Your voice, your solution for club programs

At 10:07AM on 1 October 2009, Greg Fournier wrote: My comment relates to membership retention and classification. Declining membership in terms of numbers, the aging of our membership, and difficulty in attracting and recruiting younger members, are all critical and related issues in our Rotary Club. I am sure we are not alone. Has Rotary considered expanding the types of membership from the current two, namely "Active" and "Honourary", to include other types of membership? A suggestion for a new category of membership would be a "Sustaining Member". This might be a member that has difficulty in attending meetings due to the nature of his/her work, family life, or possibly age related health conditions, etc.This person would have contributed to club endevours in the past, is finding it difficult presently to do so, yet wishes to retain membership as opposed to resigning his/her membership. Instead of Rotary losing that member Rotary could retain that member as "Sustaining" or contributing member. In this way membership numbers could be retained and the financial contributions of that member would continue. The Club would not lose that member altogether. I know that fellowship is a large, important, and rewarding part of Rotary but perhaps Rotary needs to adapt to changes within the work world, society and family life and the constraints presented by the challenges of life today.

At 1:09PM on 14 July 2009, Julie Brown - Rotary Club of Port Macquarie wrote: I have a list of members who have offered to do presentations on a variety of topics when needed. We have a Behind the Badge session scheduled every two weeks and that is flexible and can be longer then the 5 minutes suggested. We have had some great debates on Rotary and non-Rotary topics so having a list of these handy is useful. A joke night is also a way of involving members telling their favourite jokes. Having the odd night with nothing planned is also great so I do not worry if a speaker cancels at the last minutes.

At 9:43AM on 15 June 2009, joshi bhagirathi Dr.,RC Rourkela 3260 wrote: its the time no speaker!ican.be a frontrunner.put rotary into rotarians.A GREAT JOB DONE.

At 12:27PM on 8 April 2009, Norm Champine wrote: Good afternoon:I am the Membership Chairman of the rotary Club of Manchester, VT . we are palnning our second Come and Explore Rotary evening event . I am also a Past President and Secretary for the above Club . Any suggestions in making this sucessful event would be appreciated . Thanks ,Norm

At 9:25AM on 27 February 2009, SHRINIVAS MALU, RC SHIROLI M.I.D.C., R I DIST. 3170 wrote: We can have alternate programs ready for such situations like Rotary Quiz or open forum for club project development , issues of more concern to club leadership.Individual members can talk on his own profession or vocation. Ask Rotarians to speak on most current issues of concern for the community or Issues of national importance.

At 1:32PM on 24 February 2009, Rick wrote: What is wrong with having a meeting with no speaker once in a while? It will give Rotarians more, very valuable, time to get to know each other. Not every minute of a meeting needs to be filled.

At 12:47PM on 11 December 2008, Akin Olufowoshe wrote: It is always an opportunity to share the contents of the most recent edition of The Rotarian and other Rotary educational materials.

At 9:48AM on 1 December 2008, Jonathan Mativo wrote: Immediately mobize the past two presidents to share about the topic the speaker was meant to talk on. The open a discussion within the club. I would then still go ahead and invite the same speaker for the same topic then most likely we will have a better understanding of the subject

At 11:46AM on 24 November 2008, Charanjit Singh wrote: 1. Keep a set of CDs/DVDs from Rotary Library at hand to show. 2. Inform a Rotarian a day in advance as a back up speaker. At times, many of the Rotarians themselves are experts on the subject planned for the speaker. 3. Impromptu, invite 3 or 4 Rotarians to sit on a dais and moderate a panel discussion. 4. Organise 'UnConference', i.e. every member present in the meeting can be given 2 minutes to speak on the subject which the speaker was about to speak. This can be again moderated by one person. Or you may assign any other subject on the spot. 5. Conduct a quiz on Rotary or about the club's projects.

At 12:07PM on 10 November 2008, Phil Beckley wrote: Our club keeps the game Trivial Pursuit on hand and we compete by tables, with the president and president-elect asking the questions. The members love it. I actually think we should schedule this a couple of times a year.

At 8:44AM on 6 November 2008, Charanjit Singh wrote: In our Club, Rotary Club of Chandigarh, we invite the members who have joined recently in the past two-three months, to speak about their vocation and what they do while the members can interact with them and ask questions.

