PETS 2011

The 2011 Pacific North West PETS was held in Seattle this past weekend. The Presidents Elect from 9 districts in the Pacific North West came together to hear from Rotary greats such as Past RI Presidents Rick King and Cliff Dochterman.

 PDG and Regional Foundation Coordinator Chris and I travelled to Seattle for one day to do a session on Future Vision for the Presidents Elect in District 5040. We also took photos of all the incoming presidents in District 5040 for the annual district directory.

PETS is a motivational and exhilarating experience. It was great fun to be part of it for a few hours as our future club leaders prepare for next year.


D5040 Pres Elects, AG Chu Wu & PRIP Cliff Dochterman





Pres Elects & PRIP Rick King



Social media tips for clubs

You may find this new download from RI helpful. Is your club using FaceBook or other social media to promote your club, service project or fundraising event?

Download a PDF copy at: http://rosnf.net/wp-content/uploads/social_media_tips.pdf

1. View websites and social media as part of your public relations and marketing budget. Your online presence should not be an isolated expense or something for the "techie" person of the club to work on alone. It should have the club's support, with several Rotarians involved.

2. Go online before you start your own social media page, and see what other clubs and organizations are doing. Note what you like and what you think would work well for communicating to the community and reaching your goals.

3. Develop a communications plan. This includes identifying an intended audience (e.g., prospective Rotarians, community leaders), goals (e.g., to let the community know what your club does, to find new members), and a message (e.g., "We're a club that has a signature project," "We're a club that offers fun fellowship and service opportunities").

4. Update your page regularly (but not too often) with photos, videos, and text. Plan to update your Facebook page at least once a week, but not five times a day. If you update too much, people will become overwhelmed and tune you out. If you don't update enough, people will think your club isn't active. Ask several club members (perhaps your committee chairs) to share the responsibility of updating your page.

5. Designate moderators. Check all social media sites for spam or other inappropriate comments nearly every day. Distribute the moderation duties among several people.

6. Look professional. Social media pages are a reflection of your club. Check your spelling, and use the Rotary emblem correctly. See http://www.rotary.org/graphics

7. Be genuine, conversational, and fun. Share items that will interest your audience.

8. Reach out to other community organizations, especially potential project partners. Also connect with the news media and with local business and government leaders on Twitter and Facebook. Social media is about building relationships.

9. Promote your social media pages. Include links to them on your club's website, in e-mails, and in print publications.

10. Be safe, but don't be afraid. You won't break the Internet! But remember that social media sites are public, so don't include personal information. Also, sites can frequently change their policies, so review privacy settings regularly.

District Conference on FaceBook

Follow the District Confernce on FaceBook regular updates on speakers, program, registration deadlines, comment on agenda, video clips of speakers and much more.

This past weekend was a busy Rotary weekend.

learning to communicate & team building

On Saturday February 5th we held the District 5040 District Team Assembly for 2011-12 District Committee Chair and Assistant Governors. Organized by DG Penny and DGN Rebecca the assembly focussed on the new Rotary International logo and theme, the RI and District 5040 Strategic Plans, roles and responsibilities of members of the District team, building the team and planning as a team for the Rotary year ahead. 
 Saturday evening six members of the District leadership  team joined the Rotary Club of Ladner for a delicious 10 course dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year and the year of the rabbit. Gung Hei Fat Choi.

 Sunday we held the second of two days of training for Assistant Governors in District 5040 in 2010-11. The training focussed on the last six months of this year and what needs to be accomplished and on introducing the incoming Assistant Governors to their role and responsibilities. 

 A busy and successful Rotary weekend.

District Leadership Assembly

Cariboo North membership workshop a success

The second district membership workshop was held on Sunday, January 30 in Quesnel with representation from six Rotary clubs in the Cariboo and Prince George.

This interactive workshop was organized and led by district membership chair Linda Coyle assisted by DG Penny Offer, PDG Chris Offer and DGN Rebecca McPherson. The workshop focused on building vibrant Rotary clubs. Sessions and participants discussed what makes Rotary clubs vibrant, membership development for clubs and demographics of district 5040. The proposals for new types of membership categories, satellite clubs, corporate membership, associate membership and innovative and flexible clubs were discussed. These are pilot projects that start July 1, 2011.

