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

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.

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

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

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

Michael C. Sekora: Technology-Based Planning, the Foundation of All Competitive Advantage

President, Quadrigy, Inc.

Sekora, who was the founder and director of Project Socrates, a U.S. intelligence community initiative under President Reagan, will posit that the shift from technology-based planning to economic-based planning has caused our nation to lose its ability to compete economically. Sekora contends that technology-based planning is the key to competitive advantage for any nation, region, public or private organization. In economic-based planning, the funds are being manipulated; in technology-based planning, the technology is being manipulated. Come learn what Sekora believes the nation must do to turn itself around and regain its competitive advantage.

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: Chisako Ress and Julia Reder