Editor’s Desk

June/July 2021 Volume 115, Number 3

The Commonwealth, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 feedback@commonwealthclub.org

John Zipperer

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John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, (415) 597-6715, jzipperer@commonwealthclub.org

The Commonwealth (ISSN 0010-3349) is published bimonthly (6 times a year) by The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105. Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco, CA. Subscription rate $34 per year included in annual membership dues. Copyright © 2021 The Commonwealth Club of California.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 597-6700; feedback@commonwealthclub.org

The Commonwealth magazine covers a range of programs in each issue. Program transcripts and question-and-answer sessions are routinely condensed due to space limitations. Hear full-length recordings online at commonwealthclub. org/watch-listen, or via our free podcasts on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or Spotify; watch videos at youtube.com/ commonwealthclub.

Photo by Tim Mossholder

Welcome back.

In June, we are holding a series of member open houses, welcoming back Club members for visits to the Club’s San Francisco headquarters, complete with an art show, wine and refreshments.

If you turn ahead to our highlights of some upcoming programs (starting on page 8), you see the dates and times of the member open houses. You’ll also see some of the first in-person speaker programs to be scheduled—by the time you read this, there will be even more, so check out commonwealthclub.org/ events and keep your eyes open for our event email newsletters.

We recently asked you, Commonwealth Club members, what you wanted to see more of in the future. Perhaps the strongest feedback we received was that some people were really eager to get back into our auditoriums for in-person programs and social gatherings, some people were really pleased to be able to watch our programs—live or on-demand—online, and many people said they want both options for enjoying Club programs. We’re going to make everyone happy. In coming months, you’ll see us unveil in-person programs, programs for which you can buy online or in-person tickets, and online-only programs. We got lots of other ideas and feedback from our member survey, so you’ll see that reflected in other initiatives in future months and years.

When the pandemic first hit, The Commonwealth Club was the first or one of the first organizations to transition to an all-online presentation of programs. Our amazing audio and video team turned on a dime and set us up to live-stream every single event. We had live streamed plenty of programs in the past, but never everything. This necessitated altering our planning, staffing, speaker outreach, event setup and marketing. It also required replacing, adding, or upgrading various bits of technology so our speakers could be seen and heard by audiences, whether the audience member was three blocks from our building or 3,000 miles away.

Perhaps one of the nicest aspects of this whole experience was being able to bring speakers to the Club who might otherwise not be able to participate. We spoke with a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong (shortly before he was arrested for his democracy activities), journalists direct from their offices at CNN and Fox News headquarters, former California Governor Jerry Brown from his ranch, Michael J. Fox from his home, and many, many more.

I have always loved technology, but I’ll spare you an encomium to computers and the internet. Suffice it to say that all of these computers, smartphones, live-stream apps, high-tech microphones, and broadband connections helped the Club continue its mission even with a global shutdown.

We’re back, but we also never really left.