Participants were asked to write down at least one thing they will do in the next month to improve membership in their club. There were also asked to report back to their clubs on the discussion and new ideas they learned at the workshop.

Thanks to everyone who attended and made the day a great success.

Quesnel Rotary Fundation Dinner

Saturday, January 29 we attended The Rotary Foundation dinner put on by the Rotary clubs of Quesnel and Quesnel Sunrise. A beautifully decorated room with red roses and hearts greeted  just under 100 Rotarians and guests.

PDG Chris offer, Rotary Regional Foundation Coordinator was the keynote speaker for the evening.

Keith Corbett was the auctioneer for the evening, auctioning homemade desserts to finish off a delicious buffet, red rose table centerpieces and many auction items. The final auction of the night, the loony auction allowed participants to purchase numerous auction items with casino chips purchased for one dollar each. With each casino chip you purchased a numbered paddle to bid on the item. Numbers were drawn for each of the loony auction items. A unique and fun way to raise funds for international service and The Rotary Foundation.

Congratulations to all the club members who organized a  very successful event. The event raised approximately $11,000 to be divided between the two clubs. A great evening in Quesnel BC celebrating The Heart of Rotary.

Membership Workshop a Success

On Saturday January 15, 2011 Rotarians from 16 clubs in Metro Vancouver attend the first of two District membership workshops under the leadership of district membership chair, Linda Coyle.

I welcomed everyone to the seminar and stressed the importance of membership retention and growth to every Rotary clubs. Many clubs in the district have had sustained growth over a number of years, unfortunately some club's membership has declined. The district has new clubs starting in Powell River and Bowen Island.

Rotary Coordinator Dean Rohrs led the group through a discussion on what makes a vibrant Rotary club. The list of ideas included fellowship, fun, service projects, spirit, and diversity of membership including classifications, gender, age and ethnicity.

PDG Del Paterson the district club extension chair discussed the current demographics of the districts membership and the challenges faced by some clubs.

Karen Harrison led a discussion on how we can retain members. Ideas included keeping members active and engaged fellowship activities, regular education, good leadership and communications.

The next membership workshop will be held in Quesnel on January 30, 2011. For more information click HERE

Why does Polio Eradication Cost so Much?

Rotarians often ask why polio eradication costs so much. This is a valid question. This short news story from Angola is a good example of where the funds go. More than 600,000 children and young adults are being vaccinated over three days. This requires a staff of 2000. The majority of the 2000 are paid health care workers. They may only earn a few dollars a day but there is significant cost. The vaccine cost is more than half a million dollars, plus transportation, coolers for the vaccine, yellow vests for the works, meals, advertising and accommodation.

Polio vaccination campaign this weekend in Cabinda

Cabinda - The third stage of vaccination against poliomyelitis is to take place on January 14-16, this year, in the northern Cabinda Province, says a source of the sector.

The official in charge of the department of public health and control of endemic illnesses, António Gomes Tati, said the campaign is intended to vaccinate 618,000 citizens, among adults and children.

About 2,000 people will participate in the door-to-door campaign, meant to reduce the propagation of the illness that affects not only children, but also adults.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, last year, were recorded 38 cases of the illness, out of them 34 adults, causing five deaths.

It has not been recorded any case of this illness in Cabinda Province, since December 2010.

See: http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/saude/2011/0/2/Polio-vaccination-campaign-this-weekend-Cabinda,80fb1b4c-c638-42b3-9535-cd370e168373.html

FIVE TIPS FOR SPEAKING IN MEETINGS

I thought this post in the blog by Rick Stevens (www.mediacoach.co.uk) was worth sharing.

"Even though you may not be delivering set-piece speeches or presentations on a regular basis, it's likely that you will be speaking in meetings more often. For some people, it can be quite daunting, especially if other attendees are more senior in the organisation. Even the "this is my name and this is what I do" introduction can make people nervous, causing them to give a poor impression right at the start. So here are a few tips to help you to be more confident in those small gatherings.

1) In small groups, being a good listener is as important as being a good speaker. Show interest in others' comments, both by your expression and body language. Never interrupt, but make notes if you wish to refer back to a point when it's your turn to speak.

