♪ >> so nicely here, and very happy that all of you could come out and join us, you know, on this evening. my namey. the director of the night rover challenge. i'm going to kind of be the moderator for tonight, as we go through this first-ever challenge america summit. so i've got just a few things that, you know, i wanted to do with everyone, before we get into the program. first of all, i just want to take a minute and have everyone

just look around this room. in this room, we have amazing people that are corporate, nonprofit, and government, all focused on challenge driven innovation in some way or another. this is a really powerful,interf people that are gathered here to look at how competitions can drive innovation. that's what tonight is all about, is, you know, the next step in creating a real wave of innovation. my job tonight is just to give you a little bit of background on what we are, what we're tiqp)q)s that we have.roup of so just to get going with that, i want to tell you a little bit about this thing called the night rover/< challenge. this is a collaboration between the clean tech open, unoodle, and nasa. it's a program from nasa's office of centennial challenges. and it's challengin the best

innovators in america to create radical new energy storage technology. you know, way above what we have now. this is something very powerful, to be able to keep rovers going on the moon, in mars, things that could be useful, in your cell electric vehicles, something that just is a radical leap in new technology. but i don't want to go into a lot of detail on that. you'll hear more about nasa's efforts later. and what i'm going to do1r is ge a little more background on challenge-driven innovation. and i'm going to do that just by plaijerrizing some people because it makes it a loteasier for me. i want to look at this quote, prize is a very old -- an old idea that is surprisingly powerful in our modern society. this is by a study that by mckenzie and company, back in 2010. prize is a very old idea, very powerful in our modern society.

surprisingly powerful in our modern society. mckenzie also said this, 32,000, in 2010, there were 32,000no competitions, competitions, prizes, awards. that's a big number. it could be bigger but it's a big number, for one year, 32,000 competitions happened. to continue on in myk mckenzie also said this, while tens of thousands of prizes and awards are give out every year, we've been struck by the lack of conferences or professional associations to share best practices and facilitate collaboration. now there's some kind of relationship between what doing here today, and that. i don't know exactly what it is, but hopefully by the end of tonight and tomorrow, we can start j we're doing here, can really start toqphp having an organization, or, you

know, somethingd exactly what mckenzie is saying is missing. so this just brings me to myó last question. and it's why are we here. here inca this room. that's just one side of it. i'm not talking about why we're here in som galactic cosmic sense of theá@ word. what i'm talking about is a more important part of that question. i am missing a slide in there. so the important part of that question was why are we here in san francisco. and we're here in san francisco because san francisco is one of the most innovative cities in the galaxy, and it's a very great place to be the home of the challenge america summit, the first-ever challenge america summit. so it's now my job to introduce

our first speaker of the night, who is going to officially kick off the first-ever challenge america summit, somebody who has been verylfe instrumental in creating a movement around innovation in san francisco. just a few months ago, announced october as innovation month inla whole lot of work on, you know, creating a@g real ecosystem for entrepreneurs, for governments, for everybody to create new ideas and new innovations. please join me in welcoming mayor ed lee to the floor. >> [applause.] >> thank you. thank you, josh. welcome, everybody. now that i know where i'm at, i want to welcome all of you, i want to of course thank the night challenge -- night rover challenge, nasa, of course, for being here. i also want to thank s.p.u.r.

again for hosting it. you know, when i started working with s.p.u.r. many years ago, i knew they were a spacey people. didn't realize it would ultimately end like this. wanted to thank s.p.u.r. because they really have always been host for so many of our great ideas of how to do better planning in the city. i also want to thank -- i know jennifer is here as well -- i told you when i first met you, i love your title, director of prizes? are you kidding? of course she has the longer title, but i thought that when bevan dufty and i were creating the director of hope in san francisco that we thought we had a pretty good title but now i'm going to change over, director of prizes. i may have to adopt that for some of our programs. but that's exciting for you to be here as well. certainly for green tech, open, for their contributions here, because it's really a neat blend, with the efforts that we're doing, both in innovation,

as well as being greener and trying to continue earning the greenest city of america title that we earned just this past year. we've been pretty lucky. as i announced this innovation month, there has just been scores of ideas that has come forward about what we could do, how we could celebrate, and how we could expose a lot more about what our technology companies are doing here in collaboration with so many others. but i'll begin by saying, first, you know, there are some things happening in our city that are just incredible. you know, i didn't declare myself to be, you know, the tech mayor, even though i've kind of fallen into a lot of that. i actually wanted to be -- and earned the title being the jobs mayor. the jobs for the city has been my number one goal. and we've been doing pretty well. when i first began last year in 2011, unemployment rate here was

