Hello everyone
Well this will be my last blog post as President of the club and thanks to everyone for a lovely meeting last night where we had a chance to update everyone on what is happening and enjoy a bit of fellowship.
I haven't much to say here and I will say my closing speech at the Changeover but I do wish Andrew all the best in his year and hope he has a wonderful experience.
Thanks everyone for your support in helping me out in my year and I wish the club and its members all the best in health and happiness for you and your families and look forward to our continuing association with the club.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week and see you all next week at the Changeover!
Regards
Helen
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Wednesday 13 June 2012
Hello everyone
I hope you all had a lovely long weekend spent with friends and family or doing what you love. I used the opportunity to ride my bike around the city and attend the new Napoleon Exhibition at the Art Gallery which was well worth the money.
The only thing happening for me within Rotary this last week is that there has been a change of plans in the GSE front. Due to lack of applicants, they have reduced the selection interview days from 2 to 1 which will be on Saturday 23 June. This now enables Jayde to submit her application and be available for this selection process (as she was going to be away before then). Therefore, in the background, I have been working with Jayde to ensure that her application is completed and providing any support she needs to make the best effort in the selection process for the Malaysian GSE tour later this year. I will be bringing along her application for Andrew's signature and RCMM sponsorship on Monday night.
Next Monday night will be a joint Board meeting and a club forum. Although we don't have anything planned, my intention is to have all Director and Member announcements and then some fellowship over dinner before going into the Board Meeting. It will be an opportunity to finalise things required for Andrew's year and the changeover so it will be a relaxing night. I will also bring along various equipment that I had bought for the club to hand over to Andrew and others (the mobile office).
Other than that, Andrew B who visited Texas on the GSE sent a lovely email with the photos of which I had emailed out all club members. Please feel free to read these and enjoy his adventures. If you didn't receive it, please let me know and I'll resend the email. He certainly had a great time and learned a lot through his vocational contacts and networks and likely that he will never forget this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I will be at the Rotary Leadership Institute Training (last day) on Sunday 17 June and have organised a swap with Bill C (I'll do his on the June 24th). I would encourage anyone in a leadership position in the club to attend RLI training in the near future as it gives you the information and knowledge about Rotary and its programs. It is a highly commended course - and the registration fee is waived for President Elects. Please don't think it is not valuable - if anything, it was one of the most valuable courses for idea exchange, information gathering and knowledge sharing that I have come across.
Have a good week and see you all on Monday 18 June!
I hope you all had a lovely long weekend spent with friends and family or doing what you love. I used the opportunity to ride my bike around the city and attend the new Napoleon Exhibition at the Art Gallery which was well worth the money.
The only thing happening for me within Rotary this last week is that there has been a change of plans in the GSE front. Due to lack of applicants, they have reduced the selection interview days from 2 to 1 which will be on Saturday 23 June. This now enables Jayde to submit her application and be available for this selection process (as she was going to be away before then). Therefore, in the background, I have been working with Jayde to ensure that her application is completed and providing any support she needs to make the best effort in the selection process for the Malaysian GSE tour later this year. I will be bringing along her application for Andrew's signature and RCMM sponsorship on Monday night.
Next Monday night will be a joint Board meeting and a club forum. Although we don't have anything planned, my intention is to have all Director and Member announcements and then some fellowship over dinner before going into the Board Meeting. It will be an opportunity to finalise things required for Andrew's year and the changeover so it will be a relaxing night. I will also bring along various equipment that I had bought for the club to hand over to Andrew and others (the mobile office).
Other than that, Andrew B who visited Texas on the GSE sent a lovely email with the photos of which I had emailed out all club members. Please feel free to read these and enjoy his adventures. If you didn't receive it, please let me know and I'll resend the email. He certainly had a great time and learned a lot through his vocational contacts and networks and likely that he will never forget this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I will be at the Rotary Leadership Institute Training (last day) on Sunday 17 June and have organised a swap with Bill C (I'll do his on the June 24th). I would encourage anyone in a leadership position in the club to attend RLI training in the near future as it gives you the information and knowledge about Rotary and its programs. It is a highly commended course - and the registration fee is waived for President Elects. Please don't think it is not valuable - if anything, it was one of the most valuable courses for idea exchange, information gathering and knowledge sharing that I have come across.
Have a good week and see you all on Monday 18 June!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 4th June 2012
Hello everyone
Last night we had an interesting and engaging talk by Richard who talked about solar energy and how he built his energy efficient home. It was quite timely as we're putting in solar panels this Wednesday out of sheer frustration of having to pay utility bills that are increasing all the time. However, with these dark, cold miserable days, looks like we will still be paying the bills until the sun peeks out from behind the clouds.
There's a few things going on in the background now as our club readies itself for Andrew's year and already progress is being made for the changeover night with people pitching in the background to make the next year a success. I'm so happy that things are moving along for this club and there's a renewed vigor for the upcoming year.
There were a few announcements last night but I'd just like to reiterate the following.
(a) If you have any old coats or work wear that you don't wear anymore, please pass them onto Sheila so that they can be given to charity.
(b) John Hunt has asked for assistance to find guest speakers as the program will need to be filled in the coming months. Any ideas, any contacts, anyone you believe would be a good speaker, please let him know asap.
(c) Thanks to Greg for helping out on the Bowelscan program and dropping the kits off to 3 pharmacies as well as highlighting and dispelling a rumour about the kits.
(d) Thanks to Graeme for giving us the board report and highlighting all the donations made by our club to the various local charity groups.
There is no meeting next week but I hope that you stay happy, healthy and well and see you all back on Monday 18 June for the club forum and a joint board meeting which will be the last board meeting for this Rotary year.
Have a great week!
Last night we had an interesting and engaging talk by Richard who talked about solar energy and how he built his energy efficient home. It was quite timely as we're putting in solar panels this Wednesday out of sheer frustration of having to pay utility bills that are increasing all the time. However, with these dark, cold miserable days, looks like we will still be paying the bills until the sun peeks out from behind the clouds.
There's a few things going on in the background now as our club readies itself for Andrew's year and already progress is being made for the changeover night with people pitching in the background to make the next year a success. I'm so happy that things are moving along for this club and there's a renewed vigor for the upcoming year.
There were a few announcements last night but I'd just like to reiterate the following.
(a) If you have any old coats or work wear that you don't wear anymore, please pass them onto Sheila so that they can be given to charity.
(b) John Hunt has asked for assistance to find guest speakers as the program will need to be filled in the coming months. Any ideas, any contacts, anyone you believe would be a good speaker, please let him know asap.
(c) Thanks to Greg for helping out on the Bowelscan program and dropping the kits off to 3 pharmacies as well as highlighting and dispelling a rumour about the kits.
(d) Thanks to Graeme for giving us the board report and highlighting all the donations made by our club to the various local charity groups.
There is no meeting next week but I hope that you stay happy, healthy and well and see you all back on Monday 18 June for the club forum and a joint board meeting which will be the last board meeting for this Rotary year.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 14 May 2012
Hello everyone
Well judging the skin around my fingernails, I'm stressed! Or maybe I should just stop this nervous reaction and keep biting them.
Last night, Gill talked about how to manage stress and identify the triggers that create a stressful reaction for us which in turn, change our behaviours and affect our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well being. While she talked, I thought about my behaviour and how I react to others when stressed and realised that at times, there is a lot of pressure that I put on myself.
Over the last few months, realising this I had started yoga and meditation just to calm me down a bit and have found that I look forward to those moments of peace where I can zone out for a while. She called it 'being present in the now' and in one way, for me, knitting is the activity which puts me 'in the now'. The moment I pick it up every night, I'm not thinking about those training needs analysis reports, I'm not thinking about how to train over 3500 people across our organisation scattered across two countries and all states, I'm not thinking about writing up meeting agendas, project reports, whitepapers or worried about meeting crazy deadlines and constant requests, I'm not thinking about how I'm going to fit it all in or who is there to help me through it - I'm just thinking of knits, purls and the texture of the yarn at my fingertips - and that's comforting for me.
Thanks also to the team of people who helped out in our recent Charity Golf Day at Kingston Heath. By all reports it was quite successful and funds were raised to support MS and our other community initiatives. For those who have helped (and your partners - a BIG thank you to them too!) for helping out on the day, seeking sponsors or providing raffle and silent auction gifts, it is greatly appreciated.
It was nice to receive a Facebook post from Andrew who is enjoying his cultural exchange to Fort Worth Dallas Texas and he will be sending an email with photos to the club that will be distributed. Next week he starts his Vocational Exchange working at a university with robotics engineering as his project.
I'm looking forward to Sunday where I have volunteered to help out on the corner of North Road and East Boundary Road at 10-12 in the morning for the Red Shield Appeal for the Salvation Army. Make sure you drive by and put some money in the tin!
I wish everyone a happy week, take care and I will be an apology for next week as it is my name day (Greeks celebrate this in honour of their saint names) so anyone who is named Helen or Constantine celebrates on 21 May. See you on Monday 28 May for our movie night!
Well judging the skin around my fingernails, I'm stressed! Or maybe I should just stop this nervous reaction and keep biting them.
Last night, Gill talked about how to manage stress and identify the triggers that create a stressful reaction for us which in turn, change our behaviours and affect our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well being. While she talked, I thought about my behaviour and how I react to others when stressed and realised that at times, there is a lot of pressure that I put on myself.
Over the last few months, realising this I had started yoga and meditation just to calm me down a bit and have found that I look forward to those moments of peace where I can zone out for a while. She called it 'being present in the now' and in one way, for me, knitting is the activity which puts me 'in the now'. The moment I pick it up every night, I'm not thinking about those training needs analysis reports, I'm not thinking about how to train over 3500 people across our organisation scattered across two countries and all states, I'm not thinking about writing up meeting agendas, project reports, whitepapers or worried about meeting crazy deadlines and constant requests, I'm not thinking about how I'm going to fit it all in or who is there to help me through it - I'm just thinking of knits, purls and the texture of the yarn at my fingertips - and that's comforting for me.
Thanks also to the team of people who helped out in our recent Charity Golf Day at Kingston Heath. By all reports it was quite successful and funds were raised to support MS and our other community initiatives. For those who have helped (and your partners - a BIG thank you to them too!) for helping out on the day, seeking sponsors or providing raffle and silent auction gifts, it is greatly appreciated.
It was nice to receive a Facebook post from Andrew who is enjoying his cultural exchange to Fort Worth Dallas Texas and he will be sending an email with photos to the club that will be distributed. Next week he starts his Vocational Exchange working at a university with robotics engineering as his project.
I'm looking forward to Sunday where I have volunteered to help out on the corner of North Road and East Boundary Road at 10-12 in the morning for the Red Shield Appeal for the Salvation Army. Make sure you drive by and put some money in the tin!
I wish everyone a happy week, take care and I will be an apology for next week as it is my name day (Greeks celebrate this in honour of their saint names) so anyone who is named Helen or Constantine celebrates on 21 May. See you on Monday 28 May for our movie night!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 8th May 2012
Hello everyone
What a wonderfully inspiring presentation from Mia and Claire, two students of the Bentleigh West Primary School who attended the International Water Convention in Adelaide last year. Our club sponsored part of their registration and travel costs to attend this convention that focussed on environment and sustainability education programs for students. Both young ladies spoke eloquently and passionately about how they found their experience and it was lovely to see that the future of Australia can be so involved with programs that involve Australia's sustainability.
We also had various announcements from members and Directors. Thanks to Greg for acting as the Bowelscan Co-ordinator for the new year. This program is important and RCMM has had an active role in the last few years connecting with pharmacies in the local area to have the kits be made available.
I also wish to thank every volunteer and club member for the upcoming Kingston Heath Golf Day and it promises to be another wonderful event that will raise ever important funds for the club. My husband is looking forward to playing Kingston Heath on Friday!
Unfortunately I did pass on a bit of bad news to the club but hope that everyone sees it as a positive anyway. My decision to transfer out of the club after my term as president has been on my mind for some months mainly based around my heavy workload commitments which will only get heavier from July onwards when there will be a massive training effort to upskil employees of where I work nationally and internationally. After hearing about the e-club at one of the Presidents Meetings some months ago, I found the flexibility of this option aligned with how I wanted to be involved with Rotary and seemed a great fit.
My five years at RCMM has been fantastic, the people lovely and helpful and have made me feel welcome and part of a great club which I hope to still have connections with in the future. The future of RCMM is now in more than capable hands and it can look forward to new and exciting opportunities and faces! I will serve out my term as president and assist Andrew in any way that I can for his smooth transition into the role but thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past.
Have a great week!
What a wonderfully inspiring presentation from Mia and Claire, two students of the Bentleigh West Primary School who attended the International Water Convention in Adelaide last year. Our club sponsored part of their registration and travel costs to attend this convention that focussed on environment and sustainability education programs for students. Both young ladies spoke eloquently and passionately about how they found their experience and it was lovely to see that the future of Australia can be so involved with programs that involve Australia's sustainability.
We also had various announcements from members and Directors. Thanks to Greg for acting as the Bowelscan Co-ordinator for the new year. This program is important and RCMM has had an active role in the last few years connecting with pharmacies in the local area to have the kits be made available.
I also wish to thank every volunteer and club member for the upcoming Kingston Heath Golf Day and it promises to be another wonderful event that will raise ever important funds for the club. My husband is looking forward to playing Kingston Heath on Friday!
