Posted on Jun 18, 2018
Last week, President Allan Smith hosted his first meeting. He arranged for Assistant Governor (AG) Pam Clarke to facilitate a “discussion” meeting where members were invited to talk about all aspects of St John’s Rotary Club “moving forward”. (Thanks Pam for your great work leading this very productive meeting).  Five topics were quickly established and agreed for discussion.
 
  1. Meeting Programme
  2. Projects
  3. Funding
  4. Membership
  5. Social
Due to time constraint, only the first four topics were covered. President-Elect Robyn and Bulletin co-editor Alan Mayne, worked as scribes for the meeting and recorded the following main points.  Click Read More for a recap on what is important to us…
MEETING PROGRAM
Evening Meets:
  • Definitely utilise for “Special” speakers
  • Utilise to “Showcase” our club e.g. invite others to hear speaker and experience club
 
Morning Meetings:
  • Utilise more for internal speakers (e.g. showcase our own members)
  • Meeting Format /order should have more variety (e.g. change it up, AND keep tight timeline)
  • Engagement of members is extremely important
  • Attendance is concerning many members
  • General consensus “better use of meeting time” would ensure improved engagement and attendance
 
 
PROJECTS
  • Consider Club’s capacity to contribute (e.g. time involved and volunteer numbers)
  • Fluidity important
  • Localise – do projects within our Community (e.g. Omaru River clean-up/planting in partnership with Tamaki College)
  • Volunteers / Outreach (e.g. consider building up Volunteer / Friends of Club list to involve in projects – these are generally people who are not able to commit to full membership)
  • Liaise much more closely with Community (e.g. ensure we engage in projects which community actually wants)
  • Public Relations [PR] / Media (e.g. usual discussion on how important it is to get exposure and “blow our own horn”)
  • Identify projects early
 
Internal Club Projects
  • We need new ideas
  • Consider capacity / manpower required
  • Volunteers (grow and capitialise)
  • Interact (invite as much as possible to partner with Club on projects)
  • RYLA (invite as much as possible to partner with Club on projects)
External Club Projects
 
Limit to current which are:
  1. ONJA
  2. Fiji (Taveuni Island)
 
 
 
FUNDING
  • Continuity of source / tap into other Trusts
  • Ramble – possible new event which Allan is supporting development of (Donald has been working with task force looking at this, potentially to be shared with another club)
  • Sponsorship (should we be actively working to secure more?)
  • Sponsorship (are our current sponsors adequately “honoured”?)
  • What are we doing?  Club needs $50-60K pa to support / donate at usual levels
  • Project Balance – consider volunteer hours required e.g. lots of work V quick work
 
 
MEMBERSHIP
  • Quality vs Quantity
  • Retention (how can we improve, particularly for our younger members)
  • Options for meeting / attendance requirements (flexible but emphasis on commitment)
  • Personal approach (follow-ups essential e.g. query absences; support injury / illness)
  • Revamp Buddy programme (educate members on what Buddy programme is)
  • Fireside chats (reinstate; usually hosted by President; great to learn about Rotary)
  • Personal Profiles from old and new members (via Bulletin?)
  • Snapchats (via meetings, 2-minute speaking slots?)
  • Keep doing what we do well (e.g. meet and greet at meetings always positively recalled)
  • Consider venue of committee meetings (personalise or keep at Golf Club?)