The Return of Federation’s Breakfast Club | A Big Success

On Tuesday, March 10, Federation kicked off the first event in the exciting Breakfast Club series that is to come this year. Approximately 100 members of the Jewish community arrived at Congregation Beth Israel bright and early to schmooze over bagels and coffee.

 

Joseph Berman kicked off the morning by thanking everyone for coming and sharing some recent highlights, goals, and achievements of Federation in our local and global Jewish community. Then the accomplished guest speaker, Uri Gneezy, was introduced.

Uri is an Israeli Economist specializing in behavioral economics, a UCSD Professor of Economics and Strategy, and an author who is often referred to as a revolutionary mind in his field. He delivered a fascinating speech in which he discussed incentives as a means to change and influence human behavior. Gneezy offered many insightful examples, which included best practices in regards to incentivizing people to get more exercise and give to charitable organizations.

Gneezy shared what he has learned over the years through his research. He spoke of money being the most common type of incentive, for example  the idea of health insurance companies paying subscribers who exercise regularly and the concept of fining college students for missing dormitory curfews. Gneezy said that although money is the most common kind of incentive, it is not always the most appropriate or efficient way to spur change. He concluded his speech by highlighting the importance of combining a variety of different incentives in order to influence behavioral change.

“I was blown away by the caliber of this year’s first Breakfast Club event,” said Ronnie Diamond, long-time Federation supporter and Breakfast Club committee member. “What surprised me the most was the high attendance rate, considering that it’s been almost a decade since the Breakfast Club last convened. “Moreover, I found it incredible to see just as many ‘old timers’ as young newcomers, which to me, indicates that there is a true demand and need in the San Diego Jewish community for such events.”

Click here to see photos from the event.

Click here to stay up to date on the next Breakfast Club event.