...NSBE (Literally) Saves the Bay!...

On Saturday, the NSBE Alumni Extension took its power and influence to the streets and participated in a tree planting event hosted by the Save the Bay organization. Our planting location was the marshy area east of Palo Alto…or in East Palo Alto. Apparently, it doesn't take very long to drive to a natural wildlife environment because it was only within a few short turns off of Highway 101 that we reached our destination.




Roughly 25 people braved the mild winds and overcast conditions to populate the soil along an unpaved road with foliage, and of the group, six people represented the NSBE alumni chapter on a cold Saturday morning.







The next time you're out on a friendly/romantic walk (you know, whichever), be sure to ask which plant was put in place by the Silicon Valley NSBE Alumni Extension. It'll make you proud.

...Thursday Night Pub Quiz Smackdown...

If you're like me, you hadn't heard of a Pub Quiz before Thursday. But, if you ARE like me, that would not be a surprise. Essentially, a “pub quiz” is literally a quiz that takes place in a pub. Go figure, huh? Suspicion leads me to believe that pub quizzes were created by pub owners looking to increase patronage in the middle of the week, instead of just on the weekends. Throw in a “Happy Hour” and you’ve got attendees drinking in the middle of the week!


It turns out that Pub Quizzes are all the rage (well, they were as of the mid 90s, according to Wikipedia…) in Britain. Several years later, the game has crossed the pond (a.k.a. the Atlantic Ocean), jumped over much of the entire United States, and landed at Loft Bar and Grill in downtown San Jose. Teams are formed among the pubs attendees, and several rounds are played where a host asks various teams a series of questions. The teams work together – while still getting served dinner and drinks – to submit their answers for each round. If you like trivia, this is the game for you! Questions are pulled from a broad spectrum of topics, and the more teams involved, the more competitive it can all get.


A Pub Quiz outing is the perfect social event because you can invite lots and lots of people to participate, and all you’re simply doing is spicing up the staid dinner and post-dinner chit-chat. This is great for those who fail at social conversation. (Looks around sheepishly…) It forces you to open lines of communication with someone with whom you may have not yet spoken. See? It’s GREAT for NSBE-AE-SVC.


Thursday’s Pub Quiz brought out a large number of NSBE-AE-SVC members and quite a few guests. Meals and drinks were ordered, and a team name was decided upon. (“The Lofty Travistas”…no, not my idea, and the host couldn’t pronounce it. We’d have been better off being called the “Square Losers”. Sigh.) Microphone in hand, the game-show-ready host introduced all the teams (four, in total) and presented a series of questions. Round 1 challenged our retention of random-yet-useful knowledge (“What’s the capital of New Hampshire?” Don’t judge; you don’t know the answer either.). Round 2 challenged our recollection of famous movie lines. Round 3 gauged how much educational and trash TV we watched. (Who memorizes a picture of John Wilkes Booth?! My sister.) Round 4 tested our auditory absorption of current events.


All in all, there was a question for every single person – all twelve of us – to answer. Clearly, the more people you have on your team, the higher the winning potential. But one thing we learned is that the larger your team, the more challenging it is to communicate. You can’t yell, “Hey guy-on-the-other-end-of-the-table, what’s the name of that country next to Venezuela?”


Next time around, development of strategy will be our focus. For despite having twelve people at our table, we STILL LOST THE GAME!! Yeah, you heard that (read that…) right. A bunch of really loud guys (maybe there was a girl in their midst, who knows) at the bar beat our table by 3 or 4 points. And they got to have $30 taken of their bill as a reward! We only got $20 off of ours. *tear*

So now you know what a Pub Quiz is. Next time you see it on the NSBE-AE-SVC calendar, be there! (Or be square.)

...March NSBE Jr. Meeting...

The March meeting was all about planes. The turnout was great; it was a meeting with mostly new faces. The students arrived to learn about geometry and they completed very difficult problems which had even the mentors looking at answer keys for help.

After math warm-up problems, the students took some time to get to know each other. The icebreaker involved learning facts about the other students. A few brave volunteers were able to recite three names of people they had just met that day.

The guest speaker for the March NSBE Jr meeting was Ben Henderson. Ben is retired from both the US Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. He is currently a pilot and is in the process of starting a non-profit organization to teach kids how to fly. Ben spoke about being the best at whatever you attempt to do in life. He also answered questions ranging from how the average auto pilot works on planes, to how pilots can see in the fog. The kids enjoyed getting first -hand interaction with an experienced pilot.

