Past President Tony Alsop was our chair for the evening's meeting.
Evening’s program: My Rotary
A number of experienced Rotarians shared their knowledge about how to ensure we have an effective Rotary Club so we can ‘do good’ in the world.
Part 1: Club visits and learnings
President David encouraged members to visit other Rotary clubs locally and whenever opportunities present themselves when travelling. One can learn about different ways to conduct meetings, meal costs, venues, fundraising ideas, project opportunities, etc.
When attending another club, use Club Locator app (download from RI site) and don't forget to advise the Secretary or President of the club you are attending that you are coming...you will be made most welcome and...you'll get a round of applause!
Learn what you can from the club meeting, structure, meeting times and format, types of projects / fundraisers, venue & meal costs and report back to our Board or Board members about your thoughts on what would / would not work for Geelong East.
In the ‘Get Out’ Week, (Tues. 31st July) members were encouraged to get out and attend another club’s meeting.
David and Liz Sykes, Ross Taylor, Heather Campbell all attended other clubs.
Part 2: How effective committees work
Committees are the engine room of our Rotary club. Warren provided advice about how to make them work effectively:
· Have an Agenda to ensure meeting focus (send out Thursday before Committee Meeting)
· All Committee members need to contribute to ensure that the Committee gets the best ideas, tests them and plans well
· Develop sub-committees where needed. Members of SC’s don’t have to be from the Service Committee setting it up
· Committee meetings don’t have to be on a Tuesday night – however, reports must be to the Secretary and Service Projects Director by the Thursday following a usual Tuesday meeting
· Chair is responsible for getting 2IC to manage meeting, if Chair unavailable
· The Chair must report Attendance at Off-Site meetings to Satbir within two days of the meeting
· Committee meetings held at the Hub will be modified in design to give up to one hour of meeting time for Committees
The Committees are at the heart of Rotary – they are where the real work is done; ideas are generated for projects or fundraising, planning takes place, and where the action happens
Part 3: Fundraising Changes
Yannick outlined changes to fundraising processes. In particular committees will be encouraged to conduct their own fundraising events as a means of supplementing their budget allocation and thereby increasing their spending power. Committees were also encouraged to run low cost or no cost activities.
The Fundraising (FR) Committee will oversee all fundraising activities, regularly review fundraising strategies, and support committees with risk assessments, etc. The FR Committee is developing fundraising criteria to be approved by the Board.
There will be support for Committees for this change.
Committees should consider working in conjunction with other committees e.g. Vocational & Youth might have a joint project or with other clubs or organisations.
Part 4: Changes to duties
Ross Taylor emphasised the importance of carrying out allocated duties to ensure a smooth-running meeting.
· There will be no Attendance Officer in future. The Cashier will record attendance
· When on Room Duty, remember that it involves both putting out and putting away at the end of the meeting. Room should be set up just before 6.00pm
· There is a list of items to be put out on the left hand side door of the Box
· The Charter only goes out on ‘special’ occasions e.g. District Governor Visit, Changeover
· If you are rostered for any duty and are unable to be there, it is your responsibility to arrange directly with someone else to take it up for you
· A flag pole is being obtained and that will be an item to be put out each night
Those on Room Duty are responsible for noticing unaccompanied guests. They should be greeted and welcomed. If they are Rotarians or guest speakers, take them and introduce them to the President and Chairman. Ensure that guests get to meet other members
Part 5: Promoting Rotary and our Club
Tony spoke about common misconceptions about Rotary and Rotarians, and therefore the need to promote Rotary as a respected, diverse, world-wide organisation - and our Club as a friendly group of community minded people. He encouraged members to engage with people, listen to their story and take appropriate action. There is a range of resource to assist members to raise the awareness of Rotary with people we meet in our daily lives.
Membership is important to the club.
Members are encouraged to consider inviting people to meetings in which they may have an interest in the speaker or topic. This is a good way to introduce people to Rotary and its work.
Listen to people and see if you can identify their ‘need’.
People may feel isolated working from home – that could be a cue to invite them to meet likeminded people and network at Rotary.
Tony reported that he had a 80 percent response rate to the Club survey and will report to members once the data has been collated.
Tony spoke briefly about the mentoring process and urged mentors to be proactive.
