StawelLiGht
Rotary Club of Stawell Newsletter :
International Pres: Garry Huang – District Pres: Geoff James
Club Pres: Vaughan Williams – Club Sec: PE Pauline Sherrifs
October 14, 2014
Club Meeting
Minutes of Club Meeting circulated by Acting Sec. John Artz
Meeting included items:
- Club welcomed Carly Garonne becoming a friend of Rotary. Carly has agreed to advise and assist PP John L. in drawing up a Discovery Tour of Cambodia proposal for November -December 2015 to be put to Rotary in due course.
- MOWs – our next commitment is for Thursday 6th and Friday 7th November. PP John Artz has indicated he could be available for the Friday. Need volunteer(s) for the Thursday.
- The Rotary Hat Day conducted on Friday 10th Oct was judged successful with some $170 raised plus $262 of Car Raffle Tickets sold.. Well done PP Val and her helpers.
- Rtn Robin Kelly reported on the successful BBQ held at Halls Gap for Engineers meeting.
- With Sec Pauline having to go into hospital PP Kim has welcomed RYE Raquel back as her guest.
- Car Raffle tickets to be sold this coming Sunday at the Stawell Farmers market and again st the Stawell Show on the 25th October, PP John L has voluteered for this Sunday.
- PP John L reported that we have received further Skene Street Chair sponsors including $300 from the Stawell Neigbourhood Watch. Tally now 42 chairs. 58 to go!
- Our best wishes go to Sec Pauline and to Rtn Dr Norm so that they speedily regain their health.
- Pres Vaughan went through more detail of the Club’s accounts with a Powerpoint display during our Planning Session. He is encouraging all Directors to engage in the Budget planning process so that we can meet Club targets.
- Carly has offered to follow up re seeing if we can gain a place at the Easter Gift selling soft drinks following withdrawal of Chris W.In The Pipeline>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Oct 19 – Sell Car Raffle tickets at Stawell Farmers’ Market – John LOct 25 Stawell Show Day – roster drawn up for Car Raffle.
- Part 2 : CLUB OR INTER-PERSONAL LEVEL For starters, clubs will make it easy for those first 5 steps to happen.
- Continuing DG Geoff’s inspirational 27 points from his DG Visit
- Oct 28 Club Meeting – Guest Speaker ?
- Oct 21- Club Meeting at Salvo’s Wimmera Street Meeting Room 6.30 for 7.00pm GUEST SPEAKER ? Any suggestions PP Ken A?
Step six – Assist members to use their interests and skills in service.
Enlightened clubs will find out how their members like serving and try to make it happen. We can ask, or run simple surveys completed during a meeting. The good thing about surveys is that you get to hear the voices of the quieter members who may not speak up in club assemblies. However we do it, we need to ensure all our members feel needed and useful and engaged.
Step seven – Have regular club assemblies.
As well as surveys, enlightened clubs will run assemblies where members can freely share their ideas about directions the club should be taking and feel ownership of the programs. The good thing about assemblies is that as certain members express their ideas and reasons, the process can assist other members to form their own opinions. So its good to have both surveys and assemblies.
Step eight – Budget for leadership training.
If members are to grow as leaders, they must be trained. Enlightened clubs will budget to assist one or two members to go to Rotary Leadership Institute or some other leadership training each year. This will be one the greatest gifts a club can give itself. Members will come back more enthused, better leaders, more knowledgeable about Rotary, and better able to serve in Rotary in and beyond the club. We have a very skilled and active RLI in this District so let’s make use of it.
Step nine – Educate members through the club program
Enlightened clubs realize that every member is an ambassador for Rotary and needs to be able to sell Rotary to others, so they will direct their program committee to include guest speakers that educate members about Rotary programs and also about the skills needed by well functioning groups such as good listening skills, dealing with conflict, different personality types, acceptance of others, positive attitudes etc. They will find speakers on these topics in nearby Rotary clubs, or in the community e.g. teachers, personal counsellors, nurses, doctors, clergy etc.
Step ten – Build a culture of supportive acceptance
Enlightened clubs will assist members to be a supportive network for each other. Members will be accepting of each others’ level of involvement and attendance knowing we all have difference capacities to give depending on our life circumstances. Such clubs will engage some perceptive members to monitor the level of support in the club, and they will have regular welfare reports on those members who are doing it tough.
