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The bell was rung and the meeting was started a little early by President Mark Rogo who announced we had a lot to cover today starting with a Club Assembly. He then introduced PP Chris Gaynor as chair of the nominating committee for officers for the Club for the 2026/27 Rotary year. PP Chris proposed the following
candidates who were elected unanimously:
President- Dr. Bob Simon
Past President-Mark Rogo
President elect- PP Michael Newman
Vice President- PP Peter More
Secretary-Lucy Tseng
Treasurer-Terry White
Committee Chairs include Ethan Kim, Community; PP Diane Good, Vocational; David Stover, Youth, PP Benjamin Fisher, membership; Nevin Senkan and Lynn Rogo, International; and PP Steven Day, Foundation.
President Mark then thanked Jim Crane for leading the pledge followed by “The thought for the day” by John O’Keefe which consisted of the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi which started with the words “Lord make me an instrument of your peace and included the phrase “Help me not to seek love but to love.”
PP and maestro Ed Guald led the singing of “Home on the Range” wearing another of his marvelous hats followed by a special talk about pins, including people who collect Rotary pins made by Chuck McCreary. President Mark asked why does the Rotary rely on pins so much. Chuck noted that pins are a fun and inexpensive way to show interests and affiliations. The Rotary uses them to foster unity and encourage people to wear them to bring attention to Rotary’s activities as well as fostering a sense of common purpose among members.
Chuck described a use of pins at a VA wellness program to recognize the achievement of a veteran quitting smoking.
Guests were then recognized and introduced.
President Mark announced that Tom Barron would like to inform us that the winner of the Super Bowl football pool would be either PP Steve Day (Denver) or Teya McCockran (Seattle).
The guest speaker Richard (Dick) Lippin was introduced by President Mark Rogo who went to grade school with the speaker’s wife, Sally Lippin who was also in attendance. Dick’s company The Lippin Group was founded in 1986 and has the role of providing strategic communications consultancy, specializing in entertainment, media and technology. With decades of intelligence and understanding of these industries, Lippin works closely with companies to develop and execute plans that raise their profile, connect them to decision-makers and tastemakers, and positively impact their business. The company offers services ranging from corporate communications and public relations to content/event publicity, executive thought leadership, business development, networking, and more, tailored to the needs of its partners.
Dick was born in Brooklyn, graduated from Penn State University and subsequently received a degree from the Institute of Finance in New York. He also attended the MBA program at City University, and law school at Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles. He formed the Lippin Group four decades ago. He started out promoting TV shows and noted that his business is in a continuing state of transformation due to developments such as AI, mergers among large media companies, and the emerging predominance of streaming platforms. He then took questions from several members.
Bob Simon asked how creative people will survive AI. Dick said there would be job losses but there is always a need for creative people. He suggested that creative people should spend time and effort forming relationships with knowledgeable people in the industry.
Mr. Lippin was asked how he got started in the entertainment field, and he told us one of his first jobs was promoting the show Entertainment Tonight.
Giving back to society is also a vital part of his life. Dick has created and been actively involved with numerous philanthropic activities. He is Chairman and Founder of the Ronnie Lippin Cancer Information and Resource Program that is offered for free and dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families in conjunction with the Tower Cancer Research Foundation and USC/Norris Cancer Center. He also founded ethics programs for undergraduate students at Brandeis University and Penn State University and is currently developing the first online ethics program for young children in the nation. He has received numerous awards recognizing this work, including the Service to Society Award from Pennsylvania State University and the inaugural Icon Award from the the Zimmer Children’s Museum.
He answered other questions and ended his talk by saying he misses the predictability of the industry.
It was a wonderful presentation with very active audience participation. President Mark presented a speaker’s gift to Dick before closing the meeting out.
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