Improving efficiency, attracting new members, cutting costs – those are just some of the challenges Rotary clubs face every day. Increasingly, Rotarians are exploring new technologies as part of their success strategies for handling those issues. Whether it’s with blogging, videoconferencing, or RSS feeds, clubs around the world are using innovative approaches to strengthen the Rotary global community. Learn about techniques that have worked for them – and the struggles they overcame along the way.

Finland videoconferencing

When it comes to meeting other Rotarians around the world, the annual conference provides an ideal opportunity. But what if you had the chance to connect with Rotarians in distant countries – to see, hear, and share with them – several times a year?

By using videoconferencing technology, Finland’s Rotary E-Club of Verkkorotary.fi is doing just that. It’s one of 14 chartered groups that are part of Rotary International’s e-club pilot project. And it may be one of the only clubs where participants can interact with each other simultaneously via video, audio, and online chat.

“The club tested different methods of online meetings, but we soon learned that video conference is the most interactive way of communication,” says Harri Hautala, the Finnish e-club’s president.

Founded in 2004, the club was designed to appeal to people who have major logistical difficulties participating in traditional Rotary meetings. “So far, this has proven to be a good strategy,” says Hautala.

There are usually more than a dozen participants in the videoconference meetings, but Hautala says that currently there are no technical limitations for the number of people who could attend. The meetings cut a wide geographic swath; in December, participants were based in seven countries, including Canada, France, Australia, and Japan.

The club uses the Centra videoconferencing system made by Saba. Participants who attach a small webcam to their computers can be seen by other group members. In addition to audio communication, the system has a text-chat screen, so members can comment on the discussion without disturbing the presenter. If participants have questions, they can click an icon that lets them “virtually” raise their hands; a quick-polling feature lets participants answer yes or no to any questions posed by the presenter.

The light-weight application runs on most typical operating systems, says Hautala. “It doesn’t require much from the computer or the Internet connection, just a normal PC or laptop with a sound card, Web camera, headset with microphone,” he says. “Basically, any Internet connection faster than 512 kbps will do.”

That means Rotarians can attend meetings from their homes, Internet cafes – the sky’s the limit, literally. “We even had one member participating in the meeting from an airplane,” says Hautala. “He was on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Iran, and he was able connect with the in-flight Internet connection provided by the airline company.”

When members aren’t tethered to specific geographic locations, clubs can reap substantial benefits.

“Participating in the meeting from home allows you the opportunity to share Rotary easier with your family and friends,” says Hautala. It’s also allowed the club to invite speakers from many countries. “Online meetings give us the opportunity to build true friendship and bring Rotarians throughout the world closer to each other. Without the videoconference, most of these people would not be able to participate in Rotary,” he says. Plus, it’s a greener approach, since members don’t have to drive their cars to meetings.

Online meetings like the Finnish e-club’s can significantly improve Rotary’s efficiency, says Hautala. “Our district representatives and governors have realized that they may meet more frequently.” It’s easier to organize meetings when no one spends time traveling. “All the money saved from traveling expenses can be used for charity,” says Hautala.

The club does have traditional “terra” meetings once a month too. Often, the videoconferencing system is set up at those meetings, allowing out-of-town members to attend.

Global meetings, in English, are held on the second Tuesday of the month (on even months) at 20:00 GMT; other meetings are in Finnish. Hautala invites interested Rotarians to join the meeting.

Paperless bulletins

By going digital, clubs can also cut costs. Some have started publishing their bulletins online only, generally much less expensive than printed versions. The Rotary Club of Calcutta Uptown, India, made that switch in September.

Now, the annual expense for the online bulletin is 3,000 rupees. Previously, when the club printed 100 bulletins each week, the cost was 19,200 rupees a year.

In addition to that significant savings, there are other benefits, says club member Madhumita Bishnu. “Members know that since we meet on Wednesday evening, the bulletin is ready by Wednesday morning and members can check [it] out at their own suitable time,” he says. “We also tell other clubs to visit our Web site and get the updates and details on projects and events.” The digital format creates less waste, too.

“Earlier, I had seen paper bulletins being used as scrap papers, thrown to the trash bin, etc.,” he says. “Now all those things have stopped.”

Not everyone eagerly embraced the new approach to bulletins, Bishnu says. “The first challenge I faced was giving training on Internet usage to senior members.” That meant Bishnu, 39, was coaching members ranging in age from 60 to 76. “Members resisted but later agreed, after much persuasion,” he says. “There are still two or three members who want paper bulletins, but since I have the president’s support, I am not deviating from online bulletins.”

Blogging

Technology can also provide a personal touch. With blogging, members have the chance to convey individual perspectives on Rotary.

That’s the case with Paul Gorman. When he joined the Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo Sunrise (San Diego) in October, Gorman wasn’t planning to launch his own blog. But club member Rob Weinberg, whom Gorman describes as “an exceptionally good marketer,” approached him with an idea for a subtle marketing tool: Have a new member create a blog that details the experience of joining Rotary.

Gorman soon brought that idea to life and began documenting his new-member adventures. “Everyone’s experience in Rotary is different,” he says. “This is just one snapshot of one person at one time, one place.”

Since he nudged Gorman into the blogosphere, Weinberg decided it was only fair to join him. In November, he launched the Adventures of Rob the Rotarian (http://rbsunrise.blogspot.com), in which he blogs about why he’s a Rotarian and why, after four years, he still gets up early each Tuesday to attend the club’s 7:15 a.m. meeting.

