Upcoming Events: San Francisco
Thu 2/21
Michelle Rhee: Fighting to Put Students First
Date: Thu, February 21, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Michelle Rhee
Founder and CEO, StudentsFirst; Former Chancellor, D.C. Public School System; Author, Radical
Rhee, a fearless pioneering advocate for education reform, delivers her plan for better American schools. Informing her proposal are her years of teaching in inner-city Baltimore; her turbulent tenure as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools; and her current role as CEO of the nonprofit StudentsFirst.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: Regular: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium (seating in the front and a copy of the book): $40 standard, $40 members
Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation. Photo by Phil Kampel.
Fri 2/22
Madeleine K. Albright in San Francisco
Date: Fri, February 22, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Madeleine K. Albright
Former U.S. Secretary of State; Author, Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
When Albright was U.S. secretary of state in the 1990s, she brought to her job as America's top diplomat a deeply felt understanding of the lessons and wounds of history. Come hear Albright share her remarkable personal story of growing up in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. From the historical accounts of World War II to the onset of the Cold War, she reflects on the complex events, experiences, and moral choices faced by that generation. Albright served as secretary of state under President Bill Clinton and was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In 2012, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Location: Grand Ballroom, Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St.
Time: 11:15 a.m. check in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing
Cost: Regular: $25 standard, $15 members, $10 students (with valid ID). Premium (includes seating in first few rows and copy of the book): $65 standard, $45 members
Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation as part of the Good Lit Series. Albright will also be speaking in Palo Alto on 2/22
Mon 2/25
Middle East Discussion Group
Date: Mon, February 25, 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 2/26
Arts Planning Meeting
Date: Tue, February 26, 2013Time: 5:30 PM
Help plan upcoming programs with your fellow Club art lovers
Arts Forum Planning Meeting
Please join other art enthusiasts in discussing future programming at The Commonwealth Club in the fine arts and performing arts. Programs, speakers, topics and artist exhibitions will be covered. Please bring your ideas, and your willingness to help in the production of art events in the coming year.
MLF: The Arts
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. planning meeting
Cost: FREE
Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis
Wed 2/27
Humanities West Book Discussion: The Clockwork Universe
Date: Wed, February 27, 2013Time: 5:30 PM
Humanities West Book Discussion: The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
Join us to discuss The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World, by Edward Dolnick. Learn how the Royal Society joined, and often led, the march toward scientific prowess during Restoration Era London and how Issac Newton, in particular, contributed to a new kind of mathematical understanding of the world. The discussion will be led by Lynn Harris.
MLF: Humanities
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. program
Cost: $5 standard, MEMBERS FREE
Program Organizer: George Hammond
Gavin Newsom: Angry Birds for Democracy
Date: Wed, February 27, 2013Time: 6:30 PM
Gavin Newsom: Angry Birds for Democracy
Lieutenant Governor of California; Author, Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government
Anyone with an iPhone can publish, purchase, invest and entertain with the touch of a button – and now it’s time for government to get in the game. In his new book Citizenville, Newsom looks at how new digital tools can be used to dissolve political gridlock and technology can transform modern government. What would happen if the hours we spend playing Angry Birds could be used to crowd-source infrastructure design or participate in policy decisions? The former mayor of one of the country’s most high-tech and progressive cities, Newsom sees the potential in harnessing the online power of the ordinary citizen. Come hear his visions for digital governance and how you can reinvent your relationship with the powers that be.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 6 p.m. check-in/premium reception, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. networking reception/book signing6:30pm program
Cost: Regular: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID); Premium (includes reserved seating and premium reception with the speaker. Limited to 65 guests): $45 standard, $30 members.
Thu 2/28
Po Bronson: The Science of Winning and Losing
Date: Thu, February 28, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Po Bronson
Author, Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing
What are the differences between a winning and losing performance? Why are we able to rise to the challenge one day, but wilt from it the next? Can we in fact become better competitors? In Top Dog, Bronson and co-author Ashley Merryman use cutting-edge science to tease out the hidden factors at the core of great triumphs – and tragic failures. Integrating wisdom from politics, finance, genetics, neuroscience, psychology, military training, sports, economics, education and more, Bronson offers counterintuitive, game-changing insights into the nature of competition.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe
Date: Thu, February 28, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe
Alex Filippenko, Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences; Richard & Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physical Sciences, UC Berkeley; Researcher; Author
We expected that the attractive force of gravity would slow down the rate at which the universe is expanding. But observations of very distant exploding stars (supernovae) show that the expansion rate is actually speeding up. Filippenko, a member of teams that revealed the accelerating expansion of the universe, will discuss some of the implications of this phenomenon as it relates to current research. The universe seems to be dominated by a repulsive “dark energy” – an idea Albert Einstein had suggested in 1917 but renounced in 1929 as his “biggest blunder.” It stretches the fabric of space itself faster and faster with time, creating a “runaway universe.” The physical origin and nature of dark energy, which makes up about three quarters of the contents of the universe, is probably the most important unsolved problem in all of physics.
