Reported by Patrick Van Haren
President Sara Pantin called the meeting to order. Vlad Bahrencu led the pledges and Leslie Bagby
gave our invocation of the day. Hannah Walker led us in saying The Four Way Test. David Palmer
greeted each member and guest as they arrived and Myron Burse introduced the guests and visitors.
Tillery Castillo came forward to remind us about the Pints for Polio event scheduled for Wednesday,
October 18, at the JW Marriott Rooftop Bar beginning at 5:30pm. Members are encouraged to bring guests, whether or not they are potential new members.
Mary Reynolds reminded us that next week is the deadline to bring any new, unopened bags of candy to
our Rotary lunch meeting for the Pecan Springs Fall Literacy/Halloween Fair. Non-chocolate candy is
preferred.
Leslie Bagby reminded everyone about the upcoming Wine Tasting she and Gaines will be hosting at their home (6501 Rusty Ridge Drive) on October 20 beginning at 6pm. The theme for the evening is California Dreamin’ so bring your favorite bottle from the Golden State — red or white doesn’t matter!
President Sara made several announcements then we shared Fellowship for several minutes.
Past President Harold Ingersoll introduced our speaker, Craig Nehrkorn, who gave Part 2 of a
presentation he gave in August on drones and drone technology.
Craig is a co-founder of Drone Dynamics and was previously with DJI, the leading international drone
maker and a private company in China now valued at approximately $18 billion. Drone Dynamics (DD) was started to make the interface between aerial drones and managers much simpler. The company focuses on the ABC markets of Architecture, Business and Construction.
What Craig shared with us is that, within the drone industry, opportunities for business growth at the high end are now saturated, so companies like Drone Dynamics are moving downstream, and some competitors are focusing on the consumer space. See the Fortune Magazine series on Drones here, and the article Craig mentioned “Drone sales have tripled” here. California drones/services startups received more than $1 billion last year.
The real value proposition that Craig mentioned is the potential for 3D modelling and the tremendous
accuracy that drones can now provide. As a demonstration, he provided us with footage of Port Aransas, just 24 hours after Hurricane Harvey. He also told us how the last Rotary meeting turned out to be his most productive event ever in terms of business development.
With the technology and regulatory hurdles mostly accomplished (although the USA FAA is 2-3 years behind countries such as Canada, the UK, and Mexico), Craig’s job is turning to education of construction, engineering, architectural and government clients, and on what drones can do for them.
New word: Photogrammetry – The use of photography in surveying and mapping to measure distances
between objects.