President’s Comment – 3 Jul 16 (3 July 2016)

Welcome to 2016-17.T1617EN_PMS-C

Congratulations to all who have contributed to having our Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity officially recorded on the D9700 website with ten members.

We are small in number but I am sure we will grow. We have the potential to nurture some great international projects and develop some new directions that may be applicable to all Rotary Clubs.

DG Michael Milston and his wife Ann Dib are greeted by RI President John Germ and his wife Judy.

DG 9700 Michael Milston & his wife Ann Dib are greeted by RI President John Germ & his wife Judy.

Read a profile of John Germ                                      Visit the president’s page

Listen to President John’s speak on his theme for 2016-17

We have now started the new year and RI President John Germ has chosen his theme – Rotary Serving Humanity. We should be proud that we have chosen a similar name to his theme as we believe it aptly describes what our Club wants to achieve.

Our next Board meeting will held Tuesday 5th July on GoToMeeting at 7.30pm EST. All members are welcome to attend. If you have not already received the link let me know ASAP and I will re-send the invitation.

President’s Comment – 26 Jun 16 (26 June 2016)

Welcome this week to another new member – Rotarian  Jemma Hayward who is transferring to our Club from the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga, D9700. She is relatively new to Rotary and due to work commitments away from Wagga Wagga was finding it difficult to attend he previous Club. We are now 11 in total number with still more prospects who have not yet committed.

Meeting Attendance

Our meeting attendance commitment is online and you can report your service or just browse our website for 30 minutes. Feel free to send any recommendations that you might have for our Executive or Directors. One other member has registered her attendance this week – congratulations to Secretary Debbie.

This is what I wrote in my meeting attendance post. When it is submitted it is sent to our Administration Director and myself.

“I attended a RAWCS Seminar at the D9600 Offices at Northlakes, Brisbane from 10.00am to 1.00pm Saturday 25th June. I presented a presentation and workshop on the RAWCS website for personnel from D9600 and D9630. It was well attended with 15 attendees who all learnt a lot about RAWCS and its programs.

What have you learnt that is new about Rotary this session?:

It is apparent that we need flexibility in our service requirements for Rotarians to attract and involve the younger member of our communities in the International and local service programs of Rotary.

We have the chance in our Rotary Club to learn and gain a lot of members and projects for our Club with this flexible approach to service and membership of Rotary.”

I encourage all of our members to register their attendance  and make comments each week. You can do it at any time of the day every day of the week. We want your involvement and participation.

Joining Fees

For those members who have not paid their joining fee of $30.00 we need it to be paid this week!

Please pay your dues (fees) by Direct Deposit or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT):

  1. Account Name: Rotary E-Club of D9700 – Admin A/C
    BSB:  032 769
    Account Number:  696 453
    Payment Reference: (Your Name) & Dues or Join Fee

Please all try and attend the next Board Meeting – GoToMeeting to be held Tuesday 5th July at 7.30pm. I will send the email with the link to all members on Tuesday 28th June.

Want members? Then get social!

160609_getsocialBy Evan Burrell

Did you know more than a billion people use social media every day?

Social media is readily accessible, instantaneous, cost effective and user friendly. It offers your Rotary club a fantastic opportunity to communicate more effectively with members and supporters and can energise the way you promote your club and find new members.

Here are just a few examples of ways your club can use social media:

  • Use Twitter to quickly advise members and the public of a last-minute change of venue for an event.
  • Let members and potential members know via Facebook when and where the next meeting will be and who the speaker is.
  • Use Facebook to start a discussion about a particular topic or issue at the club. Be prepared for positive and negative feedback and use it to improve your club.
  • Share details of your club’s new member recruitment session. When people “like” your post or retweet it, it shares the info with their entire social network.
  • Follow the Facebook pages of local businesses and organizations in your area. Comment on their posts; start a conversation.
  • Share stories and photos from your club service projects. When people see the great work your club is doing, they’re more likely to join.
  • Remember that social media is a conversation, so respond to comments, answer questions, and focus on the benefits of being a member of your club.
  • Once you get active on social media, stay active. The more you’re connected, the more likely you are to make connections – and get new members.

