REAL
President Jenny Andrews called the meeting to order.
Bob Crosby gave the invocation and led members in the Pledge. Ryan Scharnhorst introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.
New Members Inducted: Turner & Addison
Christine Addison and Colleen Turner were inducted as the BBRC's newest members on Friday.
Colleen Turner lives in Maple Valley with her husband Steve and commutes to Bellevue. She is the president of Cruise Holidays of Bellevue, and cruises are her business! She has served on the Renton Airport Advisory Committee and has been involved in the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. She also belongs to the Washington Pilot Association. Her hobbies include flying, skiing, and traveling, and she has a private pilot certificate with instrument rating. She has even lived in Rio de Janeiro. Colleen's classification is Cruise Diva.
Christine Addison is a security consultant at Sonitrol Pacific in Bellevue. Sonitrol Pacific protects their clients’ property and personnel with commercial building security systems and services, including verified intrusion alarms, keyless access control, video surveillance and fire monitoring. Chris lives in Bellevue with her husband Tom and two their daughters, Rachel and Megan. She has been involved in Girl Scouts since 1996 and is very active in the PTSA. Chris' talents include being a “volunteer barista,” and her classification is Security Consultant.
Welcome to the BBRC, Colleen and Christine!
Kim Shrader gave members a short quiz about the Rotary Foundation and how the support of members helps in various activities around the world. For example:
It costs 50¢ for a Polio vaccine for one child . It costs $100 for tuition and books for one year of school for two children in Kenya. It costs $250 to help provide a watch repair business for three disabled workers in the Philippines. It costs $500 for a 10-month food supply for a child in Guatemala. It costs $1,000 to provide drinking water for more than 300 people in India.
Student of the Month: Nadya Ali
Bob Holert introduced the student of the month, Nadya Ali, a senior at Sammamish High School. Nadya maintains a 3.578 GPA and is taking advanced piano, AP statistics, AP American Government, AP Senior English, AP Psychology, AP Biology and French. She is a lifetime member of the National Society of High School Scholars and received the student of the month designation for academic excellence and perfect attendance in the 9th grade. She also received student of the month designations in her junior and senior years.
Nadya was co-captain of the school’s hip-hop team, is a member of the school senate and co-president of the Black Student Union, a commissioner of Link Crew, and a members of the Diversity-Multicultural Club.
Nadya has accumulated more than 500 hours of community service hours. She has volunteered in past political campaign (although she could not vote), and spends time at Aegis of Lynnwood and Overlake Terrace.
NAdya's goal is to attend the University of Washington and get a bachelor’s degree in biology and then pursue a career in cardiac surgery, attending either Harvard or Johns Hopkins. Her dream is to work in Massachusetts General Hospital.
Classification Talk: Pam Fehrman
Pam Fehrman, one of the Bellevue city officials who helped the BBRC complete the Spray Play Park at Crossroads, gave her classification talk on Friday. She is a UW grad who later went back to school and got a landscape architect degree. She loves to travel, ski and be outdoors.
Proof of Rotarian of the Month Selection
Last Friday, November 14, Wendi Fischer was selected Rotarian of the Month, and President Jenny Andrews made a nice speech and asked Wendi to come forward. But, we all know that talk is cheap, and there was no plaque presented.
This Friday, Jenny made good on her award and presented Wendi with her “Student of the Month ... I mean Rotarian of the Month” plaque.
Chris Monger encouraged members to get to know our Chilean exchange student Cristóbal Baladrón and show him around the area. Cristóbal has a good command of English and is a pleasure to be around.
There will be no BBRC meeting on Friday, November 28, because it is the day after Thanksgiving.
Rotarians who have taken tags from the giving tree should bring the gifts to the meeting on December 5.
Online sign-up forms are now available for both the Annual Holiday Breakfast on December 19 and the Skating & Shopping Extravaganza on December 20. Be sure to get yourselves and your families signed up before the deadline dates!
