Information Newsletter of Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, 7020 NOVEMBER, 2013
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLE Welcome Happy Hour Hangouts Best Practices Responsibilities of Members Announcements Happy Hour Hangouts Charter Gala Board Meetings Monthly Teams Club Information Butterfly Storybook Project Still to Do Award Criteria Club-of-the-Month Quorum Updating our Bylaws Annual General Meeting review New Board (2014-15) ClubRunner information New Members Packages Responsibilities of Members Other Announcements and Reminders Learning About Rotary Our members Our committees District Survey
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Newsletter of Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, 7020 November 10, 2013 Greetings to all our Rotary E-Club members! Welcome to November – Rotary’s Foundation Month!!
HAPPY HOUR HANGOUT - PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND! The links for these meetings will be sent out just prior to the dates. They will also be posted at the end of the weekly meeting.
This monthly newsletter will serve to update our club members on the happenings at Rotary EClub of the Caribbean, 7020. It will help to keep everyone informed and in the loop. Discussions about the various topics mentioned here are ongoing. Committees can provide our President with updates about their work – and those updates will be posted here. This can be an excellent tool for bringing the club together and keeping us all up to date. Also, members can share ideas, and through the newsletter everyone will have the opportunity to share their thoughts. BEST PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVE CLUBS These Best Practices include:
Developing long-range goals that address the elements of an effective club Setting annual goals that support the long-range goals Keeping all members active, involved, and informed Communicating effectively with club members and district leaders Ensuring continuity in leadership from year to year Customizing the bylaws to reflect club operations
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Providing regular fellowship opportunities Actively involving all club members Offering regular, consistent training Assigning committees that support the club’s operational needs, including o Club Administration o Membership o Public Relations o Service Projects o The Rotary Foundation
REMINDER - RESPONSIBILITIES OF ROTARY MEMBERS The major responsibilities of a Rotarian are (a) Regular Attendance (b) Prompt Payment of Club Dues and (c) Active Participation on a Service Committee. Our goal is to become a Most Effective Rotary Club. An Effective Rotary Club
Sustains and increases its membership Implements successful service projects in their local community and in other countries Supports the Rotary Foundation both financially and through program participation Develops leaders capable of serving in Rotary beyond the club level
ANNOUNCEMENTS Happy Hour Hangouts Happy Hour Hangouts are scheduled for Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Atlantic Time (GMT-4) That translates to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (Miami) (GMT-5) You can find the link for the HHH at the end of the weekly meeting Club Charter Gala
The weekly meeting posted on Friday, November 29 will be the Club Charter Gala. It will run for a week, as other meetings Saturday, November 30 will be a special HHH. We have invited some district leaders attend – the AG, the DG, and others. Saturday, December 7 will be a special HHOH (Happy Hour Open House). It will run for 2 hours as an Open House. The entire district will be invited to “drop in” for a few minutes.
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This event should be an enjoyable time, and we hope for as complete attendance as possible.
Board Meetings. Board meetings will be scheduled for the second Saturday of each month. Monthly Teams. These teams are progressing well, providing excellent speakers for the Saturday morning Happy Hour Hangouts. These speaker-sessions are being recorded and placed into the weekly meeting. We hope you can plan to attend. However, if you cannot, then you won’t miss anything. You can view it in your visit to our Weekly Meeting at www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com. TEAMS RESPONSIBLE FOR MONTHLY PROGRAMMING Team1 – September Camille Lou Anita Devorath
Team2 – October Kitty Wein Keturah Denise West
Team3 – November Amarylis Christy Henriette Denise Hibbert
Team4 – December Paul Mioche Nadine Diana Vincent
Team1 – January Camille Lou Anita Devorath
Team2 – February Kitty Wein Keturah Denise West
Team3 – March Amarylis Christy Henriette Denise Hibbert
Team4 – April Paul Mioche Nadine Diana Vincent
Where to find information on our Club The club has several websites. Please become familiar with all of them. These links can be found posted on the Weekly Meeting – along the right side. You can refer to these links so that you won’t ever be without them. The weekly meeting website is: www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com
November E-Club Newsletter Page 6 of 21 Butterfly Storybook. Butterfly Storybook Project has been prepared and information/criteria has been distributed to the district already. Reminder notices will continue in each issue of the District newsletter. We expect entries to be submitted to the various Rotary Clubs by December 10 and then the top three from each club to be sent to our club by December 20. At that time, we request the assistance of all members to review the entries and choose the Top Ten for publication. NOTE: The Butterfly Storybook is our signature project. It covers several areas: Youth, Literacy, International, and Fund-raising. STILL TO DO Decision - We need to produce a definition of “community” for our E-Club. A Passport for New Members. Training of our members is something we need to include in our program. Rotary International asks us to ensure that we have a training program in place. What does a Rotary Club member need to know?
