It's about TIME Rotarians!

Ottawa's Rotary clock

Yes - it's time to re energise our Clubs.

Now is the time to come out and declare our value to the community.

• It's time to share what we do in our community.
• It's time to invite others to share in our activities.
• It's time to consider refreshing our web pages to appeal to those 'looking in'.
• It's time to enhance our public image.
• It's time to be open about our achievements.
• It's time to invite others to join.
• It's time to engage the community in our work.
• It's time to change more lives.

It is time to ACT.

Simply put, Rotary -

Joins Leaders - Exchanges Ideas - Takes Action

A 'timely' reminder for the people of Ottawa
that Rotary serves their community

In Ottawa local Rotarians have a large free standing clock in a busy commercial area with one of their members tasked to ensure it is always telling the right time!! It is known throughout the area as the "Rotary Clock" and generates great PR. This Club is the largest (93 and growing!) of 7 clubs in the city of Ottawa.

Contributed by Merv Letts - Rotary Club of West Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada 

Target audience - what are we aiming with?

Learn about data visualization tools.

Tools alone are not sufficient - have a plan

 

So true!

"Taking off" with Public Image

Front Row: Kaye Clarke,   Ross Brown, RPIC Howard Tong, DG Roger Miller,
Back Row: David Hulme, DGN Paul Wright, Jock McIntyre,
Cheryl McGregor, DGE Russell Turner (Absent - Kim Livingstone)

Yesterday I was invited to attend a workshop in District 9930 by Governor Roger Miller.  This was an opportunity to look afresh at the steps being taken to connect with their community.  Around the table were Rotarians who have recently joined to those who have spent many years serving their community.  From PR professionals, marketers, newspaper journalists to those involved in local economic development.  This was a group focused at looking how better to promote the image of Rotary in their District.  Also joining the group were the District Governor Elect and Nominee.  The outcome has been for the group to commit to meet on a regular basis to further explore opportunities and to map out an action plan that will link into the work of the multi-District communication group who assist Governors to implement their PR Grant programme.  It is encouraging to see D9930 harness the knowledge and professional skills of their District to focus on how to work for a common goal in the marketing of the wonderful work of their District members.
Exciting stuff! Oh yes, and we met in the newly dedicated 'Rotary Room' at the Classic Flyers facility in Tauranga.  This District is ready to 'take off'.

Logo or faces?

I read this today:

"So the next time you are trying to decide what image you want to present, stop to consider who you are marketing to. Logos are great, if you are only promoting your company and brand. If you are your company and brand, including your own photo is just as important as a logo as far as impact and impression for the public perception. A good way to tie it all together is to have an “About” page on your website that includes not only information about what you offer and who you are, but images of you, your company and anything else that your business followers might benefit from knowing."

The results of our measurement with last year's Face Book advertising campaign was very interesting and certainly supports this claim.

Of the two images below - which received more clicks?

This and other information will be presented in the PR Grant webinar 4 and 10 September.  See previous posting to join others.

PR Grants – Making a Comprehensive PR Plan

Webinar - do join me!!

In the latest edition of Rotary Training Talk

Rotary Public Image Coordinator (RPIC), PDG (2010-11) Howard Tong from New Zealand will speak about how the districts in New Zealand develop their PR plans, and the role PR Grants play in making them a success.

Register for a session now by clicking a date below. Listings are Central Time; check for your local time.

4 September 19:00 - 20:00 
10 September 8:00 - 9:00 

Rotary International has invited me to present at these two webinars in September.  I will be covering how Zone 7b have been able to successfully collaborate and put together an inter District media campaign. 

Key words are:

Collaborate

Communicate

Contribute

Connect

Infographics communicate

Click above to see the full 'infographic'

Sometimes a picture is better than a 1,000 words.

The use of 'info graphics' is growing and Rotary is picking up on how effective this can be.

Check this out

Media clips:

Reuters: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/global-emergency-plan-launched-to-eradicate-polio (President Banerjee quoted)

Canadian Press: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20120524/paralytic-polio-eradication110524/ (Carol Pandak quoted)

Increased profile needs action

Do you want your Rotary Clubs to increase their profile?  Is there a real drive to heighten the awareness of Rotary in your community?  Are Clubs keen to increase their membership?  Is there a desire to get serious about attracting new interest in our organisation?  

A solution.

Encourage your Club to adopt a high profile project - providing a fresh focus, new energy and public presence.