Step eleven – Develop ways to work smarter and share work loads.
Enlightened clubs recognize that all Rotarians are volunteers and have other lives to lead. They will develop ways to share workloads within clubs and make use of modern technology to work more efficiently without compromising effectiveness. Such clubs also make use of work already done by other Rotarians to save re-inventing the wheel e.g. using existing templates & PR materials etc. Healthy clubs will also explore ways to work with other clubs and organizations to share the workloads on large projects. There are ideas in the DG newsletter.
Step twelve – Maintain effective communication processes
Enlightened clubs realize how important effective communication is to the club and will work out efficient ways to receive and promptly pass on information to members so they always feel like they know what is going on. It also applies to communication with the District and to Rotary International.
Step thirteen – Make meetings and events fun & contemporary
At a workshop on Fun at the Convention, we were reminded that our Rotary meetings are competing with good TV shows, time with our kids or our spouse or partner. So our members need to want to go to our meetings. Enlightened clubs will get serious about fun and celebrations. They will ensure there are lots of different types of fun activities that get included in the total set of club programs. Some clubs like Portland Bay have installed a Director of Fun to make sure this happens. The diet of fun needs to cater for all tastes, and part of the process will be to find out what fun things your members like to do. Rituals in our meetings also need to be contemporary and faith neutral. Look for the fun corner in the DG Newsletter.
Step fourteen – Celebrate what is special & unique about the Club.
Enlightened clubs realize that members are bound together when they celebrate what is special about their group, so they will exploit this whenever the group is in public. They might use a special signature colour like Alfredton’s purple scarves and ties, or they might have a symbol or a mascot, or build an identity around their location or signature projects e.g. 1.____________________ 2. ___________________ 3.____________________. They will share these ideas on their web page, facebook and at our district conference. Please send us photos.
Step fifteen – Develop a longer term vision and strategy plan
Enlightened clubs develop a vision of how they’d like their club to be in three to five years’ time. Then they develop annual goals based on that vision. This process enables the club to develop more substantial projects that run from year to year, make better use of resources, and reduces the work of club leaders and makes the club less President-centric. It gives the club an ongoing direction and helps to inspire members. There are many people in our district who can help a club develop a vision and goals.
Step sixteen – Develop a membership strategy based on the club’s vision
Enlightened, use their strategic plan to target new members they need to achieve that plan. They remind all members that they are ambassadors, and tell them to invite members with a purpose e.g. In San Diego, they asked a younger person to join – “We need you to be our IT and facebook specialist?” They loved him – he felt needed and useful. We could ask a recent migrant, “Could you come and join us to give us a more balanced perspective on multi-culturalism” Or we might ask a partner or spouse, “Can you join us because we want our club to better reflect the family of Rotary.” The strategy will also remind potential members of the real benefits in being a member: an opportunity to do good in the world, to develop leadership and personal skills, to enjoy a support community, learn from guest speakers, acceptance and potential friendships at 34000 clubs around the world and have fun at the same time. Enlightened clubs will also have their Membership chair or director on their Board.
Step seventeen – Budget for promotion to suit the location
Enlightened clubs provide a budget for promotion and PR and use it wisely and effectively to get the message out to people that Rotary is lighting up the world with its good work. The Maryborough club paid for full page adds once a month highlighting the Rotary themes and successfully changed the image of Rotary in that small community. Each club needs to look at what is possible in their area. We also need to learn how to make best use of our PR tools. Recently, a small amount was paid extend the coverage of a facebook entry, and an extra 3500 read about Maryborough’s family violence program.
Step eighteen – Become less President-centric.
An enlightened club will have a President who is a figurehead and an encourager. Apart from maybe a small signature project for the President, club programs and committees will not be tied to a particular year and will continue from year to year with minor changes in committees. The President role will be an enjoyable one where the president is able to develop their leadership skills with effective training and complete support and encouragement from all members. An enlightened club will survey members asking them when they will be ready to take on the job again and everyone will look forward to the role.
So they are steps to an enlightened club – what about enlightening the community?