Connecting - are we?

In Rotary there is much effort being put into advertising campaigns.  We have the wonderful support from Rotary International in providing grants to assist in this marketing.  We have the social media tools which in some Clubs and Districts are being well used.  We use banners and high visibility clothing in some places and we are starting to pick up our game with appointing PR-focused members to look out for opportunities.
And then on the other hand we have a wonderful story.  Our activity in the community and around the world speaks volumes about the passion and the generosity of our volunteers.  We change lives, we save lives and we are doing so with sustainable projects that reach out into our community.

But are we connecting?

We have the marketing methods on one hand and we have a powerful message to tell.  But are we effectively communicating this message to those in our target audience who also want to give back to the community?  To improve our efforts in attracting new members to Rotary we need to connect.  We need to connect people with people.  We need to connect our story to individuals through effective marketing and effective public relations.  To do this we need to re-examine what we are (or in cases what we are not) doing.

Training in your Club, evaluating what you are doing and examining and adopting those methods working elsewhere in Rotary are key steps that any Club can take.  Let's examine those Clubs that are growing.  Those Clubs who are attracting new members and identify what it is that is allowing them to 'connect'.

Are we connecting?  I suggest in most cases we are not doing as well as we can.  We have a wonderful story but if we neglect our 'story-telling' we run the risk of self-extinction.

If not - you should!!

Go to the official web site

Wherever you are in the world, there is till time to organise your fellow Rotarians into action on 30 September.

Take a look at the attached - a very simple concept where we can mobilize efforts of Rotarians and communities around the world and focus on one aspect of Rotary's 'good work' in the world.

If you are not involved in this project, you should be.

View the video

For more details search on Google "globalrun4water"

Social Media was used to capture opinions from Rotaractors

In late July, RI asked on social media five questions about Rotaractors becoming Rotarians. RI then  presented the responses to the Membership Development & Retention and Rotaract & Interact committees. Here are the questions that were discussed:

• How can former Rotaractors stay connected to Rotary if they are not yet ready to join a Rotary club?
• What has your experience been with your sponsor Rotary club?
• Should Rotary clubs modify the cost of Rotary membership for former Rotaractors?
• What skills would you bring to a Rotary club as a member that you developed through Rotaract?
• What do you see as the similarities and differences between an experienced Rotaractor and a young Rotarian? (You can participate in the discussion on LinkedIn.)

Read some of the responses RI received from those questions. In all, more than 300 people responded to questions about Rotaractors becoming Rotarians. The results were presented on 1 August to the 2012-13 RI Membership Development & Retention and Rotaract & Interact committees at One Rotary Center. Rotary International also tweeted during that part of the committee meeting. You can read the Twitter conversations or visit SlideShare for the presentation.

Now it's a mobile RDU!

It's all very well reading Rotary Down Under online, but it gets pretty difficult reading it on a mobile phone.

But not any more!

Rotary Down Under is now available on your mobile phone -- any mobile phone or device, including all the new tablets -- in a format that allows you to read and navigate your way without having to scroll endlessly while constantly expanding the on-screen text with your fingers!

All the magazine favourites are there: All the feature stories (including the messages from RI President Kalyan Banerjee and Rotary Foundation Chair Bill Boyd, the mailbox section, the News Bulletin, This Rotary World, even the Notices and Smiles sections.

And you won’t need a microscope! Check it out here. (if you're looking at this from your desktop or laptop, it will appear no different. From a mobile phone or other portable device, you'll see a very different version.) Alternatively, text the word "magazine" to 0427 741 911. We'll text you back a link that will take you straight there.

Why polio hasn't gone away yet.

Report from CNN - 30 July, 2012

Two little girls in matching gingham jumpers -- Pam is crouching and pulling on her sister Patricia's leg brace -- appeared in a poster for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in the early 1950s. They'd both recovered from polio.

"The story always went that she would loosen my braces, so we could play better, because my legs would be stiff ... I had it worse than she did," said Patricia O'Neil Dryer, now 65 years old and living in St. Cloud, Florida.

Read more ...

Rotary Central - launched and active!

Every day, thousands of Rotarians make a positive difference in people’s lives locally and internationally. Rotary’s impact on the world begins at the club level. To better measure how your club contributes to Rotary’s success, we created Rotary Club Central, an online tool that will empower you and club leaders to track your club’s goals, progress, and achievements in key performance areas.

This new tool will help you monitor a club’s membership initiatives, service activities, and Foundation giving.

Your clubs may already be determining their 2013-14 goals using the Planning Guide for Effective Rotary Clubs. Please encourage them to log in to Member Access and use Rotary Club Central to help guide their goal setting activities.

As a district leader, you can view a summary of your district’s achievements, or those of a particular club. If a club is unable to enter goals, any district leader can edit a club’s summary data on behalf of the club. The club president will be notified by email when any changes are made to their club. Please make sure that club leader email addresses are current in Member Access.

We invite you to give us feedback on your experience with Rotary Club Central (within the tool, click the Feedback link to open the form). Your responses will help improve the experience for Rotarians worldwide.

In the coming months you will see additional goals in the tool. We will keep you informed as new and improved functionality is added.

If you have questions, please email us or contact your Club and District Support representative.