Unfortunately I did pass on a bit of bad news to the club but hope that everyone sees it as a positive anyway. My decision to transfer out of the club after my term as president has been on my mind for some months mainly based around my heavy workload commitments which will only get heavier from July onwards when there will be a massive training effort to upskil employees of where I work nationally and internationally. After hearing about the e-club at one of the Presidents Meetings some months ago, I found the flexibility of this option aligned with how I wanted to be involved with Rotary and seemed a great fit.
My five years at RCMM has been fantastic, the people lovely and helpful and have made me feel welcome and part of a great club which I hope to still have connections with in the future. The future of RCMM is now in more than capable hands and it can look forward to new and exciting opportunities and faces! I will serve out my term as president and assist Andrew in any way that I can for his smooth transition into the role but thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past.
Have a great week!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Helen's Headlines Monday 30 April 2012
Hello everyone
Hope you had a lovely week. Thanks to Greg and Joy for organising a great Vocational night through Susan's support as she knew Harry, the manager of Jetset.
I think I speak for everyone that it was an enjoyable night where we reminisced about our previous travels and whet our appetite for more travel. Harry gave us some information on upcoming tours and outlined how the generic travel brands simply don't provide the specialised individual service that we all desire. It certainly got us thinking about who we're going to go through next time when we plan our overseas trip! Our dinner at the RSL club was also positively received and everyone enjoyed the socialising. It was nice to see a few other people too who were previous visitors to the club share the night with us.
By now, Andrew and I should have been in Bangkok to attend the Rotary International Convention with some other members of the club. Alas, it wasn't possible and I had to cancel plans because of high work commitments but I hope that you, like me, can share the RI convention through the social media sites (just check out the RI website) to view the guest speaker talks through video online. I know it's not the same as being there but it's the next best thing.
Over the last weekend I participated in Rotary Leadership Institute and I would strongly recommend this training for ALL INCOMING PRESIDENTS. This 3 phase course is an excellent course into Rotary and gives you information, tips, techniques, links and networks to all avenues of service, the grant process, community service, international service, marketing and communication. Incoming presidents usually do the course for free (at discretion of the current DG) but it is open to others as well for a small cost. It is well worth your effort if your intention is to take on any leadership role in Rotary. I can truly say that undertaking this course is one of the highlights of my Rotary 'career'. So do yourself a favour....(as someone famous says).
I have to say a big thank you to the increase in activity in the last few weeks after our crisis activity when I threw the spanner in the works at the crisis meeting. Through that, we've had the most important thing come out which is a volunteer for President - and a big thank you to Andrew who has agreed to be our next President.
Our club has been in the sights of many people in the district in recent times - simply everyone waiting with abated breath as to whether it will survive or not - and yes, I have had other approaches from other clubs who would have kindly welcomed our members to their clubs! I have made it known to District that we now have a President and President Elect Jason. Thank you to both for supporting the club and thank you also to Bill and Geoff who will be kindly acting as mentors and Vice Presidents for both Andrew and Jason and supporting them through the process.
Incoming Board Positions for 2012-2013
The following are TENTATIVE but as it stands at the moment. However, there will be a requirement to double up on some duties if you can do this AND I kindly ask those members who have not been to a meeting regularly this year to consider taking a role where they can do in their own time and provide reports via email to be read out at meetings. This way you can still be involved and your help would be immensely appreciated by everyone! :-)
President: Andrew Kenny
President elect 2013/14: Jason Chetty
Treasurer: (Open)
Secretary: Graeme Amoore
Club Service: Jason Chetty (TBC)
Community: Sheila Ward
International: Now Vacant (assistance Bill Chapman who will have District duties with WASRAG)
Vocational: Now Vacant (this can be rolled up with another role if required)
New Generations: Geoff Gray
Foundation: Helen Blunden (Paul assisting)
Membership: (This will be through a committee - TBC - we need volunteers for the committee, Helen Blunden happy to be included)
Public Relations and Marketing: Helen Blunden
Program: John Hunt
Club Protection Officer: Sheila Ward
Bulletin: Greg Pullen
Sergeant/ Attendance: Ian Anderson
Fellowship: Various members as required
Market Co-ordinator (new position): Geoff Gray
Projects:
- Spellathon: Yvonne Beadle, Steph Bishop, Jason Chetty
- Charity Golf Day: Jason Chetty with Graeme Amoore and others as required
- Business Networking Events as required (through club or cluster) - Helen Blunden (who will be District Vocational Services - Business Networking
Not allocated: Susan, John P, Bruce , Laurie (currently on leave), Syd , Robert , Kevin ,
Philip (transferring to new eClub)
For those members not allocated, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Possibly consider a role that you can do from home or in your own time if need be to assist our club. If getting meetings is difficult for you, then this is one way you can still support the club - and then send in reports to be read out in your absence.
Please consider this as we would still love your assistance!
Hope you had a lovely week. Thanks to Greg and Joy for organising a great Vocational night through Susan's support as she knew Harry, the manager of Jetset.
I think I speak for everyone that it was an enjoyable night where we reminisced about our previous travels and whet our appetite for more travel. Harry gave us some information on upcoming tours and outlined how the generic travel brands simply don't provide the specialised individual service that we all desire. It certainly got us thinking about who we're going to go through next time when we plan our overseas trip! Our dinner at the RSL club was also positively received and everyone enjoyed the socialising. It was nice to see a few other people too who were previous visitors to the club share the night with us.
By now, Andrew and I should have been in Bangkok to attend the Rotary International Convention with some other members of the club. Alas, it wasn't possible and I had to cancel plans because of high work commitments but I hope that you, like me, can share the RI convention through the social media sites (just check out the RI website) to view the guest speaker talks through video online. I know it's not the same as being there but it's the next best thing.
Over the last weekend I participated in Rotary Leadership Institute and I would strongly recommend this training for ALL INCOMING PRESIDENTS. This 3 phase course is an excellent course into Rotary and gives you information, tips, techniques, links and networks to all avenues of service, the grant process, community service, international service, marketing and communication. Incoming presidents usually do the course for free (at discretion of the current DG) but it is open to others as well for a small cost. It is well worth your effort if your intention is to take on any leadership role in Rotary. I can truly say that undertaking this course is one of the highlights of my Rotary 'career'. So do yourself a favour....(as someone famous says).
I have to say a big thank you to the increase in activity in the last few weeks after our crisis activity when I threw the spanner in the works at the crisis meeting. Through that, we've had the most important thing come out which is a volunteer for President - and a big thank you to Andrew who has agreed to be our next President.
Our club has been in the sights of many people in the district in recent times - simply everyone waiting with abated breath as to whether it will survive or not - and yes, I have had other approaches from other clubs who would have kindly welcomed our members to their clubs! I have made it known to District that we now have a President and President Elect Jason. Thank you to both for supporting the club and thank you also to Bill and Geoff who will be kindly acting as mentors and Vice Presidents for both Andrew and Jason and supporting them through the process.
Incoming Board Positions for 2012-2013
The following are TENTATIVE but as it stands at the moment. However, there will be a requirement to double up on some duties if you can do this AND I kindly ask those members who have not been to a meeting regularly this year to consider taking a role where they can do in their own time and provide reports via email to be read out at meetings. This way you can still be involved and your help would be immensely appreciated by everyone! :-)
President: Andrew Kenny
President elect 2013/14: Jason Chetty
Treasurer: (Open)
Secretary: Graeme Amoore
Club Service: Jason Chetty (TBC)
Community: Sheila Ward
International: Now Vacant (assistance Bill Chapman who will have District duties with WASRAG)
Vocational: Now Vacant (this can be rolled up with another role if required)
New Generations: Geoff Gray
Foundation: Helen Blunden (Paul assisting)
Membership: (This will be through a committee - TBC - we need volunteers for the committee, Helen Blunden happy to be included)
Public Relations and Marketing: Helen Blunden
Program: John Hunt
Club Protection Officer: Sheila Ward
Bulletin: Greg Pullen
Sergeant/ Attendance: Ian Anderson
Fellowship: Various members as required
Market Co-ordinator (new position): Geoff Gray
Projects:
- Spellathon: Yvonne Beadle, Steph Bishop, Jason Chetty
- Charity Golf Day: Jason Chetty with Graeme Amoore and others as required
- Business Networking Events as required (through club or cluster) - Helen Blunden (who will be District Vocational Services - Business Networking
Not allocated: Susan, John P, Bruce , Laurie (currently on leave), Syd , Robert , Kevin ,
Philip (transferring to new eClub)
For those members not allocated, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Possibly consider a role that you can do from home or in your own time if need be to assist our club. If getting meetings is difficult for you, then this is one way you can still support the club - and then send in reports to be read out in your absence.
Please consider this as we would still love your assistance!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Our GSE Team has arrived in Texas!
Message from Kay, GSE Committee today...
Hello Everyone,
Just
thought you may all like to know that our GSE team has arrived safely
in Dallas, we have been sent a photo of their arrival that I would like
to share with you, they all look pretty good after such a long flight
thank you all for submitting such fantasdtic candidates for the program
they are all lovely people and will have a wonderful time in Texas.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Rotary District Conference 2012 - Unforgettable!
Well what a wonderful weekend! A weekend full of engaging speakers, delightful dancers and operatic singers in a stunning venue complete with the most delicious foods that stimulated our tastebuds. Feast for all senses.
Here is our own GSE member, Andrew Boast telling us of his excitment of the impending trip to the USA. He hopes that he will learn much from our Texan counterparts in the field of mechatronic engineering and even did a robotic dance for us - Andrew will represent his vocation, his country and club well.
After salivating over the Texan GSE Teams boots, and spending 3 weeks looking for these particular boots online (even though they don't get delivered to Australia from the US), Marci, the Texan GSE Team Leader sold her pair to me for a bargain price of $120. Instant sale. My life is now complete because I will LIVE in these boots. I couldn't help to admire them all the time and narrowly hit poles on the street as I keep looking down at my feet.
This was the quality of the food all weekend. This entree prawn dish at the Saturday night was delicious. Thanks to Jeffrey Tan who did the menu of the weekend event, we were well fed and all the dishes at the table were exceptional - standout.
The view of the evening at the National Gallery Hall - simply stunning.
Philip had to walk down St Kilda Road to the event in this get up and no one batted an eye lid - but many wanted his tee-shirt.
Pre-dinner drinks at Chez Kenny and Chapmans - this was the view out of their window.
These were the ornate table decordations made out of plant matter, real mushrooms and plastic. They looked superb and thanks to Helene Brown for them. I managed to take one home at the end of the night.
Entertainment
The entertainment on Saturday night was HILARIOUS. Recall the Three Tenors? Well we had the Three Waiters. I thought they were real waiters but when they started their opera singers, I thought, "hello, the wait staff have gone downhill..." no really, they had a opera standoff between the French, Italian and Spanish guys. It was agreed that this conference was one of the best conferences enjoyed in recent years.
Check out the videos!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 16th April 2012
Hello everyone
Many thanks for your suggestions and feedback at this week's Club Forum. Admittedly it wasn't the easy forum to hold or participate as we asked the hard questions that our club has to face up to. I hope that despite the cloud the was over our heads, you realise that we need to ask the tough questions to decide a way forward.
Our club has 21 members but many of these members are inactive which puts pressure on those who do the work. Also, due to our numbers, we tend to work on small individual projects and many of us feel alone or unacknowledged simply because we don't have the numbers for committee work. Rest assured, your work is acknowledged and appreciated because by the efforts of those who have made a difference resulted in a Presidential Citation for our club - the only club in the district to achieve this.
So what was the outcome of the forum?
We all agreed that our two major fund raisers, namely the Golf Days and the Bentleigh Market are core to our survival and we simply must do our best to agree to commit, support and volunteer for these days. We agreed that we don't want to seek alternative support outside our club until such a time our committments simply cannot be met. At the same time however, we need to be mindful and accept our roles and responsibilities for market duty by attending and leaving at the times indicated by the market organisers. Thank you to Graeme for sending out this document again so I encourage everyone to read this document and abide by the rules set out for us.
Our golf days are our major fundraisers and these events must continue to be supported and assisted by club members. Despite how they were run or conducted in the past, we will continue to use them as our major fundraiser and work with MS, the golf club and others to ensure its continued success. Let's not look at the past about how we USED to do things - let's plan and do things for the future and be open to this.
Another outcome that came out of heated discussion are the questions around what the board discuss and action and it was felt by some members of the club that we deliberately withheld information from the club - this is not so and will take immediate action so that this is never raised again.
From now on, I will make the Board Minutes available to club members and encourage Directors to use the opportunity at club meetings to say their bit - and what was decided at the board level to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It is our club - and therefore everyone should be across all the projects that Directors of each Avenue of Service is across through information in our bulletin, our annual report, club announcements and even, just simply asking them directly.
For everyone's information, I have cancelled the July round of business events as well since I was informed during the board meeting that these events are not necessarily best suited at a club level - instead should be at a cluster level.
Admittedly, I did feel deflated upon hearing this after all the hard work in planning and hosting them however, the idea has merit and I have approached DGN to ask about how we can use these events as bigger attractions and co-ordinated at a cluster level. By seeking support from a small committee made up of a cluster of clubs, it would be easier to co-ordinate, market and promote because I don't want to leave this idea - especially when we have had 4 people join Rotary clubs from our events; and now have a 'presence' and relationship with our council business directory team (and in fact they refer guest speakers).
