It was so nice to see so many in red, white, and blue today as a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3000 people killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001. To pay tribute, President Les asked for a moment of silence. Jim Hartman delivered another wonderful invocation. Kjell Helberg led us in the flag salute, while new member, Chris Leach directed us in song! Mel Shrier introduced our visiting Rotarians and guests. Visiting from the South Bay Sunrise Club in Torrance were Karen Greenberg and David Henseler. David is the chair of the 2016 South Bay Beer & Wine Festival ! Our club is a beneficiary of the proceeds of this event, so get involved or make sure you attend, May 15, 2016! Derald Sidler introduced a very special guest, Kelly Curtis, soon to be new member into our Rotary family. Suzy Zimmerman and Julia Parton had two guests, Bryan Friorito and John Eberhard from Exclusive Estate Administration. Shawn Nejad followed the introductions of guests with our world famous Welcome Song – accompanied by John Schuricht on piano.
President Les had the honor of highlighting Paul Harris recognitions to some of our members. Greg Sparkman and Peter McCormack were each recognized with a Paul Harris plus one pin; David Rowe and Chris Stillians were each recognized with a Paul Harris plus two pin. Announcements included: Palos Verdes Chamber’s Citizen of the Year Dinner, October 23. President Les would like the club to support with a table. If you are interested in attending, please see President Les. Julia and Suzy acknowledged some very special members today – highlighting some special celebrations. Birthdays: Keith Diesenroth, Sept 5; Joey Komada – September 8; and Christine Barnicki – September 24! Rotary Anniversaries Kjell Hellberg 40 YEARS!!; Nikki Nikakhtar, 5 years; Steve Day, 8 years; Phyllis Pelezzare, 9 years; Les Fishman, 18 years! Congratulations to all! Raffle winners today were Virginia Butler, Marc Mazorow, and Suzy Zimmerman - congrats!
Our speaker today was Margaret Brown, owner of SocializeLA.com. Margaret shared the many secrets of getting noticed with a Social Business Plan. Margaret began her company in 2008 looking to help companies with all aspects of marketing: social media, traditional marketing including print media. Margaret believes that social media should enhance your current marketing plan. In today’s market, companies should use social media to connect with target markets. Businesses should pick their social media platform carefully and according to what demographic they want to reach (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). Social media allows you to communicate, and share knowledge and expertise with your customers by exchanging information. Social media is to be interactive, and is also a great tool for brand awareness. When using any type of social media, make certain you are sending customers to a “home base” – your website, a specific link to purchase, etc. Social media presence can offer visibility, creditability, and likability – all important to attracting new business – and a great way of getting noticed!
Club Runner is a system used to track events and members. Everyone enjoys recognizing our membership's personal and club milestones. Please email Jonathan Udewitz at jjuesq@yahoo.com if we have missed you. Or, to learn more about how to access or update your own ClubRunner profile.
If you have not already take a moment to meet Lauren Spiglanin, John Eberhard, Stacey Dubowitch please take a moment to introduce yourself. Each of the three has applied for membership. Please submit any comments or questions to Eileen Hupp.
It was another spectacular day for our meeting at the PVGC with the usual cast of characters, and we have a lot of characters in our club! Our reliable Sgts-at-Arms, Marc Masorow and Henry Ott, were at their posts making sure everyone checked in and had the chance to enter the opportunity drawing and support our club foundation. There was a good turn-out and lots of fellowship along with humble and sweet piano music played in the background by our very own famous pianist and member Juliet DeMoss, before Mr. Virginia Butler rang the bell at 12:15 sharp to get things started with a moving invocation by our demoted former president Jim Hartman. He was followed by our very own Loyalist and possible Tory Keith Deisenroth leading the pledge of allegiance. The commencement ended with a patriotic song led by Kjell Hellberg and Greg Sparkman and it was time to lunch.
Picking up with a single ring of the bell, Derald (keep those jokes coming) Sidler was invited to introduce our guests, including visiting Rotarian Julie Pato (I did not get the full spelling, sorry) along with Stacey Dubowitch a guest of Julia Parton, Kelly Curtis a prospective member and guest of Derald Sidler, and our speaker Mike Lansing. Paul Rubincam jumped at the opportunity to lead the welcome song after which acting President Mr. Les Fishmanz failed three times to call the group to order. Finally the crowd gave way and Les presented official district citations of recognition from Governor DJ Sun to Hang-Up Moon for his contributions to Rotary and Julia Parton with Suzy Zimmermann for their active role in a district wide membership surge. Apropos to the gratitude theme, Les read into the record notes from two of our many scholarship recipients, Naomi Placentia and Calvin Hubbard, because our assistance made attending college possible for each of them.
Julia took control of the podium to register people for our tables at the foundation dinner in November, please sign up early. It is at the Loew’s Hotel in Santa Monica. How fun! Suzy joined the coup to celebrated all our members' milestones posted on our ClubRunner site and a few that are not.
Our speaker was Mike Lansing who has orchestrated miracles as director of the Boys and Girls Club of San Pedro and LA Harbor, an organization that our club has long supported. Our continued support has enabled them to grow exponentially over the last 20 years, now serving over 9,000 children. His organization's most successful development has been its College Bound Program that sets up underprivileged youth to major universities, post-graduate work, and successful jobs. He shared the story of Justin Johnson who has worked toward an MBA at a University in Wisconsin and interned at Johnson and Johnson (though there is no relation yet). He concluded by sharing the major facilities expansion including a charity-public collaborative athletics space, increased transportation, and new arts and vocational programming. His speech reminded us all why we continue to support the Boys and Girls Club.