Most importantly, if you are using social media, don’t forget to let your supporters know you are!

Add social media buttons to your website, links on invitations, newsletters and emails, and display account information in recruitment and marketing materials.

Getting started on social media can help your club get the word out, especially where younger people hang out, and attract new members.

150209_burrellAbout the author: Evan Burrell is a member of the Rotary Club of Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia, and a former member of Rotaract. He has been involved with Rotary since he was 18. He currently manages social media for Rotary Down Under, the Rotary regional magazine of Australia. Follow Evan on Facebook.

President’s Comment – 19 Jun 16 (19 June 2016)

Welcome this week to another new member – PP Lauren Slater who is transferring to our Club from the Rotary Club of Murrumbidgee, D9700. She has great Rotary experience and is without doubt our youngest member. We are now 10 in total number with still more prospects who have not yet committed. Below is a great E-club that we can probably use as a model for our website and Club activities.

A great example of a Rotary E-Club

While Rotary may be a great ideological fit for those born 1980s to around 2000 (Millennials), it can present logistical challenges for young people who aren’t settled enough in their professional and personal lives to commit to regular meeting attendance.

That’s the problem that the founders of the E-Club of Silicon Valley – (please look at their website  – http://www.siliconvalleyrotary.com/) set out to solve when they established their club last year. “It was very much a conversation of how we can get people into Rotary who want to be a part of Rotary but always come up with the response of, ‘I don’t have the time,’” says 25-year-old charter member Yvonne Kwan. “These are people who want to do good. They want to help out. They want to give back to the community, but they just can’t make it out to the meetings every single week at a certain time.”

Kwan’s club posts its meetings online for members to “attend” at any time during the week. The club also hosts regular social gatherings – potlucks, happy hours, and, most recently, a hike in a natural area north of San Francisco. “We went out into nature, and we took a few hours and hiked up to Point Reyes,” she says. “It was beautiful.”

When members go online for meetings, they find engaging content, Kwan says. “We’ve made our meetings very visual-heavy with videos, pictures, a font that’s easy to read.”

Look at this example of a guest speaker from one of their meetings.

In addition to the standard Rotary business items, the e-club meetings feature videos of speakers from all over the world and a weekly “tech tidbit or life hack” that members may find useful or entertaining. Kwan recently posted a tip about a discovery she made when she temporarily lost her Internet connection: The Chrome browser has a game hidden in its connection error page. “It was the highlight of my day for that very treacherous time when I had no Internet,” she jokes. So she made a short video about it and shared it with the club.

Another difference between Kwan’s club and others: “We don’t have big service projects that we do as a club because we’re dispersed throughout the world,” she says. Instead, members are encouraged to partner with other Rotary clubs or nonprofit organizations, find their own opportunities, and report them to the club as service. “You can do your own service in your own time,” Kwan says. “It gives people more power to adjust their own schedules.”

Though the e-club’s meetings are online, Kwan considers the in-person interactions to be just as important. She usually invites potential members to a social event before they ever see an online meeting. “It draws them in and it piques their interest, and you get to know them a little bit more,” she says. “I think that’s really valuable. Millennials are looking for a place to give back to their community, but they need to feel like they are getting value as well.”

Ee, of the Los Angeles club, agrees. “It doesn’t matter how bad my week was. I always end it with Rotary, and I always leave with a little more good faith in humanity,” he says. “I’m really excited for the next 20 years – to see where Rotary’s going to go.”

Kim Lisagor is a freelance writer and co-author of Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them.

The Rotarian

1-May-2016 
President’s Comment – 12 Jun 16 (12 June 2016)

Graphic 1

We are getting close to our Charter date – we believe it will be 1st July 2016. We have now completed all the requirements to accept the charter of a D9700 Rotary Club that has decided to hand their charter to our Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity.

Currently we have nine members who have completed their expression of interest in being Charter members. There is still time for YOU to complete your expression of interest and join us in this new initiative for our District.