After Mr. Henderson motivated the students about aviation, it was their turn to build their own gliders. The gliders were built from a single sheet of balsa wood, and they took many different forms. The April NSBE Jr meeting with determine which of the gliders flies the farthest.

Three of the students will be attending the National Convention in Orlando, Fl, thanks to Applied Materials. The students will have travel, hotel, and conference registration entirely paid for by the company. The National Convention will give the students an opportunity to learn about engineering disciplines, get hands on experience in various workshop sessions, and meet other young, bright minds from all over the country. They are very excited about their upcoming trip and will give an update to the group upon their return.

Please join us at the next NSBE Jr meeting on April 12, 2008.

...March Power Lunch...

The blessings brought on by Thai food cannot be quantified. Good stuff. Cheap, too, depending on where you go. More importantly, such establishments are EVERYWHERE. There were three in the Sunnyvale downtown area that we met for the March Power Lunch meeting. Of the three, the March Power Lunch was held at Siam Taste Thai Cuisine restaurant along the popular Murphy Avenue.



As usual, everyone took their time gathering together. Eventually, people started to trickle in within a 15-minute span, 15-minutes after the time we reserved. By the way, I wonder what it’s like to be a restaurant owner or wait staff observing all of this: are they going to show up? Are they really going to need those many tables? How long before I start giving the three people sitting at a table reserved for ten the “evil eye”? My fear is that laws will be enacted by restaurateurs in an attempt to correct this phenomenon. What if someday laws exist that allow for reservations to be revoked if attendees don’t arrive within a specified period of time? Imagine if that happened to our Alumni chapter – would we ever have a Power Lunch again?? Think about it.


Seven people arrived for lunch. A pretty good number for lunch in (non-Santa Clara) Sunnyvale. All complained about the difficulty of searching for parking, but were quieted by the relative emptiness of the restaurant by the time of their arrival. (We arrived shortly before the lunch rush.) Mini-discussions were held. Unfortunately, a common trait among professionals when they get together is that they MUST talk about work. Incessantly. After that topic was allowed to die, we touched upon subjects ranging from TV (“Did you watch ‘Lost’ last night?”), to work start times (“I haven’t started work earlier than 10am!”), to weekend plans (“Blah, blah, and blah.” – um, I don’t remember anyone’s weekend plans…the artwork on the wall distracted my attention by that point) and, finally, to the climactic and semi-divisive Democratic presidential campaign. On the Republican side, we all – well, a small faction of the group – agreed on one thing: while John McCain may be a competent candidate, his wife sure looks scary! There’s something about too much black eyeliner with icy-blue eyes…she really should move to a dark brown. That was a free fashion tip. ;)


We eventually went back to the topic of work and its philosophical and socio-economic purpose. Large companies versus small companies: what is the amount of individual creativity/innovation does one “hand over” in exchange for greater benefits and relative stability? Ah, the question of the ages. Please share your answers in the comments section below. No, really. Go ahead.

The only complaint I have about our restaurant is the length of time it took for the waitress to take our order. Perhaps they wanted to be sure our group was complete, considering how long it took for us to convene. Perhaps they were swamped by the 12:30p lunch rush that developed in the midst of our pre-lunch conversation. And we did end up having to sacrifice an extra table after all. Perhaps our lolly gagging had something to do with it? How rare is it to see "lolly gagging" in a sentence?


Lessons from this outing:

1. Thai food is awesome.
2. Friday was a beautiful day to eat Thai food.
3. Eating too much Thai food will cause you to experience a food coma. (a.k.a. "The Itis") FYI.

...February General Body Meeting...

Ah...another wonderfully great and useful general body meeting. Good job, Elvis...or Alex. Here's to whomever invited our guest speaker!

Yes, a great and useful meeting. I know, I know - the advertisement for the meeting stated that it would be a 'Tax Workshop". While under most circumstances, that tagline would succeed in scaring away many potential patrons, the turnout for the meeting was fairly significant. Perhaps the idea of doing "taxes" DOES have a lure of its own. Go figure.

