It is not often that I write the programme personally, although I do as the web administrator, but as this would normally be the Handover week, it is usual for the Club President to speak about their aspirations and hopes for the coming year.
It has been really encouraging this week to see the amount of activity on the eClub website and a number of different posts, please continue to read these and join in with the conversations. As you will realise even though busy like everyone else, myself and Janice are putting in a lot of effort into ensuring the eClub functions and gets off the ground, so for us it has been disappointing that some of our founder members have decided not to continue, we now see them as personal friends as well as Rotarians in the eClub. So what this says is that we need to make even greater effort to encourage relationship building and encouraging each other in Rotary and as Rotarians. Myself and Janice have made every effort to meet most members personally and for those we haven’t at least be in contact by social media or phone.
Shelley last week in her posts have put forward a number of different challenges, one of which is ‘we all need to think differently about eClub membership and how the eClub develops and operates.’
- So who do you know in the eClub?
- How many of the members do you know?
- Have you started to develop a relationship with them?
What ways are you using to get know members?
Apart from the website have you tried other methods e.g.
- Social Networks,
- Skype,
- Phoning,
- email,
- meeting up,
- etc (Don’t forget people joined the eClub because of their busy lives, there is not one answer to what works, it is down to what is best for individuals.)
Doing things differently and out-of-the-Box is important in our eClub. As, yes, we are a real Rotary Club with real Rotarians, but we are all busy people coping in a different world to when Rotary was founded 1907. Relationships, Club activities, smooth operations are not going to happen over night, I feel Janice puts it well when she wrote ‘let us learn from these developing days and enjoy this time’. I consider it will take at least another 12 months before we are really bedded in.
So over the next few weeks please consider again:
- How are you going to get to know the people in your Action Group?
- What tools can you use or try out to make contact?
- Remember the word CARE – Contact, Activities (which could mean chatting on facebook), Relationships, leading to Engagement.
Use your comments on this weeks programme to share your thinking, your use of what works best for you. Remember as a Rotary Club who knows one another, we will work much better as a team, because we know, understand, value and respect each other.
I look forward to getting to know you all better in the coming year and for our eClub to grow stronger as we develop through our Service above Self and yes together create good ideas.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU&w=560&h=315]
Dave, Debbie and I are planning another SGP meeting – probably w/c 16 July – this time in Swindon area – if you’d like to join us and have a preferred day please let us know. It will be one evening.
In addition I’m looking forward to meeting with Sinead to discuss setting up our own ebay account as a fundraiser, something suggested a while ago. We’ll keep you posted on where/when.
I love the ideas video. Watching it again this morning has helped me think through a challenge I have in my current contract and the same thought is very relevant to the eClub:-
Most creative and innovative ideas spend a lot of time being hunches, gut feelings that you cannot put your finger on, but they’re there evolving. The great idea comes about when more than one slow hunch collides. What is important is to provide the space where hunches can collide and for there to be activity in that space that enables those collisions.
Perhaps because I’m married to another member and so involved in development of the new site, I’ve not looked a great deal further as I’ve felt quite immersed already, although not in quite the right way. I’m very receptive to meeting other members and taking part, but I feel the distance very keenly, as for us getting to meet-ups in the south of the District, where so many members are concentrated, becomes quite an exercise in logistics. It’s harder to build relationships remotely, especially with so many other demands on everyone’s time. We’ll get there though!
Thank you for your comments Heather, I wonder is there something we could plan in Hereford? Or is there something we could do more online, which would engage you more in the activities e.g. Yzanne’s Action Group wants to organise a virtual Balloon Race to help raise funds and some other member was telling me about a virtual Mouse Race.
It would also be good if we could promote the eClub in the North of the District, do you know of anyone who might be interested in joining or ideas on how we might promote it, would A4 posters work in shops or other places?