August 27, 2002

WE WILL NOT MEET NEXT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,
AS WE CELEBRATE LABOR DAY

NEXT MEETING, SEPTEMBER 9… Bobby Waters, with Southern Farm Bureau’s Golf Classic, will tell us all about this year’s tournament.

LAST MEETING, AUGUST 26… our scheduled speaker, Britt Brookshire, was not able to come to Jackson because of illness in his family (he’s been rescheduled in October). Stepping in very capably to fill the breach was Gerard Gibert, CEO of Venture Technology. Gerard told us that, despite some thoughts to the contrary, the technology industry is still quite strong. His firm, in fact, has had 16 consecutive profitable years. (And Gerard himself was recognized last year as one of the “Top 40 under 40” by the Mississippi Business Journal.) Gerard told us about Managed Service Providers, who secure information technology for business firms, providing security against loss, viruses, and other pitfalls. In particular, Gerard talked about Applications Service Providers, who provide up-to-date and complete availability to customers who simply log in and log on to a full stream of applications. His firm’s mission is to provide continuous access to data – anytime, anywhere. Thanks to Program Chairman Danny Williams for arranging and introducing this program.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBER… number five of this Rotary year. Introduced to the club on August 26 was…

AND WE’LL REALLY MISS… Marion Francis, who’s leaving her post as Executive Director of the Jackson-Hinds Library system to accept a similar position with a much larger system in Annapolis, Maryland.

PRESIDENT’S CORNER… A memorandum was sent to all members last week regarding mentors for new members and suggested activities for senior members. Responses are beginning to come in, with some helpful input. If you have not returned yours as yet, I would appreciate hearing from you as soon as possible. Also – we heard from Brook Jacobs last meeting about “Good Neighbor Day,” an outreach that he established in 1994 to give away a dozen roses to anybody who wants them, so long as they keep one and give the other 11 to different people. The program is now international, and thousands of roses will be given away. Good Neighbor Day this year is September 4, one week before we observe the anniversary of last year’s tragedy. If you wish to help Brook financially or help wrap roses, let him know. This is a truly outstanding program.