Vol. 101 No. 02
Brian Street, President
Joan Posivy, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday July 17, 2018 John Madden Open Net Pen Salmon Farms in BC - Are they a problem?
John Madden studied physics at the University of British Columbia, and completed a D. Phil., also in physics, at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. For Rotary Club purposes, John became involved in Tony Allard’s Wild Salmon Forever organization in the unofficial role of chief scribe four years ago.
Wild Salmon Forever is attempting to apply some new, lower profile strategies to assist our governments in paying appropriate attention to the recommendations of the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into Fraser River Sockeye insofar as the recommendations pertain to all wild BC salmon, with special focus on the role open net pen salmon farms appear to play in the spread of sea lice and viruses to wild salmon. As most of us are well aware, our salmon face many hazards, real and potential, including overfishing, low water in our rivers and streams, high water temperatures, algal blooms, pollution and predation (particularly while young). Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control. However salmon farmers appear to have options for raising salmon other than in open net pens, and it appears to us (amongst many others) that the net pens can and sometimes do have a substantial negative influence on wild salmon survival.
Come out to listen to John, bring your questions, get informed.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday July 24, 2018 Dr. Johnathan Berkowitz, UBC Sauder School of Business Word Games & Cerebral Challenges
Jonathan is recognized as an outstanding teacher, having won the Killam Teaching Prize for undergraduate teaching and CGA Graduate Master Teacher Award for MBA teaching. In addition, he teaches short courses and workshops for public and private sector groups. His passion for teaching also extends to younger audiences, regularly performing shows on math magic, word games, and puzzles, in school classrooms.
In his consulting life, Jonathan has been involved in a wide range of collaborative and interdisciplinary research and consulting in health care and medical research, social science, engineering, and biotechnology, among many others. His clients enthusiastically describe him as a “user-friendly” statistician! He has contributed to numerous successful research grant applications, and has co-written many peer-reviewed journal articles, and other publications.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday July 31, 2018 Club Day! Details tba
Welcome to the new DG of District 5040, Darcy Long. We were happy to have her perform the installation of our 2018-19 Board. She and her husband, Doug, will be off visiting Clubs around the District. We look forward to welcoming her again soon.
Excerpt from Darcy's Diary:
Thank you for this opportunity to serve as your District Governor. The DnD Team is truly humbled and we will do our best to Be The Inspiration!
In 2018-2019 let’s all live the Rotary Vision statement:
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – change across the globe, in our communities, and in our selves.
Joan Posivy here, your new club Secretary. This isn't the way I intended the Rotary year to begin, but I discovered I had the opportunity to embark on a Camino in Spain. The route I've chosen is known as the Camino Norte and it is a 837 km "walk" that follows mostly the north coast of Spain. It's a journey taken by pilgrims and seekers for a thousand years. John Hayto's wife Cindy completed her Camino last month. It was so very inspiring to see a photo of her exhilaration at the end point at the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Western Spain.
I am so very thankful to the following Rotarians who have agreed to step in to the Secretary role in my 9-meeting absence:
Franco - July 10, 17, 24
Milton - July 31, Aug 7, 14
Katherine - Aug 21, 28, and Sept 4 or 11.
In addition, Franco has agreed to attend the July and August board meetings where he will wear the dual hats of both Secretary and Director. I will be mostly "offline" until early September. I'm hoping to hear some great jokes along the way that I can bring back to the club in the fall!
The presentation of the ultrasound that we helped purchase for the hospital Hugo Meisner in Argentina was presented Thursday 12th at 8:30am PST. They broadcast it live through Facebook (you can access it CLICK HERE).
Thank you again for supporting a project that will help thousands of mothers and babies in the years to come.
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:
The Bike-a-thon was a rounding success once again. Congratulations to all those who organized, volunteered, rode & raised funds. Jack Zaleski & Blair Trenholme provided a brief overview.
The event has brought in approximately $149,600 to date with pledges still coming in. There were 147 riders registered: 127 of whom actually rode, 8 raised funds, and 12 were no-shows.
The Team Trophy, awarded to the team who raised the most funds was awarded to Barbara Welsh's team, Chain Reaction, who raised in excess of $28,000. Other teams of note are: Brian Westerberg's team > $19,000; and the Ain't No Mountain High Enough team > $8,000.