2) Talk to everyone. Don't just address your comments to the meeting chair or the last person to speak. In a small group it's easy to make eye contact with everyone in turn as you make your remarks. Making everyone feel included will help to lighten the atmosphere.

3) Ask, don't tell. Encourage feedback from the rest of the group, and actively seek their participation. That's the point of a meeting, to ensure that everyone's views are heard. Otherwise, you could just send the information by email.

4) Keep your language simple, and try to avoid any business jargon (don't mention "out of the box thinking" or "rocket science"). For example, look at the editorial in any national newspaper. That always has a strong message, in simple language.

5) Be positive, and focus on things that need to be done, rather than things that went wrong. When referring to comments from others, find the positives to agree with. Summarise the points of agreement often.

Of course, there's always the other option - don't have meetings. But that's another debate."

Annual Christmas Lunch in Chinatown



Harbour Light Brass Band

On December 15^th I attended my own club's, RC of Vancouver Chinatown, annual Christmas dinner with the Salvation Army Harbour Light. We were joined by 200 Rotarians and friends of Rotary for this great event. PDG David and Lis Kerr (5040), PDG Dave and Bev Robinson (5050) and AG Rob Goodell.

DG Penny & Henry Fetigan

Sienna Fetigan made her first public appearance and lead us in singing the National Anthem. No big deal except Sienna is just 2 years and 5 months old and really enjoys singing our Anthem. We understand she started while watching this year's Olympics on TV with her father!  

DG Penny, Tung Chan, Chris Offer

 I presented PP Henry Fetigan with an eight multiple Paul Harris Pin, who continues to maintain his commitment to District 5040 Paul Harris Society. This was followed by PDG Chris presenting a Paul Harris Award from our Club to Tung Chan, who recently retired as CEO of SUCCESS. Tung, as an Honorary Captain in the Canadian Navy, appeared in his full dress uniform of a Naval Officer. Tung has been a strong supporter of Community Service and served as a member of Vancouver City Council. He retired from a career in banking before serving SUCCESS in the CEO role. He would make an excellent addition to our Club.



Music was provided by Salvation Army brass band along with the Harbour Light Joyful Noise Singers. A couple of the male singers told their experiences of how the Army and Harbour Light in particular, has saved them and changed their lives. This is always a moving time to hear of the successes experienced at SAHL, particularly at this time of the year.

At last count we heard that we raised $4,540.00 with more still coming in.

Great job by one and all with a very special "Thank You" to Linda Wong for all her hard work taking care of registrations etc.

West Van Seniors Lunch

On Saturday, December 11^th I attended the annual seniors Christmas lunch sponsored by the RC of West Vancouver Sunrise. More than 100 seniors from the community were served a full Christmas, turkey dinner. The local MP, MLAs and acting mayor joined the lunch. They thanked Rotary for all the work they do in the community locally and internationally. MP John Weston thanked the RC of West Vancouver Sunrise and all of Rotary for the work that is being done to eradicate polio. He described Rotary's work as a remarkable accomplishment.



The assembly line



Club members served lunch to the seniors.





The grade 4 class from Mulgrave School entertained the seniors with Christmas carols and then everyone joined in to sing traditional Christmas songs.

Mulgrave School

Bowen Island

I shared two days on Bowen Island on December 9th and 10^th with the members of the Provisional Rotary club of Bowen Island. Bowen has a unique history in our community. From the early days of the Union Steam Ships to today's travel on BC Ferries people have gone to Bowen for the tranquility and beauty of the island. The tranquility is preserved even with the pressures of development.
 


Penny & Prov Pres Piers Hayes

 Provisional Club President Piers Hayes and other club members took Chris and me on a tour of Rivendell Retreat Centre. Rivendell is located on 6 1/2 acres atop Cates Hill on Bowen Island. This is truly a unique place for quiet reflection.

I learned the difference between a maze and a labyrinth. Bowen has a labyrinth designed and built by a member of the Bowen Rotary club. We walked the labyrinth. The labyrinth does not have a hedge rather it has a stone path to follow in an intricate pattern. 

The centre of the Bowen Labyrinth



In the evening the 15 members of the provisional club were joined by eight members of the sponsoring club, West Vancouver Sunrise, led by President Jason Bowman and 10 local residents interested in learning more about Rotary. The club meets at 7:30 PM on Thursday at the "Snug" in Snug Cove.

