Tag Archives: Penn Club of LA

Penn Club of LA is the Place to Be

Author: Lisa Ellen Niver, CAS’89

Join us in Los Angeles for awesome Penn Club events. Our Quaker spirit needs you!! There are over 9,000 Penn alumni in our vast city alone and we’re looking for you go join us.

President Melissa Wu, pictured here at our annual summer dinner on the beach at the Jonathan Club with TJ, Kevin, Lisa, George and Kiera.

The club is run by President Melissa Wu and a group of alumni leaders who are active, engaged, and fiercely loyal to Penn. Together, we support Penn’s interests and goals, acting as the primary alumni connection with the University, and engaging as many alumni as possible through social, networking, and educational activities.

You don’t even have to take my word for it. Recently, the club learned that it would receive the prestigious Alumni Award of Merit for its outstanding merits. To quote from the citation:  “For creative events, unstoppable energy, uncorked enthusiasm for all things Penn and, most of all, for not letting a 2,400-mile distance diminish its passion for the University, Penn Alumni is proud to present PennClubLA with the Alumni Club Award of Merit for 2011.”

In addition, the club regularly hosts fun and thought-provoking events for our members.  Recently, our club was part of the National Event, Meet Plan Go! to inspire career break travel. A sell-out crowd of over 100 participants gathered at India’s Oven to hear from a panel including Richard Bangs (PBS Adventure with a Purpose), Jennifer Leo (LA Times), and Lisa Napoli (KCRW).

Standing Room Only

Local leaders have noticed our efforts. I am proud to say that City Council member, Bill Rosendahl, recently honored me and my partner, George Rajna, along with our group, We Said Go Travel, for our leadership and community building with group and events alongside the Penn Club of LA.

The Certificate

Participating in Meet Plan Go for the first year, the Los Angeles meet-up was one of the biggest events of all seventeen cities. The October 18 event was the fourth event planned by my husband and me this year. I hope you will join us for our next club-affiliated event on November 29 at Century City’s X-Bar with the theme: Travel With Technology: “My Favorite Travel App.” App designers from Ship Mate and Studio Mini will be in attendance. For more information on all our events, visit www.wesaidgotravel.com or contact me directly.

You can also see what’s happening at the Penn Club of LA by going to www.pennclubla.com.

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Filed under Alumni Perspective, Clubs, GAN, Lisa Ellen Niver, Penn Clubs, West Coast Regional Office

Author: Lisa Ellen Niver, CAS’89

On November 4, 2011, Penn Club Los Angeles will once again be acknowledged with the Club Award of Merit during Homecoming Weekend featuring Arts and Culture.  This  great honor is due in large part to the herculean efforts of our Club President, Melissa Wu. Melissa leads a wonderful group of alumni and she creates incredible events that build the Penn community in Los Angeles!

Recently in Los Angeles, the Penn Club hosted author and alumna, Rachel Friedman, who read from her travel book, The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost.  In it, Friedman says, “…sometimes travel and being adventurous do not fit with the model I hold of myself, …but it does not coexist with how I picture myself—a sheltered, scared, predictable kind of girl, definitely not a girl who has adventures. I come from rooted people; people who prefer chlorinated bodies of water and career paths.”

Travel allows us distance from our normal life and a separation that allows us to notice what is truly important. Without such a perspective, to know what to keep and to continue in life’s path may prove more difficult. Travels allows us all to step out of “normal” life, to see other cultures, meet people, learn languages—expecting to learn about others while really it is we who become transformed.

During the question and answer session after a book reading earlier this month, Friedman talked about travel as an important and essential part of education.  In her book she also asks: “What’s the right way to go about … our lives? Should you do what you love, what’s outrageous and unpredictable, and worry about the future later, or plug away at a steady job first and go off and have your fun when you retire?”

I commend Melissa Wu and the entire Penn Club LA alumni board for bringing together the community and for allowing me as co-author of the blog, “We Said Go Travel,” to participate in this special occasion. Congrats again to PENN CLUB LA!

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Filed under Alumni Perspective, Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture, Lisa Ellen Niver, Penn Clubs, The Arts