FRIDAY SNAPS

Invocation & Pledge

Norm Johnson began the meeting with the following tribute to a legendary basketball coach. "The onset of the college basketball season will soon be on us, and this calls to mind one of the greatest coaches of all time, John Wooden. John passed away in June after 99 years of service. He is gone, but his quotes of wisdom remain."

Johnson continued, "It was John's belief that material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless." He cited another quotation from Wooden, "You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you," summing up his tribute with the judgment that "John would have been a good Rotarian." Johnson then prayed:

Lord, we ask you for your guidance as we strive to have the perfect day. Allow "Service above Self" to be a guiding beacon in our daily live, not just in matters of Rotary. Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth. Again, our material possessions, our winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in your eyes, for you know who we really are an all that really matters is our service to others. Amen.

The invocation was followed with our time-honored tradition of saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Patriotic hearts beat faster while the few non-citizens in the club observed the ceremony with respect and affection.

Introductions

Brian Evison recognized visits from itinerant Rotarians Frank Young, Bill Prater, and Mark Gardner, all members of nearby clubs who like to occasionally visit this club, now reputed to be "number one among the best Rotarian clubs in the world." (Is that the new formula? Your reporter can't seem to be past a certain memory of being the best club, even if a "darn" one. In any case, it's all in good fun.)

There were an additional three guests besides the visiting Rotarians.

Announcements

Members were reminded that it would be good to give Bill Rambo a call or send him a card.

It was also announced that popular member Wendi Fischer, who is president of America's Foundation for Chess, would be appearing this week on the NBC Today Show. Heads up, Sergeant at Arms! That has to be a fineable offense!

Presidential Goals

After sharing announcements, Club President Chuck Kimbrough donned his leadership mantle to share a few aspirations with the members. President Kimbrough began by informing the club that the District Governor recently asked him several questions. A verbatim rendering of their conversation follows, as reported by Kimbrough:

Kimbrough concluded his conversation with the District Governor by saying, "I hope this gives you a good peek under the BBRC rug, a better feel for our great club, and [a sense] that BBRC is getting ever closer to emulating the motto 'The Best Darn Rotary Club in the World" — a tool or slogan which we use for internal motivation, self-measurement and occasional humor.'" No offense or undue rivalry was intended, the reader may be sure.

The well-appreciated club leader also shared a number of goals with the club. He began by reminding the club that "the Rotary International Themes [for last year and this] are: 2009-10"The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands" and 2010-11 "Building Communities Bridging Continents." He went on to enumerate his 2010-2011 BBRC goals and their corresponding action plans:

1. Develop and insert into BBRC culture and systems the concepts of Teamwork, Collaboration, with a focus on the Continuous Improvement of each and every BBRC activity.

Application/Tactic for implementation:

• Test and implement over time chair and vice chair for each committee and subcommittee. Use a mixture of seasoned experienced members and younger members, each with enthusiasm/passion for that committee, project or event.
• Test concept of using Past Presidents, President, Current Officers and Directors to collaborate with New President to identify potential committee chairs, and vice chairs to select and have placed into positions to develop their leadership skills. Build on what past BBRC administrations did well and work to continually improve on those successes and analyze and work on solutions for what did not turn out as well as anticipated.
• Continue to upgrade BBRC website and implement computer and other systems to simplify administration and communication.

2. Develop and insert in to BBRC culture and systems that encourages training Club Leadership at all levels while doing a single or repetitive project to more complex year or multi-year projects such as fund raising, so BBRC will always have several trained leaders "available" for each Officer, Director, or Committee chair position.

Application/Tactic for implementing:

• Create and implement systems to train/educate all BBRC members to be future leaders while they are engaged in doing club service, whether individual events or major projects. Create and implement a systematic program to "help guarantee trained leadership" at all levels...
• Encourage all Directors and Committee chairs to participate in Rotary Academy, May District Conference and June Training Assembly, and other RI or District training events.
• Margie/Johnstone electronic historical records systems to minimize reinventing the wheel.

3. Encourage development of a BBRC culture and systems where all members think of and regularly express there ideas of how to continuously improve all aspect of BBRC administration, operations including "fund raising." Apply this to all committees, subcommittees, projects or events and continually test what BBRC does against Rotary's 4 way test and BBRC's mission, vision and values to ensure they are aligned.

Application/Tactic for implementation:

• Focus officers and directors on: (1) training/teaching each committee chair how to apply/use BBRC Mission, Vision, Values and Filters and the 4 way test, (2) continuously providing ideas and analysis to improve BBRC's "fund raising" and (3) help focus committee chairs so they complete all items in each category of the RI Presidential Citation, by Jan 15 of each year.