I had the opportunity to explain the basic principles of Rotary to the group; Jason Bowman gave an outline of the 4-Way Test and Rotary's commitment to high ethical standards. RRFC Chris gave an overview of The Rotary Foundation.
I am looking forward to the Charter night of the new Rotary Club of Bowen Island. I know they will charter in the near future.

London-Steveston Interact Club



Ms Donovan, DG Penny,
James Westmacott



 On December 1st, I had the opportunity to attend the annual installation dinner of the Steveston-London Interact Club at the Quilchena Golf and Country in Richmond. The Interact club is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset and has over 100 members.

President James Westmacott and I, presented Interact pins and the 2010-11 Rotary theme pins to this enthusiastic group of grade 11 and 12 students. Many thanks to Ms. Donovan the teacher sponsor and to Adriana Zylmans the Rotary club representative.
The future of Rotary and the future of our community are in good hands when you meet with these wonderful young adults. Rotary is helping them to learn the importance of volunteer service and giving them the opportunity to take on leadership positions.

We have 20 Interact clubs in District 5040. This is excellent but the majority of high schools in our district do not have an Interact club. This is a great place for clubs to practice our new 5th Avenue of Service.

Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people. Made up of middle school to high school age members, Interact gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects. The word “Interact ”stands for“ international action and today nearly 200,000 young people in more than 110 countries belong to some 8,700 clubs, making Interact a truly international phenomenon.

Interact clubs organize a variety of projects and activities, depending primarily on the interests of the club members. The projects enhance leadership skills, serve the local community, and expand international understanding. An Interact club’s service projects are designed to improve the quality of life at home and abroad.

New Class of Rotary Peace Fellows selected

This year 264 applications were received by The Rotary Foundation for Rotary World Peace Fellow scholarships. The district 5040 candidate was not selected. We feel we put forward a very good candidate but the scholarship is very competitive.

Each application was read and scored by two of the Rotary Foundation committee members or advisors. The selected Class 10 fellows represent the most promising peace builders from across the globe. The average age is 32 years old with an average of 7 years of professional experience. A third of the selected Fellows are coming from work with an NGO and another 20 percent come from backgrounds in education or peace building. Class 10 Fellows are from 44 different countries. 44% of the Class 10 Peace Fellows are from low-income countries.

For applicants and clubs interested in reapplying, the 2012 Rotary Peace Center application will be available on line in mid-December 2010 on the Rotary website. 2012 Rotary Peace Fellowship applications are due 1 July 2011. I encourage every club in District 5040 to look in their community for the best possible person to put forward. District 5040 has had three successful candidates since the program started.

Just because

Polio on Ice

On Friday night I attended the Giants Hockey game in Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum. Attending a hockey game is a rarity for me. The RC of Tsawwassen partnered with the Giants to promote polio and raise some funds for polio. The club sold 400 tickets to Rotarians and friends of Rotary.

Many of the Rotarians and their families met together prior to the game for a hot dog and a drink. It was good to see so many Rotarians out with their families. There was a net for the children to practice their slap shot. 

Graham Witcher & DG Penny



The kids and a few adults took advantage of the face painting. Graham Witcher of the RC of Tsawwassen took his enthusiasm to new heights and had the Rotary logo painted on his head. I am not sure if it met Rotary’s correct use of the Rotary mark but it did meet Rotary’s sixth avenue of service, “Have Fun.”

Rotary and the polio campaign were announced several times during the game. I accepted a community award on behalf of District 5040 Rotarians from the Giants and got to meet the Giants mascot “Jack”.

Penny & Jack



Special thanks to president Rick Lewall and Leslie Abramson for all the work they did in making this happen. 



The bonus was that the Giants beat the Regina Pats 5 to 4 in over time.

Winter Wonderland

Regional Foundation Coordinator Chris Offer

Chris and I attended the press conference today at Richmond City Hall. The RC of Richmond Sunset were announcing their annual Winter Wonderland Christmas tree display at City Hall and raising funds for the $200 million polio challenge. The club sells 30 decorated Christmas trees that are displayed in the City Hall atrium. The trees sell for $1500.00 each. A variety of Christmas events are held with the background of the trees. It is a very magical display for the Christmas season.