If you want to be part of the wonderful Rotary community please join us by completing your expression of interest.

We are 1.2 million neighbors, friends, and community leaders who come together to create positive, lasting change in our communities and around the world.

Our differing occupations, cultures, and countries give us a unique perspective. Our shared passion for service helps us accomplish the remarkable.

As an active member of our Club you are welcome to attend and make-up at any meeting of any other Rotary Club worldwide. You can become involved in the many International Projects that our Club members support. You can assist to develop projects here in Australia that will improve our communities and to assist those that are in need.

Graphic 4

President’s Comment – 5 Jun 16 (5 June 2016)

Skiing

This month is Rotary Fellowship Month. Through fellowship we can gain insight into how to better serve our communities and fellow Rotarians.

The Fourth Object of Rotary states, ” The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service”.

Rotary Fellowships are international, independently organized groups of Rotarians, Rotarian spouses, and Rotaractors who share a common vocation or recreational interest. Rotary Fellowships give their members the opportunity to have fun, make new friends around the world, and enhance their experience in Rotary.

Rotary has numerous Fellowships already established. If you cannot find one you are interested in perhaps you can look at establishing one that YOU would like to develop.

List of Rotary Fellowships

Many fellowships also use their special interests to serve others.

I am a member of the International Fellowship of Skiing Rotarians(ISFR).  I have been on three ski weeks with them. At  Whistler – British Columbia, Telluride – Colorado and Big Sky – Montana. This coming February my partner Carolyn and I will be skiing the ISFR week at Jackson Hole – Wyoming. These are great fellowship weeks, skiing with about 100 other Rotarians who love skiing. A very rewarding and social time is had by all. The ISFR raises about US$60,000 each ski week that is donated to adaptive ski schools (disabled skiing) around the world. Disabled Snowsports Australian at Falls Creek, Victoria received US$10,000 from ISFR in 2014 for uniforms and special equipement.

Other fellowships active in Australia are Flying, Cricket, Recreational Vehicles, Antique Autos, Caravanners and Golf.

Cricket

More information on Rotary Fellowships

Rotary-Fellowships-Directory

Rotary Fellowship Handbook – 729en

President’s Comment – 29 May 16 (30 May 2016)

ban_kimoon[1]


UN chief Ban Ki-moon opens Korea convention

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the first to welcome Rotary members and friends to the 107th Rotary Convention, heralded as one of the largest-ever gatherings of Rotarians and the most multicultural assembly of nonprofit leaders in Korea.

He offered a message of gratitude: “Rotarians do remarkable work around the world,” Ban told the thousands of attendees gathered at KINTEX, the Korea International Exhibition and Convention Center in Goyang city, on the outskirts of Seoul. “You help the United Nations reach our goals, and you help the world understand the United Nations.”

Special guests included prime ministers Hwang Kyo-ahn of South Korea, and Ranil Wickremesinghe of Ravindran’s native Sri Lanka.

Hwang, who was the charter president of the Rotary Club of Seoul before he served as minister of justice, spoke about Rotary’s history and presence in South Korea, now the fourth-strongest Rotary country in terms of membership and one of the strongest supporters of The Rotary Foundation, per capita.

Our Club should be proud that our Secretary Debbie Schache and her husband John are attending the convention. All Rotarians are welcome to attend all conventions, so put next years Atlanta, Georgia, USA Convention – 10th to 14th June 2017, on your calendar.

 

President’s Comment – 22 May 16 (22 May 2016)

Annual General Meeting of the Rotary  E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity

Can I thank all of those members attending the AGM held last Tuesday 17th May 2016. I would also like to thank those who did not attend and offered to fill a role with our fledgling Club.

We adopted our Constitution and Bylaws and can now start to register as an Incorporated Organisation in NSW.

Congratulations to our newly elected Office Bearers for 2016-17:

President – John Roberson

Secretary – Debbie Schache

Treasurer – Marilyn Roberts

Vice President – Vacant

President Elect – 2017-18 – Vacant

Directors:

Administration – Cameron McKern

Membership – Malcolm Dunnett

Public Relations – Susan Welch

Foundation – John Roberson

Youth & Australian Service – Donna Vaughan

International Service – Sharon Daishe

We are small in number but very excited about our new Club. If you are interested in becoming a member please fill out the “Membership Expression on Interest” Form on this website and submit it. Those joining before we charter will become Charter Members of our Club.