About Rotary International About the Rotary Club About Rotary Manual of Procedure About the District, the Zone About The Rotary Foundation About Grants About Service Projects About Opportunities to Service About Opportunities for Fellowship
We need input from our members to create a “training program” for new members – in fact for ALL our members. Some clubs have a Red Badge program – but we don’t have badges (yet). We can, instead, call our Rotary New Member Training Program a Passport. What is a Passport?
It is a checklist of things that every Rotary member should be doing – preferably in the first six months of joining the club. Following the list – and completing each task – will help to educate you about Rotary. The more you learn, the more you will understand and enjoy Rotary.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 7 of 21 Information is available online at rotary.org – and in the many manuals available for download from the rotary.org website. We need a committee to take on this responsibility to prepare a list of tasks for inclusion in the Passport that each member must accomplish. And what will be the reward once these tasks are completed? If you are interested in taking on this responsibility, please contact us. We need your input and we need your help to get involved and to make our club the best it can be. This is one way in which you can get involved, learn more about Rotary, and become the best Rotarian you can be! Award Criteria Monitors There are several awards we can try to achieve.
The District Governor’s Award http://www.flipsnack.com/my-flipping-books/details?flip=ftk54kph
The Presidential Citation http://www.flipsnack.com/my-flipping-books/details?flip=ftm0bi59
The Zone Public Image Award http://www.flipsnack.com/rotaryeclubofthecaribbean7020/fdx94kkh
The Best Youth-at-Risk program in the district Awards for Best Facebook Page and Best Website
The awards above are awards for our achievement through the year – July through March. Area
Club Award Monitor
Overall Chair – Award Criteria Monitors
Paul
Community Service Awards Criteria Family of Rotary Awards Criteria Humanitarian Service through TRF Awards Criteria Membership Awards criteria Planning-Training-Technology Awards Criteria Public Image Awards Criteria Youth Service Awards Criteria Best Youth-at-risk program in the district
Wein Lou and Vincent Amarylis Camille Diana Denise West & Keturah Paul and Mioche
November E-Club Newsletter Page 8 of 21 Club-of-the-month program – This program is part of the DG’s Award, and each month has a specific focus. Monthly teams will focus on the monthly teams for the Rotary Calendar and Club-ofthe-Month. http://issuu.com/rotary7020/docs/club_of_the_month_documents_for_201
QUORUM For those with a short memory –
One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum at the annual and regular meetings of this club. A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum of the board.