We were also reminded that position for President Elect is open and if you would like to nominate, please do so asap. We have our Club Changeover on Monday 25 June however nothing has been (or will be) organised without a candidate for presidency. We also considered having an opportunity for a president to do the duty 3 months at a time to 'spread the workload' and this is an idea that has merit to ensure that the club continues past June.
So now for the positive news. This weekend we have our District Conference and for those attending, it will be a great opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians and partners and enjoy what Rotary has to offer. In the evening, we will all meet at Barbara and Bill's hotel room for pre-dinner drinks and get dressed in theme. This year's theme we will all dress as greenies, 'environmentalists' and Bill and Barbara have kindly done up some placards that we can flash around and walk to the National Gallery for dinner. It promises to be a wonderful night for everyone.
On Sunday 27th May is our District Assembly and I need to know who is attending asap. The DA is usually for office bearers and the seminar will be half day and go through some critical information all office bearers need to be across. If you are attending, please let me know asap.
So I wish you all a good week in Rotary and see you at the conference!
Many thanks for your suggestions and feedback at this week's Club Forum. Admittedly it wasn't the easy forum to hold or participate as we asked the hard questions that our club has to face up to. I hope that despite the cloud the was over our heads, you realise that we need to ask the tough questions to decide a way forward.
Our club has 21 members but many of these members are inactive which puts pressure on those who do the work. Also, due to our numbers, we tend to work on small individual projects and many of us feel alone or unacknowledged simply because we don't have the numbers for committee work. Rest assured, your work is acknowledged and appreciated because by the efforts of those who have made a difference resulted in a Presidential Citation for our club - the only club in the district to achieve this.
So what was the outcome of the forum?
We all agreed that our two major fund raisers, namely the Golf Days and the Bentleigh Market are core to our survival and we simply must do our best to agree to commit, support and volunteer for these days. We agreed that we don't want to seek alternative support outside our club until such a time our committments simply cannot be met. At the same time however, we need to be mindful and accept our roles and responsibilities for market duty by attending and leaving at the times indicated by the market organisers. Thank you to Graeme for sending out this document again so I encourage everyone to read this document and abide by the rules set out for us.
Our golf days are our major fundraisers and these events must continue to be supported and assisted by club members. Despite how they were run or conducted in the past, we will continue to use them as our major fundraiser and work with MS, the golf club and others to ensure its continued success. Let's not look at the past about how we USED to do things - let's plan and do things for the future and be open to this.
Another outcome that came out of heated discussion are the questions around what the board discuss and action and it was felt by some members of the club that we deliberately withheld information from the club - this is not so and will take immediate action so that this is never raised again.
From now on, I will make the Board Minutes available to club members and encourage Directors to use the opportunity at club meetings to say their bit - and what was decided at the board level to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It is our club - and therefore everyone should be across all the projects that Directors of each Avenue of Service is across through information in our bulletin, our annual report, club announcements and even, just simply asking them directly.
For everyone's information, I have cancelled the July round of business events as well since I was informed during the board meeting that these events are not necessarily best suited at a club level - instead should be at a cluster level.
Admittedly, I did feel deflated upon hearing this after all the hard work in planning and hosting them however, the idea has merit and I have approached DGN to ask about how we can use these events as bigger attractions and co-ordinated at a cluster level. By seeking support from a small committee made up of a cluster of clubs, it would be easier to co-ordinate, market and promote because I don't want to leave this idea - especially when we have had 4 people join Rotary clubs from our events; and now have a 'presence' and relationship with our council business directory team (and in fact they refer guest speakers).
We were also reminded that position for President Elect is open and if you would like to nominate, please do so asap. We have our Club Changeover on Monday 25 June however nothing has been (or will be) organised without a candidate for presidency. We also considered having an opportunity for a president to do the duty 3 months at a time to 'spread the workload' and this is an idea that has merit to ensure that the club continues past June.
So now for the positive news. This weekend we have our District Conference and for those attending, it will be a great opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians and partners and enjoy what Rotary has to offer. In the evening, we will all meet at Barbara and Bill's hotel room for pre-dinner drinks and get dressed in theme. This year's theme we will all dress as greenies, 'environmentalists' and Bill and Barbara have kindly done up some placards that we can flash around and walk to the National Gallery for dinner. It promises to be a wonderful night for everyone.
On Sunday 27th May is our District Assembly and I need to know who is attending asap. The DA is usually for office bearers and the seminar will be half day and go through some critical information all office bearers need to be across. If you are attending, please let me know asap.
So I wish you all a good week in Rotary and see you at the conference!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 2 April 2012
Hello everyone and Happy Easter!
I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends. We spent our day feasting on a lovely Sunday lunch however, our Easter isn't on until next Sunday so we have to do it all over again.
Last week we had an interesting speaker on Cerebral Palsy. Peter was born with this dreadful disease but he didn't let it stop him from pursuing the activities he wanted to do in his life. As a result, he has been an excellent role model and letting people understand what living and dealing with this disease on a daily basis is like. It certainly opened my eyes to this disease. (Interestingly, I saw on television the next evening that research scientists have received some positive results regarding understanding how this disease comes about - and they linked it to the lack of oxygen when the mother is pregnant. Of course there still needs to be further research but I do hope they find something soon).
After our meeting, we had a board meeting to discuss the dire situation of our club. Despite our club achieving great steps for contribution to Rotary Foundation, assistance with various international projects and even being put up for a Citation - our club is not sustainable in the long term.
With 21 members on our books, only 8-10 are active at any one time who have been assisting in committees or projects or fundraising through our golf events and in particularly, the Bentleigh Market. Given that we have had many members away on extended absences, the committments are too great for those who are left.
For me, personally, I have found the workload too great while juggling a full-time job and personal committments. So much so, that I will not be able to undertake another year as Club President despite initially thinking I could do so. I have not taken this decision lightly, in fact, I have been deliberating it for a long while and I'm also considering an extended absence from this club once my year is completed.
Also, PDG Philip has advised that he will be transferring from our club and chartering our District's first e-club with his wife, Carol - the Rotary e-Club of Greater Melbourne. It promises to be an exciting time and initiative that inspires a new way to attract new members into Rotary and I wish Philip and Carol, all the very best in this endeavour and know that it will be a great success.
So I have called a Club Forum to consider our choices: do we close the club or do we continue where members can commit to certain duties and we also reduce our committments to projects to ensure that the club can continue? In order to do so, we will be seeking someone who can act in the role of Club President for 2012-2013 and to plan what can be done with reduced circumstances.
I would encourage everyone to come along to this club forum and support the club.
See you next week and until then, have a good week,
Regards
Helen
I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends. We spent our day feasting on a lovely Sunday lunch however, our Easter isn't on until next Sunday so we have to do it all over again.
Last week we had an interesting speaker on Cerebral Palsy. Peter was born with this dreadful disease but he didn't let it stop him from pursuing the activities he wanted to do in his life. As a result, he has been an excellent role model and letting people understand what living and dealing with this disease on a daily basis is like. It certainly opened my eyes to this disease. (Interestingly, I saw on television the next evening that research scientists have received some positive results regarding understanding how this disease comes about - and they linked it to the lack of oxygen when the mother is pregnant. Of course there still needs to be further research but I do hope they find something soon).
After our meeting, we had a board meeting to discuss the dire situation of our club. Despite our club achieving great steps for contribution to Rotary Foundation, assistance with various international projects and even being put up for a Citation - our club is not sustainable in the long term.
With 21 members on our books, only 8-10 are active at any one time who have been assisting in committees or projects or fundraising through our golf events and in particularly, the Bentleigh Market. Given that we have had many members away on extended absences, the committments are too great for those who are left.
For me, personally, I have found the workload too great while juggling a full-time job and personal committments. So much so, that I will not be able to undertake another year as Club President despite initially thinking I could do so. I have not taken this decision lightly, in fact, I have been deliberating it for a long while and I'm also considering an extended absence from this club once my year is completed.
Also, PDG Philip has advised that he will be transferring from our club and chartering our District's first e-club with his wife, Carol - the Rotary e-Club of Greater Melbourne. It promises to be an exciting time and initiative that inspires a new way to attract new members into Rotary and I wish Philip and Carol, all the very best in this endeavour and know that it will be a great success.
So I have called a Club Forum to consider our choices: do we close the club or do we continue where members can commit to certain duties and we also reduce our committments to projects to ensure that the club can continue? In order to do so, we will be seeking someone who can act in the role of Club President for 2012-2013 and to plan what can be done with reduced circumstances.
I would encourage everyone to come along to this club forum and support the club.
See you next week and until then, have a good week,
Regards
Helen
Monday, March 26, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 26 March 2011
Ann sits at the Speaker's Chair at State Parliament - she's not impressed with what she hears.
The ladies of the GSE team have a seat at Melbourne City Council.
Ann, Holli, Matthew and team leader Marci
Marci and Matthew ride the train into Parliament
At St Paul's Cathedral
Matthew plays us a piece of music at the RACV Club********************************************************************************
Wow what a day!
Today Bill, Jason and myself had a wonderful day hosting our Texan guests to a lovely Melbourne day. We started off our morning at Cheltenham Train station and met all the members of the Vocational Team from Fort Worth Dallas Texas. This was their first train ride in Australia and their first experience of Melbourne.
At 10am we went through the security gate and into State Parliament where we had a behind the scenes tour of the Legislative Council and Assembly, Queen's Hall and the Library. We had an opportunity to enjoy morning tea with MP Bruce Atkinson in the members only cafeteria which we were all quite impressed.
From there, we took a tram down Collins Street and stopped by the lovely buildings of 333 Collins Street and the Gothic Building or the ANZ Bank branch with its majestic interiors and ceilings. We walked over to the oldest pub in Melbourne, the Mitre Tavern and wandered the small city streets to get to the RACV Club for lunch.
Thank you to Jason for organising such a wonderful lunch at the club. Everyone was impressed with the venue but in particularly the food which we needed after all the learning and walking increased our appetite. After lunch, a quick run through of the RACV Club and Matthew played the piano for us - I actually mistook him for the real pianist of the club until I looked closer!
After lunch, we had a quick walk down to Bourke Street Mall and wandered through the Royal Arcade to see Gog and Magog, through to the Block Arcade where we stopped to admire the architecture and Haigh's chocolate shop and then up through the arcade to see the Manchester Unity Building and its elevator doors of pure brass. From there, we wandered down Degraves Street to see the throng of the student crowds, visited Chloe at Young and Jacksons and had a quiet time in St Paul's Cathedral.
We went to our afternoon tour and briefing of Melbourne City Council where Councillor Brian Shanahan took us under his wing for a behind the scenes tour and presentation of chambers, the portico and even his office. We sat in the library and enjoyed a lovely chat for an hour over a cup of tea and biscuits before everyone was offered gifts to remember the visit by.
Overall, a gloriously wonderful day and thank you to Jason for organising the RACV Club for lunch which was a true highlight of the day with everyone; and thank you Bill for sharing the day with us. I hope you both had a good time and learned something new about our city and Texas!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 19 March 2012
Thanks again for everyone attending this Monday's meeting to hear Priya speak on "How to Engage Customers Using Social Media". I was asked by Rotarians and non-Rotarians to have this presentation on again as they had missed it during our February Business Events and I was expecting five more people - so unfortunately we had many no-shows. Added to the fact that some of our Rotarians were also away overseas or ill - the turnout was smaller than expected but nevertheless it was a good evening where we learned about social media - but more importantly, had an opportunity to farewell our GSE team member Andrew Boast.
Andrew will be departing for Fort Worth Dallas Texas in late April and it was an opportunity for him to present his talk that he would give to the Texans. He showed that he will do us proud as his presentation was engaging and enlightening and I'm sure will entertain the hosts!
Andrew and I are looking forward to hosting one incoming GSE team member, Ann from Texas. She is a counsellor and she will be arriving at our doorstep on Saturday afternoon. The weekend will be spent just getting to know her and attending a host family afternoon tea where I will meet all the team and their host families - and then on Monday, our club has a wonderful day in Melbourne planned with tours and morning and afternoon teas of State Parliament and Melbourne City Council, lunch at the RACV club and followed by a city laneway and arcade tour conducted by moi. I love showing our beautiful city to tourists - because it makes me appreciate our lovely town and country.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27 March at the Dingley International at 6:30pm to have the welcome dinner for all the Texan team. Please refer to your emails for details on how to register as you will need to register with the dinner organiser directly. Cost of dinner is $40.
See you at Dingley next Tuesday!
Andrew will be departing for Fort Worth Dallas Texas in late April and it was an opportunity for him to present his talk that he would give to the Texans. He showed that he will do us proud as his presentation was engaging and enlightening and I'm sure will entertain the hosts!
Andrew and I are looking forward to hosting one incoming GSE team member, Ann from Texas. She is a counsellor and she will be arriving at our doorstep on Saturday afternoon. The weekend will be spent just getting to know her and attending a host family afternoon tea where I will meet all the team and their host families - and then on Monday, our club has a wonderful day in Melbourne planned with tours and morning and afternoon teas of State Parliament and Melbourne City Council, lunch at the RACV club and followed by a city laneway and arcade tour conducted by moi. I love showing our beautiful city to tourists - because it makes me appreciate our lovely town and country.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27 March at the Dingley International at 6:30pm to have the welcome dinner for all the Texan team. Please refer to your emails for details on how to register as you will need to register with the dinner organiser directly. Cost of dinner is $40.