4. Find and match each BBRC member's interest/passion to a specific position, service, activity, project or task.

Application/Tactic for implementation:

• Ask each member either orally or in writing what is each member's interest/passion is.
• Place them in a position to exercise that interest or passion.
• Spread out the "load" thru out the club to avoid "burnout" or overloading of any individual or group, even if it means diplomatically assigning a member to a committee, project, event or task.

5. Develop systems to continually encourage each member to participate in the BBRC tradition of Fun, Humor and Music at every meeting, event and/or project.

Application/Tactic for implementation:

• Involve the Sergeant Arms committee, Media/Audio committee, Singers, Band, and other BBRC talent, and personalities/characters to regularly participate. Do not miss an opportunity to have fun not only at meetings but also while doing service.

Sergeant At Arms Corner

After announcing his goals, the president turned the meeting over to the the Sergeant at Arms, who did not immediately appear. "Is she lost?" he mused aloud? Sergeant Elena Howell called out from the audience, "Wishful thinking, President Chuck. I'm not lost and I have something for you."

Appearing at the lectern she introduced three volunteers holding the numbers 1, 2, and 3. Helpers distributed papers to the club for an exercise. Each volunteer then stated for the record, "My name is Brad Baumann." The assignment was to identify the real Brad and the real names of the other two. The Sergeant at Arms menacingly announced fines for all tables who were not able to identify all three helpers.

"I think we should make sure Elena knows our names," catcalled one member. "Good try," said the unflappable pseudo-military personage, "but I did my homework!" Howell then identified the volunteers as Brian Hardy, the real Brad Baumann, and Kevin O'Brien. "How many got it right?" chirped the irrepressible Russian. Three tables had succeeded. All others paid a $1 fine per unrecognized volunteer.

In another SAA business, our newly reclassified Norm Johnson (Club Espionage) discussed an invitation received by his wife Carolyn to learn about important issues involving wealth, living trusts, and estate planning, sent from no less a personage than the inveterate BBRC member Steve Waltar, Esq. Sadly, there was no "Rotary pin" on the invitation. Furthermore, there was an article in it with no mention of Rotary.

Steve came up and indicated that he was indeed wearing a pin, and that Alan Pratt was on page five of the same newsprint item bearing no Rotarian insignium.

Elena offered to reduce the $25 fine to $10, but because of Waltar's proprietary bookmarks that had been placed on the tables that day, the club objected strenuously. The fine was nevertheless fixed at $10 despite protests from the club, and the honorable officer of the court duly paid it.

Student of the Month: Estafany Figueroa-Alvarez

Brian Hardy introduced Estafany Figueroa-Alvarez, Student of the Month, from Sammamish High School. Alvarez, an impressive honor student, took three Advanced Placement classes last year and four this year. She is involved with community and her church, where she serves as a catequist.

As for her future plans, Estafany declared, "I'm planning to go out of state to Arizona State University or a private college in Southern California."

A warm round of applause was offered by the club.

Auction

Professional auctioneer Tim Leahy, along with Tamara Dean, came to the podium and talked about several donations of wine, spiced rum, and other baskets of potables from the Seattle Wine Company, located at Northup and 130th.

Bidding began at $50 for each item, and club members responded enthusiastically and generously. Items sold at prices ranging from $70 to $175. In addition, a box of 2 cell phones sold for $50 each.

Friday's Program

"The Future of News Media," George Erb, Editor in Chief, Puget Sound Business Journal

George Erb

Bob Holert introduced the scheduled speaker, George Erb, Editor in Chief of the Puget Sound Business Journal. Holert noted that Mr. Erb has been a journalist since 1983 and is a Past President of the Society for Professional Journalists. He went on to add that the distinguished guest holds a bachelors' degree from Hanover College and a Masters degree from the University of Oregon. At that point, someone in the club called out "I didn't know that school had masters degrees!" Past President Jenny Andrews loudly and angrily remonstrated, "I beg your pardon!" A wave of sympathy engulfed the club.

Mr. Erb then thoroughly validated the quality of his fine alma mater by presenting an eloquent and highly relevant talk on the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) and its approach to business journalism today. "This is a momentous time in my industry that is relevant to all of us." Recognizing that there has been "a sea change in the [news] industry, he stated "the PSBJ is changing too. It's inescapable." He then went on to explain "what has changed completely and what hasn't changed at all." In short, he stated that how media outlets deliver their news has changed remarkably, but he asserted that at the PSBJ, "the quality has not changed."