The meeting started with a hearty breakfast featuring not-from-concentrate orange juice, miniature bagels, and Little Debbie snack cookies as a little extra gift...for myself. (As the meeting's breakfast shopper for the day, I threw in a little extra. :) ) Next was the ice breaker - always a ridiculously entertaining and energizing spectacle no matter who's running it. This time, Tari played the role of game show host. In honor of Black History Month, Tari attempted to be the game show host of a Black History Month trivia guessing game. The goal was to excite the audience by luring them into a(n educational) game show about modern and notable engineers and scientists, but he succeeded in driving a few people crazy with his sparsely explained "rules" of the game. Further complicating the game were the EXCESSIVELY COMPETITIVE people (cough, cough...Jeremy, cough, Renee,...cough, Seitu, cough, cough)!! After a while, I just sat back and watched the chaos unfold. Now THAT was awesome. Sadly, though, it looks like most of us need to brush up on our modern day Black History facts. Well, there's always next year!

Up next was our guest speaker from H&R Block, Master Tax Advisor Dan Hunt. Mr. Hunt selected tax topics that most affected the age range of the meeting attendees: student debt, participation in Employee Purchase Programs, stock sales, and 401(k) and other retirement program contributions. Mr. Hunt was a unique H & R Block employee because of his background. He had earned an engineering degree, worked several years (decades?) as an engineer, and then retired from industry. Now, in his retirement, he utilized his love - yes, LOVE - of taxes and tax preparation to the community by providing group informational sessions to the public. His goal is to educate his audience on the pros and cons that result from their financial decisions and to get them to start thinking about how they're going to prepare for the following year.

The response from the audience was great! Once everyone realized that there are many different ways to, uh, *cheat* the system, the level of intrigue was palpable. No, the most interesting blog read, but certainly a very interesting live presentation. He was armed with an abundance of tips. Basically, if you can funnel your money into retirement savings (which you can still do for the 2007 year by April 15th, by the way...) or if you donated a whole bunch of money/gifts to charity, you could move into a lower tax bracket and possibly receive a larger refund. Or you can receive tax credit for driving back and forth between jobs! Or you can be credited for your business lunches! Thus, the moral of the story is that life's a game of chess - there are just a few smart moves that will help you win. To much disappointment, Mr. Hunt had to leave. He handed out information about tax brackets to help in preparations for 2008 taxes.

To get in contact with Master Tax Advisor Dan Hunt, call 408.253.8871 and ask for him. I'm sure you'll jog his memory of who you are if you mention NSBE Alumni. Just a tip.


After the tax help, the meeting drew to an end. Here were the announcements:

- First Friday Lunch: Siam Taste Thai Cuisine in Sunnyvale on March 7, 2008.

- The March general body meeting is cancelled due to the NSBE National Convention.

- NSBE National Convention is on the week of March 19 - 23, 2008. (Please contact the chapter President, Elvis, regarding room availability and/or list of conference attendees.)

- NSBE-AE Silicon Valley Banquet is on April 5, 2008 @6:30pm. Stay tuned!!


Until next time, enjoy!

...Let the Webbing of Networks Begin!...

What do you get when you mix a group of professionals, a nice restaurant, free refreshments, and wine? A networking event!!


Everyone who joins our NSBE Alumni Extension chapter says, “Yeah, I really want to attend this… yeah, I really want to volunteer for that…and I really want to network!” Perhaps it’s not stated with that much enthusiasm, but ask any member of the board, and they’ll confirm the truth behind that statement.


The NSBE response was to do it big: become a partner in a combined, multi-organizational networking event, sponsored by a major corporation, to acquire the full effect. Held at Il Fornaio Restaurant in Palo Alto, professionals from the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), The African Network (TAN), and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), gathered in a covered (and heated!) patio area of the restaurant. Perhaps a few people *forgot* to RSVP because the room was a bit on the crowded side. The plus side to the large number of people was that it wasn’t quite as difficult as usual to strike up a conversation with a total stranger. It was harder work to stand in the corner and NOT talk to someone!



Host Qualcomm allowed everyone to freely mingle before they formally introduced themselves to the packed room. There were several employees dressed in Qualcomm apparel ready to answer questions about the company. They raffled off a Blackberry right at the start – just the right kind of technology to get everyone excited. They were also handing out USB flash drives and advertising their numerous job openings located in sites throughout the Bay Area and San Diego. Once the company introduction was complete, everyone was free to start working their net. (Get it? “net” – “work”??)