Rotary International Convention

On the 28th May the Rotary International Convention is to begin in Seoul, Korea.  All members of Rotary and their spouses are welcome to register and attend the annual International Convention of Rotary. Listen to what those attending have to look forward to by clicking on the Convention Minute by Rotary International President Elect and Convention Chair Ian Riseley.

RIPE Ian Riseley – Welcome to Seoul Convention

 

President’s Comment – 15 May 16 (16 May 2016)

Sam

Above: My son Sam Smith Roberson while a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Toyama, Japan

 

YOUTH SERVICE MONTH

This month is Youth Service Month and one of the programs that epitomises Rotary’s involvement is Rotary Youth Exchange. My own son benefited immensely from his year spent in Japan. He learned to speak, read and write Japanese, a talent that has already allowed him to become a ski instructor in Japan. It also focused him on what he wants out of life and his decision to become a teacher is partly because of his youth exchange experiences.

Thousands of young students have benefitted from their experiences living in another culture, learning about cultural differences and finding and developing their own talents.

Click on this link for a message about Rotary Youth Exchange.

If you want more informatio on Rotary Youth Exchange look at this website.

http://www.ryea.org.au/

 

 

President’s Comment – 8 May 16 (8 May 2016)

T1516-EN

Doesn’t a week fly by now days!

We held a GoToMeeting last Tuesday and we had six attendees which is a record for our fledgling Club. We had a great discussion on how our Club is developing and where we go from now.

We have this month and half of June to finalise our website, attract more members, establish Bank Accounts, register as a Incorporated body in NSW and submit our application to receive our charter.

I appeal to all who are interested in becoming a Charter member to fill out and submit an expression of interest form in joining the Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity.

Did you know?

Oss-Rotary-01[1]Pope Francis greets Rotary International President K.R. Ravindran at a Jubilee audience at the Vatican on 30 April, where 9,000 Rotary members were special guests of the pontiff.

 

President’s Comment – 1 May 16 (1 May 2016)

Last weekend I and over 200 other Rotarians attended the District 9700 Conference held in Wagga Wagga, NSW at the Civic Theatre. It was a friendly and very informative weekend. c0[1]

Past Rotary International President 2006-07 Bill Boyd from D9940 New Zealand represented our current RI President K.R.(Ravi) Ravindran and spoke to us three times over the two days. His quiet and succinct messages were well received and he enthused us with the work that Rotary is achieving and has plans to do in the future.

The Conference was divided into three distinct themes that DG Gary Roberts wanted to bring to our members. They were on Peace & Rotary, Business & Rotary and Rotary Youth Programs.

Excellent speakers on the program were:

  • PRIP Kalyan Banerjee who could not attend due to his wife’s illness however his video address was inspiring and urged us to impart the message that peace starts with the individual and their peace within that translates to peace in their homes and communities.
  • PDG Garry Browne and Charles Tarbey from real estate company Century 21 spoke on Rotary & Business and Rotary forming Partnerships with business.
  • The Youth Programs speakers William Wood a Rotaractor, PDG Rowley Thompsett a training officer for Rotaract and Sarah Yahya, NSW Multicultural Youth Ambassador who works with Rotaract and Rotary on various projects highlighted the importance of all Rotary Clubs fostering and supporting Rotaract and Interact as a way of communicating the Rotary philosophy to new generations.

In conclusion I would like to encourage all members of our Club to attend next year’s D9700 conference for DG Michael Milston to be held at Orange, NSW – 18th to 19th March 2017.

Please encourage your friends and interested acquaintances who want to join Rotary to consider filling out our “Expression of Interest Form” on this website  to be considered for membership of the Rotary E-Club of D9700-Serving Humanity. Members can be resident in any country in the world and still become a member of a Rotary E-Club.