If you are in metro Vancouver the display will open on Nov. 27 – it is well worth the time to take your family to Richmond City Hall to see the trees.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie

Chris spoke during the press conference about his personal experience with polio when his sister contracted polio at age 14. Chris was 5 years old at the time and has memories of being treated like a pariah by neighbours and recalls the quarantine notice on their front door. His sister was lucky. She was never in an iron lung.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie of Richmond thanked Rotary for what we are doing locally and internationally to eradicate polio. Mayor Brodie said, “We are so close, it’s time to put this matter to rest and finally eradicate polio from the face of the earth.”

Zone Institute London Ontario

From November 8 to 13, I was at the Zone 24-32 Institute in London, Ontario. This is a combination of a series of training seminars and a  national conference for DGNs, DGEs, DGs and PDGs.

Seminars are held to train new Governors, district Foundation chairs and for district trainers. Zone 24 includes most of Canada, parts of the northern USA, Alaska and eastern Russia. Zone 32 is the north east USA including New York, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont and Pennsylvania. This is the first time the two zones have been combined into one institute. It was a great opportunity to meet new Rotary leaders. 

DGE Hans & Carol-Ann Doge



Chris was involved in training the Governor Elects and District Foundation chairs. He was also a keynote speaker during the institute.

I had the opportunity to be on a panel on strategic planning for clubs and districts and be a discussion leader during the Rotary Leadership Forum.

We heard a very positive report on polio from PRIVP Bob Scott the chair of Rotary’s polio committee. We really are very close to total eradication. A report on the work that Rotary is doing to rebuild Haiti from Past RI Director Barry Rassin who is from the district that includes Haiti was very sobering. The devastation in Haiti cannot be exaggerated. The work that Rotarians are doing is making a difference but there is a lot more to do. Take a look at Barry’s blog: http://www.haiti-task-force.blogspot.com/.



New DGEs from Zones 24-32



RI President Ray Klinginsmith was a keynote speaker. He talked about recent changes the RI board is making in the organization of Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs). The RAGs will take on a greater role in being the resource groups for Rotary clubs in the six areas of focus of the new Rotary Foundation future vision plan.

Our own DGE Hans Doge and DGN Rebecca MacPherson participated in training seminars with their governor classes. They are well on the way to getting prepared to lead District 5040. Rotary does organize continuity and transition well. The new DGEs were presented at the Gala dinner to RI President Ray Klinginsmith.

Winnipeg Rotary Anniversary Dinner

On November 6th Chris and I had the pleasure to attend the 100th Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg and the celebration of 100 years of Rotary in Canada. We were on our way to London, Ontario for a Rotary Zone Institute; this is a sort of national conference for DGNs, DGEs, DGs and PDGs.

PRIP Wilf Wilkinson

About 285 Rotarians and friends of Rotary attended the Winnipeg Anniversary dinner. It is remarkable that a chance meeting by a business man from Winnipeg in Chicago with Paul Harris started this club in 1910. Today there are more than 700 clubs in Canada. Think of all the service projects and all the friendships that the formation of this club has been the catalyst for in over 100 years.

The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, the Honourable Philip Lee spoke at the dinner and thanked Rotary for all they do in their communities. The keynote speaker was Past RI President Wilf Wilkinson. Wilf talked about the contribution Canadian Rotarians have made to the world in the past 100 years.

A video on the history of the Winnipeg club was shown and a book on the history of the club was available.

The Rotary Club of Vancouver celebrates its 100 years in 2013. This is the first club in BC. The RC of Vancouver has formed a centennial committee and is planning for the celebration.

And the pennies keep coming

WOW! The Rotary Club of Tsawwassen in District 5040 really rose to the challenge to raise Pennies for Polio for DG Penny. The club raised piles and piles of pennies and presented them to DG Penny during her official visit October 28th. They collected pennies from club members for 3 weeks and salvaged the change from the fountain at Rotary Square. A couple of pictures from the penny collection in Rotary Square appeared in the South Delta Leader - great PR for the club and for the Polio campaign.

There is no final count at this point but they expect at least $800. Thanks to President Elect Leslie Abramson for rolling many of the pennies. Thanks to all the members of the RC of Tsawwassen for their efforts to meet the challenge and support the Polio Campaign.