LA/LSE Alum March Newsletter
Dear Reader,
EVENTS
We have several exciting events in March.
CHINA SEMINAR AT UCLA
The Harvard Club has invited us to join them for a seminar on China at UCLA on March 7, 2009. Here are the details:
How would you like to go to college again? If yes, please join the Harvard Club of Southern California in their "Harvard Club Visits UCLA" Seminar. We are hosted by 3 outstanding faculty ( all with Harvard PhD's) in
the Center for Chinese Studies: Prof. David Schaberg : " New Discoveries in the Chinese Past"; Prof. Jack Chen: " Ghostly Poems in Medieval China"; and Prof. Yunxiang Yan: " The Individualization of Chinese Society". Location: Bunche Hall Conference Room 6275. Park in Parking Structure 3 ( $9) which
can be reached via Sunset Blvd, turn south on Hilgard, and entrance to parking structure is nearby. Time: Sign in at 9:30AM; Seminars will begin at 10 AM. Coffee, and tea will be served. Lunch at 1 PM is included in
registration. At 2 PM, you are invited to attend a docent led tour of the Murphy Sculpture Gardens.Seminar will end at 3 PM. To register please go to www.Harvard-la.org , deadline for registration is March 6. For additional information please write AlbertChang@charter.net or call 310 994-9974
THIRD THURSDAY DRINKS MIXER
Next, our regular third Thursday drinks mixer will be at our old favorite the Village Idiot on Melrose on March 19 at 7pm. Here is the exact address:
7529 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 653-2011
CLUB NIGHT AT THE MAYFLOWER
Also, we are invited to a club night at the Mayflower Club in North Hollywood on Saturday March 28 at 7.30pm. The Mayflower Club is a British American Social Club. Traditional British food and drink are served at reasonable prices. The evening features the Chandler Station Band, including music, sing-alongs, humor and impersonations. The evening starts at 7.30pm. They often sell out of food early, so be punctual if you would like to eat.
Address:
11110 Victory Blvd North Hollywood CA
www.mayflowerclub.com
OUR FIRST ORANGE COUNTY MIXER
Last but most exciting, our first Orange County drinks mixer will take place on Sunday March 29 from 3-6pm at Purple Feet Wines. We hope this event will bring together alums and friends from Orange County and Northern San Diego County. Here are the details:
Purple Feet Wine Boutique & Tasting Room
24582 Del Prado Ave, Dana Point, CA 92629. Tel: 949-388-FEET. www.purplefeetwines.com
Cross street: Violet
We thank alum Valerie Jaffee for stepping up to arrange this event. To everyone else, please step up to arrange an event in your neighborhood!!!
For any of the above events, it would be helpful if you RSVP to Mansi and Elizabeth at losangeles@aflse.org so that we can look out for you.
FUTURE EVENTS
We have a series of ideas in the planning stages for more intellectually engaging events which will take place in conjunction with other Ivy League-type alum groups:
1.Thank you to Tomoko Iwakawa for contacting the Japanese Consul General. An event is being planned at his residence. The subject will relate to the relative timing of the US and Japanese economic cycles (that is, we in the US are entering a recession 10 years after Japan - what lessons can we learn). Everyone who comes to the event will be strongly encouraged to prepare a question for the discussion with Consul Ihara. We will let you know as details emerge.
2.We have been offered the conference facilities of Northern Trust in Westwood for an event featuring a panel of Consul Generals. The capacity of the room is 40 people. If you have any contact, no matter how tenuous, with any of the consulates around town, please let us know so we can get a great panel together.
3.Another event is being planned in conjunction with USC which will feature two prominent community members (as yet to be unveiled) "in conversation". Thank you Mark Lantero for stepping up and organising this event.
4."Seven Thin Cows - Surviving the recession" - are you an expert who can be on our panel for this discussion event? Do you have a great venue?
5.An fundraiser for the Smile Train is being organised, which we would like to participate in. The Smile Train is a charity dedicated to sending American doctors on train Indian doctors in cleft palate surgery. Cleft palate surgery costs only $25 per operation in India, so we can make a HUGE difference to many children's lives by showing up en masse and buying a few rounds of drinks. We will let you know the details as they emerge.
Other events are in the planning stages.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY
Do you work for a corporation which has traditionally had a budget for sponsoring this type of event? Is that budget much reduced this year? Upcoming LSE alum events in LA are IDEAL opportunities for corporate sponsorship. We have a database of over 860 people, who are all movers and shakers. We are planning events in conjunction with the Harvard Club and the Oxford Alum group, as well as other Ivy League type alum groups. Thus, any corporate sponsorship will be specifically directed at decision making local individuals who will actually read and engage with our newsletters or the program leaflet at events on which your corporate logo is printed.
The advantage for our chapter is that we currently have an annual budget of $0 (the result of years of protecting you from any hint of fundraising activities). Selling tickets for events is done through the New York office and the chapter receives the funds some weeks after the event. Until we can build up a pot of money locally, your chapter leaders are expected to front the money for deposits to caterers etc. That is not realistic.
If we could get corporate sponsorship of $500 to $1500 in exchange for a printed advert on a program leaflet handed out at an event plus a one time inclusion of an advert in our newsletter, this would provide the chapter with the ability to fund increasingly elaborate, intellectually engaging events at reasonable prices for our members.
Please ask your marketing department if they would like to participate in any of our upcoming events.
MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS
The AFLSE office in NY has told us that we may only issue one e-blast per month, because each e-blast costs $4. It would be very helpful to be able to send a reminder of events a day or two beforehand. This results in significantly larger turnouts. Does your employer offer matching funds for donations to non-profits? If someone could donate $25 to us and get an employer contribution for $25, we could flag this contribution for extra e-blasts, reminding people to show up for our events, for an entire year.
DONATE YOURSELF
Could you or anyone you know put on an event of interest to our alums? Are you an expert in a topic you could share with your fellow alums? Do you have a fabulous venue at your disposal which we could use for an evening? Are you arranging a charitable event which you would like us to support? Please let us know.
Wishing you all a fabulous St Patrick's Day.
Mansi and Elizabeth
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