Dear Everyone,
The District Leaders and Presidents met on the 26th of February, and Alma gave an update on the District Youth Programmes and Projects.
The policy is that in order for the District Youth Projects to run, a Committee of 5 Rotarians is needed. So, those proceeding are:
- RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) for 18 to 30 year olds
- RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment) for secondary school students
- The ConocoPhillips Science Experience for Year 9 students
- Interact and Earlyact - which are flourishing and further growth over time is anticipated. Salwan Shahine, Rotary Club of Doncaster is the Chair and he is our guest speaker on the 6th of April.
- Speech Contests at the Primary and Secondary School levels. BUT, there is no District committee so there will not be a District final. If you would like to be on this committee, please contact Marlene Sinclair (0449 261 388).
- NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) for Year 11 students is still being sorted out.
- MUNA (Model United Nations Assembly) is in doubt as there are only 2 on the committee but 5 are needed with one Chair or two Co-Chairs. Contact Malcolm Chiverton (0417 355 592) if you are interested.
- RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) is NOT a District initiative so can proceed as usual.
- Not Proceeding: There will not be Youth Exchange in or out of Australia next year but an interstate exchange is a possibility.
The second of four D9810 Membership Masterclasses was held last Thursday night and our very own PP PHF Ian Ash was the presenter, and a wonderful job he did too! We are required to report back to our clubs and share the lessons we have learnt.
“Increasing Our Ability to Adapt” was considered under these five headings in dedicated Breakout Rooms:
- Club members’ experience- Lorna
- Service and Socials – Tina
- Membership retention and attraction - Vicki
- Club Image – Kris
- Business and operations – Roy
Our members named above volunteered to convene the Breakout sessions and keep the other participants on track. A spokesperson from each room gave feedback, some of which is below, to the whole group afterwards:
Val - Meetings need to be well-run and people stopped from rambling and repeating themselves. Members’ needs can be met by:
listening, administering a survey and by less formal and detailed ways,
offering leadership and professional development, and the opportunity to chair committees.
Tina - Things will return to normal in time.
Partners used to attend meetings and some members invite guests.
If meetings are made interesting, they will come.
We have to make being in Rotary fun consistently; some clubs are stuck in the past.
People have to be involved in projects.
The Emerald Club involves the community through its Voucher Programme, the Care Packages for the graduating class of Year 12 at ESC and the Time Capsules for the Grade 6s at our local primary schools last year.
Trish (Lilydale RC) - We need speakers who are entertaining or speak with passion.
Use the members’ skills as much as possible and make the members feel valued.
One club holds a weekly market but there is no advertising of Rotary; they need to have a membership stand explaining what Rotary is and have business cards to give to those showing interest.
“Seek.com” could be used as a resource as it offers free advice about volunteering.
Kris Revamp all the signage to have consistent colours and the right logo. The way you communicate is important, pictures save many words.
The Marketing Chair ensures the Rotary brand is being used correctly.
Sell the Rotary philosophy and the impact we have.
Showcase members’ stories about why they joined, what they get out of it and the fun it is.
Have strategies in place and evaluate; measure the impact of Facebook, the regularity of posts.
Have a monthly focus, for example, this month is “Water and Sanitation Month”.
Show an interview on your Social Media.
Have a précis of the Club Newsletter to show what you’ve been doing.
Roy - Sometimes the technology is not popular for members who’ve been on screens all day and then have a Zoom meeting at night.
There should be less talk and more doing of projects.
Meetings are too rigid and should be run in a more interesting way.
If you want to do something, remember the various Working Bees aimed at improving our Emerald environment, and the 100 Kilometres for 100 Years’ Challenge.
Wear your Emerald Rotary polos and hats at the Working Bees, which are also a public awareness exercise. And, when the time is right, talk to people about why you joined Rotary and what you get out of being a Rotarian.
Thank you to:
- Roy and Kerry for their latest addition to the Noticeboard.
- Ian Wakefield for his ongoing work on our R100 Celebrations, especially given the change of date with Puffing Billy Railway.
- Ian Ash for the use of his data projector last Tuesday night.
- Lorna for assisting guest speaker Mark with his travel arrangements and for work on the Great Community Raffle.
- Kris and the Fundraising Committee for their work on the Car Rally and 100 Kilometres’ Walk Fundraisers.
- Tina, Roy, Lorna Kris and Ian Ash for attending/running the District’s Membership Masterclass and for ever so capably reporting back to the main meeting on their Breakout Room’s discussion.
This Tuesday night, on the 9th of March, it’s a “normal” meeting (??), but after the business is out of the way, we’ll have some Trivia Quizzes, with the winning team-members each receiving a tiny prize.
** Next week:
on the 16th of March our guest speaker is local apiarist Mark Lane talking about bee-keeping and attracting pollinators to the garden.
**The following week:
on the 23rd of March it’s Club Assembly again but without Chairperson Shalini, who is having a well-earned break. Who will chair I hear you ask? Watch this space!
Don’t stay home, come join us at the pub for a great night!
Stay safe and stay Rotary Even Prouder.
Yours in Rotary,
Vicki.
