This is the meeting for the week of December 11, 2017 through December 17, 2017

This Meeting at a Glance:Program:Envisioning a New CommonsProgram Description: In this week's program we will be a presentation about copyright and IP in the digital era. As technology has adapted, our policies for managing IP have failed to keep up. Creative Commons works toward a world where knowledge and information are shared freely to the public, to spur innovation and improve equity. Speaker: Ethan Senack, Outreach and Policy Manager for Creative Commons USA

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!

Here's a message from President-elect Andrew:

Welcome, everyone, to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!

There is an incredible amount of innovation that can happen when people can freely share their art, ideas, and history. With so many of our members contributing to different aspects of our meetings, I often feel blessed to be a member of this club to be able to browse through the voluminous inspirational content. Our speaker this week, Ethan Senack, has a grand vision of what sharing can mean for the world. This seems particularly timely as many of us are shopping for gifts for our loved ones. I'm certainly happy to be here, sharing the gift of these meetings that so many of you have contributed to.

In Service,

Andrew Taw,

President-elect

Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley

Weekly Funny with the Lady of Laughter (LOL)

We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Yvonne Kwan, our “Lady of Laughter!”

From our club’s Lady of Laughter, Yvonne Kwan:“The weather’s dropping here in California, so I’m BRRRR-inging some frosty jokes!“

Why did the boy keep his trumpet in the snow?Because he likes cool music.

Why was the snowman sad?He had a meltdown.

What do you call a snowman party?A snowball.

The Power of Images

Inspiration can be found in many forms. They say that a photo speaks a thousand words; we believe a powerful photo can tell many stories and lead to many more. This segment of our meeting is dedicated to a photo we think will do just that.

About this week's featured photo, from Past President Rushton:

"As many of you know from The Power of Images section we had in the meetings a couple of years ago, there are a number of talented photographers in the club, but the Camera Czar designation was one I reserved for

Keith

Marsh

. His work has been recognized internationally

,

and has won many awards, including being featured in The Rotarian magazine. As he has had an exhibit recently, I asked that he share one of his more recent shots for this week's meeting. Among the many things I am thankful for this week, two are the talent of our members and their willingness to share with others!"

From

Keith, our club photographer and author of this photo

:

"I took this photo of Mt Hood in northern Oregon on the same day that I photographed the solar eclipse (8/21/2017). Since I was going to be in the area for the eclipse, I thought I would also stay an extra day for a Milky Way

shoot

over Mt Hood. This turned out to be a very long day, as I could only find a motel room on the night before the eclipse in Klamath Falls, which is some 3.5 hours away from the path of the total eclipse. I rose at

2:00am

to get on the road and made it to Madras, Oregon, in time to photograph the eclipse. After the eclipse, I drove to an area near Mt Hood that I researched with the help of Google Earth. The ideal venue was a little more remote than I thought and I had to hike the last mile with all of my equipment (cameras, tripod, etc). I took this photo around

11:00pm

,

but then had to hike out and return to my motel at about

midnight

. It turned out to be a 22-hour day, but the photo-ops (Solar Eclipse and Milky Way) were worth it."

Have a photo to share? Enter the Photo Contest!

The 2018 Rotarian Magazine Photo Contest is now open! Send to The Rotarian Magazine your best shot for a chance to be featured in our magazine. We're proud that Keith Marsh, our club's Photo Czar was last year's winner. This is your chance to be Rota-famous!Read more about the photo contest by clicking here.

Weekly Inspiration: Copenhagen's Hidden Giants

Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change. This week we are featuring a video from the Great Big Story about a different way art is engaging people in Denmark.

Hidden deep within the woods, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, are six giants waiting to be discovered. Each of these fantastical sculptures was built by artist Thomas Dambo as a way of bringing art out of museums and into the natural world. Today, the six giants sit waiting among the wilderness, adding adventure and magic to those willing to explore.

Very cool!

New Member Induction: Carlos Gabuardi

Our members are the lifeblood of our club and shape who we are. Joining our club is a multi-week long process that starts with attending a meeting. When we are able to find a person with a heart for service that fits with our club, we are able to grow our family. This segment of the meeting is a special occasion and only appears when we have had a new member join our family.