Updating our Club Bylaws We will schedule a meeting in the spring to update our club bylaws. This will be an annual event. You can find the bylaws posted at the link below: http://issuu.com/rotary7020/docs/bylaws_draft_2013_at_july_30
November E-Club Newsletter Page 9 of 21 DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ANNUAL MEETING November 9, 2013 A summary of our Annual Meeting We are in good shape with roughly $1700 in the bank for charitable projects. We also have paid our dues for the year – and we are a very successful club at this point. Our projects are Butterfly Storybook – which not only promises to be an excellent International Literacy Project for Youth, but it is also promising to become a HUGE fundraiser for us – allowing us to do some very very good works! We are discussing a pen-pal pilot project (with a first-of-December start date) which can include D7020 children in Haiti and Jamaica, paired with children in India and Mauritius. More to come on this, but it’s in the works. We are discussing the possibility of having mobile libraries in those communities, depending on the input and information we receive from the pen-pal project – and, in that way, doing a community assessment to discover what we can do. We are talking about how we can access grants for our projects – whether for printing and distributing the Butterfly Storybook or helping other children access the internet or access a mobile library. We are monitoring specifically the Awards Criteria for the DG’s award, the Presidential Citation, the Zone PI award, and the Youth-at-Risk program award. We are talking of a district-wide RELAY FOR CHANGE which would see the E-Club coordinate and facilitate a District-wide participation in a fund-raiser for some worthwhile activity, where we can have some “torch” start at one part of District 7020 and be carried from island to island (with a GPS tracker so that we can follow the progress online) with publicity and fundraising along the way. We are taking advantage of the unique situation we are in - as an E-Club! As president, I am feeling so very positive after this meeting. This meeting – as all our meetings – has been recorded and will be posted on our ClubRunner website so that all members can view these meetings at any time.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 10 of 21 THE NEWLY ELECTED E-CLUB BOARD FOR 2014-15 CONGRATULATIONS! Position President Vice-President IPP President-elect (for 2015-16) President-nominee (for 2016-17) Secretary Treasurer Directors to be announced Membership Club Administration Wellness Chair Service Projects Youth Public Image The Rotary Foundation Fund-raising Training
Rotarian Amarylis Paul Kitty Paul To be elected Devorath Diana
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH OUR CLUBRUNNER WEBPAGE Our ClubRunner website – www.clubrunner.ca/eclubofthecaribbean You will have to log in as follows:
If you do not know your login name and password, please contact me at ladykitt@gmail.com.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 11 of 21 The public will not see the Members-only information. Down the right side, they will see only the following Site Pages.
The information available to the public is basic information.
However, when you log in to the site, using your ID and password, you can see – and access – the information for members only. See next page:
Click the link above to Members-only meetings & videos to see the recorded meetings. You can see archived newsletters, our Bylaws, Happy Hour Hangouts, Committee and Board meetings.
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Visioning. You will receive shortly a “Visioning Questionnaire” which will ask questions about where you see our club in a few years’ time. What will we have accomplished? What programs will be in place? What will we be known for in the District? What will be our grandest success? Your help with this process will be an important factor in determining what success we can have as a Rotary Club and, more importantly, as an effective E-Club. So, please let us hear from you. Watch for the Visioning Questionnaire.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 13 of 21 LIST OF OUR COMMITTEES Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, 7020 at November, 2013 • Membership – Camille Seaton This committee should develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the recruitment and retention of members. Duties will be listed in a Club Administration manual. • Public Image – Denise West and Keturah deWeever This committee should develop and implement plans to provide the public with information about Rotary and to promote the club’s service projects and activities. Duties will be listed in a Club Administration manual. • Administration – Wein Dimetros This committee should conduct activities associated with the effective operation of the club. Duties will be listed in a Club Administration manual. • Service Projects – Devorath Elcock This committee should develop and implement educational, humanitarian, and vocational projects that address the needs of its community and communities in other countries. • Club Wellness – Lou deLagran This committee should develop and implement ways to help keep our members happy and contributing to the success of our E-Club. • Youth Service – Mioche Rock This committee should encourage the involvement in youth programs of RI (Rotaract, Interact, RYLA and Youth Exchange); support the personal and professional success if young people while recognizing the diversity of their needs; work with other club directors to involve young people in the activities of the club. Members include Paul. • The Rotary Foundation – Amarylis Davila This committee should develop and implement plans to support The Rotary Foundation through both financial contributions and program participation. • Fundraising – Devorath Elcock and others This committee will investigate how to raise money for our administrative needs and for other projects. Members include Amarylis, Henriette and Lou. • Sergeant-at-Arms – Anita Jourden (an ongoing controversy of what this committee will do)
November E-Club Newsletter Page 14 of 21 NEW MEMBERS’ PACKAGES – DIGITAL DOCUMENTS Our E-Club will be compiling a “package” of Rotary materials and information to distribute to all members and new members. Each member should arrange to print the documents and post them where you can see and refer to them easily and conveniently. A partial list of the document to be included in our package is shown below. Each member will be asked to print the documents for your own use.
