Vol. 101 No. 11
Brian Street, President
Joan Posivy, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday September 18, 2018 Lori Mathison LLB, FCPA, FCGA, President & CEO
Chartered Professional Accountant of British Columbia The State of the BC Economy and Looking Ahead
Lori will outline some of the key economic statistics from the past year, as well as projected trends for the coming year. She will also discuss survey findings related to economic confidence, economic growth and challenges facing businesses in BC. Some key initiatives being taken by the CPA profession to address the changing environment, including digital transformation, will also be shared.
Lori Mathison, FCPA, FCGA, LLB, is President and CEO of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia. She also serves as Chair of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and Chair of the CPA Western School of Business. Previously, Lori was the managing Partner of the Vancouver office of Dentons Canada LLP, where she was a Partner in Dentons’ Tax Law Group. She has been recognized by her peers as one of Canada’s leading lawyers in the area of Tax Law by the Best Lawyers in Canada publication, and has served as a Governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation. Lori also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the UBC Centre for Business Law and on the Faculty Advisory Board for the Sauder School of Business at UBC.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday September 25, 2018 Aaron Chapman, Vancouver Historian Commodore Ballroom Historic Review
Aaron Chapman is a writer, historian, and musician with a special interest in Vancouver’s entertainment history. Born and raised in Vancouver, he has been a contributor to the Vancouver Courier, the Georgia Straight, and CBC Radio. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, he is also a member of Heritage Vancouver and the Point Roberts Historical Society.
He was one of the founding members of the Vancouver celtic punk band Real McKenzies and since 2001 has been a member of The Town Pants. Aaron is the author of the 2014 title Live at the Commodore about the legendary ballroom on Granville, and 2012’s Liquor, Lust and the Law about the Penthouse nightclub, recently released another engaging and informative book about Vancouver’s history. The Last Gang in Town from Arsenal Pulp Press tells the story of a street gang (er, park gang) that most Vancouverites didn’t know existed: The Clark Park gang.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday October 2, 2018 Club Day!
RCoV member admission $125 per person + GST (contact Carolyn)
tables of 10 reserved - general public $1,500; RCoV members $1,250
Highlights:
food from one of the top caterers in Vancouver, with a varied menu that will appeal to all & satiate the hardiest appetites
a fabulous live auction, already including a Sushi training session for a group, value $1,200; and a Polar Express train experience for a group, value $1,800
legendary Studio 54 & Sirius Radio host, Robbie Leslie, performing as DJ to get everyone up and dancing
MC, Kevin Evans, former news anchor CBC Evening News, 1989–1996 and North Vancouver Rotarian
venue - not normally available for public events, the Seaforth Armoury
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of September 15, 2018 (by Sept 22, 2018), Yun Zhao (Alvin), will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a Member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that Yun Zhao (Alvin) will hold is to be determined.
President Brian Street chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Don Evans accompanied us on the piano for the singing of O Canada.
Joe Lopushinsky, Sergeant-at-Arms, introduced visitors and guests.
President's announcements:
Red Carpet Ball update:
Spreading the word for the Red Carpet Ball, I [Brian] visited the Creative Morning on Friday grou, a creative community engagement initiative of the BC chapter of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) hosted by our own Mark Busse. There were about 150 in attendance who now know about our great upcoming fundraiser.
A major local developer has expressed an interest in being involved as a sponsor - stay tuned for more on this
The date, October 27th, the Saturday before Halloween, is the 2nd largest night out of the year after New Years. However, to make this event a success we really do need YOUR support and involvement. Even if you don't want to attend yourself, please spread the word to others in your circle or with whom you associate with. They may want to come out and enjoy a grand night with us!
If everyone dedicated 1 hour per week to this event, the accumulated results would be awesome.
Jill Pennefather will be donating to the auction two Canucks tickets (against Panthers) and is working on getting a behind the scenes tour to go along with it.
