As I write this note, world population stands at roughly 6.7 billion (6,700,000,000). At the same time, there are about 1.2 million (1,200,000) Rotarians in the world. To put this into perspective, on average you can expect to find just one (1) Rotarian in a population of 5000. That seems an awfully small number. Of course, there are other service organizations, each with their particular focus which will dramatically improve the stats, but that does not really change the fact that we are a very small group in the community.

In order for such a small group to have a significant impact to those around us, we have two basic avenues: first, we can increase our numbers so we can become a larger group; and/or second, we can become more effective by touching a wider section of the community. On the first point, we should and need to increase our numbers by introducing more people into this wonderful world of Rotary. This is a huge task and I know this because, despite being leaders of the community, we are still struggling to deliver a significant increase in membership in the past decade. What do we lack? Perhaps we are not trying hard enough. Perhaps we are not selling Rotary properly. My guess is that the latter is more to the point. Overall, we are trying very hard to get others interested in Rotary: we have all experienced rejection of invitations to visit our club. Are we selling Rotary properly? This is a difficult question to answer but we know we are not getting the results we hope for.

We are not, in my view, reaching out and touching enough people with our Rotary experiences. This may be because we tend to understate our achievements, probably because Rotarians want to do good in the world and making a difference to others but praise and adulations are not high on our list of priorities. In other words, we are probably too modest for our own good! This has the negative impact of the community not being aware of the true value of Rotary in the community. One of RI’s current promotion drives hits the bull’s-eye – “Humanity in Motion”. Rotary is, directly or indirectly, about people. But more importantly, we need others to know what we are doing so we can demonstrate what a wonderful organization Rotary is. The best promotion Rotary can have is the actions of each Rotarian. We all need to think of ourselves as living billboards, not only to promote Rotary at every opportunity, but also to set an example, both within and without our vocation. Our actions speak loudest and they are powerful tools to promote Rotary. Forget Jennifer Hawkins; forget Megan Gale, our members are the best models to promote this legendary organization that is Rotary - and we need to use ourselves to promote Rotary to the wider community.

By spreading our message, we make Rotary more effective and thus make this a better world.
 

Yours in Rotary,
Gabe

Thanks to Leigh for fabolous scribe notes

…Meeting commenced with welcome and specifically guests Sandro and Stephen
AGM took place with election of office bearers:

President                 Phillip Archer
Vice President          Wendy Bennet
Secretary                 Charles Stuart
Treasurer                Tracey Browne
Directors                 Bettina Harlos, Michael Fingereth, Gordon Hastie, Troy Gay

Member’s moment
Richard provided a very funny tale of his time as a roundtabler in South Africa.
In particular he described the experiences a visiting German group of roundtablers suffered at the hands of their South African hosts (particularly Richard) in 1984.
These experiences ranged from being taken kilometres underground in to a gold mine, Being attacked by Zulu warriors in full battle dress in the middle of a cane field, being the victim of recoil from a shooting experience which somehow required the whole group to apply sticking plasters to their faces.
Finally how they were all left on a bus in the middle of nowhere when the police took away the driver.
All of these were highly successful practical jokes which now helps us more easily understand the hidden and needing to be watched nature of one of our founders and that combination of English, South African and now Australian humour.
Tracey provided a detailed report on preparations for the Home less World Cup and that there were still opportunities for volunteers
In particular during the set up period between 24-29 November and the pack down post the event from 8-9 December
There is also a Rotary BBQ being held each day from 30 November -7 December between 1000 and 2000
Gabriel then spoke about the District conference in Launceston between 12 and 14 march next year.

Thoughts for the week
“Kind words can be short and easy to say but the echoes can be truly endless’
“The easiest way for a partner to get the attention of their partner is to talk in their sleep.”