9.6. and just a few months ago, we celebrated the milestone that it went down to 7.4. and that's like the third lowest in the state. well, today, we got some even better news. so how about we flip 9.6, a year ago, to 6.9. today, it's 6.9. >> [applause.] >> and technology is leading the way. we're home to now -- just within our 49 square miles, we're home to 1,635 technology companies, still growing, over 225 clean tech companies, more than 100 biotech companies, and we have owncone of those categories or growing more every month. imgetting excited because that means a lot more jobs. i think we will soon lead the whole state. and i kind of say that too because marin county has traditionally been lower than

ours and so has san mateo. i think marin county has been lower because we have their wine, you will probably have some tonight and san ma taiee because it's our airport that emploaxcju everybody there. so we will take credit for all three counties. i told jerry, i'm never going to complain to jerry brown, what he to happen in the state legislature, because i used the first year and a half to insulate myself from all of that, emotionally as well as programmatically to say i'm not going to let the state hurt our city or the federal government. we've got to innovate our way out of this economic dole drum and we are doing so with inviting people here. those of you who take this word challenge, and really can really seriously bring that to fore with your best ideas, this is what i'm doing with all these technology companies.

i'm not satisfied with just hosting a new company in the city, i want to know what they're doing, who's working there, where they're coming from, what they plan for the five or 10 years and how we can help them grow. as they're growing their jobs i want to know technologically how we can help. that's why i love going to accelerators, to find out what are the next five years that we're incubating so when it comes like what happened last week with dr. yam naka working at gladstone institute at mission bay becomes one of the newest nobel prize winners in medicine working with uc-san francisco and the pharmaceutical companies there, they're on the verge of discovering wonderful stem cell research that will cure a lot of cancers in our lifetime. you're going to see some cures come out of mission bay. we're doing the right thing, we're creating this wonderful, exciting innovative spirit in the city and we're doing it, not

just with the companies locating here, with the people that are here, we're asking employees of the company to step up, through our sf city, our tech chamber of commerce, and volunteer their time to improve things that are not working as well as we'd like in the city. we have on-line ability called improve sf that allows people to come on line, tackle a lot of the issues that the city faces, allow for some c)eative thinking, people who can't spend a lot of time in meetings with us, that can actually offer their ideas on line, and we take those ideas very seriously. so we've been working on things on like how to make muni faster, how to bring fresh foods to low income poverty areas of the city, and our newest one, just to given you a sense, we wanted everybody to help us develop and design a new library card. talk about civic engagement. 2,000 submissions on line for a new designed library card.

that leads me to a challenge that i would like to announce, as part of this night rover challenge, and that is we have been asking ourselves a question, along the lines of energy use in the city, something that has been hard for us to figure out. and that has to do with what would inspire you, as someone who lives in the city, to give your data of your own energy use in the city, like your home energy use? all that data about when you use it, what are your hot times, your cool times. how about if we try to find some way to inspire people to give us that]h data, in some coordinated way. because if we understand that 20 to 22% of our emissions comes from1ar residenl use, you can imagine if we had that data coming from every household use in the city we could break that data down with

involvement of creative people like yourselves, and then try o see where there's patterns where we could lessen our carbon footprint and talk about better energy use. that's perfect for us. that's what we're going to ask this challenge to present for our next improve sf challenge for the city. and that's what we'd like to engage people in. and then hopefully, some time after this challenge is announced, and if we can get the best ideas out there, we will be engaged with you to select the best answer. and if there's an idea out there that can answer that question about how to inspire people, then hopefully wq can go into november a hack-athon sponsored by green biz and others to develop an app that everyone can use. that's a great challenge. that's going to be so worthy of contributing to a goal that we've had about reducing our

