Greetings

• 
  Charles Gelinas

  Basically, as in the previous list I sent you, you'd need an organization with extreme long-term horizon, low ROI and low cost of funds. Modern Corporations, Investment Banks, Banks, Hedge Funds, P.E. Funds... Nothing meets that criteria... They are all focussed on executive compensation and quarterly earnings. The U.S. Gov. is the only modern entity that meets such criteria, but it has an appalling historical record and general lack of interest in space exploration.

  Mar 06, 2012 1:56 PM
• 
  Charles Gelinas

  NO such organization, or type of organization, currently exists in our cultural lexicon. The winner of the $500K grant from DARPA was a foundation of sorts organized by an ex-astronaut, but I fear, good intentions aside, that her organization's efforts will be in vain. You'd need something along the lines of the Knights Templar, the mercantile-exploration complex of 15th century spain or the British East India Company to do such a thing today. Nothing like that exists.

  Mar 06, 2012 1:52 PM
• 
  Charles Gelinas

  That's the trick of it. If you search for transcripts of the 100YSS ("The 100 Year Star Ship") program held last year, you'll find a lot of people who've contributed some pretty innovative ways to travel significant distances from earth. The trick of it is... who pays for it, and how do they pay for it? Part of DARPA's 100YSS release-related to the design of an organization that could shepherd the necessary innovation, design and construction of such a ship within a century.

  Mar 06, 2012 1:50 PM
• 
  Charles Gelinas

  We haven't had large scale meetings as of late, because most of the members are not interested in matters of finance, but we have consistently held small group meetings among members who share a passion for such a thing. As of late, for the 100YSS, we had numerous meetings... Usually with the ultimate result that we hit a brick wall. The field of finance has not really caught up with the idea of developing a new field of financial endeavor ab initio. Do you have something in mind?

  Mar 06, 2012 1:29 PM
• 
  Charles Gelinas

  Hey man, great to have you on board!

  Mar 06, 2012 11:23 AM
• 
  Louis Japanese Language 24/7「日本語」

  Hello, Ethan. Welcome to our group! That is awesome that you studied Japanese in High School and we look forward to giving you the tools to bridge the gap and make the language yours. Iku ze! ;)

  Jan 09, 2012 2:28 PM
• 
  Brad Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers

  Welcome, Ethan! Great to have you aboard! Check out the tabs at the top of our page to get to know the group a bit better. Our Procedures are under Pages, Discussions are always lively, and stories for critique go under the More tab, in Files. We recommend you attend a meeting before submitting work, just to see if we'll meet your needs. Any other questions, just ask. Hope to see you at a Meetup soon! Brad

  Aug 18, 2011 1:51 PM
• 
  Lauren Cohen Edison Recreational Fencing

  Hi Ethan! I'm so happy you found our group. Our events are geared toward people who have never fenced before, or have very limited experience. If you think you might enjoy fencing active epeeists, Hub City Fencing's epee night is Tuesday. Either way, I look forward to meeting you!

  Feb 14, 2011 10:07 AM
• 
  Erin

  Hi, Ethan! Welcome to the group!

  Feb 03, 2011 12:59 PM