The talented story teller then illustrated the changes in his industry with an anecdote from this personal life. In the Spring of 1982 he was 28 years old, earning $14,000 a year and trying to break into journalism. "The Times Weekly hired me as a sports stringer," he reminisced. He got paid $15 per story, before the advent of computers, cell phones and the internet. His tools, he remembered with apparent fondness, "were a pen, a typewriter, and a car." "There were telephones," he remarked, "but they were not used much. One of my most important tools was a 1974 Chevy Nomad, color Vaguely Avocado." The car had 90,000 miles on it (which he estimated to be the equivalent of a quarter-million miles on today's cars).

"The sports editor assigned me to cover Foster High School girls' basketball team that was playing for the state championship [playoffs]," he continued. He drove to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, "where Foster pounded Okanagan and made it into the finals." "I was driving home on I-5 and composing the story when something caught my eye," he said. His odometer light was blinking. It got brighter and brighter and took on an orange-yellow hue. Then it stated getting hot. The odometer filled with smoke. Small flames started licking at the odometer. "Smoke went pouring out of the passenger compartment," he said, as he got out his fire extinguisher, opened the hood, and found no fire there. "So I ran to the open door, leaned in, and pulled the handle on the fire extinguisher, successfully quenching the flames. His first emotion was relief; his second thought: "I gotta file this story!"

The nearest lights were at a Black Angus restaurant, but the destination was too far for him to walk and be able to file story on time. "So I started the car again and drove to the restaurant with no lights. I wrote the story on bar napkins and called it in to the editor." The next day, he had the car towed to a repair shop.

Having vividly and picaresquely reminded the club members of the technological transformation that has occurred during our adult years, he went on to spell out what has changed. Reporting tools are different. Typewriters and pay phones are no more. Computers, cell phones and the internet and Wi-fi connections have replaced them. "Reporters don't have to come into the office, he said, "and many don't."

Erb went on to describe the current activity of the PSBJ. He noted that the Business Journal is still printed but is also on the web. He talked about TechFlash, a technology news blog sponsored by the paper. It generates a million page views per month, he noted, along with the PSBJ website. Offering an interesting and ironic element, he noted that instead of just chasing the news, "We now follow our readers and report the news to where they are through social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter." He also mentioned that the journal delivers news round-ups by e-mail twice a day to some 18,000 subscribers. "None of these were imaginable in 1982 when my Chevy burned up," he quipped.

"The blog is more conversational, but still newsy," he offered. Referring to other changes, he noted that "we used to not cite other media outlets, but now we link to them freely. We want to be the place where people come to discuss the business news of the day."

Moving on in his entertaining and informative lecture, he said, "On the other hand, some things have not changed one bit." Chief among these factors was his statement, "Journalism values have not changed." He asserted that the PSBJ remains committed to fair reporting, and it is "still committed to helping our readers understand a complex world." Posters at his office ask, "What does it mean?" "We want our reporters to think about that and put it in their stories," he said. Erb went on to say that news values have not changed. "We still ask the same questions about whether to cover a story."

The Puget Sound Business Journal is clearly a national leader in its field. Erb cited a long list of awards which the paper and its reporters have garnered in recent years, including 12 national awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and others from other agencies. The paper has also earned12 first place awards from its corporate parent. Impressively, the PSBJ was recently a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, a distinction no other business journal has achieved.

Further discussing the values of the PSJB, Erb stated that they are committed to building community. One of the ways they approach that goal is through a quarterly speaker series. "Our ownership, The Business Journals, makes it easy for us to maintain our vision and standards," he said. He added that their corporate parent is the largest such group in the country. The affable journalist continued by discussing the local mission of the PSJB, which is committed to (1) be the best provider of information; (2) connect business leaders with each other; (3) provide a strong sense of community; and (4) aim to help make the region stronger.

Concluding his program by finishing his earlier story about the Chevy Nomad, he remembered that a short had caused the fire. "Incredibly," he said, "insurance covered [the damage], but the car was never the same. Fire extinguisher powder is very corrosive and goes everywhere." The effects of the powder spread and, over time, ruined the electronic circuits of the vehicle. He lost the radio eventually, and finally gave the car to a school district for its auto repair class. "When you send the title back to the state," he finished, "you have to write the word 'destroyed' on the title. I did."

The guest remained at the podium for a few final moments and graciously responded to questions from the floor with wit and intelligence.

You can view George Erb's presentation in either PowerPoint or PDF format.

Web Fun

A few of the BBRC members have been zombified. Guess who they are. Click on the zombies below to reveal them in their formers lives.