The Don Waters Special Achievement Award given to the individual who raised the most funds. This year, the winner is Don Water in Memoriam, who single-handedly raised $15,100 - amazing. As of the deadline, in a close 2nd, was Barbara Welsh, who raised $14,812. Prior to the meeting, on July 10th, this amount had been raised to $16,312. Barbara is definitely the person to beat for this award.
Of special mention is: Bill Schulz >$10,000, Brian Westerberg >$8,000, and Franz Gehriger >$6,700.
A sincere thank you to all of the more than 65 volunteers who kept things running smoothly along the way.
We, Jack & Blair, are really pleased to announce that Pierre Adjoury will be taking on the role of Chair of the Bike-a-thon Committee moving forward.
Phil Webber provided info about the award for the fastest individual riding time:
a member of the Mountain High team came in 1st
Chris Motion 2nd
Pierre Adjoury 3rd
Franz Gehriger 4th
The RC of Vancouver is obviously a very fit crew. Note to all others who may not be quite as competitive, it is possible to ride in this event and complete a portion of the distance. The objective is to cross the finish line - and raise funds, so adjust according to your own comfort level and plan on participating next year.
SAVE THE DATE: July 14, 2019
Franco Gallo, filling in for Joan Posivy, provided the secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above);
birthdays:Pierre Adjoury Jul12, John Hayto Jul13, Joan Posivy Jul15
member anniversaries:none this week
wedding anniversaries: Pierre Adjoury & Maria Strazzullo 4 years Jul12 (nice birthday present!)
Special announcements; presentations, and members' moments:
Adriana Zylmans, aka Lady Gaga (had to be there to understand), treated us to an entertaining new member presentation. Adriana joined the Club nearly a year ago and has been an active member with her main interest being youth, she was instrumental in starting the Interactor Club at the inner-city secondary school.
Program:
Pierre Adjoury introduced speaker Robert Spector and his presentation, "The Nordstrom Way to a Values-Driven Culture"
Robert provided a very brief history of the beginnings of Nordstrom letting us know of the Canadian connection - In 1897, John Nordstrom joined the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon territory. After two years of prospecting, he finally struck gold, but sold his disputed claim for $13,000 to his brother-in-law. Returning to Seattle with his newfound wealth, he married Hilda Carlson and looked for a business venture, finally settling on a shoe store that opened in 1901, called Wallin & Nordstrom. Carl F. Wallin, the co-founder of the store, was the owner of the adjacent shoe repair shop.
The Nordstrom stores have thrived and, indeed, survived because of its values. As Ghandi said, "Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny." Nordstrom's mission is to provide outstanding service every day, one customer at a time.
From the company perspective, values shared => employee experience; employee experience => customer experience. Nordstrom doesn't train its employees on its values, rather potential employees must come with like values to be considered.
In a nutshell, 5 of the main non-negotiable Nordstrom values are:
Trust
It is easy to break, extremely hard to earn back. Customer relationships are built on trust. There is a story that is a fabulous example of how trust is built, CLICK HERE to watch a short video of the story that has been shown to over 75,000 Nordstrom employees.
Loyalty
The empowerment that the employees are given leads to them taking the initiative for good decisions leading to a fabulous customer experience, that ultimately leads to loyal customers.
Respect
Every person is important and contribute, either directly or indirectly, to the success of the company. Respect for all customers and colleagues is key.
Humility
The business started as a shoe store, and remained so for over 30 years. It was work on their hands and knees, quite literally. This is kept in mind -- remain humble.
Giving back
A fine example of this was when Nordstrom expanded into Canada. The initial group hired (in Calgary) was brought to Seattle to learn the Nordstrom way. When the store in Vancouver was due to be opened in 2015, almost all of the 900+ employees were Canadian. Before the doors opened, Nordstrom underwrote a black tie gala that supported local charities.
The company leadership structure is of servant leadership style demonstrated with an inverted pyramid. When one gets promoted, they are proud to say "they are moving down the pyramid". Essentially it is: customers at the top and largest part of the pyramid, then through the sales and support staff in the middle, to the Board at the small bottom. Good to remember who is most important - the customers.
By way of closing off - remember it's simple: be nice! You just don't know the effect you'll have on the person you're dealing with.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to the success of all who participated in the bike-a-thon.
John Madden studied physics at the University of British Columbia, and completed a D. Phil., also in physics, at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. For Rotary Club purposes, John became involved in Tony Allard’s Wild Salmon Forever organization in the unofficial role of chief scribe four years ago.