See you at Dingley next Tuesday!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 5 March 2012
Hello everyone
I hope that you have all had a lovely week.
What a wonderful and engaging presentation from Ken on Monday night on his global project called ABCD to assist young children in Fiji who would otherwise be left out from education to get back to school. Ken was also selling his book called. "The Thribblets" and all proceeds went to the charity. Our club in one night raised $110 for the sale of the book so you must all be congratulated! This is what he had to say about it....
Other than that, just a reminder that next week is a holiday and we will be back in the large room at our venue for a repeat of the presentation by Priya who will talk on "How to Engage Your Customers Using Social Media" - I have been inundated with requests to have this presentation again from Rotarians and others alike so it goes to show that it is an important topic nowadays. Even though I have not been formally taking registrations, and how this event has been advertised by word of mouth and through PETS, I expect some drop ins.
However, this night will also be special as we will have Andrew Boast give his presentation to us that he will present to Texas! So please come along, invite your partners and enjoy the evening once again.
On Monday 26 March, our club is in charge of hosting the 5 Texans from the Group Study Exchange Program and spend the whole day with them. I'm looking for others in our club who would like to share the day with them too. I have asked for a leave day so that I may participate and here's what's happening:
0830 - Host families will drop off their team members at Cheltenham Station and this is the meeting point for Rotarians too. We will all buy our Metcard tickets and travel in with the commuter crowd into Parliament Station
1000 - Behind the scenes tour and presentation of State Parliament followed by morning tea with MP Bruce Atkinson
1200 - 1400 Lunch in the vicinity of Bourke Street Mall and wander around the shops (or alternatively lunch followed by a City Circle tram ride OR a guided city wander through the city laneways
1430 : Behind the scenes tour and presentation of Melbourne City Council followed by afternoon tea with a councillor - I have been trying to get the Lord Mayor
1600 - Get on train at Flinders Street and take train back to Cheltenham station where host families will pick up their team members.
So if you would like to spend a wonderful day acting as hosts and seeing what goes on behind the scenes of our parliament as well as hobnobbing with politicians, then please let me know soon!
**************************************************************
On an aside, thanks to Graeme for letting us know that one of our visitors from our November Business Networking Events has joined the RC Long Island in our nearby district. He was impressed with Rotary and Graeme assisted in identifying suitable Rotary Clubs for him to visit in his area. Thanks to Graeme for being a good sport!
Similarly, one of our guest speaks in November - the business banker - who gave us such an engaging and excellent presentation is visiting RC Bayside as she is keen to join Rotary too. So from these business events, we can say that our club is introducing and promoting Rotary to others. Good work everyone!
At some stage, I will be emailing or chatting to you about the duties and roles for next Rotary year and I thank you for those people who have listed what committee jobs/projects they would like to do - or even repeat for next year. I'm quite open to the idea that we have people in the formal roles but within these there are projects that we may all share and contribute to dependent on our time and other commitments.
Hope you all have a lovely week. I'm looking forward to this weekend where I will be attending the full 8 shows of international chefs cooking for us at the Langham Hotel for the Melbourne Food and Wine Masterclasses. I'll be out of action through email or phone as I will be gorging on the most wonderful produce of Victoria lovingly cooked by world class chefs and drinking local wine. Life is too good....
Enjoy!
I hope that you have all had a lovely week.
What a wonderful and engaging presentation from Ken on Monday night on his global project called ABCD to assist young children in Fiji who would otherwise be left out from education to get back to school. Ken was also selling his book called. "The Thribblets" and all proceeds went to the charity. Our club in one night raised $110 for the sale of the book so you must all be congratulated! This is what he had to say about it....
**********************************************************************
The Thribletts made a highly successful guest appearance at the Rotary Club of Moorleigh Moorabin last night. In a post performance interview, blue Thriblett Kevin was delighted to report that the members of RCMM had very generously donated $110 for copies of the books in which he stars as the only numerate Thriblett. Green Thriblett Katie admitted to being a little nervous with so many people around but knew she was in good company when she spotted the Rotary wheel. Yellow Thriblett Jimmy was - as expected - missing for most of the evening and was eventually found sliding up and down the ropes holding the flags onto the poles! Red Thriblett Angela settled down for the evening on the shoulders of President Helen Blunden's cardigan and certainly spoke on behalf of all the Thribletts in thanking Helen for a wonderful evening. Author Ken was also there to carry the books.
Cheers
Ken
PS... If you haven't got a copy of the book you may not know that the colours of the Thribletts are quite significant. They represent the four principal thinking styles as measured by The Neethling Brain Instrument (NBI). The NBI is the assessment tool we have used for many years in our consulting practice. Through reading the Thriblett's books children - and their parents - get to understand the four styles and learn ho to understand and accept other people who might see the world differently.
**************************************************************************
Big thanks to Steph for getting her employer onboard and erecting the signage about our Rotary Club outside the Kingston Centre on Warrigal Road. If you've got a chance, get down there to have a look at it. Steph has been instrumental in working with her employer to allow this to occur but more importantly, our club will be advertised in their real estate magazine that goes out to the wider area. We are going to get a lot of exposure in the surrounding suburbs - so thank you Steph and please pass on our thanks to your employers! (Maybe they can come and visit us during a business networking event??)Other than that, just a reminder that next week is a holiday and we will be back in the large room at our venue for a repeat of the presentation by Priya who will talk on "How to Engage Your Customers Using Social Media" - I have been inundated with requests to have this presentation again from Rotarians and others alike so it goes to show that it is an important topic nowadays. Even though I have not been formally taking registrations, and how this event has been advertised by word of mouth and through PETS, I expect some drop ins.
However, this night will also be special as we will have Andrew Boast give his presentation to us that he will present to Texas! So please come along, invite your partners and enjoy the evening once again.
On Monday 26 March, our club is in charge of hosting the 5 Texans from the Group Study Exchange Program and spend the whole day with them. I'm looking for others in our club who would like to share the day with them too. I have asked for a leave day so that I may participate and here's what's happening:
0830 - Host families will drop off their team members at Cheltenham Station and this is the meeting point for Rotarians too. We will all buy our Metcard tickets and travel in with the commuter crowd into Parliament Station
1000 - Behind the scenes tour and presentation of State Parliament followed by morning tea with MP Bruce Atkinson
1200 - 1400 Lunch in the vicinity of Bourke Street Mall and wander around the shops (or alternatively lunch followed by a City Circle tram ride OR a guided city wander through the city laneways
1430 : Behind the scenes tour and presentation of Melbourne City Council followed by afternoon tea with a councillor - I have been trying to get the Lord Mayor
1600 - Get on train at Flinders Street and take train back to Cheltenham station where host families will pick up their team members.
So if you would like to spend a wonderful day acting as hosts and seeing what goes on behind the scenes of our parliament as well as hobnobbing with politicians, then please let me know soon!
**************************************************************
On an aside, thanks to Graeme for letting us know that one of our visitors from our November Business Networking Events has joined the RC Long Island in our nearby district. He was impressed with Rotary and Graeme assisted in identifying suitable Rotary Clubs for him to visit in his area. Thanks to Graeme for being a good sport!
Similarly, one of our guest speaks in November - the business banker - who gave us such an engaging and excellent presentation is visiting RC Bayside as she is keen to join Rotary too. So from these business events, we can say that our club is introducing and promoting Rotary to others. Good work everyone!
At some stage, I will be emailing or chatting to you about the duties and roles for next Rotary year and I thank you for those people who have listed what committee jobs/projects they would like to do - or even repeat for next year. I'm quite open to the idea that we have people in the formal roles but within these there are projects that we may all share and contribute to dependent on our time and other commitments.
Hope you all have a lovely week. I'm looking forward to this weekend where I will be attending the full 8 shows of international chefs cooking for us at the Langham Hotel for the Melbourne Food and Wine Masterclasses. I'll be out of action through email or phone as I will be gorging on the most wonderful produce of Victoria lovingly cooked by world class chefs and drinking local wine. Life is too good....
Enjoy!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Public Apology to the South Oakleigh Club
I'd like to express my sincere apology to the staff of the South Oakleigh Club for my negative comments on this blog which have been subsequently removed. I am sorry to have caused you this trouble and concern and would like to publicly apologise for any problems caused.
I can say that over the last few years of my involvment with the venue, the staff have been more than helpful and have gone above and beyond to supply great customer service to our club members and doing all they can to ensure that we have good meals, good venue set up and to allow our events to occur in a manner as smooth as possible.
Please accept my public apology and hope that we can work together as well have we have done in the past.
My sincerest apologies
Helen Blunden
President
Rotary Club Moorleigh Moorabbin
I can say that over the last few years of my involvment with the venue, the staff have been more than helpful and have gone above and beyond to supply great customer service to our club members and doing all they can to ensure that we have good meals, good venue set up and to allow our events to occur in a manner as smooth as possible.
Please accept my public apology and hope that we can work together as well have we have done in the past.
My sincerest apologies
Helen Blunden
President
Rotary Club Moorleigh Moorabbin
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
End to the February Business Networking Events
February Business Month Events Come to a Close - and What an Ending!Wow, what a great month of Business Networking Events ending with a fascinating vocational tour and presentation of Cell Care - and followed by a relaxing catered event at the Melbourne Golf Academy.
The presentation of Cell Care was interesting and I learned so much about this aspect of medical science. Not many people know that there are private cord blood banks that will collect and store the nutrient rich blood from the umbilical cord as protection from future disease.
The photos above show the warehouse where the stem cells are stored in Nitrogen at -196 celsius for up to 18 years!
Our big thanks to Greg for organising last night which had rave reviews from all who participated - and our guests who had come along. If I can pass on the feedback from our visitors Shruti (a nurse), who said, "this was the most informative presentation and tour I have ever been on. Please pass on my thanks to your club for allowing me the opportunity to see this. As a nurse, I never knew this was available - please include me in future events".
Similarly, we had great feedback from our other guests Ghandi who thanked us on behalf of RC Braeside for running the business events that he and Cheryl participated in. The staff of Cell Care, Lynn, Julia and Kristy also joined us at Melbourne Golf Academy for supper and there will be opportunities for us to partner with Cell Care and put them in contact with ARHF and other Rotary organisations to assist for funding. Overall a successful evening.
Our next business month will be in July and already our speakers have been booked and our vocational tour will be booked and organised by Jayde who has some ideas of where we could go and see - one suggestion is visiting the Monash Intensive Care Unit. Standby for more details as in the next month, I will be creating the flyers for July's talks - hopefully we'll have a venue sorted out by that stage as this is the only thing that I'm having panic attacks about....
Short Message from Susan:
I received the Clubs card yesterday please say thanks to all for kind thoughts.
I am doing ok but have no feeling in left knee and some in right. It seems my discs were "shattered" and in a bad way. This has compressed the nerves to the knees. So I walk "like a drunk" and my left knee "buckles" under me. It may take 6 months to improve. I am now doing small daily walks - today's target is 12. Pain is bearable with medicine. So all in all I am close to where I should be at this stage. No idea of discharge but some talk of going to rehab.
Have a great week and see you all next Monday night - back to normal routine!
Regards
Helen
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Helen's Mid Week Update - District Marketing
Hello again everyone
I just attended the District Marketing Committee's monthly breakfast meeting. This committee was set up with representatives from each club in our District who are enthuasiastic for promoting the Rotary message. Although at our meetings, we would have on average 7-8 people attending, we still need to get more clubs actively involved in this strategic marketing committee.
Our aim is to engage with our clubs and come up with ideas of how Rotary can be promoted within our own communities; but also look at our internal image.
This morning's session was a great brainstorm of ideas of what we can do to work with clubs to look at both their internal and external marketing and image.
One of the ideas that was bandied around was the importance of partnering with our community - inparticularly, the council who are more than happy with having local community groups such as Rotary involved. We simply don't do enough of it. Also, the idea of 'bringing back to business' was a big discussion point and this is where the business networking events came into play with a lot of interest shown in what we do every few months. I have also had interest from other Rotary Clubs in our district who are looking at our model of business events to roll out to their own clubs - or use variations - such as a new role of: Business Liaison person in one of their club duties. So get ready for next year when we start to bring business back into Rotary across the District.
Another factor was having the role of Marketing uplifted to one at President or President Elect level and one in which looks at our own internal image. For example, do we present the right image? Do we act as good hosts to guests? Are our venues presentable to guests? Does the AV equipment work? etc.
Unfortunately, a bit of negative feedback for our club (which wasn't highlighted to me at the time it happened) was that one of our guest speakers was told to pay for her meal. Luckily, it wasn't during a business networking event but it highlighted to me that whoever is at the door, please know who our guest speaker is on those nights and don't request payment as a matter of courtesy. It also highlights the role of the host (or everyone's role actually when the host is not around) to ensure our guests are made welcome.
But that was in the past and we can't do much about that now and since then, we have come a long way as the feedback from many guests from our events lay testimony to being made to feel welcome, enjoying the presentations and the warmness of our people. So keep up the great work.
I do hope that in all this, sometimes please let it be known that I'm here for you. Sometimes I can be run off my feet or my mind a million miles away while I'm focussing on the business events but please don't think that I have your best interests as a club. If you have an idea, if you would like to help out in any way, all you need to do is ask - then do. You will have my support.
Sometimes, I can't see the forest through the trees and I can steam ahead with my own ideas but I value the people who have ideas, who are willing to muck in and give it a shot - within their own time committments - and help out in their own way.