Four-Way Test – Brochure – Object of Rotary – New Member Proposal Form – Rotary Code of Conduct –
More information will be forthcoming on this topic.
RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE CLUB As a review, the members of the Board and responsibilities are listed below: BOARD OF DIRECTORS Based on the recommended Rotary Club Bylaws, the club’s Board of Directors should have the following responsibilities:
Overseeing all club officers and committee members Electing a member of the club to act as Sergeant-at-Arms Overseeing the club’s budget o Ensuring the budget includes realistic amounts for club operations and service projects o Approving all expenditures not accounted for in the club budget Informing those who propose members of the board’s decision, through the club secretary, within 30 days Reviewing the policies of the club to ensure they’re being implemented as intended Considering new and creative ways to fulfill the Object of Rotary Examining the needs of the community and the world and establishing club goals to address them
November E-Club Newsletter Page 15 of 21 CLUB SECRETARY The club secretary has much of the administrative responsibility for the day-to-day club operations. Based on the recommended Rotary Club Bylaws, the club’s secretary should have the following responsibilities:
Maintaining membership records Recording attendance at meetings, and reporting monthly attendance figures to the district governor within 15 days of the last meeting of each month Sending out notices of meetings of the club, board, and committees Recording and maintaining minutes of club, board, and committee meetings Making required reports to RI and your district, including the semi-annual report (SAR) of membership, and paying dues to Rotary International on 1 July and 1 January Working with the club officers Performing any other duties that usually pertain to the office of secretary
CLUB TREASURER The President should be aware of the financial condition of the club at all times by meeting regularly with the club’s treasurer. The club treasurer should manage the club’s financial transactions, maintain club financial records, and help plan the club’ budget. The recommended rotary Club Bylaws lists the following responsibilities for the treasurer:
Maintaining custody of all club funds Accounting for all club funds, books of accounts, or any other club property to the Board of Directors, incoming Treasurer, or the president at the end of the year Working with the successor to ensure a smooth transition between Rotary years Performing other responsibilities related to the office
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS The Sergeant-at-Arms must keep the meeting running smoothly, with few interruptions. The Sergeant-at-Arms has the following responsibilities:
Helping to maintain orderly and effective Rotary club meetings Working to prevent any occurrence that might detract from the dignity or prestige of the club
November E-Club Newsletter Page 16 of 21 CLUB TRAINER The club trainer should work with the club’s board and committees, your assistant governor, the district training committee, and the district governor for support and ideas. The training plan for the club should ensure that
Club leaders attend district training meetings Orientation is consistent and regularly provided to new members Ongoing educational opportunities are available for current members A leadership skills development program is available for all members
ANNOUNCEMENTS OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS Weekly meeting. Note that our main meeting is – the blog website at www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com. Please attend the weekly meeting at the blog website every week and register your attendance. We are evolving. Because we are so new, we are flexible so that we can produce the best program for everyone. If you have suggestions, please do let us know! Happy Hour Hangout. Attending the HHH is an excellent way to meet others from the club and enjoy fellowship. It is also a very good opportunity to meet a “live” guest speaker when one is scheduled by the monthly team.
ATTENDANCE IS IMPORTANT KNOW YOUR MEETING WEBSITE www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com As a member of the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, 7020, be familiar with your meeting website.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 17 of 21 ATTENDANCE - You MUST attend the weekly meeting at www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com.
It requires a minimum of 30 minutes each week. That is a very small commitment to Rotary on a weekly basis. Every single member must meet that commitment for our successful club – and to meet Rotary International requirements.