Regards,

John Hewko
General Secretary
Rotary International

A Rotary engine

The Economist wrote an article about Rotary's work with Polio, touching upon our successes and the current challenges we face - a great read!

Can a businessmen’s club eradicate polio from the world? IT IS a year since the last case of polio was diagnosed in India. That is not enough to pronounce the country polio-free—three clear years are the conventional period required for that to happen. But it is a good start. And if India really is clear, then what was once a global scourge will now be endemic to a mere three countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. The number of people infected, meanwhile, has dropped from 350,000 in 1988 to 650 last year.   Read more ...

President Sakuji Tanaka commited to eradicate Polio

To all Rotarians - these news stories are for your to take and spread in your own areas.  We have a powerful international network that we should use to share our news stories.

Yomiuri Shimbun - June 22, 2012 

A Japanese daily with the largest circulation, ran a profile story on President Sakuji Tanaka. He is depicted as a real self-made man in an inspiring way.  Polio eradication is mentioned in his comment, “I’m committed to eradicate polio campaign. Eradication of polio is Rotary’s top priority.”  He also mentioned about the two schools he and his district built in Bangladesh. The story is mainly about his life (including Rotary).  The last paragraph reads ‘Rotary clubs are organizations which implement service activities in the communities both locally and internationally.  There are about 90,000 members in 2,300 clubs in Japan.”  

A basic human right??

Water is a basic human right, yet 900 million people lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion have no safe sanitation. That’s why water & sanitation is a key focus area in the new Rotary, because where there is water there is peace, health, education, and economic development.  That’s why WASRAG, the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group, adopted the slogan “Start with water.”

We encourage every Rotarian to become familiar with the world water issues, both at home and in other parts of the world.  Every Rotary club should get involved in water and sanitation projects; and through multi-district and multi-club partnering we can together achieve so much more.

Money and expertise are keys to success, so are active Rotary clubs involved in raising funds and awareness. That’s why I endorse the RotaryGlobalRun4Water and encourage clubs around the world to embrace this simple but powerful formula.  It is an easy way for clubs to get involved with water in their local community and support meaningful grant projects. With broad participation in such a multi-district fundraiser we can foster partnerships, raise the exposure of Rotary, and most importantly make a significant difference in the cause for clean water.

Ron Denham

Chair, Wasrag

www.startwithwater.org

Let's get serious aboout Public Relations

Most of the news and information you see on the TV news or in the daily newspaper is generated by people just like you. They send information to the media, usually via news releases and personal contact. The best media outlets won't run your news releases verbatim, but they will use the information from them, supplemented with a call to you or a spokesperson.

Here are 10 tips for getting your organization noticed by your local media.  Read more .....

1. Get to know the media that are most likely to cover you.
2. Learn the names of the reporters who cover the beats most significant to you.
3. Get to know reporters personally.
4. Send complimentary copies of your publications to reporters.
5. Keep up with the personnel changes at your favourite media outlets.
6. Always give the media information that is newsworthy.
7. Develop a "virtual" media kit that resides on your organisation's website.
8. Take advantage of breaking news stories to promote your organization.
9. Make yourself available to the media at any time.
10. Always thank a reporter for his or her coverage.

The fight is on to completely eliminate polio from the planet

Rotary is continuing the fight against polio and the media need to spread the word.

Rotarians - tell your other Rotarian friends and tell your community.

We are 'this close' to stamping out polio and need a concerted effort to finish the job!

View more here

The world needs to know!

A water project - let's turn on the tap!!

Posted on my Facebook page today!

From RI:  Take a look at the fantastic global team already assembled to support this event! http://www.rotaryglobalrun4water.org/about/

 

 

 What can we do?

First:  Decide to act!  Get involved!  Encourage your Club to have a Water Project.

Second:  Link into this global initiative - and raise money by creating a community event.  It will increase member engagement; enhance the profile of your Club in the community; add to the efforts of so many others who see the value of clean water

Third:  Get other Clubs involved!!  This is an exciting initiative - with many positives and people willing to give advice on possible water projects.  Spread the word.  

And now on Rotary Showcase!!

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)

Winds of Change - a must buy!!

Click on the image

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.

Rotary Global Run 4 Water

We will raise money so we can support Rotary Water Grants which will help supply clean drinking water to the less fortunate people around the world.

Learn more ...

Listen to the passion of one Rotarian who is playing his part to improve the quality of lives for many.  Is this not why we are Rotarians? 

Coca Cola supports Rotary in Pakistan

Click on Image to read more

On 7 April, in honor of World Health Day, a team of Rotarians, Rotary partners, and employees from Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan joined forces to pick up garbage and conduct a cleanup campaign in Union Council 4, Gadap Town, Pakistan.

Gadap Town is one of Karachi’s high risk areas for the wild polio virus, and was chosen for the cleanup campaign because environmental samples have tested positive for the virus since 2009. Union Council 4 is the most populous of Gadap Town’s eight Union Councils, with a population of 450,000.

RI’s Pakistan PolioPlus Committee and Coca-Cola Pakistan are joining forces to build awareness for Rotary’s polio eradication campaign and emphasize the importance of polio immunizations nationwide.

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 ...