One of the dangers facing many Rotary clubs in our district and across the world is redundancy and apathy. This doesn't sit comfortably with me because I have seen the good that Rotary does across the world and in my own naive way, I just can't see why anyone wouldn't be involved in Rotary. But we are our own worst enemy and if we can change one little thing at a time when it comes to our own image, how we project ourselves to others, how we interact with others, how we connect with others in our community and then promote Rotary we would have people wanting to be involved.
Just a reminder that we have our Rotary Illumination event on tonight at Fed Square in Melbourne. If you;re thinking of going along - come around 8pm where inspiring videos of Rotary by well known people like Jackie Chan and Hugh Jackman talk about polio eradication. The show will be officially open by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and it's sure to be a talking point of everyone there. If you don't get to tonight;s lighting up ceremony (and where Melbourne will take stage along with London, Paris, Rome, and many other cities who have done the same), you will see the Rotary promotion across Federation Square for the next few days.
Anyway, I've rambled on so I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and see you on Monday night.
I just attended the District Marketing Committee's monthly breakfast meeting. This committee was set up with representatives from each club in our District who are enthuasiastic for promoting the Rotary message. Although at our meetings, we would have on average 7-8 people attending, we still need to get more clubs actively involved in this strategic marketing committee.
Our aim is to engage with our clubs and come up with ideas of how Rotary can be promoted within our own communities; but also look at our internal image.
This morning's session was a great brainstorm of ideas of what we can do to work with clubs to look at both their internal and external marketing and image.
One of the ideas that was bandied around was the importance of partnering with our community - inparticularly, the council who are more than happy with having local community groups such as Rotary involved. We simply don't do enough of it. Also, the idea of 'bringing back to business' was a big discussion point and this is where the business networking events came into play with a lot of interest shown in what we do every few months. I have also had interest from other Rotary Clubs in our district who are looking at our model of business events to roll out to their own clubs - or use variations - such as a new role of: Business Liaison person in one of their club duties. So get ready for next year when we start to bring business back into Rotary across the District.
Another factor was having the role of Marketing uplifted to one at President or President Elect level and one in which looks at our own internal image. For example, do we present the right image? Do we act as good hosts to guests? Are our venues presentable to guests? Does the AV equipment work? etc.
Unfortunately, a bit of negative feedback for our club (which wasn't highlighted to me at the time it happened) was that one of our guest speakers was told to pay for her meal. Luckily, it wasn't during a business networking event but it highlighted to me that whoever is at the door, please know who our guest speaker is on those nights and don't request payment as a matter of courtesy. It also highlights the role of the host (or everyone's role actually when the host is not around) to ensure our guests are made welcome.
But that was in the past and we can't do much about that now and since then, we have come a long way as the feedback from many guests from our events lay testimony to being made to feel welcome, enjoying the presentations and the warmness of our people. So keep up the great work.
I do hope that in all this, sometimes please let it be known that I'm here for you. Sometimes I can be run off my feet or my mind a million miles away while I'm focussing on the business events but please don't think that I have your best interests as a club. If you have an idea, if you would like to help out in any way, all you need to do is ask - then do. You will have my support.
Sometimes, I can't see the forest through the trees and I can steam ahead with my own ideas but I value the people who have ideas, who are willing to muck in and give it a shot - within their own time committments - and help out in their own way.
One of the dangers facing many Rotary clubs in our district and across the world is redundancy and apathy. This doesn't sit comfortably with me because I have seen the good that Rotary does across the world and in my own naive way, I just can't see why anyone wouldn't be involved in Rotary. But we are our own worst enemy and if we can change one little thing at a time when it comes to our own image, how we project ourselves to others, how we interact with others, how we connect with others in our community and then promote Rotary we would have people wanting to be involved.
Just a reminder that we have our Rotary Illumination event on tonight at Fed Square in Melbourne. If you;re thinking of going along - come around 8pm where inspiring videos of Rotary by well known people like Jackie Chan and Hugh Jackman talk about polio eradication. The show will be officially open by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and it's sure to be a talking point of everyone there. If you don't get to tonight;s lighting up ceremony (and where Melbourne will take stage along with London, Paris, Rome, and many other cities who have done the same), you will see the Rotary promotion across Federation Square for the next few days.
Anyway, I've rambled on so I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and see you on Monday night.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 20th February 2012
Apologies for the slight delay in uploading my blog posts as I'm finding it hard to be as responsive as I was previously. This job is quite busy and hours long so the last thing I want to do after work is sit in front of a computer. On the plus side, the work is rewarding, I'm working with a wonderful team of people and it's a pleasure to go into work every day which is a long way from where I was last year!
Now to Rotary matters at hand...
Well our last of the guest speakers for the Connecting Business with Community networking events have finished and I hope that everyone enjoyed the February series! Admittedly I did enjoy them all and learned so much about the challenges that businesses undergo nowadays to grow and develop their business to keep our economy going.
In particularly I learned that technology and social media are changing the face of business; that what we knew about marketing in the past, cannot be used in the future - through connected online networks, people can decide whether your business lives or dies. I learned some simple techniques to save some money and that being environmentally friendly doesn't mean it costing me money and I learned that there's a small group of volunteers out there who provide mentoring services to businesses in need - that when there are droughts, floods or natural disasters - the livelihood of people goes and they would need just as much support to re-establish their business as others who haven't gone through this trauma.
Thank you to Greg, Ian and Philip for your assistance with the co-ordination of these events and thanks to everyone for being great hosts and making all our guests feel welcome.
The July events are already in progress. I've got a couple of speakers booked already. The topics will be on: "How to Increase Profits of Your Business"; "Closing Your Business" (hope that it's not too depressing). I'm thinking of a third speaker from Monash Health Foundation to talk about 'Corporate Social Responsibility: What Businesses Can Do to Connect with their Community" and followed by a vocational tour of the Intensive Care Unit. The benefit of these events now is that I have guest speakers approaching me to come to speak at our events and I have to fend them off for a few months! (We still need to actively promote these into our local area).
On an aside, I am now part of the District Vocational Services Committee for 2012-2013 with the aim to roll out these business networking events across other clubs who may like to do the same. The Vocational Service suite of programs are being revamped and in DGN's year are more likely to receive much more prominence than they have in previous years so we can 'get the business back to Rotary'. I have been asked to present the concept to PETS on Sunday 4th March and to the District Conference in April. However, now scratching my head to think up of what to say and need to find some time to create the presentation!
Other than that, I had an email from our GSE Recipient Kathryn who mentioned that she is getting married to Hayden on 1 March and that she is quite excited. She is leaving RMIT due to organisational restructuring and just looking forward to getting married and going overseas on her honeymoon then exploring job opportunities when she gets back. She passes on her regards to the club.
You may have seen by now the flyer for the Welcoming Dinner for the Incoming GSE team on Tuesday 27 March at Dingley International. We will not have our regular Monday meeting and instead, should you and your partner join us on this night, you are welcome to attend. It is $40 for a 2 course meal and it promises to be an enjoyable night as these nights always are. Come and learn about the culture of the Texans - and I do hope they will be wearing big cowboy hats and belt buckles!
Speedy Recovery
My best wishes also goes to Susan who has taken a leave of absence for a few months to undergo surgery for her back. I hope that this will finally ease her back pain so that she can get mobile again.
Also to Sheila, it's always difficult when we're in pain that stops our mobility so I hope that the issue is sorted to get back on your feet!
We were shocked to hear the news of Kevin who came off his bike and we wish him a speedy recovery and rehab to get back to his usual self and see him back at the club once again.
Global Illumination Ceremony
For those of you who are interested, on Saturday night the End Polio Now global illumination ceremony will occur at Federation Square at 8:30pm. Why not make a night of it by enjoying a meal in town and then watching the lights light up for Melbourne. If you won't be there, the display will be on for the next 3 days and this will promote Rotary to all Melbournites and seen by the rest of the world.
Have a great week everyone and see you on Monday night at Cell Care at Heatherton and followed by sangers and drinks at Melbourne Golf Academy. I'll be bringing my clubs - that's for sure.
Now to Rotary matters at hand...
Well our last of the guest speakers for the Connecting Business with Community networking events have finished and I hope that everyone enjoyed the February series! Admittedly I did enjoy them all and learned so much about the challenges that businesses undergo nowadays to grow and develop their business to keep our economy going.
In particularly I learned that technology and social media are changing the face of business; that what we knew about marketing in the past, cannot be used in the future - through connected online networks, people can decide whether your business lives or dies. I learned some simple techniques to save some money and that being environmentally friendly doesn't mean it costing me money and I learned that there's a small group of volunteers out there who provide mentoring services to businesses in need - that when there are droughts, floods or natural disasters - the livelihood of people goes and they would need just as much support to re-establish their business as others who haven't gone through this trauma.
Thank you to Greg, Ian and Philip for your assistance with the co-ordination of these events and thanks to everyone for being great hosts and making all our guests feel welcome.
The July events are already in progress. I've got a couple of speakers booked already. The topics will be on: "How to Increase Profits of Your Business"; "Closing Your Business" (hope that it's not too depressing). I'm thinking of a third speaker from Monash Health Foundation to talk about 'Corporate Social Responsibility: What Businesses Can Do to Connect with their Community" and followed by a vocational tour of the Intensive Care Unit. The benefit of these events now is that I have guest speakers approaching me to come to speak at our events and I have to fend them off for a few months! (We still need to actively promote these into our local area).
On an aside, I am now part of the District Vocational Services Committee for 2012-2013 with the aim to roll out these business networking events across other clubs who may like to do the same. The Vocational Service suite of programs are being revamped and in DGN's year are more likely to receive much more prominence than they have in previous years so we can 'get the business back to Rotary'. I have been asked to present the concept to PETS on Sunday 4th March and to the District Conference in April. However, now scratching my head to think up of what to say and need to find some time to create the presentation!
Other than that, I had an email from our GSE Recipient Kathryn who mentioned that she is getting married to Hayden on 1 March and that she is quite excited. She is leaving RMIT due to organisational restructuring and just looking forward to getting married and going overseas on her honeymoon then exploring job opportunities when she gets back. She passes on her regards to the club.
You may have seen by now the flyer for the Welcoming Dinner for the Incoming GSE team on Tuesday 27 March at Dingley International. We will not have our regular Monday meeting and instead, should you and your partner join us on this night, you are welcome to attend. It is $40 for a 2 course meal and it promises to be an enjoyable night as these nights always are. Come and learn about the culture of the Texans - and I do hope they will be wearing big cowboy hats and belt buckles!
Speedy Recovery
My best wishes also goes to Susan who has taken a leave of absence for a few months to undergo surgery for her back. I hope that this will finally ease her back pain so that she can get mobile again.
Also to Sheila, it's always difficult when we're in pain that stops our mobility so I hope that the issue is sorted to get back on your feet!
We were shocked to hear the news of Kevin who came off his bike and we wish him a speedy recovery and rehab to get back to his usual self and see him back at the club once again.
Global Illumination Ceremony
For those of you who are interested, on Saturday night the End Polio Now global illumination ceremony will occur at Federation Square at 8:30pm. Why not make a night of it by enjoying a meal in town and then watching the lights light up for Melbourne. If you won't be there, the display will be on for the next 3 days and this will promote Rotary to all Melbournites and seen by the rest of the world.
Have a great week everyone and see you on Monday night at Cell Care at Heatherton and followed by sangers and drinks at Melbourne Golf Academy. I'll be bringing my clubs - that's for sure.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Update on Presidents Meeting
Hello everyone
Last night I attended the Rotary Presidents Meeting and I'd like to update you on the various events and initiatives that may be of interest to you.
District Conference
If you haven't already registered, then please consider registering soon as the countdown is on until the weekend of 21 and 22 April for the District Conference. Register here: http://www.9810conference.org.au/
The question was asked if partners can come along just to the Saturday night event if they haven't paid for full registration. Although guests cannot come only to the Saturday night event, DG Juliet has a small budget available and if you put in a case for your partner to attend, then this will be considered. So please email her directly with your request.
The event promises to be wonderful and a bit different to other years and there is a surprise for us all on Saturday night.
Parking is available at Etihad stadium which is directly opposite the venue on the water, at $10 per day.
Peter Murie has asked that if you have a club project to promote that you provide to him slides/photos and some copy of your event so that the 'news reels' can be made and played during the event on loop. Unfortunately, due to limited space, there will not be club project displays in a House of Friendship like we have other years.
Rotary Birthday - Global Illumination Event - for your diaries Thursday 27 Feb
At 8:30pm at Federation Square, there will be a Rotary End Polio Illumination 'switching on' ceremony where the Rotary symbol and End Polio Now will be in bright lights at Fed Square for the world to see. It will be an opportunity for Rotarians from all Districts to gather and celebrate Rotary's birthday and be part of a once-in-a-Rotary lifetime opportunity to be part of the illumination of the city. The photo taken on this night will go along with the other photos of the Rotary symbol displayed in London, and other cities - the images we know so well.
This is an opportunity to gather your friends, family and fellow Rotarians to come along to the city and be involved in this special night! The images will stay up for 3 days until 27 February so Melbournians can get the full appreciation of the message.
I'm planning to have dinner at the Young and Jackson's after work and then heading off to see the lights turn on in the city!
Dick Garner has asked for all club 's support to get as many people to this event!
