Upcoming Events: San Francisco
Fri 1/11
Lost in the Wash
Date: Fri, January 11, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Lost in the Wash: Communications and Branding in the “Post-Green Age”
William Brent, Executive Vice President, Energy, Cleantech and Sustainability, Weber Shandwick
Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
Dara O’Rourke, Co-founder, Good Guide, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Today, items from hand soap to tomatoes are labeled as “eco-friendly” or “sustainable,” but if everything is green, nothing really is. At a time when addressing global sustainability challenges is a priority for many brands, how do companies engage and motivate consumers who have green fatigue? Join us for a conversation about communications clutter from experts in corporate sustainability and consumer marketing.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. networking reception
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)
Mon 1/14
Will Rogers: Public Trust and Public Land
Date: Mon, January 14, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Public Trust and Public Land
Will Rogers, President and CEO, The Trust for Public Land
Monday Night Philosophy looks at America's increasing need for more and better urban parks. As urban areas become ever more densely populated, and urban populations ever more sedentary, both the health and economic benefits that vibrant park systems provide to local economies have too often been overlooked. Rogers will discuss how local conservation communities have worked together to educate their neighbors and to inspire more leaders to commit public and private resources to enhance our parks.
MLF: Humanities
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: George Hammond
Also know: In association with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
Dr. Nora Volkow: Working To Eliminate Addiction
Date: Mon, January 14, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Nora Volkow: Working to Eliminate Addiction
M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health
Addiction affects 23.2 million Americans. The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse believes that all addictions can be eliminated if the brain’s receptors can be controlled. She will explain her groundbreaking work and the amazing personal story that has allowed her, as the great-granddaughter of famed Russian dissident Leon Trotsky, to achieve her current prominence.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7students (with valid ID)
Tue 1/15
Power Mix
Date: Tue, January 15, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Power Mix
Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group; Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute
Ross Macfarlane, Senior Advisor, Climate Solutions
Bruce Nilles, Senior Director of the Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club
Cheap natural gas is changing the energy mix in the U.S. Energy companies are increasingly making the switch from coal to cheaper, cleaner natural gas to fuel their power plants. This combined with more stringent health regulations has the nation's coal industry looking to surging economies in China and India to lift its fortunes. Tapping those international markets will require getting coal to water via railways and seaports. But new coal ports are meeting heavy political and environmental resistance in the Pacific Northwest. The natural gas industry is looking to the export game too and prices are expected to rise as the international economy absorbs American surplus. Will that allow coal to bounce back? Join us for a conversation about the changing electricity landscape of the U.S. in a global energy economy.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. networking reception
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Also know: The speakers and audience will be videotaped for future broadcast on the Climate One TV show on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast and DirecTV.
Stay Sharp: Mental Acuity and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Date: Tue, January 15, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Stay Sharp: Mental Acuity and Traditional Chinese Medicine
John Nieters, Doctor of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine; President, Academy of Chinese Culture & Health Sciences; Licensed Acupuncturist
One of the major concerns voiced to physicians today is fear of dementia. Worldwide, nearly 36 million people are believed to be living with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. By 2030, it is expected that this number will increase to nearly 66 million. Unfortunately, it is not widely known that the majority of dementia cases are preventable. Traditional Chinese Medicine has much to offer in the area of dementia prevention and brain health. Nieters will discuss the importance of blood stasis in geriatric diseases, particularly regarding brain health and various lesser known, secondary diagnostic markers for mental decline.
MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Sylvie Rivera
Thu 1/17
Why Free Trade Doesn't Work
Date: Thu, January 17, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Why Free Trade Doesn’t Work
Ian Fletcher, Author, Free Trade Doesn’t Work; Senior Economist, Coalition for a Prosperous America
Free trade is one of the sacred cows in American economic policy. But as our $500 billion a year trade deficit continues, people are asking whether it deserves this status. The principles of economics that underlie free trade are controversial, and some of the most recent economic models question its soundness as policy. Fletcher will look at what economic history really says about free trade, and what some rational alternatives might be.
