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Rotary 19 April 2022 meeting report Report by: Mary Voice Our Chair for the day, Anne King opened the meeting with the toast to Rotary International . President Elias Lebbos respectfully acknowledged, and paid respects to, the Traditional Custodians of these lands and welcomed our guest speaker, Karen Cohen and our student Tomoya Iizuka. Elias also informed us that Marjorie Gerlinger sends her regards to club members and that she hopes to visit Melbourne soon. Speaker: – Chair Anne King introduced our Guest Speaker, Karen Cohen to tell us about “What is Blockchain and how will it affect the future of finance and talent?” Karen Cohen, aka "Blockmum" is the Founder and Director of Emerging Tech Talent, a company that helps humans connect to emerging technology. She is the founder of Women in Emerging Tech and previous Deputy Chair for Blockchain Australia. She is Community Champion for Algorand Foundation and Program Manager for AlgoHUB, the virtual Blockchain Developers’ Hub. Karen gave us a wide-ranging discussion of both Bitcoin and Blockchain, which can be quite challenging technologies to get our heads around, and/or trust. She pointed out that Bitcoin can be used to transfer “funds” on-line more cheaply than via traditional banks. Given that Bitcoin has evolved for both investment (speculation) and utility, the current evolution of the tech and the industry are not particularly user-friendly. On the utility side, Bitcoin can create “stable coins” (pegged to a currency of your choice) that can be used to pay for things (products, services). Karen noted that even for this aspect, users still need to do a fair bit of research/training to feel comfortable, but she also noted that there are multiple copies of transactions on servers around the world, making it difficult if not impossible to dispute them. One interesting development is the establishment of Bitcoin/Blockchain meet-up communities that, inter alia, discuss new uses for the systems. Karen also touched on Green Crypto, decentralised finance, NFT or non-fungible tokens (eg for artists), NFT websites, DAO or Decentralised Autonomous Organisations, and a podcast she is launching called: ”What the block”. An interesting aspect for Rotary is quicker, more efficient community support or emergency support, exemplified by the OXFAM Unblocked Cash project. Wide-ranging questions to Karen included on tax, risks, transparent management and energy costs. Chair Anne King thanked Karen for a comprehensive informative talk. Announcements 1. Member Milestones Member Birthdays Herb Greenwood 21st April Partner Birthdays
Nil Wedding Anniversaries Rohan and Sue Williams 20th April 1996 26 years Hon Member Geoff Fairhall and Anne 24th April 1965 57 Years Date Joined Rotary Rob Hines 22nd April 2014 8 years 2 . Michelle Crawford reminded us of the D9800 District Conference this weekend, and the dinner booked for members. 3. Peter Duras told us of the partial closedown of Youth Projects during renovations, and of the thankyou night attended by 3 Rotary clubs. Also, that Youth Projects has won a significant education and training grant. 4. Neville-1 advised us that Alan Seale is recovering very well from his heart operation. Announcements by President Elias: President Elias reminded us to start preparing end-of-year reports. He noted it is good to see our NZ friends on screen, and that our next meeting is also a zoom meeting. In closing the meeting, President Elias again thanked our speaker and wished us all well for the week ahead. Meeting closed. |
