In my late-stage years, accomplishments count more than pipe dreams. A few stand out, such as the creation of City Club; the ten days I spent at the Bohemian Grove, reputedly more difficult to enter than Fort Knox; my recent Camino de Santiago pilgrimage walking 165-mile through Portugal and Spain; and the recent design and installation of Highland’s new Neapolitan central fountain, something I have coveted for over a decade.

Today, I am excited to share another bucket list item, which is our recent launch of Highland’s new Idea Lab, a long-time dream come true. Last Thursday evening fourteen presenters who we call “Ideators,” passionately shared their incredibly diverse ideas with over sixty interested potential “collaborators.” Thanks to the vision and hard work of members Todd Minnis and Matt Harder, and with Dustin’s able assistance, we are now positioned to support, nurture, help fund, and accelerate certain of these ideas to fruition.

The point is, instead of feeling frustrated and powerless in the face of the world’s many problems, or being envious of others who may be better positioned, we have adopted a philosophy that it is better to try and fail than to sit on the sidelines and complain.

After last Thursday’s highly successful evening, I want to ask our members to take a quick look at these Fourteen Ideas and vote for the five most appealing to you. Then, if an idea happens to really resonate with you (worth 1 point), perhaps you would like to become personally involved as a Collaborator (worth 3 points), the only requirement being a desire to help a fellow member bring their idea to fruition and have lunch with the group once a month.

With your feedback and votes, we will select five Ideas with their respective Ideators as candidates for the ongoing club’s support for the next six months. In any event, you are welcome to reach out directly to any of the Ideators, whether or not their projects have been selected, offering your own direct assistance to help them advance and make connections.

Thank you in advance for your help.

— Sina.