Members and guests, it is our honor to introduce to you, Carlos Gabuardi!

Carlos is the Managing Partner and Founder of Gabuardi Abogados. He lives in Mexico and has been a Rotarian since 1985. Carlos was a member of the Rotary Club of Monterrey Industrial, where he served as a club president. Carlos was inspired by the innovation of our club and the inspiration of our meetings, and has chosen to transfer his membership, with the approval of our board, to our club.Below, Carlos shares a little bit more about himself:https://youtu.be/jlrrNWFO6hQ“Membership Co-Chair Mitty here.Carlos, the club’s Board of Directors and its club membership has approved your membership application into our Rotary Club. It is my distinct honor to officially welcome you as our club’s newest member. As a long-time Rotarian, you are continuing your journey in our international group of changemakers, leaders, and people of action. Rotarians worldwide help feed the hungry, clothe the poor, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, educate the uneducated, and make miracles happen. Together we will work to make our communities better. Welcome, Rotarian Carlos!“

Members and guests, please join me in welcoming our newest Rotarian, Carlos!

Coffee with a Rotarian

Every month our club members are paired with fellow members and special guests for an exclusive one-on-one coffee session called Coffee with a Rotarian. The idea is simple: spend 1 hour of your time during the month to get to better know a fellow Rotarian! Some of the greatest friendships were spawned that way. Members report on their coffee sessions here.

Our Coffee with a Rotarian stories today are shared by members Tzviatko Chiderov (Illinois, USA) and Ferheen Abbasi (Japan).Here is what Ferheen had to say about Tzviatko:

"I was matched with the mighty Tzviatko for this month's Coffee with a Rotarian! Besides the fact that he has such a beautiful voice, Tzviatko has a dazzling smile! It was so nice to get to know his life background, about being a #cooluncle, his new job, and his passion for Africa!! I can't wait for him to travel back to a country in Africa so I can go visit him. Also, it was an honor for me to introduce Tzviatko to persimmons!!!! This man has never had a persimmon in his life but I helped change that ;) I absolutely adore him and can't wait to continue getting to know him."

Here is what Tzviatko had to say about Ferheen:

Thanks for sharing Ferheen and Tzviatko!

World of Rotary

The over 1.2 million members of Rotary Clubs around the world form the largest humanitarian service organization, Rotary International. We're part of this global family. This segment is a tribute to stories and to good deeds Rotary clubs around the world are conducting.

After overcoming a tough childhood, pediatrician Ramon Resa is helping to raise a new generation of kids.

Written By Mary MacVean Photos by NashCO, courtesy of Rotary.org

At three years old, an age when most toddlers are being assessed on how high they can count or how well they can recite their ABCs, Ramon Resa faced a different standard of measurement: how much cotton he could pile up in the farm fields of central California.

And for many years, as he harvested cotton, walnuts, or oranges, Resa felt that he didn’t measure up. That feeling was reinforced by some who might have been his mentors and guides: Even though he graduated at the top of his eighth-grade class, he was told to let a white classmate give the valedictory speech. A school counselor tried to shunt him into wood shop instead of algebra.

But Resa persevered. Today, to visit him at work, you’ll walk through a door labeled Dr. Ramon Resa. A Rotarian and a pediatrician in Porterville, Calif., he spends his days in an office not far from the tiny box of a house where he grew up among 14 relatives.

From farmworker to pediatrician

At work, Resa moves among four exam rooms, sometimes seeing more than 50 patients in a day: a three-year-old suffering from allergies, a two-year-old in for a checkup, a 10-year-old who hurt his thumb playing sports. Resa tickles a child lightly as he checks a throat or belly, switching from English to Spanish as needed. “I can out-stare you,” he jokes with a determined boy who has a sinus infection.