One couldn’t help but notice that initially, a large majority of the crowd stuck with their professional organization cliques…it was like junior high and high school all over again! Excessive shyness and/or discomfort, maybe? Who knows? But once everyone inhaled the available refreshments and loosened up on vino, intermingling began. Throughout the room, business cards were exchanging hands. It was great talking to different people about what they’re doing in their job and what they’re getting out fo their professional organization. (Don’t worry; I took notes.)


Networking is an artform that takes guts. You need guts to walk up to a stranger on the premise that the only thing you have in common is that you’re both professionals. You need guts to know what to say after initial introductions have been made, and guts to know when and how to end a conversation, hand over your business card, and walk on to the next person. It’s practice that can only be honed when used in a practical setting.

Major lessons learned:
1. Uh...I should probably start carrying around my business cards. Hm.
2. Practice, practice, practice!
3. When in doubt, just start talking to the person standing next to you!

... fast, faster, more faster, even more faster ...

By Victoria Onyeabor

"Engy 500"

Mindful of the new California cell phone law, I scanned for blue and red out the driver's side window, while my right hand tossed my cell to its partner before deftly shifting up gears to narrowly cut off a blue Ford as I caught the 101 onramp with my headlights the way a sprinter catches a breath. The horizon of the freeway opened up before me, and I unzipped the rows of reflectors with a black knife shaped like a 2007 Sentra. Elvis' "K see ya" was squished between folding halves of my RAZR halfway along its trajectory from hand to passenger seat. My right foot earned free reign as I eyed Corollas carrying tired fathers home from work, and Camrys taking little Jimmys to their birthday dinners, my targets of domination. I checked the clock: after 7. I immediately weaved dangerously around an ambitious Hyundai Sonata to satiate my car's hunger for HOV diamonds. In my mind, I was already on the GoKart Track, the deathly stadium of impending collision with cackling whiplash curves, the Coliseum of man vs bloodthirsty speed demon.







In Fremont, the stately daredevils of NSBE's Silicon Valley Alumni Extension were already strapping up for the moment of truth. Gloves, helmets, blue flag means faster, black flag means faster, yellow lights mean...

FASTER

Breathless, I charged onto the makeshift track, blinded by streaks of beautiful brown as they dangerously embraced curves of tarmac. Within 60 seconds, I merged with the fast and furious, tracing the brown ribbon in an impossible loop, viciously pulling the rug out from under my brethren. Yellow flag…

Faster?







I cut off Elvo and Shred You 2 before competing for the inside turn with Brit, sending her on a spiraling collision course with the wall. Makinde the Raptor charged past me and Elvo recovered his rank as I fish tailed across the lane from a collision with Dan and Idleyute. Blue flag…

Faster?

The moderators were waving wildly, but I couldn’t hear a damn thing over the ear shattering rubber squeal of my determination, and the sputtering roar of mental machinery calculating every z-plane steering angle needed to achieve the desired x-y acceleration inside seven fellow engineering minds. I veered to the left, hogging the lane lest Disterics lap me, and focused my attention on Mr. Action. Back at the start of a long smooth curve, he floored the gas to edge up on Big Homie. I followed suit. Checkered flag…

It was over. We proudly marched from our steaming karts in slow motion and referenced the projected scoreboard for our respective judgments.

Fourth.







I’ll take that. The undepleted adrenaline demanded that we refuel at Dave and Busters. We drove in real cars on real roads like raving maniacs, and threatened the lives of those sharing the path between Lemans Karting and Dave and Busters like 16 year olds heading to the club. No one should ever drive a real car after GoKarting.

Over rigatoni pasta, chicken quesadillas, nachos, and colorful drinks, we introduced ourselves where needed and discussed the usual before launching into a heated debate over the appropriate dance floor approach of the male Homo Sapien. “He shouldn’t come up behind a female he doesn’t know,” “But it’s whack to introduce yourself first,” and “How do you make the front to back transition without looking crazy?” and “By the way, did you see those freaks ‘dancing’ behind the DJ booth at NSBE Nationals last year?”







It was late, it was Thursday, numbers exchanged, cold outside, last minute jokes, and back into the solitude of my black knife, cutting over the horizon of the 101 onramp on my way to an early Friday in my cubicle.