MLFs: Business & Leadership/International Relations
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students
Program Organizer: Norma Walden
GUN LAWS: California and The Nation - What Should Be Done?
Date: Thu, January 17, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Gun Laws: California and the Nation – What Should Be Done?
Nancy Skinner, Member, California State Assembly
Benjamin Van Houten, Managing Attorney, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Sgt. Kelly Dunn, SFPD Special Victims and Psychiatric Liaison Units
John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator
Additional panelists TBA
Come hear a wide range of views and expert voices tackle one of the most polarizing issues vexing our nation. A spate of recent high-profile massacres, including the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, has sparked a vigorous national conversation about designing new laws - at the state and federal level - that protect all citizens, including the rights of responsible gun owners. More than 30,000 people die in American annually from gun violence, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our panel will discuss the national issues and California’s role in the dialogue regarding proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, to pass stricter laws to buy and license guns and ammunition, to require gun vendors to do background checks on potential owners, and report sales so law enforcement can track guns and their owners.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in; 6 p.m. program
Price: $20 standard, $12 members, free for students (with valid ID)
Also Know: Photo by Flickr user ElCapitanBSC
Tue 1/22
National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism
Date: Tue, January 22, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism
Melvin Goodman, Author, National Insecurity; former Soviet Analyst at the CIA and U.S. State Department
Post-election, everyone is focusing on how to create a robust economy. Twenty-four-year CIA veteran Goodman argues that American military spending makes us poorer and less secure while undermining our global political standing. Drawing on his first-hand experience with war planners and intelligence strategists, Goodman offers an insider's critique of the U.S. military economy from President Eisenhower's farewell warning to President Obama's military expansion. He outlines a vision for how to alter our military policy, practices and spending to better position the U.S. globally and enhance prosperity and security at home.
MLF: International Relations
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Sy Yuan
Also know: in association with City Lights Publishers
John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism
Date: Tue, January 22, 2013Time: 6:30 PM
John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism
John Mackey, CEO, Co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Co-author, Conscious Capitalism
Iconic CEO and co-founder Mackey is known for his all-natural approach to a mega chain of grocery stores, Whole Foods. The success of his stores is, in part, credited with a boom in the healthy food movement whereby terms like organic, local, wild and hormone free are becoming rote for more than just the Birkenstock crowd. He’s also taken the formula for conscious capitalism and corporate social responsibility to a whole new level, and other businesses are following suit. In his new book, Conscious Capitalism, co-authored with Professor Raj Sisodia, Mackey discusses the transformative business movement wherein value rests on something more than just finances. For Mackey, it’s about the emotional, ecological and even spiritual purposes of business. The market for competitive advantage is changing, and the world’s best companies are catching on to the holistic equation. Find out more about the Whole Foods story from the man himself.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. reception and book signing
Cost: Regular: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students. Premium (book, reserved seating and premium reception. Limited to 65 guests): $50 standard, $35 members
Wed 1/23
Follow the Open Doors: How Boomers are Creating Second Careers through Franchising
Date: Wed, January 23, 2013Time: 5:15 PM
Follow the Open Doors: How Boomers Are Creating Second Careers through Franchising
Gordon Dupries, President, FranNet of San Francisco
Dupries shares stories of boomers who have achieved second careers, security and success through franchising. He will address what is uniquely important to the boomer generation, what kind of person is right for self-employment, why franchising works for boomers, and what opportunities are most exciting now. He will discuss second incomes, semi-absentee ownership, sources for free business counseling, financing options and access to free online assessment.