“He teases the babies and the moms, and he builds their confidence up, ” says his office manager, Shirley Rowell, who has worked with Resa since he arrived in Porterville in 1985 with his newly minted medical degree. The children energize him, bringing out his jovial nature, but he’s also gentle and caring. When C-section newborns were moved from surgery to the maternity ward, Rowell recalls, Resa always...

Read the full story on Rotary.org by clicking here.

For Members Only: 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.

Post photos of your Secret Santa gifts in the members only Facebook Group!

Did you get your gift from your Secret Santa? Make sure to post it in our members only Facebook Group to share with our club what you got, and be sure to leave a note of gratitude for your Secret Santa too! If you haven't revealed yourself to your recipient, make sure to do so!

Programs Committee Still Needs Speaker Referrals:

The Programs Committee needs your help! If you know someone who you believe would be an interesting speaker for one of our programs, please make the referral or email introduction to the committee! Ready to introduce someone to the club's programs committee? Email Committee Chair Rushton at programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com

Members: NAMEBADGES ARE COMING -- Seriously! We're ordering the first batch this week! Please Update your info please!

The Membership Committee is working on ordering new magnetic name badges for each member! We are missing the info for many members!!!

These name badges will have your name on it and your profession. Perfect for wearing when you attend any Rotary events or meetings. In order to do this, we need your most updated information. Members,

please click here to submit your info.

Past Member Announcements:

Active members now have yourname@siliconvalleyrotary.com email forwarders! Your forwarder should be your full first name plus the first initial of your last name. Emails going to your @siliconvalleyrotary.com email will be forwarded automatically to the email you have on file with our club. If you want your email forwarder changed to a different variation of your name, please email Webmaster Mitty at mittyc@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
Members Only Facebook Group: If you haven't joined our members-only Facebook Group, consider joining! Request an invitation from mitty@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Service Blotter Submissions: 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/

Recent Event Recap:

Club Holiday Party last FridayWe had a blast at Charter President Rushton's house in San Jose. Thanks to members Megan Breyer, Mitty Chang, Yvonne Kwan, Rushton Hurley, Maxi Bustos, Brian Liddicoat, Nicole Pham and Heather Shaw for coming! We also loved seeing so many guests and +1s, including two of our past guest speakers!

Rotary at Google HQ last SaturdayThanks to member Maxi for taking our club on a private tour of the Google Headquarters in Mountain View! Members Megan, Ken, Mitty, and Yvonne had a great time seeing the behind-the-scenes workings at Google, where Maxi works.

Upcoming Events:

All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)

Saturday, January 13, 2018 - New Year Outdoor Expedition

Members, mark your calendars for the morning of Saturday, January 13, 2018, during which our club will have its first event of the new year: an outdoor hiking expedition! Details coming soon!

Other Upcoming Club Events:

Saturday, January 13, 2018 - Save the date for a club outdoor expedition (Details TBD)
Saturday, February 28, 2018 - Save the date for a club skydiving event (Details TBD)

More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com

What would you like to do?

Hey Members! What would you like to do? We're working on putting together some exciting socials and impactful service projects for our upcoming quarter's event calendar. Let us know what you want to do by posting in our members only Facebook Group (if you don't have access, please request it with Webmaster Mitty). Remember, you're only taking advantage of the full impact of Rotary when you're stepping up to get involved.

Happy Dollars: Do Good by Sharing Something Good

Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, 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 dollar contributions went towards our club projects. Here are some of the happy dollar messages from last week:

Thank you to member Rory Olsen for his generous $15 donation to The Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus Fund. Rory had this to say:"Here on the Texas Gulf Coast the Fall season is sometimes conjectural. Tonight things are going to cool off into the 40s. Wow! I might actually get to wear my sweater again. Please apply my gift to Polio Plus."

Thank you to member Catherine A. for her generous $25 donation. Catherine had this to say:"Announced today: Time Magazine's Person of the Year: Silence Breakers: http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/ #Me Too"

Thank you to member Rushton Hurley for his generous $25 donation. Rushton had this to say:"Celebrating all the great folks who join in Friday night for the potluck. We sent good vibes to our members around the world, too!"