Books for Babies
Jo Beilby talked about the literacy project available to all clubs. This is a full kit where this book, "Ten Little Toes and Ten Little Fingers" will be given to all mums who give birth on 12 March with a dedication from Rotary. It is an opportunity to work with your local hospital to provide this book to all mums on this day and spread the word of Rotary.
New Clubs in The Pipeline
(1) There is a new club starting at Swinburne University with the assistance of RC Wantirna and more information will be made available soon.
(2) Philip talked about a new District e-Club in formation called "Rotary eClub of Greater Melbourne" which will be an opportunity for those people who don't have time for meetings to attend meetings electronically and online. Once the website is up and running, there will be a promotion to the database of prospective members, previous members and the wider Rotary family to inspire interest. More information will come out soon but the aim is to have this up and ready on 30 June 2012.
(3) You may not know that our District has an Interact Club (14-18 Year olds) and it is the largest club in the District with over 70 members.
Group Study Exchange
There will be an outgoing team dinner to farewell the Aussies going to Texas hosted by the RC Doncaster on 21 March. More details will be out soon but it would be great if we had representation from our club to support Andrew Boast and wish him well. The outgoing team will be leaving Melbourne on 23 March.
The incoming GSE Texan team will be here on 25 March and the RC Mordialloc will be holding a 'welcome dinner' at the Dingley International on Tuesday 27 March. We will not be having a meeting on the Monday 26 and instead, will use the Cluster dinner as an opportunity to meet and enjoy the presentation at the Dingley for those people who are interested. More details to follow but please put Tues 25 March in your diaries.
New Members
There will be a new member's night at the Box Hill Golf Course on Thursday 1 March at 6:00-8:00pm
President Elect Training Sessions (PETS)
Given that I'll be President again in the new year, I'll be attending PETS on Sunday 4 March as a participant but also a presenter. DGE Brian has asked me to present the idea of the Business Networking Concept to the group to be rolled out on a wider scale across the clubs if they like.
There is opportunity for President Nominees to attend too but as we haven't planned down this far as to who will take over in 2013-2014...I'll leave that open. The choice is totally yours - do you want to act as President for the club for a year! It's a great job - with lots of support - and wonderful opportunities. If you haven't already considered it but you'd like to - then please, let me know because you can come with me to PETS!! Yay!!
DG Nominee Applications now Open
If you have loftier aspirations than just President, then how about DGN? Applications now open for DGN AND/OR the selection committee. More information in Newsletters soon or on the website.
District Governor Changeover Dinner Night
Will be on at the Box Hill Town Hall on Saturday 30 June 2012 if you're interested.
Business Networking Events
Just thought I'd add this in myself - it wasn't mentioned last night but you may or may not have seen the article in the American Rotarian magazine about how RC Rochester NY is using business events to drive membership. The article is called 'Open for Business' and here it is:
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/TheRotarian/Pages/Business1201.aspx
I have contacted the RC Rochester to ask to speak to someone via Skype for an opportunity to share the knowledge, tools and ideas of what we could do to reconnect with our own business community and I'll let you know how that goes.
In the meantime, I have re-created District toolkit of tools and templates that should any club in our district (or wider) ask for how to plan for such events, will be made available. I have been asked by DGE Brian to be in the District role next year for Business Networking so if you have other ideas of how this concept can grow then please let me know.
Other News
Other than that, work has advised me that the upcoming months will be going to be hectic as the project starts gaining momentum and initiatives implemented. I have been warned that there will be many after hours work and weekend work to get through the workload. I'm anticipating that there will be Monday nights where I simply will not be available to attend Rotary and I ask your support in these cases. The business events are still my priority and I'm in the process of filling in one more speaker and a vocational visit to the ICU at Monash Hospital for our events in July.
However, there are other factors such as identifying alternative venues (we have already created the short list of places with the option of also 'staying at SOC' to be included if we can sway the management to keep us on if we join as SOC members to cover the cost of the big room). Standby for more information.
Other than that, RYLA is going to be asking for applicants soon and I'd ask that you consider applicants for that. The GSE Malaysia applications will also soon be open and Jayde (our guest speaker from Monash Health) has expressed an interest to join GSE and join Rotary afterwards and I'd be encouraging her to do the program first.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday night for our Connecting Business with Community Business Networking Event!
Last night I attended the Rotary Presidents Meeting and I'd like to update you on the various events and initiatives that may be of interest to you.
District Conference
If you haven't already registered, then please consider registering soon as the countdown is on until the weekend of 21 and 22 April for the District Conference. Register here: http://www.9810conference.org.au/
The question was asked if partners can come along just to the Saturday night event if they haven't paid for full registration. Although guests cannot come only to the Saturday night event, DG Juliet has a small budget available and if you put in a case for your partner to attend, then this will be considered. So please email her directly with your request.
The event promises to be wonderful and a bit different to other years and there is a surprise for us all on Saturday night.
Parking is available at Etihad stadium which is directly opposite the venue on the water, at $10 per day.
Peter Murie has asked that if you have a club project to promote that you provide to him slides/photos and some copy of your event so that the 'news reels' can be made and played during the event on loop. Unfortunately, due to limited space, there will not be club project displays in a House of Friendship like we have other years.
Rotary Birthday - Global Illumination Event - for your diaries Thursday 27 Feb
At 8:30pm at Federation Square, there will be a Rotary End Polio Illumination 'switching on' ceremony where the Rotary symbol and End Polio Now will be in bright lights at Fed Square for the world to see. It will be an opportunity for Rotarians from all Districts to gather and celebrate Rotary's birthday and be part of a once-in-a-Rotary lifetime opportunity to be part of the illumination of the city. The photo taken on this night will go along with the other photos of the Rotary symbol displayed in London, and other cities - the images we know so well.
This is an opportunity to gather your friends, family and fellow Rotarians to come along to the city and be involved in this special night! The images will stay up for 3 days until 27 February so Melbournians can get the full appreciation of the message.
I'm planning to have dinner at the Young and Jackson's after work and then heading off to see the lights turn on in the city!
Dick Garner has asked for all club 's support to get as many people to this event!
Books for Babies
Jo Beilby talked about the literacy project available to all clubs. This is a full kit where this book, "Ten Little Toes and Ten Little Fingers" will be given to all mums who give birth on 12 March with a dedication from Rotary. It is an opportunity to work with your local hospital to provide this book to all mums on this day and spread the word of Rotary.
New Clubs in The Pipeline
(1) There is a new club starting at Swinburne University with the assistance of RC Wantirna and more information will be made available soon.
(2) Philip talked about a new District e-Club in formation called "Rotary eClub of Greater Melbourne" which will be an opportunity for those people who don't have time for meetings to attend meetings electronically and online. Once the website is up and running, there will be a promotion to the database of prospective members, previous members and the wider Rotary family to inspire interest. More information will come out soon but the aim is to have this up and ready on 30 June 2012.
(3) You may not know that our District has an Interact Club (14-18 Year olds) and it is the largest club in the District with over 70 members.
Group Study Exchange
There will be an outgoing team dinner to farewell the Aussies going to Texas hosted by the RC Doncaster on 21 March. More details will be out soon but it would be great if we had representation from our club to support Andrew Boast and wish him well. The outgoing team will be leaving Melbourne on 23 March.
The incoming GSE Texan team will be here on 25 March and the RC Mordialloc will be holding a 'welcome dinner' at the Dingley International on Tuesday 27 March. We will not be having a meeting on the Monday 26 and instead, will use the Cluster dinner as an opportunity to meet and enjoy the presentation at the Dingley for those people who are interested. More details to follow but please put Tues 25 March in your diaries.
New Members
There will be a new member's night at the Box Hill Golf Course on Thursday 1 March at 6:00-8:00pm
President Elect Training Sessions (PETS)
Given that I'll be President again in the new year, I'll be attending PETS on Sunday 4 March as a participant but also a presenter. DGE Brian has asked me to present the idea of the Business Networking Concept to the group to be rolled out on a wider scale across the clubs if they like.
There is opportunity for President Nominees to attend too but as we haven't planned down this far as to who will take over in 2013-2014...I'll leave that open. The choice is totally yours - do you want to act as President for the club for a year! It's a great job - with lots of support - and wonderful opportunities. If you haven't already considered it but you'd like to - then please, let me know because you can come with me to PETS!! Yay!!
DG Nominee Applications now Open
If you have loftier aspirations than just President, then how about DGN? Applications now open for DGN AND/OR the selection committee. More information in Newsletters soon or on the website.
District Governor Changeover Dinner Night
Will be on at the Box Hill Town Hall on Saturday 30 June 2012 if you're interested.
Business Networking Events
Just thought I'd add this in myself - it wasn't mentioned last night but you may or may not have seen the article in the American Rotarian magazine about how RC Rochester NY is using business events to drive membership. The article is called 'Open for Business' and here it is:
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/TheRotarian/Pages/Business1201.aspx
I have contacted the RC Rochester to ask to speak to someone via Skype for an opportunity to share the knowledge, tools and ideas of what we could do to reconnect with our own business community and I'll let you know how that goes.
In the meantime, I have re-created District toolkit of tools and templates that should any club in our district (or wider) ask for how to plan for such events, will be made available. I have been asked by DGE Brian to be in the District role next year for Business Networking so if you have other ideas of how this concept can grow then please let me know.
Other News
Other than that, work has advised me that the upcoming months will be going to be hectic as the project starts gaining momentum and initiatives implemented. I have been warned that there will be many after hours work and weekend work to get through the workload. I'm anticipating that there will be Monday nights where I simply will not be available to attend Rotary and I ask your support in these cases. The business events are still my priority and I'm in the process of filling in one more speaker and a vocational visit to the ICU at Monash Hospital for our events in July.
However, there are other factors such as identifying alternative venues (we have already created the short list of places with the option of also 'staying at SOC' to be included if we can sway the management to keep us on if we join as SOC members to cover the cost of the big room). Standby for more information.
Other than that, RYLA is going to be asking for applicants soon and I'd ask that you consider applicants for that. The GSE Malaysia applications will also soon be open and Jayde (our guest speaker from Monash Health) has expressed an interest to join GSE and join Rotary afterwards and I'd be encouraging her to do the program first.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday night for our Connecting Business with Community Business Networking Event!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 6 February 2011
How to Engage Your Customers Using Social Media was our first presentation for our Connecting Business with Community Networking Events for the month of February. Presented by online marketer Priya Chandra, we saw the majority of the audience were visitors over Rotarians last night which goes to show the importance of this hot topic.
You may have seen the article in the 'Rotarian' this month called, "Open for Business" and it mentions the Rotary Club of Rochester who does similar events to attract new members with an old tradition. They have a motto at the club, "It's great to do business with a Rotarian" and have various events such as business networking events, B2B expos, "Ask an Expert" column in their newsletter about 5 things about a Rotarian's area of expertise; and a 'Business Before Hours' where they have a get-together at a Rotarian's place of business before work for a tour and preentation of their facility; as well as a business directory. They say, "we encourage our members to bring guests to all our evenings to promote the Rotary Club of Rochester and to let people know that along with our community service work, we are also helping people expand their business." I'm going to get into contact with RC Rochester to find out more about how to further tweak our events to make them that more attractive to business.
I had a call from our Member's office Elizabeth Miller to advise us that she will be attending one of our events so standby! It was lovely to see our GSE participant Andrew Boast who is getting ready for his trip to Dallas and to introduce him to Jayde Lovell, our guest speaker from last Monday night who has expressed an interest to apply for the Malaysia GSE this year. Jayde and I are in progress with organising the vocational tour for the Business Events in July which will be to the Monash ICU - a fascinating behind the scenes tour and presentation of this area; and having a speaker on another night talk about how businesses have contributed to community through charities - and some techniques on how they can work with not-for-profits to promote, sponsor and support charitable events and activities. July Business Networking Events are promising to be just as interesting as the ones we've had already and our database of local business contacts are now steadily growing.
Last night, we had some repeat visitors from last November's events but also some new faces and having a chance to speak to our visitors, they relayed that they got som tips, techniques and hints about what they could do for their own business. One person mentioned that what they thought they could use for their business, they changed their mind simply because it wouldn't have been the right tool.
Our second speaker Snigdha Gurrala, our sponsored NYSF participants charmed them. It was a perfect close to an evening where she explained the benefits and the value that the NYSF held for her. She openly explained her passion for biomedical sciences and you could see how excited she was to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope to see Snigdha again, even as a future Rotaractor or Rotarian simply because she has seen the opportunities and learned more about Rotary. At our table, she was also giving us information on how the NYSF was using social media to keep in contact with other participants of NYSF long after the event as a way of still re-inspiring their passion in science and friendship.
So thank you to everyone who has helped in this evening to Philip and Jason for walking around to businesses to promote the events and give out flyers; to Ian who set up the room last night; and to Graeme for dealing with the crowds at the doors. Thanks to Philip again for chairing and creating the Member Packs and to Susan for the certificates.
Next week we have Laurence Guttledge (it was going to be Paul Whelan however he has another job now) a representative from VECCI to talk about the impact of the carbon tax to businesses. Although the turnout will be smaller than last night, I do ask that you actively promote this event to your friends and colleagues.