MLF: Science & Technology
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: Brandon Allgood
Also know: In association with Friends of Lick Observatory
Fri 3/1
How Frugal Innovation Is Reviving the US Economy
Date: Fri, March 01, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
How Frugal Innovation Is Reviving the U.S. Economy
Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, General Electric
Sonal Shah, Founding Director, White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
Halle Tecco, Co-founder and CEO, Rock Health
Jennifer Tescher, President and CEO, Center for Financial Services Innovation
Navi Radjou, Author, Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth - Moderator
Learn about a groundbreaking new paradigm – frugal innovation – being pioneered by visionary entrepreneurs, corporations and government agencies to innovate cost-effectively and sustainably under severe resource constraints. Using frugal innovation methods, these American pioneers are creating affordable solutions that deliver more value at less cost to consumers and citizens in sectors like health care, education and financial services.
MLF: Business & Leadership
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Kevin O'Malley
Mon 3/4
New Visions in Architecture: SFPUC New LEED Platinum Headquarters Building
Date: Mon, March 04, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
New Visions in Architecture: SFPUC New LEED Platinum Headquarters Building
Ed Harrington, Recently Retired General Manager, SFPUC
Considered to be one of the greenest buildings in the nation, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's 525 Golden Gate headquarters is considered an exemplary model for the future of sustainable office buildings throughout the world. A candidate for LEED Platinum rating, the new building features solar panels on the roof, vertically stacked wind turbines on the front, and onsite biological sewage treatment and water recycling. It has an innovative post-tension system and shear walls running through the building for immediate protection during an earthquake. In addition to an onsite childcare center and cafe, there are electrical vehicle charge stations, bicycle parking and locker rooms, and individual air comfort controls at workstations for over 900 employees in this Class A office building. Please join Harrington for a look at and discussion of this amazing building, destined to be a 21st-century San Francisco landmark.
MLF: Environment & Natural Resources
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: Ann Clark
Week to Week 3/4/13
Date: Mon, March 04, 2013Time: 6:30 PM
Week to Week
Larry Gerston, Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California
John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club - Host
Additional panelists TBA
Our political discussion series returns to help try to make sense of the political landscape and all of the local, state and national issues that have the world vexed. Come enjoy some wine and light snacks and discuss current events during the social time before the program, then join the other informed citizens as our panel discusses (and occasionally disses) the current affairs. Throw in our popular news quiz, and you've got a program that's intelligent, informative and fun.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:45 p.m. wine and snacks reception, 6:30 p.m. program
Cost: $15 standard, $5 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Tue 3/5
Sharing Economy
Date: Tue, March 05, 2013Time: 5:00 PM
Sharing Economy
Sharing Is the New Shopping
Andy Ruben, Co-founder, Yerdle
Lisa Gansky, Author, The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing
Additional panelists TBA
Our economy is slow and our landfills are overflowing. Consumers are looking for a way to spend and waste less. Enter collaborative consumption, online communities that allow members to share their resources and make a profit, too. Yerdle is allowing dust-laden camping tents and power tools to be used by neighbors and strangers. How much will this cut down on waste? What else can be shared instead of bought?
Borrowed Wheels
Scott Griffith, Chairman and CEO, Zipcar
Susan Shaheen, Co-director, Transportation Sustainability Research Center, UC Berkeley
Additional panelists TBA
Innovative companies such as Zipcar are moving in on an expanding market of consumers looking to escape the burdens of car ownership. The cost of parking, insurance, maintenance, and gas can add up quickly for auto owners. Car sharing companies tout lower costs and reduced traffic emissions as benefits of their service model. Does car sharing really reduce emissions? Are automakers threatened? Join us for a discussion on innovative mobility.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 4:15 p.m. check-in, 5 p.m. first program, 6 p.m. networking reception, 6:30 p.m. second program
Cost: $55 standard, $35 members, $7 students (with valid ID). Includes both programs.
Wed 3/6
Beyond THC: Cannabidiol (CBD) and the Future of Medical Marijuana
Date: Wed, March 06, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Beyond THC: Cannabidiol and the Future of Medical Marijuana
Martin A. Lee, Author, Smoke Signals
Cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive component of marijuana, has extraordinary therapeutic qualities, claims Lee. Discover the various molecular mechanisms through with CBD exerts its effects as an anticonvulsant, antipsychotic and neuro-protective compound. This lecture will also address recent efforts to reintroduce CBD-rich remedies and how the medical marijuana industry has responded to the rediscovery of CBD, which doesn’t make people feel high and can actually counter the psychoactive effects of THC.
