Jim's story for the October 12 Bulletin

It was Monday, October 5, 2020, and President Tim Hageman appointed Wise Old Owl (that’s a reference to his Thought for the Day) John Hugunin to lead the pledge and to remind us crises are an opportunity to learn who our true friends are…..Rich Montgomery gave his weekly City report.  There is a homeless pallet shelter in the works at Aviation Park in Redondo Beach, on our border, and we’re looking into it (we have day care centers in the neighborhood).   We may undertake pension obligation bonds to enable us to meet this pension requirement.  Our two ballot deposit boxes in town will be open 24 hours a day October 30 to November 3……Jan Buike thanked Rotarians as one of three groups (also CERT, BCHD) working to keep seniors safe in this pandemic, including meal delivery, a hotline, and Dial-A-Ride.

 

The date of this meeting was also Election Day—we voted by email for our Foundation Board, a system facilitated by David Gendron, who already emailed us the results, to be included in these notes when announced formally next week……Our first virtual new member, Jesse Torres, was inducted, sponsored by our Membership Chair, Dave Long.  Jesse is the former president of the East L.A. Rotary Club.  A techie, he has already volunteered to work with Bob Lanahan on ClubRunner…..Scott Yanofsky invited Rotarians to join him in delivering breakfasts to MBPD, and, if available, to join him afterward for a Strand walk.

 

Nelson Gray announced the birth of his second grandchild, a girl…..Nina Patel’s son’s new job is with Deloitte Consulting—he’s the first of her three sons to become fully independent…..Jason Wallace’s son, an MIT grad, created and now has sold a start-up and is back in the Beach Cities…..Lindy Murrell is off to her New Zealand home to shelter in place.  Three hours behind us, we may not see her for a while…..Don Jung completed his 43^rd consecutive Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair 10K…..Dave Harris’ son and family completed a cross-country RV trip.

 

Jim Schlager introduced Mike Mothner, a Costa grad who went to Dartmouth, where he and friends started the business, Wpromote, in their dorm room—Wpromote is now in El Segundo with 340 employees.  It is the largest independent digital performance marketing firm in the country.  They work in paid media (such as media ads), earned and owned media (such as website experience), and digital intelligence (such as customer data).  Their key is to challenge the status quo, to revolutionize work culture and diversity in the tech industry.  

 

Mike shared his company’s history.  First they connected websites to search engines.  They moved into pay-per-click.  They expanded into all sizes and types of businesses.  They focused on client successes and especially challenger brands.  Over the years they have acquired five other businesses.  They have six agencies located nationwide and have hired 60-70 people since the pandemic began, for a total of over 1000 people across the country working on clients, services, technology, branding and personnel.  Mike updated us on the company’s 2020 strategic priorities.  He favors disrupter brands—challenger brands like Wpromote itself—which are often smaller and more nimble, not limited by their legacies.

 

Mike Mothner is not only an extraordinary entrepreneur, but is also a supporter of Manhattan Beach Rotary, having sponsored Celebrate Manhattan Beach.  And of course he would support us—his working tagline, after all, is “Make Mondays Suck Less.”  Now there’s a tagline we could adopt—it’s certainly part of what we do.