You may have seen the article in the 'Rotarian' this month called, "Open for Business" and it mentions the Rotary Club of Rochester who does similar events to attract new members with an old tradition. They have a motto at the club, "It's great to do business with a Rotarian" and have various events such as business networking events, B2B expos, "Ask an Expert" column in their newsletter about 5 things about a Rotarian's area of expertise; and a 'Business Before Hours' where they have a get-together at a Rotarian's place of business before work for a tour and preentation of their facility; as well as a business directory. They say, "we encourage our members to bring guests to all our evenings to promote the Rotary Club of Rochester and to let people know that along with our community service work, we are also helping people expand their business." I'm going to get into contact with RC Rochester to find out more about how to further tweak our events to make them that more attractive to business.
I had a call from our Member's office Elizabeth Miller to advise us that she will be attending one of our events so standby! It was lovely to see our GSE participant Andrew Boast who is getting ready for his trip to Dallas and to introduce him to Jayde Lovell, our guest speaker from last Monday night who has expressed an interest to apply for the Malaysia GSE this year. Jayde and I are in progress with organising the vocational tour for the Business Events in July which will be to the Monash ICU - a fascinating behind the scenes tour and presentation of this area; and having a speaker on another night talk about how businesses have contributed to community through charities - and some techniques on how they can work with not-for-profits to promote, sponsor and support charitable events and activities. July Business Networking Events are promising to be just as interesting as the ones we've had already and our database of local business contacts are now steadily growing.
Last night, we had some repeat visitors from last November's events but also some new faces and having a chance to speak to our visitors, they relayed that they got som tips, techniques and hints about what they could do for their own business. One person mentioned that what they thought they could use for their business, they changed their mind simply because it wouldn't have been the right tool.
Our second speaker Snigdha Gurrala, our sponsored NYSF participants charmed them. It was a perfect close to an evening where she explained the benefits and the value that the NYSF held for her. She openly explained her passion for biomedical sciences and you could see how excited she was to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope to see Snigdha again, even as a future Rotaractor or Rotarian simply because she has seen the opportunities and learned more about Rotary. At our table, she was also giving us information on how the NYSF was using social media to keep in contact with other participants of NYSF long after the event as a way of still re-inspiring their passion in science and friendship.
So thank you to everyone who has helped in this evening to Philip and Jason for walking around to businesses to promote the events and give out flyers; to Ian who set up the room last night; and to Graeme for dealing with the crowds at the doors. Thanks to Philip again for chairing and creating the Member Packs and to Susan for the certificates.
Next week we have Laurence Guttledge (it was going to be Paul Whelan however he has another job now) a representative from VECCI to talk about the impact of the carbon tax to businesses. Although the turnout will be smaller than last night, I do ask that you actively promote this event to your friends and colleagues.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 29th January 2011
Apologies for a belated post due to pressing demands at my new work which have started! After spending a few weeks learning the ropes at the new place of work, meeting new people and the teams and being inducted, the time has come to actually do some work. I'm finding that I've been spending longer hours at work and not been able to access personal emails to attend to Rotary simply because I can't squeeze them into the day. It doesn't help having this hot weather and the last thing I want to do when I get home at 6pm sometimes 7pm, to check my emails!
But not to worry, we will get there!
We had a wonderful speaker last Monday night. Jayde Lovell from the Monash Health Foundation gave us a rundown of the fundraising her organisation co-ordinates to ensure that funding is provided to the various community centres in our area. Speaking to Jayde on the night, she told me of her fascinating work in Indonesia for the last four years and how she is looking for a community service club to join. She speaks fluent Indonesian and Malay and I thought that she would be a worthy applicant for the GSE going to Malaysia in 2013. She expressed an interest in GSE and already, I contacted the GSE committee for information and Jayde advised that she will be submitting her application for GSE Malaysia this year.
Jayde will also be joining us at all our business events and will be coming along to meet the GSE Team from Texas at our Cluster meeting in late March. Please make her feel welcome to all our meetings.
The business events are now finalised. All information has been sent out to those people who will be taking part - either as guest presenter or assistant on the night with set up, chair or door person. Thanks to those people who make sure these events run smoothly in the background. Numbers to date is that we have 16 new visitors registered on the registration site but we are expecting drop ins for the first event where Priya Chandra will look at how Businesses Engage Customers Using Social Media. She will be using Bill's business as a case study on what can be done, so there's going to be some practical applications that will be of interest to anyone in business.
Also in progress are searching for alternate venues. Myself and Philip went out and saw La Cassatta Restaurant last Tuesday night and spoke to them about our requirements; similarly, he and Graeme also spoke and saw the venue out at the Sandbelt Hotel. We will be providing recommendations to Board in due course but watch this space.
I wish you all a great weekend and see you on Monday at our Connecting Business with Community networking events!
But not to worry, we will get there!
We had a wonderful speaker last Monday night. Jayde Lovell from the Monash Health Foundation gave us a rundown of the fundraising her organisation co-ordinates to ensure that funding is provided to the various community centres in our area. Speaking to Jayde on the night, she told me of her fascinating work in Indonesia for the last four years and how she is looking for a community service club to join. She speaks fluent Indonesian and Malay and I thought that she would be a worthy applicant for the GSE going to Malaysia in 2013. She expressed an interest in GSE and already, I contacted the GSE committee for information and Jayde advised that she will be submitting her application for GSE Malaysia this year.
Jayde will also be joining us at all our business events and will be coming along to meet the GSE Team from Texas at our Cluster meeting in late March. Please make her feel welcome to all our meetings.
The business events are now finalised. All information has been sent out to those people who will be taking part - either as guest presenter or assistant on the night with set up, chair or door person. Thanks to those people who make sure these events run smoothly in the background. Numbers to date is that we have 16 new visitors registered on the registration site but we are expecting drop ins for the first event where Priya Chandra will look at how Businesses Engage Customers Using Social Media. She will be using Bill's business as a case study on what can be done, so there's going to be some practical applications that will be of interest to anyone in business.
Also in progress are searching for alternate venues. Myself and Philip went out and saw La Cassatta Restaurant last Tuesday night and spoke to them about our requirements; similarly, he and Graeme also spoke and saw the venue out at the Sandbelt Hotel. We will be providing recommendations to Board in due course but watch this space.
I wish you all a great weekend and see you on Monday at our Connecting Business with Community networking events!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Monday 23rd January 2012
Happy Australia Day!
I hope everyone had a lovely day to celebrate our national holiday. Mine was spent at home catching up with the jobs around the garden in particularly cleaning out the gutters of dead leaves.
It was nice to see everyone back at our first meeting at the SOC. Thank you to Jason for giving us a fascinating account into his childhood and student years in South Africa. We were all enthralled with his story and it gave us a great insight into the 'man behind the badge'.
Business Networking Events
Thank you to those members who have registered online through the website as you will have saved me time in creating a door list manually. For those who haven't already signed up, please ensure you do so at: www.trybooking.com/17704 It is simple to do and shouldn't take much of your time. This way it will allow us to keep an accurate record of who attended each night. Already we have the following numbers of non-Rotarian guests coming (except 2x guest speakers per night)
Mon 6th Feb: Social Media (8)
Mon 13th Feb: Carbon Tax (4)
Mond 20th Feb: Business Mentors (8)
Mon 27th Feb: Cell Care (2)
Please feel free to bring along a guest or two on the evenings. May I ask that whoever is at the door, GET A BUSINESS CARD AND GIVE THE CARDS TO ME at the end of the night so that I can update our database.
Also on these evenings, please gather outside at the bar and welcome guests first as doors will be closed until 6:25pm when we open for registration. Any other business can be done during the break or outside Rotary hours.
Group Study Exchange Day: Monday 26 March - FOR YOUR DIARIES!
As mentioned we will have a team of 5 Texans on Monday 26th March and we will host them with a day out in the city. I have planned the following:
I need at least 3 people to help out on the day to escort the team around. If you would like to have a nice day out and show these Texans our beautiful city, then please let me know.
If you want to read information on the GSE Program then look here: http://operations.9810rotary.org.au/the-rotary-foundation/group-study-exchange/
Otherwise, someone asked the question on who Andrew and I would be hosting in our home for the week of 24 March to 31 March from the Texan team. Her name is Anne Pape and she is aged 28, an Outreach and Development program co-ordinator for Interfaith Ministries.
Next week we will have Rebecca Lovitt from the Monash Health Foundation and our guest Amy Hayes who we sponsored through a unit of a Diploma in Youth Services. Her interest is working with youths and she recently completed a work placement for her studies that she will talk about.
Until then, have a great week!
I hope everyone had a lovely day to celebrate our national holiday. Mine was spent at home catching up with the jobs around the garden in particularly cleaning out the gutters of dead leaves.
It was nice to see everyone back at our first meeting at the SOC. Thank you to Jason for giving us a fascinating account into his childhood and student years in South Africa. We were all enthralled with his story and it gave us a great insight into the 'man behind the badge'.
Business Networking Events
Thank you to those members who have registered online through the website as you will have saved me time in creating a door list manually. For those who haven't already signed up, please ensure you do so at: www.trybooking.com/17704 It is simple to do and shouldn't take much of your time. This way it will allow us to keep an accurate record of who attended each night. Already we have the following numbers of non-Rotarian guests coming (except 2x guest speakers per night)
Mon 6th Feb: Social Media (8)
Mon 13th Feb: Carbon Tax (4)
Mond 20th Feb: Business Mentors (8)
Mon 27th Feb: Cell Care (2)
Please feel free to bring along a guest or two on the evenings. May I ask that whoever is at the door, GET A BUSINESS CARD AND GIVE THE CARDS TO ME at the end of the night so that I can update our database.
Also on these evenings, please gather outside at the bar and welcome guests first as doors will be closed until 6:25pm when we open for registration. Any other business can be done during the break or outside Rotary hours.
Group Study Exchange Day: Monday 26 March - FOR YOUR DIARIES!
As mentioned we will have a team of 5 Texans on Monday 26th March and we will host them with a day out in the city. I have planned the following:
- 0830 Hosts to drop off their team members at Cheltenham Train Station
- 1000-1130 Morning tea, behind the scenes tour and presentation of State Parliament by MP Bruce Atkinson
- 1130-1420 Lunch and wander around Bourke Street Mall
- 1430 - 1600 Afternoon tea, behind the scenes tour and presentation of City of Melbourne Council by a local Councillor TBA
- 1700 Hosts to meet and take their team members back home from Cheltenham station
I need at least 3 people to help out on the day to escort the team around. If you would like to have a nice day out and show these Texans our beautiful city, then please let me know.
If you want to read information on the GSE Program then look here: http://operations.9810rotary.org.au/the-rotary-foundation/group-study-exchange/
Otherwise, someone asked the question on who Andrew and I would be hosting in our home for the week of 24 March to 31 March from the Texan team. Her name is Anne Pape and she is aged 28, an Outreach and Development program co-ordinator for Interfaith Ministries.
Next week we will have Rebecca Lovitt from the Monash Health Foundation and our guest Amy Hayes who we sponsored through a unit of a Diploma in Youth Services. Her interest is working with youths and she recently completed a work placement for her studies that she will talk about.
Until then, have a great week!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Helen's Headlines - Friday 13 January 2012
Hope you are having a nice January and not letting this freezing cold miserable summer get you down. I know I'm feeling it especially when I had grand visions of spending time at the beach during my holidays and instead, I had to pull out my winter woollies to wear!
Although having this time off has afforded me the opportunity to do the things around the house that I have neglected. I have replaced tap washers; weeded the garden; laid pine bark chips in the garden; mowed lawns; cleaned gutters; spider bombed the garage and roof spaces; cleaned out the garage; pruned all the trees in the front and back...the list goes on. It's been wonderful to have all this time during the day to do the little jobs that just get put off during the year.
Update on Business Events
The promotion has started! For the last couple of days I have spent a few hours every morning walking to the industrial estates along East Bentleigh shops (near East Boundary & Centre Road), Chesterville, Warrigal and Cochranes Road door knocking, chatting with people at these factory sites and handing out flyers. Admittedly, when they see me they think I'm going to flog some product but when I open up with "I'm in Rotary and we would love to see you at our Business Networking Events where local businesses such as yourselves have an opportunity to promote your products and services while networking with other businesses from the local area."
Once I open up with this statement, in all cases, people are interested in the flyer, stand there and read the key topics and genuinely look interested in it. This morning, I will continue the walk as I believe this is the best and only way to establish a presence by speaking to people directly - in the process, I have seen many factories here in my local area that I otherwise would have driven past and never know what these businesses contribute to the Victorian and Australian economy.
This morning I will continue the flyer drop and I do hope that others from our club can do the Bentleigh Shops. It could be appreciated if people can let me know what flyer drops they are doing so that we don't double up. Similarly, if we aren't doing any flyer drops, let me know so that I can get out there and do the Bentleigh shops which are a main business area we should be targetting - so let's not forget them!
So far, the online registrations are slowly coming in. It could be appreciated if Rotarians can register their attendance online at:
http://www.trybooking.com/17704
It takes a few minutes of your time and you register once for one or all of the events you want to attend in the one shot.
I've only had a couple of the club members register so far so please, make the time to get into the above site and register as it gives us a better idea for numbers.
International Interest in Business Events
The concept of the business networking events are gathering momentum overseas - okay, slight exaggeration. However the RC Cambridge, UK and RC Tecoma Narrows, Seattle Washington USA liked our concept of these events so much that they contacted me for more information. I have sent them the tools and templates of what tasks and co-ordinating need
Their feedback to me was that these tools were exactly what they needed. Both clubs now are proposing the concept and giving the tools to the Board for approval. RC Tecoma Narrows wrote to me two days ago to say that they are now setting up a small team to use my tools and templates to plan and roll out their own business networking events for their local area. The idea of bringing the 'vocations back into Rotary' is one that sits well with many Rotary clubs and it seems that internationally, everyone seems to have the same issues with membership.
