Soundings (3/18/08)

The membership committee and board have approved and submit the following individuals for membership:
1) Marla Sanger - St. Joseph Hospital
2) James Johnson - retired former Rotarian
Please send and comments to Matt or the membership committee.

Bucks in the Bay
Ron Hardesty for Bill Unrine who had heart surgery last week (successful);
Patti Imhof had $ for Foundation to celebrate a birthday in NYC;
Steve Spitzer $ for missed meetings traveling to CT, DC, London, etc.  Recently had a good trip to Park City Utah visiting his son, also reminder for the April 19 Boys & Girls  auction event.
Robin Schmidt gave an emotional announcement that she is leaving Hospice (and Bellingham) to accept a position with Boys & Girls Club as it regional director for the Southwest region, she is sorry to leave Hospice and encouraged all of us to help fund the Hospice House project;
Lance C for a great week in Puerto Vallarta, he and Heather waiting to adopt a child!
Christine will be hosting a goodbye party on Saturday at her office to say goodbye to Robin; all are welcome!
Bill Gorman $ for missed meetings commuting back and forth to Seattle, and thoughts for Bill Unrein;
Terry Brown for a missed meeting snowboarding in Schweitzer, Coug bucks, and for daughter's 20th birthday at Hearthfire Grill;
Bryant announced that he has left Edward Jones to found his own wealth management company called Tradewind Capital Management - Congratulations, Bryant!
Gordon Plume $100 to Foundation, finishing up a busy season of projects, survived pneumonia, his daughter graduating from CalPoly with a good job waiting at Kendall-Jackson winery;
Art had grateful bucks for our club's support 10 years ago for his grandson Seth's illness - Seth is now doing great and graduated recently from WWU;
Bob Mole reminded us that March 22 is World Water Day;
Doug Wight has had a busy March with many birthdays in his family;
Patti glad that Gerald and Lynn finally back from their extended vacation;
Phil X returned from trip to Las Vegas with partners, plea for funds for Food Bank;
Larry Andreson is a UW fan, happy bucks for daughter who was in taxi cab accident in Seattle last year finally back in work now here in Bellingham;
Gerald thankful about buying a new boat and happy Lynn agree to come and support him today.

Sergeant at Arms by Frank Chmelik
Fines for Patti, Lance, Mimi, Gonzaga and Coug fans, BHS grads, Bryant, Dale and Gerald, Stan, and accountants.
 

Program
Tonja introduced our very own Gerald Baron to talk about his company, Audience Central, and the datatbase system it developed called PIERS.  PIER was designed to put all vital tools needed by communicators onto a single, easy-to-use web-based platform in order to improve speed, efficiency and information control.  PIER stands for "Public Information and Emergency Response".

The company was started in 2000 with $930,000 in angel investment.  By 2006 it had reached $1 million in annual sales.  For 2008 they are projecting over $6 million in sales.

Some of the local companies, organizations and governments that use PIER include the City of Bellingham, the Bellingham School District, and WWU.  The largest customers are the Coast Guard and BP.  Audience Central has installed the PIER system recently in Atlanta and Houston where over a hundred government divisions and organizations are connected by the system; these installations are to assist with the UASI (urban areas security initiative) to coordinate communications in case of terrorist acts or natural disasters. 

For example, PIER was used by the Coast Guard during the Katrina disaster:  The Coast Guard had lost all its computer equipment in the flooding and had to move into empty hanger with no power.  Yet they always maintained constant contact, because PIER is internet-based and always online.  PIER helps facilitate and organize commnications with the media, government and public at-large.

Why are organizations buying PIER? 
    Instant news
    Direct communication
    Transparency
    Crisis-capable capacity
    Collaboration
    Virtual joint information center

Gerald thanked his wife Lynn for all her support over the years.

Respectfully submitted,
Stowe Talbot