President John Olson rang the Rotary bell at 12 noon, calling to order meeting #5364 of the Rotary Club of Everett; meeting #11 of his presidency and virtual meeting #27.

 

Jeanne Willard, lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Amy Overly presented the Thought of the Day by reading a quote from Rumi, “When I run after what I think I want, my days are furnace of stress and anxiety; if I sit in my own place of patience, what I need flows to me, and without pain. From this I understand that what I want also wants me, is looking for me and attracting me. There is a great secret here for anyone who can grasp it.”

 

 

No Visiting Rotarians. Guests:  Kelly Shepherd introduced Robert Polk, Everett School District Athletic Director.

 

 

Kari Petrasek stated that everyone had a fun time at the September 10^th Happy Hour. The next Happy Hour is October 1^st at 5:30 pm.  A Zoom Meeting link will be sent prior to the Happy Hour.

 

President John Olson asked everyone to save their latest Rotary Magazine as Janice Ellis would like the extra magazines to promote Rotary Youth Exchange.

 

Walt Greenwood asked the members to consider providing their story on “why I joined Rotary” and “why I am still involved with Rotary”. The Public Relations committee will be using these stories on the social media platforms and media stories. This is a great opportunity to assist with increasing memberships.

 

 

Fred Safstrom gave dollars in honor of Dr. George Youngstrom.

 

Larry O’Donnell gave dollars in memory of Bob Lovely. Bob was one of the Top Rotarian in the State of Washington.

 

Steve McGraw gave birthday dollars for many family member birthdays including his birthday.

 

Tammy Dunn gave proud dollars to the firefighters fighting the wildfires in California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Her nephew is one of the firefighters fighting these fires.

 

Will McMahan, PP, gave birthday dollars for his recent birthday.

 

 

 

Tammy Dunn introduced today’s speaker, Jake Green, Founder of Northwest Esports.

 

Jake Greene gave an overview of the Esports Market. Esports is defined as competition using video games. Esports is a billion-dollar marketplace with hundreds of millions of viewers and players. There are several individuals who play Esports professionally who have Million-dollar contracts. People may play Esports on their PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Mobile Phone. Esports may be played Player vs Players or Teams vs Teams.

 

The pillars of Esports are technology, marketing, publishing, photography, videography, broadcasting, and sportsmanship. Traditional sports also need these foundation pillars.

 

Esports in an education format include the STEM classes such as mathematics, computer science, and statistics.

 

Microsoft and Nintendo are companies who are advocates of Esports. The Valve Company, which is in the Pacific Northwest, is the largest promoter of Esports Tournaments. In 2017 at Key Arena in Seattle, the Esports Tournament had a $26 Million prize pool sponsored by Valve.

 

Northwest Esports is working with Thurston County in bringing Esports tournaments to that area. Esports is an economic stimulation, career development, academic stimulation, and sports stimulation. Northwest Esports and the Snohomish County Sports Commission are working together to bring an Esports Charity Tournament to Snohomish County.

 

Resources on Esports:

 

Jake answered several great questions.

 

 

President John thanked our speaker, bellringers, and announced next week’s program, Digital Frontier of Learning. He then adjourned the meeting.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Photography submitted,

 

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