Presentation to RC Ringwood
I had the pleasure to be the guest speaker to the Rotary Club of Ringwood to present on the concept of the Business Networking Events as they too are looking at how to encourage local business owners to join. Their club is similar to ours in size and age and the majority are retired.
The presentation went well as there were many questions from the floor but one of the things I did note is that on the onset, the co-ordination of such events does look time consuming [and it was to set it all up but that lessens over time the more you do. There is also a hesitation in the amount of promotion with local business and councils and 'computer' work that needs to be done - internet, LinkedIn etc ]. However, from the people there who had small businesses for themselves, they loved the idea and they relayed that they would like more people like themselves in the club.
But they have a different membership idea. One of their membership drives is a space they have at Eastland Shopping Centre where they sell raffle tickets. When they sell raffle tickets, they asked people if they wanted to know more about Rotary and took down their contact details. They created a list of over 30 people and started phoning each of them up and invite them over to a meeting every week. The have new faces at their club every week through this simple list. At the meeting on Wednesday, they had 2 potential members from this drive who signed up to Rotary that night.
I thought that this was a wonderful idea - they simply ASKED. By using a Rotary public activity, they simply asked people if they wanted to know more information about Rotary.
Maybe we should get into the community ourselves and start asking too?
District Role
DGE Brian Martin has given me the District role for Business Networking and so I will be the District contact for how to support clubs to run these events. I will be working closely with Tim Treeby and his small group of pilot clubs for the Rotary Corporate Membership Program and in effect, DGE's vision is that a variety of programs such as business networking and corporate membership can be developed to attract businesses into Rotary.
For my own vision, these business networking events are specific in function and there's a reason as to why they are monthly and three times per year. If we provide a consistent calendar of events that don't chop and change, businesses in our local area will instantly know that there are networking events they can attend every February, July and October every year. They will then know their local Rotary Club and what we do and we can continue the relationship through consistency. It's easier to advertise and promote 'Business Networking Months' than one off networking events that require a greater personal effort for one guest speaker. In effect, my aim is to establish a longer term relationship with business owners and operators and have them coming back every week of that month - and then following them up by email of ongoing events.
The District role is still in its infancy but to prepare for this, when I get some time, I will create an Information Pack for clubs and re-tweak the tools and templates so they are generic enough to be used by any club around the world.
Group Study Exchange Visit on Week of March 24
This year our international visitors will be from Fort Worth Dallas Texas. The team of 4 plus their Rotarian Team Leader will be coming to Australia and we're all eagerly awaiting for them. Andrew and I will be hosting one of the young team members, Anne Pape for the week starting Saturday 24 March. During the first week, they will have an active calendar of events visiting local industry, government and arts and cultures from our District.
I will be seeking support from our club members to act as 'drivers' for Anne in the mornings. The role involves picking up Anne from our home and dropping her off at the team point at the park near Southland every morning; and then (not all days) picking her up in the afternoons from the same place and dropping her off to our place. Andrew and I would have been able to do this however, we are both working at this time and will kindly seek your support. I will have more details when the GSE Committee sent out the timetables and then we can allocate people for certain days.
Club Day with Group Study Exchange Team Participants: Melbourne - For Your Diaries Monday 26 March 2012
On Monday 26 March, our club will act as host to the team for the whole day. I have organised a trip into Melbourne to see how our state and local government works and will be seeking a couple of volunteers from our club to act as hosts for the day.
The itinerary is as follows:
0830 All team members to meet at Cheltenham Train Station
1000 Commence tour and presentation by MP Bruce Atkinson at Parliament House (tea and coffee will be provided)
1200 Lunch in city and tram/walk to Bourke Street Mall for shopping and perusing
1430 Commence tour and presentation at City of Melbourne Council (tea and coffee provided)
1700 Rotarian host families to pick up their team members from Cheltenham Train Station
I'm still negotiating the tour at the City of Melbourne so it's yet to be confirmed. So if you are interested in getting a 'behind the scenes' tour and presentation of our government and act as wonderful hosts to our beautiful city and the Texan tourists, then please let me know. I would have been involved on the day but as I'm starting a new job, I cannot guarantee any leave from now on.
Venue Situation
When I emailed the South Oakleigh Club to confirm bookings of the large room for our Business Events early this year, they advised me that they have increased their prices to $50 for the small room; $150 for the large room and $50 screen hire every week. This came as a shock as it was unexpected and we hadn't been formally communicated of this change. I was disappointed as I believed our relationship with the SOC was such that we had open communication to be advised and then be in a position to negotiate these changes.
Philip has kindly offered to negotiate these terms as the prices will hurt us in the long run. In the meantime, I have contacted other venues in the area who have been quite open and accepting of our club's requirements so there are options to consider going forward. So far, La Cassetta Restaurant and Buckingham International are two possible contenders - with the former offering us a free hire of a private function room every Monday night and minimum $20 for a full range of meals to consider. Buckingham offers the same although they may have to move us depending on other functions or room bookings on the night.
Our main priority is to stay at the South Oakleigh Club and do our best to negotiate the terms so that it is a win-win for both parties. However, if it doesn't work, then the possibility is that we will move.
So that's all the update with the news so far. I will see everyone at the park on Monday night but I may be a tad late. I will be starting my new job on Monday and have done my best to do as much Rotary work during my leave so that I can focus 100% on work from now on...(okay 95%)...
Enjoy the weekend, hope it warms up!
Although having this time off has afforded me the opportunity to do the things around the house that I have neglected. I have replaced tap washers; weeded the garden; laid pine bark chips in the garden; mowed lawns; cleaned gutters; spider bombed the garage and roof spaces; cleaned out the garage; pruned all the trees in the front and back...the list goes on. It's been wonderful to have all this time during the day to do the little jobs that just get put off during the year.
Update on Business Events
The promotion has started! For the last couple of days I have spent a few hours every morning walking to the industrial estates along East Bentleigh shops (near East Boundary & Centre Road), Chesterville, Warrigal and Cochranes Road door knocking, chatting with people at these factory sites and handing out flyers. Admittedly, when they see me they think I'm going to flog some product but when I open up with "I'm in Rotary and we would love to see you at our Business Networking Events where local businesses such as yourselves have an opportunity to promote your products and services while networking with other businesses from the local area."
Once I open up with this statement, in all cases, people are interested in the flyer, stand there and read the key topics and genuinely look interested in it. This morning, I will continue the walk as I believe this is the best and only way to establish a presence by speaking to people directly - in the process, I have seen many factories here in my local area that I otherwise would have driven past and never know what these businesses contribute to the Victorian and Australian economy.
This morning I will continue the flyer drop and I do hope that others from our club can do the Bentleigh Shops. It could be appreciated if people can let me know what flyer drops they are doing so that we don't double up. Similarly, if we aren't doing any flyer drops, let me know so that I can get out there and do the Bentleigh shops which are a main business area we should be targetting - so let's not forget them!
So far, the online registrations are slowly coming in. It could be appreciated if Rotarians can register their attendance online at:
http://www.trybooking.com/17704
It takes a few minutes of your time and you register once for one or all of the events you want to attend in the one shot.
I've only had a couple of the club members register so far so please, make the time to get into the above site and register as it gives us a better idea for numbers.
International Interest in Business Events
The concept of the business networking events are gathering momentum overseas - okay, slight exaggeration. However the RC Cambridge, UK and RC Tecoma Narrows, Seattle Washington USA liked our concept of these events so much that they contacted me for more information. I have sent them the tools and templates of what tasks and co-ordinating need
Their feedback to me was that these tools were exactly what they needed. Both clubs now are proposing the concept and giving the tools to the Board for approval. RC Tecoma Narrows wrote to me two days ago to say that they are now setting up a small team to use my tools and templates to plan and roll out their own business networking events for their local area. The idea of bringing the 'vocations back into Rotary' is one that sits well with many Rotary clubs and it seems that internationally, everyone seems to have the same issues with membership.
Presentation to RC Ringwood
I had the pleasure to be the guest speaker to the Rotary Club of Ringwood to present on the concept of the Business Networking Events as they too are looking at how to encourage local business owners to join. Their club is similar to ours in size and age and the majority are retired.
The presentation went well as there were many questions from the floor but one of the things I did note is that on the onset, the co-ordination of such events does look time consuming [and it was to set it all up but that lessens over time the more you do. There is also a hesitation in the amount of promotion with local business and councils and 'computer' work that needs to be done - internet, LinkedIn etc ]. However, from the people there who had small businesses for themselves, they loved the idea and they relayed that they would like more people like themselves in the club.
But they have a different membership idea. One of their membership drives is a space they have at Eastland Shopping Centre where they sell raffle tickets. When they sell raffle tickets, they asked people if they wanted to know more about Rotary and took down their contact details. They created a list of over 30 people and started phoning each of them up and invite them over to a meeting every week. The have new faces at their club every week through this simple list. At the meeting on Wednesday, they had 2 potential members from this drive who signed up to Rotary that night.
I thought that this was a wonderful idea - they simply ASKED. By using a Rotary public activity, they simply asked people if they wanted to know more information about Rotary.
Maybe we should get into the community ourselves and start asking too?
District Role
DGE Brian Martin has given me the District role for Business Networking and so I will be the District contact for how to support clubs to run these events. I will be working closely with Tim Treeby and his small group of pilot clubs for the Rotary Corporate Membership Program and in effect, DGE's vision is that a variety of programs such as business networking and corporate membership can be developed to attract businesses into Rotary.
For my own vision, these business networking events are specific in function and there's a reason as to why they are monthly and three times per year. If we provide a consistent calendar of events that don't chop and change, businesses in our local area will instantly know that there are networking events they can attend every February, July and October every year. They will then know their local Rotary Club and what we do and we can continue the relationship through consistency. It's easier to advertise and promote 'Business Networking Months' than one off networking events that require a greater personal effort for one guest speaker. In effect, my aim is to establish a longer term relationship with business owners and operators and have them coming back every week of that month - and then following them up by email of ongoing events.
The District role is still in its infancy but to prepare for this, when I get some time, I will create an Information Pack for clubs and re-tweak the tools and templates so they are generic enough to be used by any club around the world.
Group Study Exchange Visit on Week of March 24
This year our international visitors will be from Fort Worth Dallas Texas. The team of 4 plus their Rotarian Team Leader will be coming to Australia and we're all eagerly awaiting for them. Andrew and I will be hosting one of the young team members, Anne Pape for the week starting Saturday 24 March. During the first week, they will have an active calendar of events visiting local industry, government and arts and cultures from our District.
I will be seeking support from our club members to act as 'drivers' for Anne in the mornings. The role involves picking up Anne from our home and dropping her off at the team point at the park near Southland every morning; and then (not all days) picking her up in the afternoons from the same place and dropping her off to our place. Andrew and I would have been able to do this however, we are both working at this time and will kindly seek your support. I will have more details when the GSE Committee sent out the timetables and then we can allocate people for certain days.
Club Day with Group Study Exchange Team Participants: Melbourne - For Your Diaries Monday 26 March 2012
On Monday 26 March, our club will act as host to the team for the whole day. I have organised a trip into Melbourne to see how our state and local government works and will be seeking a couple of volunteers from our club to act as hosts for the day.
The itinerary is as follows:
0830 All team members to meet at Cheltenham Train Station
1000 Commence tour and presentation by MP Bruce Atkinson at Parliament House (tea and coffee will be provided)
1200 Lunch in city and tram/walk to Bourke Street Mall for shopping and perusing
1430 Commence tour and presentation at City of Melbourne Council (tea and coffee provided)
1700 Rotarian host families to pick up their team members from Cheltenham Train Station
I'm still negotiating the tour at the City of Melbourne so it's yet to be confirmed. So if you are interested in getting a 'behind the scenes' tour and presentation of our government and act as wonderful hosts to our beautiful city and the Texan tourists, then please let me know. I would have been involved on the day but as I'm starting a new job, I cannot guarantee any leave from now on.
Venue Situation
When I emailed the South Oakleigh Club to confirm bookings of the large room for our Business Events early this year, they advised me that they have increased their prices to $50 for the small room; $150 for the large room and $50 screen hire every week. This came as a shock as it was unexpected and we hadn't been formally communicated of this change. I was disappointed as I believed our relationship with the SOC was such that we had open communication to be advised and then be in a position to negotiate these changes.
Philip has kindly offered to negotiate these terms as the prices will hurt us in the long run. In the meantime, I have contacted other venues in the area who have been quite open and accepting of our club's requirements so there are options to consider going forward. So far, La Cassetta Restaurant and Buckingham International are two possible contenders - with the former offering us a free hire of a private function room every Monday night and minimum $20 for a full range of meals to consider. Buckingham offers the same although they may have to move us depending on other functions or room bookings on the night.
Our main priority is to stay at the South Oakleigh Club and do our best to negotiate the terms so that it is a win-win for both parties. However, if it doesn't work, then the possibility is that we will move.
So that's all the update with the news so far. I will see everyone at the park on Monday night but I may be a tad late. I will be starting my new job on Monday and have done my best to do as much Rotary work during my leave so that I can focus 100% on work from now on...(okay 95%)...
Enjoy the weekend, hope it warms up!
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