Chillaxin with Bernard Huang at Clearscope Launch Party
Last night I attended the Clearscope Launch Party with my longtime friend Cathy Luke. Co-founded by our Paubox friend Bernard Huang, Clearscope uses machine learning on the top Google search results to identify key performance factors for creating and optimizing content. We're lucky to say Bernard was our DPOC (Distribution Point of Contact) during our time at 500 Startups. We're also proud to say we at Paubox are early adopters of Clearscope!
The launch party went down at 111 Minna Gallery, a chill art gallery and bar in SOMA. The last time I was here was back in January during JPM week for an afterparty hosted by GE Ventures.
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Bernard had pizza catered by Pizzeria Delfina, which I thought was quite tasty. On a tip from Cathy (CL), I tried to incorporate art *and* pizza into my blog post pic. Maybe I should have moved the paper towels.
Cathy and I met back in 2006 when we were selected to participate in the Pacific Century Fellows program in Hawaii. It had been about three years since we last hung out. I should do a better job of staying in touch.
The Pacific Century Fellows program is a nine month program that begins with a two day retreat. Then, once a month, an all-day session will address a particular subject such as education, government, healthcare and quality of life. For example, a seminar focusing on criminal justice might include a ride-along with a police officer on patrol (we did that), a visit to Drug Court, a meeting with the judge in his chambers, a tour of correctional facilities (we did that) and an opportunity to talk with the Director of Public Safety and members of the Paroling Authority. Program Fellows will help plan the sessions, bringing in community leaders to talk about the challenges they face. I'd say one of the highlights of the program was spending a couple days aboard the USS Lincoln while it was out to sea. We boarded the aircraft carrier by doing a trap landing. Pretty cool stuff. Beforehand, I brushed up on Top Gun quotes by watching it several times back-to-back. I was binge-watching before it was a thing! Come to think of it, some of the crew mistook Cathy for professional golfer Michelle Wie, so I played along and told them I was her caddy.
A couple of Cathy's friends were in town from Hawaii, so we walked over to SOMA Restaurant and Bar to meet up. Ally Park and Kaleo Schneider soon met us and we got down to connecting the dots to see who we knew in common and what high school we went. Very Hawaii style. Ally is president at Clinical Labs of Hawaii and she caught me up on some savvy new projects she's spearheading. Kaleo owns Buzz's Steakhouse in Hawaii, a favorite of President Obama. Kaleo also heads up Donor Outreach & Education with Hoola Na Pua. Their mission revolves around the renewal of trafficked girls through health, education, advocacy, and reintegration. Pretty heavy stuff. Kaleo was intrigued about NPS (Net Promotor Scores), which also interests me. I'm flying back soon for family and business. I look forward to connecting again with them at Buzz's Lanikai :)
SEE ALSO: President Obama at Buzz's Jan 3 2014 (YouTube)