At 9:54AM on 4 November 2008, Ronnie Quimbo wrote: Am the new member of our club RCOE 3800. maybe if the speaker is not present i suggest that the senior rotary member will take charge the talk. or if any among the member well volunter.

At 1:23PM on 25 September 2008, dr kiran b wrote: we will discuss the project and ask our senior rotarian about rotary information for the benifit of new rotarians, we do some time classification talks.

At 8:46AM on 12 September 2008, Carol LaRue wrote: The RI Website has a wealth of .ppts one could use to do a Rotary information day for a program at your club. Always bring your laptop/projector in case the speaker is a no-show. Do a program on The Rotary Foundation from the website!

At 3:13PM on 8 September 2008, Umeh, Alexsunny wrote: As Club president I always assign a standby Rotarian in case where the guest couldnt make it. The Rotarian is usually an old and knowledgeable Rotarian or better still from a sister Rotary Club.

At 10:31AM on 18 August 2008, PDG Merv Richens wrote: When all else fails.....if in spite of the good suggestions among some of the suggestions in this great forum, the member still wants to resign, it may be worth keeping in contact by asking if the person might like to be "a friend of Rotary" - my club in Australia provides this option, ans asks them to pay a nominal amount to cover the subscription to our Regional Magazine, Rotary Down Under + plus a small surplus to cover mailing newsletters from our club if they don't have email. We say that they are welcome to attend meetings anytime they are able, and also to help out on projects when available. This keeps them involved with Rotary and the club, and many times when there circumstances change, they ask if they can rejoin the club as a full fee paying member. We ensure that they know that they are no longer a Rotarian and may not wear the emblem, but are still part of our Rotary family - much like the Alumni of TRF.

At 2:12PM on 18 July 2008, PP Usama Barghouthi, APFSA, RC Amman Petra wrote: Either 1 have a knowledgeable Rotarian discuss Rotary matters at hand whether related to the Rotary calendar or discuss in more details and promote a close coming event or seminar/conference etc 2 have a Rotarian member discuss his/her profession and this proved to be very interesting on a number of occasions, probably more interesting than the speaker who never turned up.

At 9:03AM on 17 July 2008, Otonye Danagogo wrote: I am of the Rotary Club Omoku Nigeria District 9140 in the triouble studded Niger Delta. Many times we get old Rotarians to give a talk about Rotary for the benefit of newer Rotarian, or we discus any current happenings in our area or the country and there is no shortage of them in our country Nigeria and the Niger Delta where we reside. It could be more interesting as well.

At 10:57AM on 16 July 2008, Reynaldo M. Abellada, Rotary Club of Baguio Sunrise District 3790 wrote: The club have in reserve power point or slide show presentations on leadership, personality development or inspirationals (which is usually sourced out by newsletter editors.)which we can show which can take the place of a guest speaker who canceled out. Sometimes, we ask the members who have yet to deliver their "classification talk" if they are ready. Upon induction of a new member, he is advised to be ready to deliver his classification talk when asked. It can also be a great time to shift the meeting to a lighter and fun mood and enjoy the fellowship.

At 10:57AM on 16 July 2008, Bola Oyebade ( Maryland, Ikeja) wrote: 1. Improvise a general current Affairs topic. Appoint a discussion leader who will introduce the topic and give opportunity for audience participation. 2. If there are guests, nominate a senior and versatile rotarian to give a talk on ' ROTARY AND ROTARIANS IN ACTION' or any other topics that will serve as PR for Rotary

At 10:58AM on 16 July 2008, Chew Ban Seng wrote: Improvise... Invite Visiting Rotarians to share about their Clubs and some of the major projects they have been doing recently. Through such sharing, our Community become so much richer as we can "borrow" some of the experiences they have had -- without reinventing the wheel... Also, encourage our own Rotarians to share recent experiences or details about the projects that thet are working... Regards B S Chew, Charter President, Rotary E-Club of 3310, Singapore.

At 11:00AM on 16 July 2008, W E Speakman Jr wrote: We are fortunate in having a member who keeps a program "in the can" and can deliver it at a moment's notice. He has perfect attendance. Startling variety of topics. Vagabond Years of Paul Harris, his experiences as a teen age ambulance driver, Civil War, railroads, local history and many more.