MLF: Health & Medicine
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 book signing
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Bill Grant
Thu 3/7
Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO
Date: Thu, March 07, 2013Time: 6:30 PM
Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO
From allowing people to opt out of invasive internet tracking on Twitter and refusing to shut the site down during the SOPA conundrum to his former days as a Chicago stand-up comedian and his passion for improv, Twitter CEO Costolo is known for bold and sometimes surprising decision making. In his day-to-day as Twitter’s chief, Costolo has the challenging post of managing the revolutionary global company. Come hear from the man who has taken the social media site to unprecedented reaches of success.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:45 networking reception, 6:30 program
Cost: Regular: $25 standard, $15 members, $7 students (with valid ID). Preferrred (seating in first few rows) $45 standard, $30 members.
Also know: Underwritten by Accenture
Fri 3/8
Natural Wonders of the City: Appreciating and Preserving San Francisco's Wildlands and Wildlife
Date: Fri, March 08, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
Natural Wonders of the City: Appreciating and Preserving San Francisco's Wildlands and Wildlife
Margo Bors, Board Member, California Native Plant Society, Yerba Buena Chapter; Nature Photographer and Artist
Peter Brastow, Founding Director, Nature in the City
Ruth Gravanis, Member, San Francisco Commission on the Environment; Long-time Natural Areas Advocate
Join us to explore the value and beauty of San Francisco's remaining indigenous habitats – grasslands, woodlands, coastal scrub, dunes, wetlands – and their native plant and animal life during our seasonal changes. We will discuss how these wildlands and biotic communities are threatened and the City's Natural Areas Program is working to preserve and restore them. We'll dispel the myths surrounding these small remnants left of our natural heritage for us and our children to appreciate and explore.
MLF: Environment & Natural Resources
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Ann Clark
Also know: Photo by Margo Bors
Dr. Trita Parsi: President Obama and Iran
Date: Fri, March 08, 2013Time: 12:00 PM
President Obama and Iran
Trita Parsi, Ph.D., Author; Founder and President, National Iranian American Relations Council
Philip Yun, Executive Director, the Ploughshare Fund - Moderator
As we enter a new year and a reconfigured Obama administration, our relations with Iran loom large. Parsi, a noted expert on U.S. and Iranian relations and the Middle East, will discuss his latest book, A Single Role of the Dice, which received the Foreign Affairs Award for best book of 2012 on the Middle East.
MLF: Middle East
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing
Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, students free (with valid ID)
Program Organizer: Celia Menczel
Also know: In association with the Ploughshares Fund
Mon 3/11
The Four Almost Rational Explanations of Life
Date: Mon, March 11, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
The Four Almost Rational Explanations of Life
George Hammond, Author, Rational Idealism and Conversations with Socrates
Monday Night Philosophy explores the competing explanations of life, narrows them down to four prime contenders, analyzes each version’s strengths and weaknesses, and concludes by revisiting Pascal’s wager and moving his bet from black to red.
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
Tue 3/12
American Turnaround: Ed Whitacre
Date: Tue, March 12, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
American Turnaround
Ed Whitacre. Former CEO, General Motors
Whitacre was named CEO in 2009, the same year GM declared bankruptcy. He was the man tasked with taking the country's biggest corporate failure and getting back to profitability. His goals included increased vehicle efficiency and the launch of the Chevy Volt. Amid reservations from the administration that the Volt was too expensive to be viable, Whitacre became a supporter of the Chevy Volt, declaring the “proof will be in the pudding.” Has the Volt held up to Whitacre’s expectations?
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)
Wed 3/13
Candida Moss: The Myth of Persecution
Date: Wed, March 13, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
The Myth of Persecution
Candida Moss, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, University of Notre Dame; Author, The Myth of Persecution
Professor Moss posits that the early Church inflated and outright fabricated stories of Christian persecution as a means of growing their numbers. She also explains that the Church has, for centuries, carefully honed this perception of martyrdom to silence dissent and galvanize new generations of culture warriors. Citing recent examples (including Mitt Romney’s assertion that President Obama is waging a “war on religion” and Rick Santorum’s claim that the gay community “had gone out on a jihad” against him), Moss states that this rhetoric remains both politically popular and dangerous.
MLF: Humanities
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: George Hammond
Viktor Mayer Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier: The Big Data Revolution
Date: Wed, March 13, 2013Time: 6:00 PM
Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier
Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation, Oxford University; Co-author, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
Kenneth Cukier, Data Editor, The Economist; Co-author, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
What does a car's paint color reveal about its roadworthiness? How did Google searches predict the spread of the H1N1 flu outbreak? One key to answering questions like these is big data. “Big data” refers to our ability to crunch vast collections of information, analyze it instantly, and draw conclusions from it. Two leading experts in the field reveal what big data is, how it may change our lives, and what we can do to protect ourselves from its hazards.
Location: SF Club Office
Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 book signing
Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)