Tamara Dean is a realtor with Windermere Real Estate East. She has been in the real estate business since 1998 and now specializes in residential condo sales. Tamara lives in Kirkland with her husband, Benny and four children. She has been involved in CASA, and one of her hobbies is flying helicopters. She is soon getting her pilot’s license.
Tamara is sponsored by Chris Rasmussen, and her proposed classification is Residential Condo Sales.
President Jenny Andrews
Rotarians have until November 30th (a little more than three weeks from now) to register for the District Conference at a discounted rate of $275. The price increases to $300 on December 1, 2008. A conference flyer and registration form are available for download (PDF). After November 30th, you will need to use a different form so save yourself the trouble and register today!
The District Conference is one of the most enjoyable and informational activities in Rotary, and I strongly encourage you to join me and many of your other BBRC friends in Victoria!
Rotarians must register for conference hotels through the District Conference website in order to get a room and a Rotary conference rate. If you contact the hotels directly, you will be told there are no rooms available, so please register at the District Conference website.
"Promoting Learning & Discovery in Entrepreneurship," Connie Bourassa-Shaw
John Martinka introduced the day’s speaker, Connie Bourassa-Shaw, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Foster Business School at the University of Washington.
The Seattle/Bellevue area is considered a good place to live, from an entrepreneurship standpoint, Bourassa-Shaw said. The area is either #1 or #2 on lists of America’s smartest cities; #3 in the Best States for Business, according to Fortune magazine; #1 in the nation in new start-ups, according to the Small Business Administration; #1 in start-up failures (not a surprise, Bourassa-Shaw said); and in the top 10 states in the country in patent applications.
It is also #4 in access to capital and #6 in technology and innovation.
Two of the research powerhouses in the state are the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, in the Tri-Cities area.
T
he area is known nationally for its research strengths in medicine, chemistry, ocean and fishery sciences, public health, engineering, health science, Bourassa-Shaw said.
Other strong indicators for the state are that Newsweek ranks the UW among the world’s top 25 universities and US News & World Report ranked the UW the 11th best public university in 2008.
This area also benefits from a strong base of capital, including Angel groups — Alliance of Angels, Keiretsu Forum, ZINO Society, Puget Sound Venture Club, Seraph, Energy Angels. At last count, there were more than 35 venture capital firms in the area.
Bourassa-Shaw also noted that there is a talented pool of workers and professionals in the area, a strong media to report on new innovations, a good business climate in that it’s easy to incorporate (although the B&O taxes are rough), and a number of “Anchor tenants,” including Nordstrom, Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, Amazon, Starbucks, and REI.
One concern, she added, is the absence of biotech.
The CIE’s Mission, Bourassa-Shaw said, is to integrate entrepreneurship into the fabric of the University of Washington —promote learning and discovery in entrepreneurship and innovation. The center sponsors EntrepreneurWeek at the UW, Business Plan Competition, Science and Technology and an Entrepreneurial Law Clinic.
Bourassa-Shaw said the Business Plan Competition is a particularly interesting activity. In the past 11 years, 2,010 students have participated in the BPC, and 71 teams have received seed funding of $757,000. More than 26 percent of competitors have started their companies.
A number of those companies still exist today, she said.
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney
My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, "What"s on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started.
• • • • •
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."
I bought her a scale.
And then the fight started.
• • • • •
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive ... so, I took her to a gas station.
And then the fight started.
• • •
A husband and wife are on the 9th green when suddenly she collapses from a heart attack. "Help me dear," she groans to her husband.
He quickly calls 911 on his cell phone and, after a brief conversation, picks up his putter and lines up his stroke.
His wife picks up her head off the green and stares at him. "I'm dying over here and you're putting?"
"Don't worry dear," says the husband calmly, "They found a doctor on the second hole and he's coming to help you."
"Well, how long will it take to get here?" she asks him feebly.
"No time at all," says her husband, "Everybody has agreed to let him play through!