Visits Finished, But the Frantic Pace Goes On

We have finished our club visits and are definitely wiser! We have found that each club is autonomous in the fact that there are no two clubs alike. Each club has their way of doing things. It was very interesting to visit and see how the clubs operated and all the different fundraising and service projects they have. We are happy to report that every club does something with children.

We did learn one thing- we need to share more ideas. An example would be children’s books. Clubs should be aware of who holds book sales and how they could benefit from having access to these books.

We have clubs working with needy children that could use reading books.

The key issue appears to be membership and retention. This is a hot topic throughout Rotary. What is the answer? In our opinion, it all comes down to “education” and “engagement”. We have to do more to not only educate our members but, the public as well. When we have a new member, mentorship is a good thing to educate. Hands on projects are good times to invite potential members and to keep other members engaged. Our meetings should make a person want to attend. If you are bored; find a new project and do it. Some clubs did indicate that they were tired of the same old thing and were looking for something new. There are lots of fundraising projects on the website. Maybe there is one for you.

ProjectLINK is a great spot to look

Speaking of projects- we are looking for someone to partner with a club in India to help equip a school. The District has committed some funds from our DDF and we need a club with $5000 to share this.

Fran’s Cook Book Cancelled

The Cookbook project has been put on hold.

Fran’s Cookbook

a.       We have decided to terminate the cookbook project

b.      Thank you to those that have sent in recipes!

c.       We received a logical suggestion that has made us decide

d.      If we carry on with the book, we will not have enough time to make the March cutoff for tripling the Polio donations

e.      If each club donates a minimum of $500.00 before March; the amounts will be matched by the Canadian Government and Bill Gates Foundation (3 times your dollar!)

f.        This will result in more than we can make on the cookbook

A Great Way to Thank a Rotary Club

Al Mosewich sent me a thank you picture which ran in the Watrous Manitou weekly. What a great way to say thank you!

The Governor Elect Training Symposium (GETS) Experience

 (L-R) DGE Ed Thompson, Elaine Thompson, Fran Hubbs, DG Rick Hubbs

Fran and I attended GETS along with Governor Elect Ed Thompson and his wife Elaine in Vancouver. There was discussion on membership and membership and membership. Public Relations and membership!  We heard a little more about Future vision, name branding, marketing, and Rotary education. It was a good thing. The Ripple Effect program was a highlight for many. We actually met Peter Peters there too. He is everywhere!

On Friday afternoon about 400 of us went on an “End Polio Now” walk along the breakwater. Somebody must have seen us; we all had red rain jackets on! Surely there was some PR and awareness there. And, Peter and Marg where there!!

Thanks to Ray for letting us store the car and the airport pickups.

We have to Thank our group of assistant governors for all their support, help, and chauffeuring.

After we had a couple days at home we went down to Russell to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) and Future Vision Grants sessions. The training team and Transition team had everything organized and it was very informative. Thanks for the great work!

We learned and laughed and made more money for Polio. What a great group of Rotarians.

While we were there it was a privilege to present a letter of gratitude to the Russell Inn for their excellent customer service. The return comments were in full respect of Rotary and what we do for them and their community.

Of course it snowed; when doesn’t it snow in Russell? Everyone made it home safe. We all left by Sunday noon, except for our diligent Training team.  Joanne, Peter, and Darren stayed over Monday to organize for next year’s training sessions. So, remember, when they invite you to PETS or an Assembly, consider the work they have done to prepare you for your year.

The Rotary Club of Selkirk is celebrating 75 years this month. Congratulations! November 17 will be their gala dinner and celebration with Mr. David Newman as a key speaker.

World Peace Partners signs agreement with Travel Manitoba

World Peace Partners is doing a lot of work with our youth, promoting education and peace initiatives. They are presently meeting with Travel Manitoba and the new Museum to further promote their programs.

David Newman, World Peace Partner co-chair reports:

“Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg and Continental Travel have agreed to be part of a strategic alliance with District 5550, the Museum and universities involved in a student travel program called Adventure in Human Rights. On November 24th we are having a brainstorming meeting from 10 to 2 at Irwin Kumka's offices to determine who does what in this collaboration and to get started with the plan. We have made clear that administrative capacity, marketing and information technology services must be provided by our new allies. We will have to protect Rotary privacy. The Museum and participating universities will create the course content with input from us. We will seek a Rotary education component just as we did with AGC. Our District role will be to provide access to Rotarians at International and District Conferences to promote the program and to encourage other clubs and districts to support student participation from their area.”

This is, and will be, a unique program for District 5550 and World Peace Partners. If you are looking for a cause, think about this one.

2013 PR Program to Focus on TV Ads

We have been asked by a few people about the PR grant information this upcoming year. We have made an agreement with CTV for promotion of Rotary in our District.

Public Relations chair Allen Oruski reports:

“Approval in principle was agreed upon with CTV in Saskatoon and in Winnipeg to air Rotary commercials as prescribed by Rotary International.  The campaign began on the week of October 29, in Manitoba and Western Ontario as well as Saskatchewan.  In the first two weeks of the campaign, 7 ads will be airedin Saskatchewan on programs including Anderson live, W-Five and Sportscenter.  As for Manitoba and Western Ontario, 16 ads will be aired on programs including Dr OZ, Anderson Live, Live With Kelly & Michael, CTV Morning Live, and CSI New York.  All ads are spots of 30 seconds.  For the present, we will be using Polio Plus WE ARE THAT CLOSE ads we obtained from Rotary International. 

It should be noted that this program and the success of implementation is largely due to the efforts of Robin Cennon, a former Rotarian and sales director for CTV in Saskatoon.  Robin was able to utilize information and documentation from past Rotary PR programs.  Although there is not a formal agreement for services in kind, it has been my experience that CTV will do Rotary well.  We expect to conclude this campaign by mid April of 2013.

I have discussed with CTV the possibility of obtaining their support and services in producing an ad specific to our District.  Issues such as membership (recruitment) were some of the ideas discussed.  I would like to finance this part of our PR campaign through a levy on all Clubs within the District.  This levy would probably amount to $3,000.00 based upon membership numbers within each Club.  As for a decision on the topic, perhaps a road trip throughout the District filming individual members would be in order?  As a point of interest, in the past, RI would produce and distribute PSAs to the television stations for use as fillers.  Two years ago, RI stopped doing this.  It's up to us to take the lead now.”

We are pleased with the financial arrangement with CTV and it allows us to follow Rotary International regulations for grant money. Thank you Al and Robin! Watch for the ads.

We will be working on the rewriting of our Manual of Policy and Procedure over the next few weeks. If you have anything to comment on, please do so in the near future.

After a month or more off, we finally got to go fishing. A little cool, but fun and productive. Ted Smook and I got out for a little Laker fishing and discussed plans for The Pas Winterfest and the Western Trip. We will have information on the website shortly. And yes I did get in one final round of golf.

Hopefully everyone will be safe and sound with the upcoming of winter. But don't forget to also use the time now to register for our District conference right here:

 

Best regards

Rick