MLF: Grownups
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 4:45 p.m. networking, 5:15 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: John Milford
Also know: In association with San Francisco Village
Humanities West Book Discussion: A Pepys Anthology
Date: Wed, January 23, 2013Time: 5:30 PM
Humanities West Book Discussion: A Pepys Anthology
Join us to discuss the writings of Samuel Pepys, a Restoration-era London civil servant who worked to improve the Royal Navy and eventually became a member of Parliament. The diary he kept as a young man in the 1660s, published in 1825, has made him posthumously famous. Pepys’s diary gives vivid insight into his life and times and includes a first-hand account of the Great Fire of London. The discussion, led by Lynn Harris, will use the edition edited by Robert and Linnet Latham.
MLF: Humanities
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. program
Cost: $5 standard, MEMBERS FREE
Program Organizer: George Hammond
Thu 1/24
Infectious Cures: Hijacking Viruses to Overcome Disease
Date: Thu, January 24, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Infectious Cures: Hijacking Viruses to Overcome Disease
Leor Weinberger, Ph.D.; Associate Investigator, Gladstone Institutes
Shannon Bennett, Ph.D.; Associate Curator of Microbiology, California Academy of Sciences (host)
Everywhere, viruses such as HIV compete with their hosts in an evolutionary arms race – building resistance to the latest therapies in order to maintain their deadly hold on our species. What if we could turn HIV on its head by hijacking the very virus that ravages the body, and transforming it into a cure?
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program
Cost: $15 standard, $5 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Also know: Part of the inaugural science festival, Brilliant!Science: Decoding Human Health, brought to you by the California Academy of Sciences and the Gladstone Institutes
Recent Acquisitions: Bay Area Museums Collect
Date: Thu, January 24, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Recent Acquisitions: Bay Area Museums Collect
Alexis Coe, Museums Blogger, SF Weekly
Susan Goldstein, City Archivist of San Francisco
Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford
Julie M. Muñiz, Associate Curator of Crafts and Decorative Arts, Oakland Museum of California
Forrest McGill, Ph.D.; Chief Curator and Wattis Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, Asian Art Museum
Join Coe for an exciting discussion about the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre and occasionally downright vexing items that make up a museum’s special collections. She will be joined by a panel of curators from the Asian Art Museum, Stanford’s Cantor Center for the Arts, the Oakland Museum of California and the San Francisco History Center.
MLF: The Arts
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Anne W. Smith
Fat Chance: beating the odds against sugar, processed food, obesity, and disease
Date: Thu, January 24, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Disease
Robert H. Lustig, M.D.; Professor of Pediatrics, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital; Author, Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease; Former Chairman, Ad hoc Obesity Task Force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society
Lustig says two dogmas stand between us and solving the obesity epidemic: “A calorie is a calorie,” and “You are what you eat.” If you believe these, then behaviors come first, behaviors infer personal responsibility and personal responsibility implies a conscious decision. But does this really make sense in obesity? Lustig finds many reasons to doubt these dogmas, starting with the idea that obesity is not a choice, diet and exercise don’t work, and the obesity epidemic is now a pandemic. Lustig will explore each of these points in order to debunk our most viscerally held beliefs, so that people can embrace the science of obesity, which will extricate us from this current social and medical catastrophe.
MLF: Health & Medicine
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Patty James
Fri 1/25
Christina Romer and Keith Hennessey: Bank of America/ Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast
Date: Fri, January 25, 2013Time: 11:45 AM
Christina Romer and Keith Hennessey: Bank of America/ Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast
Note new location!
Keith Hennessey, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution; Director, National Economic Council Under President George W. Bush; Member, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Christina Romer, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley; Immediate past Chair, President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers
In conversation with Anna Mok, Vice Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP
As we come off an election year and face a series of new and ongoing challenges, don’t miss this lively discussion with two former top presidential economic advisors on where the U.S. and global economies are headed in 2013 and what should be done to put them – and keep them – on track.
Registration required by noon on January 23, 2013. MEMBERS-ONLY +1 paying guest
Location: Julia Morgan Ballroom, 465 California St.
