Duty Roster
Reminder: If you are unable to do your duty please arrange a swap
and notify President of the change.
Last week President Neil and I attended a Rotary District Membership Seminar.
World wide Rotary membership is in decline and the reasons for this are consistent within Australia/NZ. Time pressures, non productive meetings, lack of activity in the community and an ageing demographic have all contributed to this.
In recent years the rate of members leaving Rotary has remained steady, however the rate of people joining Rotary has dropped off considerably.
We heard from Rotarians who are part of thriving clubs , talking about the factors that made their clubs successful. A lot of these clubs have acted on the demand from members to be more involved in the community and to have less formal meetings. This can be encouraging for potential members to join who would find too much pressure to attend a weekly meeting, while also wanting to get value in exchange for their time and to be able to have an impact within the community.
One Australian club meets twice a month - one traditional meeting per month on the second Thursday of the month. Then on the last Sunday afternoon of the month they do some kind of work in the community and gather together afterwards to debrief and socialise. This doubles as an informal meeting. Their work could be as simple as gardening in a public garden space within their community. Their Sunday afternoon work is attended by members as well as spouses, children, other family members and even neighbours of members.
Current clubs don’t need to necessarily be grown by huge numbers but there should be importance placed on ensuring current members are actively engaged in Rotary and getting value out of being a member. Speaking to members from other clubs around the district confirmed that growth and member retention is fairly organic when a club is in good shape.
Feedback from others showed that there is plenty our club is doing really well. Changes our Club has put in place over the past few years, including the changes to meeting formats is inline with innovation bringing positive results in other Clubs.
7th Monthly Drinks - Zookeepers from 5.15pm
11th Club Forum - BoardRoom - McCulloch + Partners
18th Formal Meeting - Level 6 - Kelvin Hotel
25th 4th Week - Social / Offsite Meeting - Location to be confirmed
October
2nd Formal Meeting - Level 6 - Kelvin Hotel
5th Monthly Drinks - Lonestar from 5.15pm
9th Club Forum - BoardRoom - McCulloch + Partners
16th Formal Meeting - Level 6 - Kelvin Hotel
23rd 4th Week - Social / Offsite Meeting - Location to be confirmed
30th 5th Week - No Meeting
November
6th Formal Meeting - Level 6 - Kelvin Hotel
10th November 9980 District Fun Day - Mark the date! Details to be confirmed
13th Club Forum - BoardRoom - McCulloch + Partners
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Weekly Letter:
Apparently one of the most asked questions of Google is, “Why does a dog wag its tail” or “What does a dog’s wagging tail mean”. Anyone who has anything to do with a dog notices the wagging tail to various degrees – sometimes fast and sometimes slow and steady and sometimes with the tail up and sometimes down.
According to dog experts the wagging serves the same communication functions as a human smile and only usually happens when other living beings are around, e.g,
a person, another dog, a cat etc. The type of wagging and the speed can be interpreted as a dog being happy or maybe insecure or challenged – the language of the canine tail.
It is not surprising that the wagging tail has become the subject of even political debate. There is the common saying of the “tail wagging the dog” meaning the situation where the main organisation is being controlled by someone that is less important. Sometimes it is said that “the flea on the tail is wagging the tail and the tail is wagging the dog” when someone really unimportant ends up being in a position of control. These expressions have been used with MMP in this country and other places where a small minority in the right place at the right time controls power.
Just some observations from having a dog and trying to figure it out.
Yours in Rotary
Laurie Wilkes
August 2018
