Bob Sternoff '78 - April 2013 Luncheon

Bob Sternoff  '78

Bob Sternoff - Class of 1978    

On short notice, Bob stepped up to the podium to provide an interesting program for our group.  And true to his reputation, Bob proved to be an interesting and provocative speaker.  

It’s an interesting time for Bob, because he’s just making the jump from elected office (City Councilman for City of Kirkland) into developing a “country club” version of a shooting range facility.  He is continuing his 20+ years in real estate development, but now he’s adding a bit of the up-scale club atmosphere to his development of this pioneering business concept.  If he’s on target, then he is introducing a new concept for a socially acceptable environment for gun enthusiasts.  This may be an emerging trend for the times.  Once proven, it lends itself to being rolled-out across the country.  Bob talked about his marketing strategy centered on a mobile app.  You can download Bob’s app @ www.MyGunMyRange.com  You can reach Bob at Bob@SternoffNW.com     

Luncheon notes: 

Nice to see Ron Crockett ‘61 walking around so confidently on his week-old hip.  Ron reports the stadium project is on time and on budget.

Peter Apostolou ’46 is looking very pirate-like with his new eye patch.  Debonair to say the least.

Nice work on the first Golf Tournament to benefit the Sigma Tau Scholarship Fund.  Organizers include Imants Holmquist ’02, Kelly Kolstad ’00, and Richard Maloney ‘11

Our graduate relations guy from the House is busy competing in the “Splash” fund raiser being held by the DG’s.  If you’re inclined to donate to support Erik ‘15, here is his email:    ErikNothstein@hotmail.com

Pete Stiles ’63 reported his business is busy with outplacements of Naval personnel.    

Interesting new business idea from Bob Sternoff ‘78 – and thanks to Bob for stepping in to be the program at the last minute.

Clay Loges ’68 reported on his presentation to the 2013 Tourism Summit introducing the official mobile app for Washington Tourism.   VisitWA on iPhone/iPad and Android smart phones. 

Kyle Griffith '02 - March 2013 Luncheon

Kyle grew up working in his family’s business founded by his father, Hal.  Currently, Kyle is the Vice

President of their company,  Great Western Pacific.  Kyle serves as the operations manager for Pier 57 and the waterfront restaurants and shops located on the Pier. In addition to Pier 57, the family’s company also owns and operates the Crab Pot and Fisherman’s Restaurants located in Bellevue, Washington and in Southern California.  Kyle spoke at our March luncheon. 

Seattle's "Big Wheel" owned and operated by Great Western Pacific

Guest blog post by Gordon Hodge '86

The Seattle Great Wheel - Kyle Griffith Class of 2002

For those interested in entrepreneurship and what makes America great (despite what makes America not so great…lots of red tape and bureaucracy for businesses interested in change and growth), we were treated to a captivating presentation by Kyle Griffith (’02) about his and his father’s (Hal Griffith) quest to develop The Seattle Great Wheel which now graces Seattle’s Pier 57.   In the early 1960’s Kyle’s dad ran and leased a fish restaurant on the pier.  Through some term in the lease the Griffith family came to own Pier 57.  Beginning in the 1970s Hal Griffith attempted to put a Ferris wheel in a park along the piers to add an attraction to the area but faced too much red tape.  This was before the now iconic Santa Monica pier Ferris wheel was built so an opportunity was lost for Seattle for some time.

Roll the clock 30 years forward.  With the viaduct construction work due to temporarily disrupt business along the Seattle waterfront the Griffiths (this time with Kyle old enough to be an active part of the business) resurrected their idea of a Ferris wheel but rather than deal with the daunting red tape that they faced earlier when trying to build it in the waterfront park, they began exploring the potential for building a wheel on the pier.  Given that the wheel they had in mind was to be the largest on the West Coast (almost two times the size of Santa Monica’s) and weighs 280,000 pounds this was an engineering undertaking to say the least.

Kyle reviewed through slides the removal of a significant number of pilings that held up the end of their pier.  Many were over 100 years old and were simply inverted trees.  Replacing those pilings were massive tubes driven to the bedrock with a couple of huge pile drivers that were designed to minimize disturbance of the marine life around the pier.  These were then filled with more than 550 tons of concrete!  The wheel materials came from various places around the globe including Kansas, Germany and Switzerland.  The wheel itself cost approximately $10 million and the reconstruction of the pier and related supports made for an all-in cost of about $30 million.  Quite an investment.  Completed in the early summer of 2012, the Seattle Great Wheel rises 175 feet above the pier and extends 40 feet over the water. 

