BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//github.com/ical-org/ical.net//NONSGML ical.net 5.1.4//EN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Our speaker this week is David Downs   Cancer survivor\, patie nt advocate and ambassador for the Malaghan Institute   David Downs is a business leader\, public servant\, consultant\, board director\, speaker a nd genetically modified organism. David is now CEO of The New Zealand Stor y\, an ambitious government-funded organisation marketing New Zealand to t he world.   Previously David was a General Manager at New Zealand Trade a nd Enterprise (NZTE) for 10 years\, working with the Technology sector to help fast growing tech companies grow internationally. David has held vari ous roles at NZTE\, in the Services\, Customer and Corporate Services team s\, and led a cross-government project for the MBIE to help grow the Agrit ech sector.   David spent 13 years at Microsoft\, in New Zealand and as r egional director for South East Asia\, and he has set up and run successfu l businesses of his own. David is a published author on New Zealand Innova tion\, with two highly successful books No.8 Re-wired\, and No.8 Recharged . In 2017 /2018 David was facing a terminal diagnosis and given less than a year to live\, but managed to beat cancer in a remarkable series of luck y breaks. After a year of chemotherapy\, and staring a terminal diagnosis in the face\, David got a literal lifeline\, with the chance to get on to a clinical trial in the USA. Now a genetically modified cancer-killing mac hine\, David's reflecting on the lucky series of events that saw him beat cancer\, and on his new approach to life.   He's an ex-comedian\, TV and Radio actor\, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year\, and a genetica lly modified optimist who documented his battle with cancer in the book A Mild Touch of the Cancer now a documentary film. His charity project Down with Cancer helps raise funds to make the revolutionary CAR T-cell therapy available in New Zealand for those who need it. A chartered member of the Institute of Directors\, David holds a number of board positions\, includ ing as the chairman of The Icehouse\, the Hi-Tech Trust\, and the Well Fou ndation. He is part of the executive advisory committee to the CEO of DIA.   At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown\, David co-founded sosbusine ss.nz - a not-for-profit initiative to help bars\, cafes and other small b usinesses sell vouchers. It quickly became a huge hit and to date has sold over $2 million in vouchers for over 2500 small businesses. All the money goes to the businesses. Based on that experience\, he published a book ab out the innovation that happened during covid-19 in New Zealand\, 'Silver Linings'\, published by Penguin Random House.   David studied at Massey U niversity\, the University of Auckland and Stanford University\, and regul arly presents and gives talks on his cancer journey and on the power of po sitive thinking and optimism.   His topic will be\, "Innovation\, technol ogy and why you should always wear clean undies." See you there.   Lou   Notes for the coming weeks meeting: RSVP no later than Monday 23 Septembe r 6pm (best do it now).  Please make sure you register to assist the Wel lington Club staff. If you have any dietary requirements\, please note th em in the comments section of the registration Include your email address and mobile phone number in the response If you wish to bring guests/spou se/partner\, please add them when you register Remember to click "Save" a t the bottom of the page If you do not receive a confirmation immediately after you have registered\, you have not completed the process. DTEND:20240924T203000Z DTSTAMP:20260830T100849Z DTSTART:20240924T190000Z LOCATION:Wellington Club SEQUENCE:1 SUMMARY:Rotary Meeting 25 September 2024 UID:c1b3f1f9-a418-4904-9042-a0260308ea0d X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Our speaker this week is

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David Downs

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Cancer s urvivor\, patient advocate and ambassador for the Malaghan Institute

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David Downs is a business leader\, public servant\, consultant\, board director\, speaker and genetically modified organism. David is now CEO of The New Zealand Story\, an ambitious government-funded organisation marke ting New Zealand to the world.

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 \;

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Previously David was a General Manager at New Zealand Trade and Enter prise (NZTE) for 10 years\, working with the Technology sector to help fas t growing tech companies grow internationally. David has held various role s at NZTE\, in the Services\, Customer and Corporate Services teams\, and led a cross-government project for the MBIE to help grow the Agritech sect or.

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David spent 13 years a t Microsoft\, in New Zealand and as regional director for South East Asia\ , and he has set up and run successful businesses of his own. David is a p ublished author on New Zealand Innovation\, with two highly successful boo ks No.8 Re-wired\, and No.8 Recharged.

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In 2017 /2018 David was facing a terminal diagnosis and given less than a yea r to live\, but managed to beat cancer in a remarkable series of lucky bre aks. After a year of chemotherapy\, and staring a terminal diagnosis in th e face\, David got a literal lifeline\, with the chance to get on to a cli nical trial in the USA. Now a genetically modified cancer-killing machine\ , David'\;s reflecting on the lucky series of events that saw him beat cancer\, and on his new approach to life.

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< span style="font-size: 11pt\; font-family: Arial\, sans-serif\; color: rgb (0\, 0\, 0)\; background-color: transparent\; font-variant-numeric: normal \; font-variant-east-asian: normal\; font-variant-alternates: normal\; fon t-variant-position: normal\; vertical-align: baseline\; white-space-collap se: preserve\;">He'\;s an ex-comedian\, TV and Radio actor\, semi-final ist for New Zealander of the Year\, and a genetically modified optimist wh o documented his battle with cancer in the book A Mild Touch of the Cancer now a documentary film. His charity project Down with Cancer helps raise funds to make the revolutionary CAR T-cell therapy available in New Zealan d for those who need it.

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A chartered membe r of the Institute of Directors\, David holds a number of board positions\ , including as the chairman of The Icehouse\, the Hi-Tech Trust\, and the Well Foundation. He is part of the executive advisory committee to the CEO of DIA.

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At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown\, David co-founded sosbusiness.nz - a not-for-pro fit initiative to help bars\, cafes and other small businesses sell vouche rs. It quickly became a huge hit and to date has sold over $2 million in v ouchers for over 2500 small businesses. All the money goes to the business es. Based on that experience\, he published a book about the innovation th at happened during covid-19 in New Zealand\, '\;Silver Linings'\;\, published by Penguin Random House.

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< span id="docs-internal-guid-9b1d7dbd-7fff-e484-ed5c-db1913fae118">David studied at Massey University\, the University of Auckland a nd Stanford University\, and regularly presents and gives talks on his can cer journey and on the power of positive thinking and optimism.

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His topic will be\, "\;I nnovation\, technology and why you should always wear clean undies."\;

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See you there.

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Lou

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< strong> Notes for the coming weeks meeting:

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