At 5:04PM on 15 July 2008, Gary Duggan wrote: On several occasions when a speaker cancelled on short notice, our club breaks into their respective committees and have impromptu meetings to discuss plans, ideas, upcoming projects, etc. It is a productive unscheduled event that gets us all together when many times we cannot schedule a committee meeting with all attending.

At 8:40AM on 18 July 2008, Elizabeth Rhoads wrote: We used the time for a club assembly to update the club about what the Board has been doing and to discuss issues regarding strategic planning for our club. Another time, we took the opportunity to get updates from members who were active in District-level activities.

At 11:45AM on 15 July 2008, Chuck DeMund wrote: A "Who Am I" presentation or two can fill the missing speaker's time and allow members to know one another better. I simply asked a couple members to tell their life stories. I had to resort to this and it worked very well.

At 10:41AM on 14 July 2008, Grace Vinarao RC Eastwood, District 3780 Philippines wrote: Insert a latest Rotary Information conducted by an old member or by the club trainer... and to make it more livelier and members to remember :it may be in a form of a Question and answer game - Like TRIVIA or ACT IT OUT/CHARADE GAME, with this activity, members will gain more knowledge at the same time ENJOY which promotes camaraderie/ fellowship among club members!

At 10:41AM on 14 July 2008, Richard odibo wrote: I agree with those that see it as an opportunity.A good number of new rotarians cant sing our rotary songs.A very good time to call on them to try out some of the songs.You cant regret the experience .

At 10:43AM on 14 July 2008, Rajkumar Richard wrote: The motivation towards youngsters with the help of PP and guidance of elders will be more helpful and effective.

At 10:43AM on 14 July 2008, Rtn N.N.K. Menon, President, RC Kunnamkulam wrote: In my Club we are lucky to avoid such a situation. There are more than 15-20 Doctors who are very well versed with public speaking without any preparation. At times I insist the new members to give a classification talk on any subject of their choice.

At 10:51AM on 14 July 2008, Rtn. Shrinivas Malu, R.C.Shiroli MIDC, Kolhapur, R.I.Dist. 3170 wrote: Under such circumstances , to make meetings more interesting and enjoyable you may think of having brainstorming sessions to discuss any subject of members & clubs interest and benefit. Members can have funny jokes to tell or quiz to solve and keep all of them involved if there is no show

At 10:59AM on 14 July 2008, Ken Scheffel wrote: Have a senior member give a "reclassification" talk. New members never get to hear from older membnrs and their careers.

At 11:02AM on 14 July 2008, Rtn. Gaurish Padukone, RC Bhatkal wrote: We are all talented individuals in Rotary. Make the best use of the absence of a scheduled speaker into a ' Know this Rotarian's hobby ' program in which a Rotarian is invited to speak about his hobby and related activities but not his/her profession which almost everyone in the club might know.

At 11:02AM on 14 July 2008, Marge Lamberte wrote: District Officers in the club - past and present- can stand in anytime as speakers. The absence of a speaker is a great opportunity to get to know the members better. If it was the literacy month for instance, ask members to talk about their favorite teacher. If it was membership month, we can ask all members to recall their induction day. The spontaneity adds vitality to the club.

At 11:02AM on 14 July 2008, UMAPRASAD DATTA wrote: Keep stock of DVD / power point presentations available at RI website and use most appropriate one.

At 11:04AM on 14 July 2008, Pradeep K.Shrestha wrote: A meeting after a week you always have many good and bad news to share with friends . the experiences and the lessions learned thereoff in relation to four way test, of course the positive analysis.

At 4:59PM on 10 July 2008, Barbara Struthers wrote: New members know they'll be asked to give a classification talk early on. A couple of short impromptu classification talks are a good way to replace a missing program. Old members whose classification talks were given long ago could be asked as well. These have to be done by members who are comfortable speaking extemporaneously.

At 9:26AM on 10 July 2008, MKO Balogun wrote: I will make the topic an open topic for members to discuss after i have open the floor with my comments that will encourage members to contribute

At 9:30AM on 10 July 2008, Rtn Paul Agbroko D9140 Nigeria wrote: For any plan to be meaningful, there has to e a fallback option and club presidents can not afford to miss this. Even so, there is no dearth of topics in Rotary to arrange on an impromptu basis. How about get a member to to review the CLP or for that matter, the district leadership stucture or tips on how to make weekly fellowships more exciting, or sensitise members to their resposibility to the Annual Programs Fund of TRF etc. Like I said, the list can be endless.

