This Friday, August 16 at Perry’s on Union, Sean Elsbernd, SF Mayor London Breed’s chief of staff, former San Francisco supervisor and past Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation Director, will be our featured speaker. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Elsbernd
RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist Perry’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please email Dennis Wheatley at dennis@triticum.com if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest. Dennis DOES NOT need to know you are not attending. If members have RSVP’ed a “yes” and need to cancel, please tell Dennis before the cutoff of Thursday noon prior to each seminar.
***
UPCOMING SEMINARS:
On Friday, September 6, John King, the architectural and urban design critic for the San Francisco Chronicle returns to the Seminar. The 2-time Pulitzer Award finalist will be introduced by Seminarian John Tysell. King is the author of the newly released
Portal, San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities. https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324020325
Your editor enthusiastically recommends Portal for those who those who enjoy San Francisco history.
Gerard de Graaf is our speaker on Friday, September 13. He is senior Envoy for Digital to the U.S. and head of the EU office in San Francisco. Until his recent appointment, Mr. De Graaf was involved in the EU’s Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts, two landmark pieces of legislation which have been adopted in the European Union to keep the Internet safe, protect fundamental rights and enhance competition in digital markets. From the Netherlands, he studied Economic Geography & Regional Planning at the Free University in Amsterdam and European Economics and Law at the Catholic University Leuven (Belgium). Mr. de Graaf will be introduced by Sac Sem Speakers Chair Mike Fitzgerald.
Ambassador Balz Abplanalp, the San Francisco/Western States Consul General for Switzerland will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, September 20. He’s also the Swiss Technology Ambassador to the Western States focusing on Silicon Valley and San Francisco. In his career, Balz has served as Swiss ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen, and to Oman. He’s been Diplomatic Advisor to the Swiss Co-Presidency of the European Space Agency, Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy in Columbia and Science & Technology Counsellor at the Swiss Mission to the European Union. Seminarian Sean Randolph will introduce the ambassador.
Lori Brooke, co-founder of Neighborhoods United SF and longtime Cow Hollow Neighborhood leader will be our speaker on Friday September 27 at Perry’s On Union. Seminarian Jim Fuller will introduce her. Ms. Brooke was featured in the SF Standard https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/07/san-francisco-zoning-housing-element-united-neighborhoods/
Rob Thompson, the chief cultural officer of the Presidio Trust, is our speaker on Friday, September 11. The mission of the Presidio Trust, a federal agency, “is to steward and share the history, beauty, and wonder of the Presidio for everyone to enjoy forever.” https://presidio.gov/about/presidio-trust Rob is trained as an archeologist and historic preservation lanner. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in archeology. He holds a master’s degree from Columbia University in Historic Preservation. Mr. Thompson will be introduced by Seminarian Dan Riley.
California’s top political pollster, Mark DiCamillo, himself a Seminarian, returns to update the Seminar on pre-presidential election poling trends on Friday, October 25. Mark is with the University of California (Berkeley) Institute of Governmental Studies. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/mark-dicamillo where he conducts the IGS poll focusing on California issues and campaigns.
***
OTHER THOUGHTS: “Inside every revolutionary there is a policeman.” Gustave Flaubert
Comments