Time: 11:45 a.m. luncheon, 12:30 p.m. program
Cost: Regular: $90 standard, $65 members.Table pricing: Before Dec. 31, 2012: $800 members; $1,100 standard; $2,500 patrons. After Dec. 31, 2012: $960 members; $1,320 standard; $3,000 patrons. To purchase tables, please contact Mary Beth Cerjan in the Club’s Development department at (415) 869-5919.
Also know: Underwritten by Bank of America
Clean Clothes
Date: Fri, January 25, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Clean Clothes
Casey Sheahan, CEO, Patagonia
Chip Bergh, CEO, Levi’s
From organic cotton to recycled zippers, clothing brands are trying to establish their green credentials with consumers who care about the health of their bodies and the planet. What lies ahead for product labeling and making the $200 billion U.S. clothing industry more sustainable? Are efforts encouraging consumers to wash their clothes less a smart move or a retailer dodge? Do U.S. brands really monitor their factories in China? Join a conversation with leaders in the effort to run companies that make durable and responsible products.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. networking reception
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students
Mon 1/28
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Date: Mon, January 28, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Sonia Sotomayor
Regular seating tickets sold out. Premium tickets still available.
Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court; Author, My Beloved World
in conversation with M. Elizabeth Magill, Dean and Richard E. Lang Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with candor and intimacy, she recounts the arc of her life from a Bronx housing project to an appointment on the nation's highest court.
Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton in 1976 and from Yale Law School in 1979. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York and then at the law firm of Pavia & Harcourt. From 1992 to 1998, she served as a judge of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and from 1998 to 2009 on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In May 2009, President Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; she assumed this role in August 2009.
Location: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave.
Time: 11 a.m. box office opens, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing
Cost: Premium (includes seating in front and copy of the book): $70 standard, $50 members. Please register through City Box Office at this link or by calling (415) 392-4400.
Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation as part of the Good Lit Series.
Middle East Discussion Group
Date: Mon, January 28, 2013Time: 5:30 PM
Join fellow Club members in discussing current events in the Middle East.
Middle East Discussion Group
Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently suggested by recent headlines. After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. There will also be a brief planning session.
MLF: Middle East
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. program
Cost: FREE
Program Organizer: Celia Menczel
Tue 1/29
Winning Retirement Strategies: How to Pay for Everyone Now Living Longer
Date: Tue, January 29, 2013Time: 5:15 PM
Winning Retirement Strategies: How to Pay for Everyone Now Living Longer
David Kitaen, CLTC
Mike Welch, CRPC
Conventional wisdom holds that people should begin collecting Social Security retirement benefits as soon as possible, which is age 62. But the “silver tsunami” is here, and 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day and are expected to live longer than any previous generation. Welch will advise those approaching retirement age about strategies for when to begin collecting Social Security benefits to have a significant positive impact. Kitaen will address new long-term care legislation and the long-term care insurance evolution and explain how these developments can help pay the care costs for this longer-living cohort of senior citizens.
MLF: Grownups
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students
Program Organizer: John Milford
Also know: In association with San Francisco Village
Generation Green
Date: Tue, January 29, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Generation Green
Carleen Cullen, Founder and Executive Director, Cool the Earth
Rosemary Davies, Graduate, Berkeley High School’s Green Academy
Mike Haas, Founder, Alliance for Climate Education
Musical introduction and closing by Aisha Fukushima
Can the next generation save us all? The Alliance for Climate Education has trained nearly 1.5 million high school students around the country on how to reduce their own carbon footprint and engage others to do the same. Cool the Earth has worked with 446 schools in 22 states getting youth to take specific actions at home that reduce their carbon impact in a measurable way. Davies was one of 40 high school youths from around the world who traveled to the Arctic in 2012 for a transformative experience learning about climate and culture. Come join a conversation about how youth can build a better future, starting now.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. networking reception
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students
Also know: Photo by Lee Narraway