carbon footprint as a city. it's not just the households. once we get that data out we could look at the data from a community.re level and look at e data from a citywide level to see what we can do. i'm encouraged by that. i didn't want to give my data up to pg&e for various reasons. now iú] want to give it up for this challenge because i know people will be creative in having thisçe challenge to be something positive for the city. i wanted to announce that, get that out there with you, and join this wonderful challenge that you have, and think about how we could work together. meanwhile, in between that stuff and in between celebrating the month and doing things we have to write a proposal to win the superbowl in san francisco. thank you very much. thank you. >> [applause.] >> thank you, mayor lee.

>> hello, i am with the san francisco parks department serious we are featuring some wonderful locations in your and very own backyard. this is your chance to find your heart in san francisco with someone special.

we are here at the lovely and historic palace of fine arts, located in the bustling marina district. originally built for the 1950's exposition, the palace is situated along san francisco's waterfront. it is ada accessible and is reached by the 28, 30, and 91 bus lines. with its rotunda, columns, uncut the reflecting waters against the eucalyptus trees, it is one of the most romantic settings for special dates, and memorable proposals. it is also a perfect spot where you can relax with that special someone while listening to the water and fountain in the lagoon. beautiful to view from many locations, and inside is an

ideal place to walk around with your loved ones. the palace is the most popular wedding location in the city park system. reservations for weddings and other events are available at strecpark.org. shakespeares' guard and refers -- has plants referred to in shakespeare's plays and poems. located near the museum and the california academy of sciences, shakespeares garden was designed in 1928 by the california spring blossom association. flowers and plants played an important part in shakespeares literary masterpieces. here is an enchanting and tranquil garden tucked away along a path behind a charming gate.

this garden is the spot to woo your date. appreciate the beauty of its unique setting. the cherry tree, the brick walkways, the enchanting stones, the rustic sundial. chaired the bards'w ro -- share the bard's words. the garden is a gem to share with someone special. pack a picnic, find a bench, enjoy the sunshine and let the whimsical words of william shakespeare float you and your loved one away. this is one of the most popular wedding locations and is available for reservations. shakespeares garden is 8ada accessible.

this park is located at the bottom of a hill. it is a secret garden with an infinite and captivating appeal. carefully tucked away, one block from the bottom of lombard street, it makes the top of our list for the most intimate picnic settings. avoid all tourist cars and parking hassles by hopping on the cable car. or the 30, 45, 41, or 91 bus. this garden was designed by a the landscape architect thomas church in 19 to -- 1957. grow old with me, the best is yet to be is inscribed at this gem of a park. a lush oasis anchored by gazebosanchoreddekcs, --

gazebos, anchored by decks. this is the place to tell your family the love you share. reservations are available for this hidden gem. i am jamie hopper. until next time, don't forget to get out and play. for more information about reserving one of these romantic locations, or any other location, call 831-5500. this number is best for special events, weddings, picnics, and the county fair building. for any athletic fields and neighborhood parks, 831-5510. you can also write us. 501 san francisco, calif. 94117. or just walk in and say hello.

and of course you can find more information and reach us at sfrecpark.org. >> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago.

our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at

installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the materials. we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about recology, do you have the only sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of

structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have been here so far and what you're working on? >> we started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work,

kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here. there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered. it is for a very special friend. >> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and

amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them, because they're disposing of it. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general.

also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d.

>> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every four months, and a win by the public to come out. everybody is welcome to come out. we have food. sometimes we have gains and bands. it is great time. from june to september, we accept applications from bay

area artists. we encouraged artists from all mediums to apply. we want as many artists from the bay area out here so they can have the same experience. >> how many artists to do your host here? >> 6 artist a year, and we receive about 108 applications. very competitive. >> but everyone should be encouraged to apply. thank you again for hosting us. >> thank you for including us in "culturewire." ♪ >> the meeting will come to