Thank you to member Richard Knaggs for his donation. Richard had to this to say:"Our First lego League team Hyperion Bots came second in South Africa and have bedn invited to compete in the FLL European Open invitational in Hungary."

Thank you all for your donations last week!

Happy dollars is also a great opportunity to share with the group about something good that has happened to you, while giving back to a great cause. Next week's happy dollars will go back to powering our club's projects locally and globally.

So what are you happy about? Share with us below to help with doing good around the world.

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 featuring the program on Silicon Vikings with Dr. Eilif Trondsen:

Member Richard Knaggs (South Africa) had this to say:“I love your work Dr. Trondsen as well as your term edupreneur. This is something we are doing at our school through Authentic Learning. Our students write apps for the app store at 14 to 17 years old. It’s about making their learning relevant by allowing them to find passion projects and building real world solutions for these projects. Is there a South African link like yours in Silicon Valley that you know of?“

Guest Jacob Willey (USA) had this to say:“Thank you Dr Trondsen for that presentation. I enjoyed the graphics specifically. My interests and academics tend to blend in the middle of psychology and business as yours blends economics and technology. And I love how you call your business a "bridge". So much of America's beauty comes from integrating other cultures and sharing information for the greater good. Thank you for taking the time to speak to us!”

Member Monique Ziesehenne (California, USA) had this to say:“Fascinating presentation! Thank you, Dr. Trondsen, for your work! I've found that working in the Silicon Valley gives me so much more regular contact with a wide variety of cultural organizations, Sister City projects, and more, in ways that other areas of California (and, I'm guessing, other states) do not. Thanks for your contribution to highlight and maintain this organization.”

Member Dr. Carlos Gabuardi, Ph.D. (Mexico) had this to say:“Interesting presentation by Dr. Trondsen. Scandinavia is well known for innovation, I think the learning process may well go both ways. I have always dreamed about having the zero gravity experience, I assume this will mark the lives of these children and the lives of the growing ups too! Good and inspiring program! Congratulations, Carlos“

Member Brian Liddicoat (California, USA) had this to say:“Dr. Trondsen, this was great! Scandinavian investors have played a key role in America's progress and I myself was proud to play a very small role in this regard re: Icelandic and Norwegian investment in the Martell family's Ghostwood Development Project in Twin Peaks, Washington. Unfortunately, the project ran into environmental issues related to the endangered pine weasel and did not progress.“

Member Shags Shagrin (California, USA) had this to say:“I really liked the speaker's message. I was a Rotary Summer Youth Exchange for a reciprocal three-week visit to Finland after Reino stayed with us. Beautiful country and wonderful people. That's where I learned to really love fish, as we had very little beef -- mostly fish, cheese, salad, and sausages.”

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!

Program: Envisioning a New Commons

Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, education, technology, and humanitarian service. This week our guest speaker is Ethan Senack, the Outreach and Policy Manager for Creative Commons USA.

As Outreach and Policy Manager for Creative Commons USA, Ethan's focus is on crafting a message and strategy around open licensing. He works to educate decision-makers about the potential for open licensing to improve equity and spur innovation, and expand use of the Creative Commons licenses in the US. Before taking on this role, he spent four years with U.S. PIRG directing advocacy efforts around affordable, accessible higher education. With a background in campaigns – both electoral and non-profit – Ethan has spent more than 8 years organizing constituents to make their voices heard.

What did you think? Let's hear from you!

Share with us your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of this meeting page! If you have questions for Ethan, feel free to ask in the comments!

Upcoming Program Schedule

All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.

Upcoming Weekly Programs:

Week of

Host

Guest Speaker

Topic

Week of 12/18/2017

Andrew Taw

Ariel McGlothin

Experiences with Tiny House Living

Week of 12/25/2017

Rushton Hurley

Steven McGriff

Uncovering Creative Confidence in Education

Week of 1/1/2018

TBA

Upcoming Recordings:

If you would like to join us for any of the live recordings, you are welcome to join us. Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always https://zoom.us/j/5104080000. Please note the timezone for all recordings are listed for San Francisco, California, USA time (Pacific Time).

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!