At 9:42AM on 9 July 2008, Bob Higgins wrote: The room is full of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things inside and outside of their Rotary lives .Is this scenario ever really a problem, or simply an opportunity?

At 9:43AM on 9 July 2008, Wanda Latif wrote: It is a good opportunity to all the members to share the ideas, or just talk about any issues around us. Our new Club President of RC Bali Nusa Dua, Michael is a very open minded guy, and I am pleased to be in the Club. No idea is silly and he and all the rest of the Club Members always encourage the members to give any idea of what we should do or how we could help others. Being at the lunch meeting is always great things because in one hour, we will just talk about how to help others, and how to help others !!

At 9:43AM on 9 July 2008, SN Agrawal wrote: There is always enough talent in the club to tide over the situation. One of the members can speak about his profession/ incident in Rotary/ feeling about Rotary & so on. And there is always Rotary Quiz - is nothing else works!

At 9:44AM on 9 July 2008, Nandini Sengupta wrote: All the ideas are more or less covered, so one more could be wherein experienced Rotarians could relate interesting anecdotes or experiences related to their years in Rotary and new Rotarians would have something to learn from this.

At 1:54PM on 8 July 2008, Larry Emrich wrote: It is a good opportunity for the Service Chairs to give an update on the projects of the club.

At 12:19PM on 8 July 2008, sukhminder singh (Bardhaman Heritage) wrote: I will start a fun program or a rotary quiz to overcome the situation.

At 10:25AM on 8 July 2008, shobhamanmoahn wrote: I would use this forum to discuss the recent happenings in international Rotary scenario fall into a Group discussion if we could do similar projects and etc...

At 8:53AM on 8 July 2008, RTN. SYED AZMATULLAH RC:CHENNAI PHOENIX RD: 3230 wrote: I will ask any member who can deliver speech on useful topic of his choice or open discussions on basics/programs of RI / image of RI among the public or collect opinions of the members for improving the Club activities.

At 8:56AM on 8 July 2008, b.mohan wrote: Such occasions give an opportunity to the club presidents to improvise and conduct the meetings according to the profile of the people present. Generally, speakers meet attract other club Rotarians, Rotaractors and even outsider friends. So it would be better if president call up one among the audience to initiate a discussion on the relevant topic, he acting as moderator.

At 8:58AM on 8 July 2008, Ray Sanford wrote: I always kept a couple of Rotary DVDs in my bag "just in case." One was the Foundation and the other was about Rotary projects. Now the RVM makes it easy and informative.

At 8:56AM on 8 July 2008, Ken Masson wrote: Although a good speaker program is healthy, there is nothing wrong with a day dedicated to fellowship. Sometimes when there is no speaker, I just let the members socialize with each other. A day without speakers is also part of our regularly scheduled meetings, and it serves as a bonding experience. No speaker is not a crisis but rather an opportunity.

At 4:12PM on 7 July 2008, Bill Matthews wrote: Several options 1. Standby video from RI 2. Have a member give an unprepared vocation talk. Especially a newer member. 3. Open discussion on "What the 4 way test means to you." Could also break down into smaller groups to discuss each of the points and then have each group summarize their discussion. 4. Have a number of ethical situation topics and have the club or groups discuss how they would handle in light of the 4 way test. These would be prepared in advance to be used in this situation.

At 3:32PM on 7 July 2008, Hyla Lipson wrote: As program chair in the past, I always had "pocket programs" that could be presented at a moment's notice. Perhaps it's a club member who would be willing to share images of a fabulous trip or a member with an unusual occupation. Other really good resources are the presentations available for downloading on the Rotary website about Rotary's many programs. Or how about showing some of the speeches from the RI Convention. The following actually happed to our club this last year -- and our President, who is a newscaster, did an impromptu program about the changes in radio from the "olden days" to now. Everything in the past was live and D.J.'s actually had to carefully plan their necessary breaks. Today so much is "fed" digitally -- it's a different world altogether. It turned out to be one of the best programs of the year.