vague? thank you. chairperson hur: public comment on matters appearing are not appearing on the agenda. hearing none, mr. renny, welcome to the ethics commission. thank you for participating in your first meeting. this meeting is adjourned.

[applause] >> good evening. welcome to the third annual palo awards. thank you for allowing me to participate in this event. i hope you understand how out of place i am here. i mean that sincerely. it is an occupational hazard i have encountered the past few years, taking on this role in "the big bang theory." this is not the first invitation to events for which i am ill suited. i once introduced nobel prize- winning physicist george smoot, because i play a character who is a physicist and a genius. i am neither. science class was the only class i ever failed. while i am not an absolute

dunce, i learn the signs phrases i speak on the show. i memorize them the same way you learn english phonetically. it is a good trick. i often speak at comiccon, because i play a character obsessed with, and books. i don't know anything more about comics ben -- than "cathy" or "calvin and hobbes." i finally had to admit i had never seen an episode of "star trek." i am so sorry. i never know if my thumb is supposed to be in and -- in or out when i do the hand signal. i do not know what it means. i apologize to all of you. tonight, i have the privilege of speaking at the tech awards. regarding technology, my knowledge is limited to a few

facts. i know the character i play on tv uses a pc. i use a mac at home. the only difference to me is i think the mac is prettier. i just joined facebook in the past year. i have for the friends. [laughter] -- 40 friends. i joined twitter around the same time. i have no followers. i changed pseudonyms a dozen times. i sent messages to politicians and athletes to congratulate them on living after loss. despite all of this, i am here with you, the most tech-savvy people of all. i am grateful. i will not understand most of what you talk about, but i will listen carefully, and may be able to parrot back a phrase or two. i have very good memory. the pact follows award honors 20 individuals for their outstanding achievement in one of four critical areas of entrepreneurship -- general

management, disruptive innovation, product marketing, and engineering. for each category, 5 tech fellow awards will be permitted. to be fair, ask everyone to hold their applause until all the winners have been named. i always find it difficult, so i apologize. tonight, we recognize the men and women who have revolutionized the way we communicate. the rest of us will populate what they invent with videos and dancing babies. they will be only the third class admitted to the fellowship. the winners will invest over $2 million. this event honors the creative individuals to this great -- displayed courage in pushing the envelope and believing the

genius of their own ideas. the world needs more of you. without further ado. san francisco is, of course, famous for many things. there are cars, the golden gate bridge, alcatraz, the forty- niners. it is known as an incubator for innovation. more than 500 technology firms call this city home. a major reason for this is the welcome and support the city gives those who are willing to take big risks and think different. tonight, it is my honor to introduce a man who is a great friend to the technology -- technology committee, and the leader of this great city. please welcome the 43rd mayor of this great city, mr. ed lee. [applause] mayor lee: good evening. thank you for that introduction. welcome to the third tech awards

in san francisco, the city of innovation. i want to welcome you here. i understand there are 20 awards, $100,000 each. i think there will be 21 awards. i slept in one nomination that you might recognize. i want to thank the hosts here, techcrunch. a little over a year ago, they invited me to their media center and announced me as the first non-politician office holder. i want to thank the founders and the founders fund, our partner, and new enterprise associates. thank you for being the host of this great event. i am also very excited to hear all the nominees. so many of them are part of