Conservation International's Palo Alto Fundraiser Outdoors in a Redwood Forest

Each Year, Conservation International presents an important fundraising event in the San Francisco / Silicon Valley area for its top donors and leaders in the internet and technology industries. To underscore CI’s messages of conservation and environmental protection, the 2012 Gala was held outdoors in a clear tent in the spectacular home of Intel Corporation Founder Gordon Moore.Guests arrived at the home via a shuttle bus trip that took them away from the urban centers of San Francisco and Palo Alto and up into a pristine California Redwood forest.

After a cocktail reception on the beautiful grounds of the estate, guests entered a large, clear tent to the sounds of crickets and the gentle glow of fireflies – installed by Empire’s special effects team. Immediately guests could tell that tonight’s event would be no ordinary fundraiser.Throughout the dinner, guests heard remarks from a collection of extraordinary speakers. Motion picture superstar and longtime Conservation International supporter Harrison Ford delivered welcoming remarks along with those by Gordon Moore and Gap Inc.'s Bob Fisher.Next a far-ranging conversation on conservation and energy ensued featuring former U. S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Farallon Capital Management’s Tom Steyer moderated by Sequoia Capital Partner Thomas Stephenson. During the conversation 92 year old Secretary Shultz displayed the latest in solar energy panels to the audience.After dinner, private Wealth Partner’s Ken Siebel spoke and introduced Conservation International’s Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Peter Seligmann, who delivered a powerful keynote on the state of global environmental crisis and what Conservation International is doing to correct it around the world.

At the end of the dinner New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman and his wife Ann took the stage to thank the guests and direct everyone to the dessert reception where they remained talking under the stars.The setting for the dinner was spectacular and Empire worked closely with the groundkeepers of the Gordon Moore estate to light the 100’+ redwood trees so that the they would be slowly lit as the sunset turned into nightfall. The event was attended by many of Silicon Valley’s best-known entrepreneurs and business leaders including Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom.

To learn more about Conservation International visit http://www.conservation.org/