The wheel officially opened on June 29, 2012 in time for one of the more pleasant Seattle summers in recent times and attendance is on pace to exceed 1 million in the first year, which is ahead of plan.  For a ticket price of $13 for adults and $8.50 for children, up to 300 passengers in 42 fully enclosed gondolas get three turns of the wheel, which takes 15 minutes.  There is even a glass bottom VIP gondola with a $50 ticket price.  In response to a predictable question from our audience, “has anyone gotten lucky on it yet?” Kyle suspects the Wheel has already several members of its “mile high” club equivalent.  Kyle himself “got lucky” in a way as he proposed to his bride on the Great Seattle Wheel!  Those amongst us that had ridden the Great Wheel remarked how nice the personnel were and all enjoyed the experience.  Kyle mentioned that many of the employees are lift operators from local ski areas. 

For those that have not had a chance to ride the Great Seattle Wheel Kyle indicated he would make tickets available at the next Fiji luncheon, but c’mon guys its only $13 and who knows you might even get lucky!

David Gravenkemper '93 -- January 2013 Luncheon

David Gravenkemper '93 and Jack Rhodes '60

After sampling a few corporate jobs, David left his parents speechless as he headed to Tacoma to sell tickets for the mighty Tacoma Rainiers.  He opted to pursue his passion for sports.

From this modest starting point, David has progressed through positions with the Anaheim Angels, the Seattle Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Seattle Sonics, and now the Univ. of Washington Athletics Department.

In his 7 years with Husky Athletics, he's developed a full-time sales staff, contracted with Ticketmaster to manage and track ticket sales, and developed sophisticated systems for analyzing and pricing tickets.

Apart from the primary efforts of the department to grow the number of season ticket holders for UW's many sports, David also talked about the newest trend of variable pricing for single game ticket sales.  He explained how the San Francisco Giants pioneered the practice a few years ago.  It's similar to pricing for airline tickets -- the prices can vary with supply/demand, pace of sales, popularity of teams......or lack of popularity.

Doug Leland '72, Todd Vecchio '88, and David Gravenkemper '93

Soon, when a big name team plays the Huskies at Hec Ed, the tickets will cost more than a game with a lesser name team.  The Univ. of Washington has contracted with Digoness of Indianapolis to receive pricing recommendations from their Sports & Entertainment Analytical Ticketing System (SEATS).  The system evaluates "team performance, league position, opponent, scheduling, and other econometric and behavioral factors."

The Huskies are the second NCAA Division 1 school and the first PAC 12 school to implement SEATS for its athletic programs. Several times a week, David and two other members of management at the Athletics Department meet to review the pricing recommendations and to adjust the pricing for the tickets.

David has also proved to be a good problem-solver for brothers who need assistance with ticketing challenges.  If you need the help of our in-house expert, contact David at Ticket Sales for the UW Athletics Department.  

Some of the 70's era attending: Mark Tsutakawa '75, Ray Paxton '73, John Flower '73, and Tom Napa '74

James McCurdy '79 - December 2012 Luncheon

Peter Phillips '76 giving his "little brother" a blockbuster introduction.

James McCurdy '79

December luncheon crowd with McCurdy at podium

As the President of the Downtown Seattle Rotary (commonly known as #4), James McCurdy '79 was invited on a US Navy overnight on the aircraft carrier John Stennis.

Before James shared his insider experience with our our luncheon crowd, he was introduced by his "big brother" Peter Philipps '76.  Peter gave a glowing review of James and his status as a fourth generation Washingtonian.  Peter began with James' great grandfather becoming the janitor of the Port Townsend bank at age 14, and then took us through the impressive McCurdy family's business history. 









Wearing his USS John C. Stennis cap, McCurdy shared the experience of boarding the aircraft carrier stationed a 100 miles off-shore.  The arrival on the deck was via the transit plane landing on the deck and being snagged by the hook.  Of course the presentation ended with James' accounting of the explosive take off from the carrier deck as they returned the visitors to the base at San Diego.  

The first day was spent deck level and above, and the second day the visitors toured the below decks quarters.  The visit included dining on the carrier and sleeping in quarters directly under the flight deck. 

McCurdy's commentary on the structure, the layout, the crew culture, and the intricacies of 10,000 person community afloat was quite interesting.  His excellently descriptive reporting generated a number of questions from the audience.  