When it comes to Gorman’s new-member blog, Weinberg favors a dose of reality. By the third post, Gorman says, “I wasn’t trying to sell anything or sweeten it up. I was sharing my own reservations about ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Rob seemed to say that was exactly what he was looking for.”

With a strong background in sales, Gorman admits he’s had some reservations about this marketing approach – but he’s willing to experiment with the potential of blogs. “Who knows what brings people through the door,” he says. “This is just one way to hopefully provide a comfort level, a bit of information for someone to come into the organization.” When joining any new group, layers of uncertainty always exist, Gorman notes – and the personal observations in his blog just might help demystify Rotary for potential members.

RSS

After clubs create Web sites, they face a larger challenge: how to attract online visitors, and keep them coming back. At the Rotary Club of Jerusalem, Mark Zober helped tackle this problem by adding an RSS feed. “It entices more folks to visit the Web site,” Zober says. “If the site continues to get fresh, new information about Rotary, then there is a good reason to visit the site to stay up to date on Rotary issues.”

How does RSS accomplish that? Simply put, it’s a technology that lets sites automatically publish content that’s updated often, such as with news headlines and blog entries. Zober installed Rotary International’s RSS on his club’s site in July. As a result, that RSS feed provides the Jerusalem club’s site with a steady diet of links to Rotary-related articles, ranging from district training cycles to battling polio in Nigeria. “I added the Rotary RSS to our site immediately following the RI Convention,” says Zober. “I was given technical support from Rotary International staff to guide me in the process.”

Jerusalem is just one example of the numerous club sites that are currently using RSS to keep content fresh. For instance, the Rotary Club of Long Beach, Calif., USA, keeps its more than 300 members informed of community news by posting the RSS feed from a local newspaper on the club’s site.

Zober has noticed that other Rotarians are eager to take advantage of new technologies. As the chair of the Rotarian Editors and Publishers Fellowship, one of Zober’s primary objectives has been to assist fellow Rotary bulletin editors and webmasters with technical support, such as reviewing, selecting, and using software.

“We have some very talented and technologically skilled members of the fellowship who are interested in lending a hand in this project,” says Zober. “There are also many who are seeking help. We are in the process of setting up a system to facilitate this support.”

His belief in the need for that service was reinforced at the 2007 RI Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, when he helped conduct a workshop to launch the fellowship’s tech-support initiative. “It was a tremendous success with over 300 Rotary editors and webmasters in attendance,” he says. “This launched a lot of networking to share and support innovative ideas and useful tools.”

To help other clubs discover RSS as a useful tool, Zober posted a brief RSS tutorial on the fellowship’s blog.

Podcasting

One group that’s enlisted technology to reach both current and potential members is the Long Beach Rotary club. For the past two years, the club has used podcasting, a method of distributing digital-media files online so users can download them to MP3 players or listen using their personal computers.

The majority of audio files on the Long Beach Rotary Club Podcast are recordings of a 12-session class designed by a Long Beach member and based on the Rotary history book, A Century of Service, by David C. Forward. It features lectures given by past presidents of the Long Beach club.

The live sessions that take place in Long Beach are meant to encourage members to increase their involvement. But by recording and making them easily accessible (on iTunes and the club’s site), Long Beach is aiming for a larger goal too. “The concept of our podcast is to disseminate information of interest to Rotarians wherever they happen to be, but it’s also designed to reach out beyond that, to a younger audience and people who maybe haven’t yet joined,” says John Graham, who chairs the club’s Web committee.

The club’s podcast has reached listeners throughout the United States and beyond. China, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Sweden are some of the countries have downloaded the audio files.

Graham says that Long Beach is working on a product that will allow other Rotary clubs to create similar podcasts for their for their groups. “It’s been successful for our club, and we can provide essentially the foundation for other clubs to do the same thing,” he says.

In terms of launching a podcast, the costs are minimal. “It takes a few hundred dollars worth of equipment and software – you just need a WAV recorder and a way to turn WAV recordings into MP3s,” says Graham. “We’d be happy to help with our expertise in terms of getting other clubs started.”

He emphasizes that clubs have no control over who finds their content, however. “Putting it in iTunes doesn’t mean it’s going to be listened to at all. It just means that it’s there for those people who are looking for it.”

Graham knows all too well how the “Field of Dreams” approach–(as in, “If you build it, they will come”) can fail.

For more than a year, the club’s site has housed committee working areas for e-meetings, project tracking, online discussions, and more. The site could be a powerful tool for collaboration and efficiency, but there’s been one small problem: Members aren’t using it. But that’s going to change, says Graham. “These are relatively new tools, so my next step is to get in front of the board and make sure that committee chairs are all involved in using tools in the backend of Web site.” Graham says the club will push in that direction this year.

Long Beach will continue its podcast efforts too – while avoiding technology for technology’s sake. “There needs to be some sort of clear mission that you want to convey and an audience you want to reach,” says Graham. “If used well, a podcast is a tool of engagement and not just a technology.”

By reaching a younger demographic worldwide, he hopes his club’s podcasts will benefit Rotary as a whole. “Younger people are the ones who are using iPods and iTunes,” he says. “We’re really talking about the future of where Rotary’s going down the line here. The more young people we can get involved with Rotary in various locations, the better off Rotary is itself – and the better we can carry on the history and the mission of Rotary.”