Measure twice. Cut once.

Redmond, Wa - It's a well known fact that a little bit of planning goes along way, so every year the NAAAP Seattle Board meets to plan the upcoming year and to provide learning opportunities to our Board members. This year was no different.

Returning as our facilitator was Wendy Watanabe. She led us through discussions on conflict resolution and building joint solutions through consensus. When all was said and done, we landed on an annual operating plan to fulfill on the vision and mission of NAAAP Seattle.

Rounding out the day was our resident media mavens, Julie Pham (Northwest Vietnamese News) and Marian Liu (Seattle Times) training the Board on branding. This was especially effective since we all became reaquainted with our accomplishments.

Lastly, we had an opportunity to welcome our newest Board members, Jen Park as Community Service Chair (Google) Micheal Okimura as Professional Development Chair (Pacific Capital Resource Group) and Sherwin Tsao as Technology Chair (Guidant Financial Group).

With the planning done, we can now focus on executing our plan. We considered many factors such as our membership base, our partner and sponsor ecosystem and our community needs. We hope you'll join us in what we think as a defining year for NAAAP Seattle.

Regards,
NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors

Take me out to the ballgame,...buy me some Wasabi Sesame Popcorn

In lieu of its usual monthly mixer for September, NAAAP-Seattle organized an outing to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Los Angeles Angels on the Mariners’ Asian American Heritage Night on September 1.

According to Mariners’ Director of Public Information Rebecca Hale, NAAAP-Seattle was one of six organizations that evening to help the Mariners sell the special Asian Heritage Night tickets.

Asian Heritage Night’s major sponsors include Gobo Enterprises, General Biodiesel, and Mulvanny G2.

“We find this event to be a great way to connect with different segments of our community,” said Hale. “We have a strong, direct connection with the local Asian community.”

NAAAP-Seattle sold 34 tickets. For every $16 Mariners ticket sold through NAAAP-Seattle, $8 went to benefit two local non-profits that serve Asian elders, Nikkei Concerns and Kin On. Hale said that $3,208 of the proceeds from ticket sales went to the two non-profit organizations.

The Mariners awarded NAAAP-Seattle for its marketing efforts by flashing on the reader board “National Association of Asian American Professionals-Seattle” at the bottom of the fourth inning.

Of the people who bought tickets through NAAAP-Seattle, a number were newcomers to NAAAP-Seattle.

Sandi Lin said she receives the NAAAP-Seattle weekly e-newsletter, but this was her first time attending a NAAAP-Seattle event.

“The baseball game seemed like an informal way to meet people and it was a fun activity,” said Lin. “I liked that it was on a weekday because weekends can be inconvenient for me.”

For some of the game-goers, the event marked their first ever baseball game.

“I probably wouldn’t have gone to a Mariners game if NAAAP hadn’t organized it,” said C.M. Chin, who has been attending NAAAP-Seattle events for two years.

“It’s a great way to celebrate APA Heritage,” added Chin.

NAAAP-Seattle also awarded two tickets to Leigh Momii for answering “Who was the first Asian to play for the Mariners” on a NAAAP-Seattle Twitter contest.
Momii said she follows the NAAAP-Seattle Twitter so “that I can be up-to-date on the latest NAAAP news and activities in the most efficient way.”

How did Momii know the answer was Mac Suzuki?

“I knew the answer to the quiz question because I am huge sports fanatic and I love my home teams!” said Momii.

As an added treat for the NAAAP-Seattle game-goers, resident celebrity chef Tanantha Couilliard of I Just Love My Apron fame prepared a NAAAP-Seattle exclusive snack: Wasabi Sesame popcorn.

Although the Mariners lost to the Los Angeles Angels 2-4, the NAAAP-Seattle attendees were already having too much of a ball to be disappointed.

Avid baseball fan Karen Lin, said, “It was fun to go with a big group. I just like watching baseball.”

To see more photos from the game, please visit NAAAP-Seattle on Facebook. For more information on NAAAP-Seattle social events or to help out, please email Social Chair Heidi Yan at heidihanyu@gmail.com.

Photos: (top) Gene Liang, Sandi Lin, and C. M. Chan; (middle) NAAAP-Seattle Community Service Chair David Eam and Karen Lin enjoyed the “Wasabi Sesame popcorn”; (bottom) NAAAP-Seattle flashed on the Mariners’ Reader board.