Generally an experience well-shared with the group.  Thanks to James for an interesting luncheon.

Fijis mentioned in the December issue of the UW Columns

Stan Pocock '46

A lifetime devoted to the sport of rowing has earned Stan Pocock '46 the 2012 U.S. Rowing Medal of Honor, the highest honor awarded by the U.S. Rowing organization.

Stan was awarded his medal at the Golden Oars Awards Dinner at the New York Athletic Club in November.

After rowing for the UW and graduating with a degree in engineering, Stan coached at UW from 1947-1955.  He then became the first coach of the Lake Washington Rowing Club and coached several crews that participated in the Olympics -- one of which won the gold medal for the men's four at the Rome Olympics in 1960.  The Pocock Rowing center is part of Stan's heritage.

Congratulations to Stan Pocock for an award well-deserved.

Others mentioned in the Columns included John Buller '69.  John is the former executive director of the UW Alumni Association.  This year he is honored to serve as the 2013 Chair of Seafair. 

On page 29 our own Cliff Otis '73 received a favorable mention for the special client of his Matthews Estate winery.

Since 2009, the winery has reserved some of its finest grapes for a special client:  the UW President's Residence.

When Mark Emmert was UW president, Cliff and his wife, Diane, proposed these wines which are served only in the president's residence on special occasions (and the wine is not available for sale).  A portion of the proceeds of Matthews Estate's Blackboard red goes to the Ackerley Foundation, which supports the UW College of Education's training of K-12 teachers.  

Sigma Tau Scholarships

Sigma Tau Scholarship Foundation Scholarships Awarded at the 2012 Pig Dinner Class ‘59 Pete Hanson Memorial Scholarship
	Hank Thayer	$   2,000.00
	Alex Fraser	$   2,000.00
Higgins Family Graduate Scholarship
	Steve Boni	$   5,000.00
David A. Mowat Scholarship
	Bradley Zentz	$   4,000.00
Sigma Tau - General Scholarship
	Spencer Face	$   2,000.00
	Erik Nothstein	$   2,000.00
Sigma Tau - Highest Freshman GPA
	Ryan Albert	$      500.00
		$ 17,500.00

November 2012 Luncheon -- Univ. of Washington President Michael Young

Univ. of Washington President Michael Young

 Bob Sternoff '78 demonstrated the leadership he is known for, and he invited our speaker.  "Thanks Bob", because we were fortunate to have UW President Michael Young speaking to our well-attended luncheon.  Entering his second year as head of the Univ. of Washington, we were treated to an engaging presentation by the president.  And following his presentation, he opened the floor to questions of all nature.  ’ll have the opportunity to hear about his plans and ambitions for the UW.   

We also seized the opportunity to introduce our fraternity to the good president.  Keep in mind that he not only impacts the all-important relationship between our fraternity and the university, but he is also the CEO of the University which means that Young heads the third largest employer in Washington State, with more than 70,000 employees. 

Michael K. Young became President of the University of Washington on July 1, 2011. Also a tenured Professor of Law, President Young has a distinguished record as an academic leader with broad experience in public service and diplomacy. As UW President, he leads the nation’s top public university (2nd among all universities) in attracting federal research funding. (Note that among all universities public and private, the UW is outmatched by only John Hopkins.)  The 

Prior to his appointment at the UW, he served as President and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Utah. Under President Young’s leadership, Utah raised its stature nationally and internationally. It led the nation in the number of new companies generated from university research, significantly raised the academic profile of the student body, expanded international education, and built more than 2 million square feet of new research and teaching facilities. Private giving to the university also rose significantly during President Young’s tenure, and the number of donors more than doubled.

Pres. Michael Young and Bob Sternoff '78

Highlights in President Young's comments:

• Printed books are no longer assumed to be a part of the collegiate education.  Without books, a different approach is required for 1) factual verification and 2) conceptual frameworks. 

• UW is a partiicpant in online education group Coursera.  The UW offers 4-5 courses, and the lowest enrollment in a class is 40,000 (70-80% are from abroad). 

• The UW has nearly 100,000 students -- this was news to our luncheon group -- the explanation is 45,000 students on the three UW camuses and another 45,000 students in extended programs (on-line, off-campus, etc.)

• UW is rated the 16th best university in the world

• UW is actively engaged with 100 public schools in the state.  They are engaged in studies of what works, how to improve, and how to scale up.