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Happening at our last meeting … The last meeting was extraordinary, not because it was an additional meeting, or that it was by Zoom, but rather that we took a break from our usual meeting procedure to discuss two important issues: - What they want from the club?
- What should the club be like in the future?
Greg chaired the discussion and asked each member in turn to answer these questions. In general members were asked whether they felt that Rotary should concentrate on fellowship or service to local and international communities. I am not going to provide commentary on what individual members said at the Zoom meeting, but rather provide my interpretation of what was said. The two streams of thought being it is better to have strong fellowship that creates better service, or is better to develop stronger service options that leads to more fellowship. While some spoke from one position or another, there was not a clear preference. It would seem to me that both aspects are important, but the club cannot rationally exist without either service or fellowship and that we need to continue to promote and extend our service activities while striving for more effective fellowship. The strategic plan and directions was raised. We need to have some understanding of where we want to be and a plan of how to get there. Maybe we need to tackle shorter defined tasks that enable us to work towards longer term goals. In my mind, the strategic plan should not only point out where we need or should change, that is where we want to be. But also to rather a basic plan on how we are going to get there within the current resources and those we are likely to develop. Once the plan and directions are agreed we should work to its end. Another strong theme was that members want to give back to the community after a long period in industry and government positions. This often means assisting local communities but without neglecting international ones. Tyrell and the club should be rightly proud of our recent funding for an international project. There was a comment that new members join Rotary to give service. It is appreciated that Covid and the restrictions are affecting what we can do, but we must look beyond our present operating position. There were a few suggestions that could be implemented now. These include: - We could use a different seating arrangement to encourage more fellowship with more members. Perhaps 4 tables of 8 could be a useful arrangement.
- We could have more presentations about the “person behind the badge”.
- The business part of the meeting should be shorter. Some clubs limit the meeting to 1 hour.
- We cold introduce “fireside” presentations where we describe and discuss aspects or the Rotary organisation and practices.
- We should look for a way to reduce the background noise and to make the screen easier to see. This may require looking for an alternative venue.
- We should establish projects that are less male orientated and encourage more women to join the club.
 Wellbeing of our members We understand that Ray is home with Elaine. We appreciate that Ray and Elaine will still need support. While they will always try to be independent, we hope that they call on club members for assistance when necessary. Our President Harry has had a reaction to some cream he was using. We hope he can have this issue sorted quickly. Writing the bulletin Along with the comments raised above, there were comments that we need to change and be willing and serious about changing. We need to have open minded about doing things differently and that we should encourage others “to have a go”. As I need to concentrate on my work over the next several months, I will be unavailable to prepare the bulletin or to attend Rotary meetings regularly. This is the perfect chance for you to have a go! Andrew is going to pick up the pen with the support of Tyrell. We appreciate Tyrell being prepared to write the bulletin on occasions. However it is not up to Andrew and Tyrell alone, all members should contribute as well.
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