Inforum of the Commonwealth Club
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Infourm is an off-shoot organization of The Commonwealth Club of California that hosts panel discussions, debates, and social events for people in their 20s and 30s in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a current membership of 2,500, it is the largest such organization on the West Coast and one of the largest in the country.
Inforum began in 2002 with a mission to involve young professionals in the Bay Area in the arenas of politics, the arts, the environment, business, technology, and culture. Known for its innovative panels, Inforum hosts discussions with nationally and internationally known experts on the kinds of issues facing people in their 20s and 30s such as the state of music, polarized America, soldiers returning from Iraq, and the role of social networking in contemporary culture. The San Francisco Chronicle named Inforum the Best Lecture Series The Bay Area in 2006, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian claims that Inforum is "the best brainiac bonanza... for those wanting to cram more thinking under their caps."
Inforum also gives out the 21st Century Award to individuals who embody the values of the Inforum generation. Recent awardees include Spike Lee, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the Founders of YouTube.
In 2007, Inforum began a series of Salon discussions that enable members to interact with prominet writers and thinkers, including Yann Martel, author of The Life of Pi.
