The Rote – March 8, 2018
The Miami Yacht Club
President Phil Seipp called the meeting to order. Past President Jay Almeida gave the invocation. Past President Scott Richey then led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag.
New member Amelia Bonilla welcomed & introduced our visitors & guests:
- Gabriel Bisono, guest of Dave Anderson, just moved to Miami to expand his business, World Preview;
- Michael McCarthy, guest of Jay Almeida ;
- Rick Sanchez, a Rotarian from Miami-Brickell & repeat visitor;
- Dave Daniels, guest of Tina Moore;
- Addis Hunter, marketing director of Florida Endovascular, which does interventional radiology, also a guest of Dr. Percy Nelson;
- Gustavo Gimenez, a Rotarian from Argentina who exchanged banners & presented a bottle of Argentinian Malbec wine to President Phil;
- Melissa Brod, daughter of Marcia Brod, who works at the Beacon Council & helped arrange our program for today.
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for TBM were collected by Past President Diane Landsberg:
- Diane Landsberg expressed her happiness for the friendship & companionship she has enjoyed with her fellow members;
- Marcia Brod gave recognition to Past President Oliver Ruiz who is celebrating a birthday:
- Past President Jay Almeida was pleased a stranger helped when he had a flat tire in Boca;
- President-Elect Dave Skinner was happy to be back after missing multiple Thursdays taking a Dale Carnegie course and then attending PETS in Orlando. He should almost be ready to assume his presidency;
- Amelia Bonilla was happy about taking her son to Disney World;
- Past District Governor Robin Shelley extolled Norby Rudel’s rendition of “The Day the Music Died” during Norby’s gig at Anthony’s Pizza Wednesday night.
Announcements:
- President Phil Seipp reported that our Club has grown from 41 to 56 members this year. Diane Stieber will become #57 soon & already has $25 in her EREY account because of last week’s 50/50 drawing. He encouraged us to break the “60” mark;
- There was a reminder about the new membership incentive program. Anyone sponsoring a regular member before June 30th will be awarded 5 lunch vouchers or 2 special event tickets;
- TBM interviews begin this Saturday. There are still a couple of openings on 3/17 & 3/24;
- Susan Shelley was awarded with membership certificate #31 in our TBM Society as a Rotarian Interviewer;
- We were also reminded that, in lieu of the 3/22 regular Thursday lunch meeting, we will be meeting at Miami Senior High School for our annual lunch with MHS Interact on Friday, 3/23;
- RLI (Rotary Leadership Institute) is still scheduled for Saturday, 4/21. Call Diane to register. There is no cost to the attendee.
- April 28th will be the date of the District Assembly at Margaritaville in Hollywood Beach. All new members & officers are encouraged to attend;
- Sheila Freed sent a nice thank you note for our donation to the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind in honor of her late husband, our PDG Owen Freed.
Member Focus on Past President Oliver Ruiz:
Why did you join Rotary?
When Oliver first started to practice law, he worked for the son of our now deceased member, Bud Hunter. Bud encouraged Oliver to join our club, which he did. Later Oliver dropped his membership and saw past member Jonathan Parker at a bar and Jonathan encouraged him to rejoin the club.
Rotary Positions Held:
Oliver has served as Vocational Service Chair, President and as director of The Rotary Club of Miami and of the Rotary Club of Miami, Florida Foundation, and now is chair of the Council of Past Presidents.
Recognitions and Awards:
Multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Spearheaded the 100th Gala Committee
Personal:
He is married to Lisette, whom he met in typing class in high school, and with whom he has two children. They also have two cats and soon, a dog.
Professional:
He is an attorney and partner at Malloy and Malloy, where he handles litigation and trademark applications. He went to Florida State University.
Something you didn’t know about me:
One obscure fact about himself that Oliver related was that when he went to Paris, he visited Jim Morrison’s grave in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Diane Landsberg presented a birthday cake to honor Oliver.
Our Program – The Beacon Council of Miami-Dade County:
Marcia Brod introduced our speaker, Michael A. Finney, President and CEO of The Beacon Council.
Mr. Finney, who had been working in Michigan and had no prior experience with hurricanes, said his experience from Hurricane Irma taught him how to sell Miami-Dade County to prospective businesses and how to prepare for hurricanes. He recounted that the solicitation from Amazon to establish a new, additional headquarters came before him on the Beacon Council. Amazon had submitted 238 proposals to various cities. Miami-Dade made it to the top 20. One of the requirements is that there be an adequate skilled work force present.
The Beacon Council, a non-profit corporation, was founded in 1985. It focuses on job creation and growth. It is one of only 43 worldwide Accredited Economic Development Organizations.
Mr. Finney said that Miami has marketed well its tourist destination image but its image as a great place to work has not become well-known (yet). One of his goals is to market our county as a world class business location. This is being done through digital marketing, advertising, and mission trips nationally. The marketing is on local, national and international levels. He is about to embark to China on a mission trip.
The Beacon Council is also seeking to help make connections between large local companies and small local vendors, encouraging the companies to use local vendors to help the vendors grow.
50/50 tickets were sold by Robert Bull. The pot has reached $793. Dave Skinner (again..) had the lucky ticket but failed to draw the lucky ace of spades. He will donate the $25 EREY to a new member’s credit. We should be close to $800 next week!
New member Angela Deggs led us in the 4-Way Test.
And, another great meeting was adjourned!
