This weekend I attended our District Rotary Conference in Wanaka. A very well run event by the Wanaka Club with very good speakers and a real fun night last night. A time for me to listen, jot down a few notes, reflect and refocus as I contribute to our club’s future. Key topics for me were:
I listened to Whitney Smith from Cure Kids, an organisation founded by Rotary, and the research projects that they are funding – Batten Disease that claims the lives of children, research into new anti-biotics to combat new ‘superbugs’, and solar powered oxygen concentrators for Fiji to enable them to make oxygen, rather than very expensive importing, used to help children recover from pneumonia. Rotary is the second largest funder of Cure Kids - after the government. Such a worthwhile organisation that we should consider supporting - as other clubs do.
The Rotary International President’s representative was Mike Webb from England. He encouraged us to consider more flexibility around membership and costs and “not to let traditions, unattractive to younger people, hold us back”. Also that membership needs to represent the diversity of our communities i.e. gender, professions, age and race – a challenge that the Visioning group is currently beginning to address. I didn’t realise how much Rotary is currently contributing to world peace. Over 900 “peace fellows” have graduated from Rotary university programs and many are being utilised in peace keeping missions around the world.
Gilbert Enoka, the All Blacks Manager, was a keynote speaker. He took us from the World Cup quarter finals loss, against the French at Millennium Stadium (Wales), to the strategy behind their rebuild back to winning form, then getting to the next level of performance where they are today and staying there - at the top of international rugby. All lessons for us.
Evan Burrell from Sydney, a social media advocate, provided valuable tips on enhancing our public image using social media - namely Facebook and our website to make us more attractive to potential members. Monica has assigned me this role for next year. This will be a challenge for a relatively social media ‘illiterate’ but a very worthwhile one that will develop new and very useful skills.
I was particularly proud to receive the trophy, on behalf of our club, for the best Rotary District 9980 Club Bulletin for 2016/17. A special recognition, for me, of Jan Chappell’s contribution. I will present Jan with the trophy to display in the Chappell residence for the next year. Very well done Jan and deserved recognition of your self-developed skills and considerable effort since the inception of Club Runner last July.
My thanks to Monica for helping me out conducting meetings over the last 3 weeks, including the Visioning Group, whilst I have had pressing work commitments and a little bit of leave – good practice for the year ahead Monica.
The Visioning Team has continued, in my absence, to progress our plan towards new membership. Thank you to Derek Bulman and Steve McLean for progressing the 10 reasons for belonging to Rotary and commencing a prospective membership list. Please complete your contribution of reducing the list of 28 reasons for joining down to 10 as soon as you can. We will provide a breakdown of our on-line surveys and the visioning workshop at our Club Assembly in June.
Regretfully the NRG group have found it necessary to go into recess for the foreseeable future. NRG have struggled to build membership and have lost core members to leaving the area, family commitments and work demands. The NRG group has raised over $60k in our community in the short time since their inception. Their remaining funds are secure within our accounts for, I hope, the day that they can re-group and start another project. A special thanks to Joan Kiernan and Ron Mackersy for picking up the Duck Race already in train. Let us all get behind this project, and keep this initiative alive, at this quieter end of our Rotary year
P.E. MONICA'S MESSAGE 
Remember to book your guests for Changeover night which is on 27th June at Wild Thyme. .JPG)
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