No Meeting This Friday
Join Us for Thirsty Thursday at Culinary Dropout!
It's time for fun and fellowship! Join us this Thursday, August 14, from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at Culinary Dropout, 1231 Ashford Crossing, Building 900, Atlanta, GA 30346. And bring a friend who might want to learn more about the Rotary Club of Dunwoody!
Then sleep in a little Friday morning - as we'll not be meeting this week! That said, you won't want to miss next Friday's meeting - when District Governor Steve Ivory visits the club on August 22.
Spruce-a-tarian Alert: Next Gathering August 16
Bring your favorite garden tool and be ready to have fun at this Saturday's ultimate gardening adventure - sprucing up Bounds Gardens so it looks its best for all passing by the intersection just across from the Dunwoody Library. All the fun begins at 9:00 am on the 16th.
Connecting with Your Dunwoody Digital Resources
As Mark Galvin and Jackie Cuthbert shared last week - there's a treasure trove of information to be found online to enhance your Rotary experience ... and a great opportunity to help spread our RCD story with the simple click of a "like" or "share.
Follow this link to a copy of last week's presentation, with the links to our Dunwoody website, the District 6900 website, Rotary International's website, and our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. We have also created a one-pager about user names and passwords.
Getting to Know You
Neal MacDonald: From State Farm ... to Travel ... to the Whiskey Raffle
It's a pleasure to introduce Neal Macdonald, one of our
newest members and a vibrant addition to our club. Neal, who works on the 11th
floor of State Farm Building 2 (above Louisiana Bistreaux Seafood Kitchen)
has recently moved to an apartment within a 10-minute walking distance of his
job, a perfect setup for his busy life.
Service is a family tradition for Neal, who was drawn to Rotary by the
example of his father, a member of a Lions Club. Neal fondly recalls his
dad returning from Wednesday night meetings with a renewed sense of purpose,
instilling in him the idea that community service is "a thing you
do." When Neal moved to Atlanta, he was aware of Rotary but it wasn't
until a chance meeting with a fellow member, Ed Holliday, at Costco that he
felt inspired to get involved. He started attending meetings later that year and
officially joined our club in March 2024.
Since joining, Neal has quickly become an active participant. He currently
serves as the Sergeant at Arms and is the co-director of this year’s Whiskey
Raffle. His favorite club activities so far have been the cleanup projects at
Bounds Garden, as he values hands-on projects that are both social and
constructive. Outside of Rotary, Neal and his fiancée, Amy, love to travel,
with recent trips to Croatia, Mexico, and Jamaica. They are planning to elope,
possibly around mid-February of next year with a trip to the Caribbean.
We’re thrilled to have Neal as a part of our community and look forward to
his continued contributions.
Sip, Socialize, Support: 2025 Dunwoody Rotary Whiskey Raffle!
Thanks to your generosity,
our 2024 raffle sold all 400 tickets and raised $10,000 for community
projects. This year, we’re aiming even higher—$25,000—and we need your
help to make it happen.
How You Can Help
- Build
Our Prize Pool by October 7. We want to lock in at least
six collections of 20 premium bottles by the first week of October.
Headliners like Pappy Van Winkle drove last year’s sell-out of 400
tickets—let’s top that!
- Hosted
Tastings in the Weeks before the Raffle. Our
secret to doubling last year’s result? Progressive whiskey tastings across
Dunwoody. They’ll be free or low-cost for guests, so we can pitch raffle
tickets at the end. This is our way to help drive ticket sales outside of
our membership. We need to have our prize pool well-established before we
have these tastings!
- Spread
the Word and Find Some Whiskey! Ticket price and quantity will
be set once our prize pool is confirmed. Encourage friends, neighbors,
co-workers—whiskey fans love to brag about their collections… so they
should be easy to find!
How to Get Involved
- Donate
Bottles! Early success here is the most important part! Ask
early; ask often. if you have questions, contact Dave Burr or Neal
MacDonald! We’ll happily collect, sort, and vet. And yes! We will accept
liquor that isn’t whiskey!
- Volunteer: we’re
happy to accept ideas, help, as well as bottles!
Spread
the word! Encourage friends, family, and colleagues—whiskey
enthusiasts are never hard to find (they brag).
- Every ticket sold brings
us closer to our $25,000 goal. And whiskey might just be a great way to
introduce people to Rotary.
Save the Date
Thirsty Thursday, November
20! We’re targeting that last Thursday before Thanksgiving for the main event
itself.
Sunshine Revisited
Beyond the Call: How Cell Phones Predict Our World
Our smartphones are more than just communication devices; they're powerful
data-generating tools that offer profound insights into both individual lives
and the fabric of society. This was the core message of my recent speech,
"Beyond the Call: How Cell Phones Predict Our World." The sheer
volume of big data generated by our daily phone use is being harnessed
to create a smarter, more predictive world.
On an individual level, this data can be a personal compass. Apps can
monitor our physical activity to improve health, and streaming services
use our listening habits to recommend music and movies. For those with mental
health conditions like bipolar disorder, passive data can even help predict
mood swings. The data can also be used for smarter interventions, such as an
app that monitors and indicates a child’s level of smartphone addiction.
This same predictive power is used commercially to anticipate customer churn,
allowing companies to retain customers more effectively.
On a societal scale, the implications are even more far-reaching. Our
collective location data can predict traffic jams, informing apps like
Uber and Lyft to anticipate demand for ride-hailing services. By analyzing human movement patterns and search
queries, scientists can predict the spread of flu and other diseases.
Urban planners leverage this data to forecast population density and
migration, which is crucial for infrastructure planning. The sensors in our
phones are also being used for environmental prediction. For example, the Android
Earthquake Alerts System uses accelerometers to detect seismic activity,
and changes in cell phone tower signal strength can even predict
rainfall. This technology is also helping in the fight against wildfires
by aggregating sensor data to calculate key risk factors. The applications are
vast, extending to predicting trade area analysis for businesses and
even assisting in crime analysis.
The data we generate, minute by minute, is helping us create a more informed
and proactive world. It's a reminder that our phones hold a mirror to our lives
and, collectively, to our society.