Rotary on Ice 2018 - there are tickets available for the event at the Langley Events Centre. It seems everyone received an email via ClubRunner for the event. If anyone would like to organize a Club group to attend, please step up and let Brian know.
If anyone from our Club attended the RLI on September 8th, please let Brian know.
Anyone living near Kits Beach may be interested in participating iwth the Rotary Club of Arbutus' annual contribution to the community as they clean up Kits Beach on September 15th, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Wear your Rotary gear and let the community know Rotary is involved. Contact the Arbutus Club if interested.
Joe Lopushinsky, stepping in for our Secretary provided the Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above); note that the Membership Committee meeting for August has been cancelled
birthdays:Parisa Adrangi Sep14, Don Evans Sep14
member anniversaries:Ian Storrs 5 years, Carolyn Dueck 13 years, Bill Dauphinee 35 years
wedding anniversaries:Richard & Maureen Landahl 50 years Sep16
Special announcements and members' moments:
Terry Gunderson appealed to the membership to get involved with the Red Carpet Ball fundraiser. WHY?
If we think back to when Don Kavanagh was with us and all of the tremendous work he did in supporting our youth; we want to keep up that tradition. We need funding to support the Exchange Program, and the Adventure in Citizenship Program (started in 1951) to name just two.
We can make such a difference to the younger generation (15+ years old); embrace and be the inspiration. Terry (& Brian) attended the Rotary Young Professionals meeting and were extremely impressed with the way they demonstrated their dedication to Rotary. We want to ensure we have the means to continue supporting the youth in our community so that they will not only become the leaders of tomorrow but will also continue the work of Rotary. To do this we need funds and lots of it.
Something to be mindful of: if you compare similar events in Vancouver, the price is anywhere from $300-$500 per person. We are extremely fortunate in that we have an iconic city venue that has been provided to us for free. We are offering tickets for a bargain price of $150 ($125 for members).
Kaz Kadono, Club Treasurer, provided a 2017/18 quick overview of the Clubs finances. CLICK HERE to view his full presentation. Kaz expressed sincere thanks to Bill Dauphinee for his outstanding support throughout the year and especially in sorting out the year end.
Program:
Don Evans introduced speakers, David Hobbs, Vinson Li & Jose Hernandez, from Two Tall Totems Software Inc. and their presentation "Face the Future; Two Tall Totems Bringing Facial Recognition to Every Home and more"
Two Tall Totems (TTT) is based in Vancouver, it is an award winning Digital Innovation Studio with more than 150 clients around the world. It helps clients solve problems using technology. TTT was founded by twins, David & Chris Hobbs and Josephine Wong. They have a very skilled team and consider them all to be family. They are currently working on the progressive development of facial recognition software, currently used in their own office at the reception desk - Amanda the AI Smart Receptionist.
North America, compared to other global markets such as Japan, is in the early stages of adopting facial recognition software into mainstream. TTT has in-house facial recognition experts who are developing state of the art software, proven better than Apple's (it can differentiate between identical twins, Apple's cannot). Their facial recognition software has a 99.8% accuracy rate which is quite phenomenal.
TTT has partnered with Telus and is working with them on the Telus Smart Home applications. Telus currently has 12.9 million subscribers providing an immediate opportunity. There is a large forecasted growth in the home automation market, but that's not the only application for facial recognition. It can work at controlled building and facility entry, allow membership access, and smart pay at retail locations to name just a few.
TTT's roadmap for the next couple of years include further development of the facial recognition software, securing funding to help get it "market ready", then next year exploring more application for the software and launching the product, after which seed funding will be sought.
To view a pdf copy of Two Tall Totems's presentation, CLICK HERE
Lori will outline some of the key economic statistics from the past year, as well as projected trends for the coming year. She will also discuss survey findings related to economic confidence, economic growth and challenges facing businesses in BC. Some key initiatives being taken by the CPA profession to address the changing environment, including digital transformation, will also be shared.
