The World of Rotary
Some service projects are more easily put in motion than others. For the Rotary Foundation Global Grant sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Wausau, Wisconsin, and Juba, South Sudan, the barriers are particularly challenging. The project's goal is as ambitious as the conditions are treacherous: "to drill a deep borehole and install solar-powered water pumps, a 5,000-gallon reservoir, and six to 10 spigots." If the project is successful, though, it will benefit almost 14,000 people in remote villages in the mountains of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan. The area has been destabilized by inter-tribal violence, as well as the savaging of the economy by a civil war. Where there is great need, however, Rotarians find ways to help. For full details on this project, read the article at Rotary.org.
The Power of Images
Here is another photo Keith Marsh took in the last few weeks when there were all those dramatic clouds over the Bay Area. From Keith: "I was in Petaluma when they started to form, so I rushed home, grabbed my camera and tripod and headed for the Golden Gate. This image was taken in HDR (high dynamic range) with 5 bracketed images that required post processing in special software (Photomatix)."Rushton's addition: If you have never heard of HDR before, I strongly encourage you (after finishing the meeting!) to do an image search with the term to see how different people use the technique. Most folks (photographer wannabes like me) just use an HDR app to make this happen, but a pro like Keith really gets in to the various images being pulled together to make the colors pop just right. Click here (don't forget to come back to the meeting) to see a search in Flickr on the term "San Francisco HDR" - good stuff.
Selected Comments from Last Week
Each week we ask our guests and members to leave their comments following the program. Here are some of the observations and messages from last week's program by John Lozano on the leadership effort for kids with which he's involved, and also the Mayan Families organization in Guatemala.
Member Manju Ramachandran (California, USA)This is really coooool! It's so inspiring that they have decided that 11 is the age where you can impart the most leadership, global citizenship, and community-building skills. It would be awesome to promote this to schools that have an international focus or are already doing the UN Experience as part of the curriculum. The more young adults we have with a global and peaceful mindset, the better. Kudos Fernando and John! I also saw the Living on a Dollar when it made it's way through FB a few months ago.
Guest François Tessier (Quebec, Canada)I was more than inspired by the presentation of Fernando, since I really connect with the same kind of involvement in Sri Lanka. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary initiative! Really cool.
Member Heather Shaw (California, USA)It's not often that we get to experience people who are so selfless. I am loving being a part of this!
Member Rushton Hurley (California, USA)Great work, John and Fernando. Hopefully we can get a group to go down to Guatemala at some point!
Member Shags Shagrin (California, USA)If you like watching the weekly presentations here, you'll probably enjoy "being at" the live session when it is recorded. This is about a week or so before the meeting, generally in the early evening. Members - watch for the notice from Pres. Rushton and be one of those who appears at the bottom. You'll have the opportunity to comment and ask a question at the end of the presentation. Then, when you visit the weekly meeting, you don't necessarily need to re-visit the presentation video, unless you want to see it again.
Member Chris Cochrane (Ontario, Canada)Wish John could teach us - in North America - how to live on a dollar a day. Thanks John for a great presentation!A
ndrew Taw (California, USA)Another very inspiring presentation. I feel that I've been receiving a wonderful education on service programs all over the world and I almost want to do everything at once! Thank you John and Fernando for your work and your presentation!
Member John Lozano (California, USA)Thanks for the opportunity to share my recent volunteer experiences. I have enjoyed meeting so many amazing people during my travels and I'm sure this will continue in the future. I was excited Fernando was able to join the presentation....all the way from Guatemala! He is an amazing young man with a passion to make the world a better place and I am honored to call him a friend. I appreciate all the kind words about my presentation and photos. I am so glad to have joined this Rotary club.
This Week's Program
This week, we hear from Cecelia Babkirk of the Cupertino Rotary Club. She is District 5170's point person for The Rotary Foundation, and will introduce you to this amazing piece of the larger Rotary puzzle.Cecelia Babkirk has been a Rotarian since 1994, when she joined the Rotary Club of San Jose West. In 2007, she joined the Rotary Club of Cupertino, a leading club in International Service activities. Cecelia has served in multiple capacities at the District 5170 level, including her current position as the Chair for The Rotary Foundation Committee. At the Rotary International level, she serves on The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisors in the area of Economic and Community Development and Audit.She personally believes that well-planned humanitarian projects which feature a travel opportunity are one of the best ways to introduce Rotarians to the international nature of Rotary.Cecelia, the podium is yours!
Feel free to take a few moments to learn more about the many wonderful programs of The Rotary Foundation.
I Attended!
<a href="https://mightymitty.wufoo.com/forms/z1cth7qf1a2wylp/">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>
Donations & Happy Dollars
Thanks for participating in our eClub meeting! As a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, our little eClub runs completely on volunteers and donations. If you are feeling like showing a little bit of love, we would greatly appreciate it if you would consider making a donation.