One such project is the GlobalRun4Water project which is going viral!

Be part of a global group of Rotarians raising funds for water projects by involving the community.  The web site contains practical advice as to the how to go about creating an event.

Lets make a big splash for Clean Water!

Our image - our responsibilty - our future!!

Read more by clicking this image.

STATEMENT:  The image others have of us is a reflection of the image we have of ourselves.  

Each Rotarian is a "marketing agent" for our organisation.  Do our newer members have the knowledge to be able to effectively market who we are and what we do?  

In the attached "Rotary on the Move" newsletter Barry Matheson (Rotary International Director - 2010-2012) states:

".... we are losing far too many members even where we are having a net gain in membership. So what is the challenge? After all we do gain a large numbers of members every year. To be specific we gained 1,100,000 members between June 30th 2003 and June 30th 2012. This is an average of 157,143 a year for seven years. So our product cannot on the face of it be all that bad.
Our Challenge lies with the connect or disconnect if you will between, on the one hand the image we portray, the brand we sell, the promise we offer our members and on the other hand what our clubs actually offer. The challenge in my mind is that we are not living up to what we say we are in many clubs.  "

Read more ...

Have these in your pocket!

How can Rotary stay relevant to younger members? Hear answers from Rotarians to this question and others in Rotary Minute, a series of short videos, now available on iTunes through a free podcast subscription.

How many times has a colleague, friend, or new contact asked you what Rotary is? If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can now respond by showing a one-minute video that explains Rotary in the words of everyday Rotarians.  

Rotary Minute is a series of videos featuring Rotary club members from around the world discussing a variety of topics, such as “How have you benefited from being a Rotarian?” In addition to being available on Vimeo, Rotary Minute is now offered through a free podcast subscription on iTunes.

The internet - a 'warm, friendly environment'

“I had (and still have) a dream that the Web could be less of a television channel and more of an interactive sea of shared knowledge. I imagine it immersing us as a warm, friendly environment made of the things we and our friends have seen, heard, believe, or have figured out. I would like it to bring our friends and colleagues closer, in that by working on this knowledge together we can come to better understandings.” —Sir Tim Berners Lee, 1995 (Inventor of the World Wide Web)

Rotary PR - on the Move!

DG Ian Simpson (left), Geoff Crouch of Ron Crouch Transport &
District 9700 PR Chair PDG John Egan with  the ‘Rotary Truck’
leaving Wagga on it’s first journey.

Next time your are driving between Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane or stuck for hours in a peak hour traffic jam look for the Rotary PR Truck.
District 9700 Public Relations Chair PDG John Egan and DG Ian Simpson came up with the idea after exploring (and rejecting because of cost) the use of Roadside Billboards to advertise Rotary.
The END POLIO NOW advertisement decorates the sides of a Wagga based, long-haul truck that will travel around south-eastern Australia for the next 6 to 8 years.
One of the Ron Crouch Transport fleet, the side curtains promote Rotary’s role in the eradication of Polio in our world.
The 15m long sign enables the reader to take action and find out more about Rotary and passes the 'readability at 100km per hour' test.
District 9700 thanks Ron Crouch Transport and recognises Dick Garner, RI Regional Public Image Coordinator and the Governors of Districts 9680, 9690, 9710, 9790, 9800, 9810 for partnering us in this Public Relations initiative.

23 February - let's get out there!!

What is your Club panning to do around the birthday of Rotary on 23 February?

Have a read.  This is the approach of District 9500 - a Week 4 Rotary - love it!!

A Public Awareness programme with some excellent examples of activities all Clubs can put into place.

Take a look here ...

Our Profile gets a boost

Rotary International has generously provided us in Zone 7b (and to Rotarians all around the world) with a Public Relations Grant to assist in promoting Rotary in our community.  A national committee representing each District has devised a publicity campaign over February/March.  You are encouraged as a Club to supplement this campaign with your own local media activity.  This can be paid advertising, generating public interest through special high-profile projects and events or through personal promotion by your members by inviting the community to your Club meetings.

This media campaign involves:

Television 12 February – 30 March (TV3)

Radio 19 February – 30 March (Newstalk ZB, Easy Listening, Hauraki and their other networked stations)

Billboards 4 March – 6 May (Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin)

Online Marketing 19 February – 25 March (TV3 online, NZ Herald, Stuff, Yahoo, Facebook, msn.co.nz)

For more details go here ... 
Rotary Stories go here ...