LEARNING ABOUT ROTARY The meeting website – and other of our websites – contain much Rotary information. At left – This is the links of Pages and Links available along the right side of www.rotaryeclub7020.blogspot.com. Click the links to view all the important information provided for you. BE FAMILIAR WITH YOUR WEBSITE RESOURCES!!
At right - A little further down the page, you can find the links (Relevant Links) to other resources as shown here. These links provide much information that can help us to become a better club. Click the links to view the information provided at each point.
Investigate the links at your convenience, but learn what is there and you can become a better Rotarian. The more informed you are, the better you can become.
November E-Club Newsletter Page 18 of 21 Our ClubRunner website - www.clubrunner.ca/eclubofthecaribbean Each member should log in and complete your profile. DG’s AWARD FOCUS - The three main focus areas of the DG’s award are
Strengthen your clubs – through membership growth and engagement, and through planning, training, and technology – and that latter its well into our E-Club. We can become very innovative and creative!
Foster and Increase Humanitarian Service – by engaging the club in greater-impact community service, supporting and benefiting from TRF, and through Youth Service
Enhanced Public Image and Awareness – through enhanced PI and improved awareness
OUR MEMBERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Wein Dimetros Diana White Paul Amoury Kitty Bucsko Christy Almeida Genevieve Whittaker Eustella Fontaine Vincent Wheatley Camille Seaton Lou deLagran Amarylis Davila Keturah deWeever Nadine Alexander Devorath Elcock Mioche Rock Henriette Raccah Denise Hibbert Anita Jourden Denise West
weind3@gmail.com dianawhite.7020@gmail.com pabs@smbcinc.com ladykitt@gmail.com casgirl3@mac.com wcgconsulting@gmail.com eustella@hotmail.com vwheatley@hotmail.com ceseaton@yahoo.com jdelagran@sympatico.ca winewriter@gmail.com kdeweever@gmail.com nalexander239@comcast.net devorath@gmail.com Mrock3@juno.com hraccah@gmail.com denisehibbert@yahoo.co.uk ajourden@yahoo.com chaidew@hotmail.com
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CLUB COMMITTEES COMMITTEES – RESPONSIBILITIES & EXPECTATIONS …from Rotary International Service Projects/Committees. A review of what each area of service can achieve within our EClub was printed in the September issue of the newsletter. Please review it for more information. CLUB ADMINISTRATION The Club Administration Committee has the following responsibilities:
Helping the club secretary track club attendance Maintaining club membership lists and reporting to Rotary International Helping the club treasurer collect dues Organizing weekly and special programs Promoting fellowship among club members Producing the club bulletin and website
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE The Club Membership Committee has the following responsibilities:
Achieving the club membership goals for the coming year Educating and training club members about the importance of recruitment and retention of qualified, diverse members Conducting classification surveys to ensure the club’s classifications are relevant to current business trends Conducting club assessments to ensure membership development efforts are effective
SERVICE PROJECTS COMMITTEE The President-elect should work with the Service Projects Committee to determine whether current club projects will continue into the coming year. The Service Projects Committee has the following responsibilities:
Achieving club service project goals for the coming year Conducting a needs assessment of the community and the club Planning service projects, both local and international, using club district, and RI resources, and ensuring that promotion is planned
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Implementing service projects and involving all members Evaluating all service projects and using the findings to strengthen future service projects
THE ROTARY FOUNDATION COMMITTEE The Rotary Foundation Committee has the following responsibilities:
Achieving club foundation goals for the coming year Educating club members about the foundation Encouraging club members to participate in Foundation programs and support the foundation financially Communicating the foundation goals of the district and the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation to club members Ensuring proper stewardship of Foundation grant funds
CLUB PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE The Club Public Image Committee should develop and executive a plan to inform the public about Rotary and promote our club’s service projects and activities. The club Board needs to implement and continuously evaluate the club’s PI plan. The club’s PI committee has the following responsibilities:
Achieving club public relations goals for the coming year Familiarizing ourselves with RI resources Creating awareness of club activities among club members, media, and the general public Enhancing projects and activities to make them more appealing to the media Helping to create a public image conducive to membership development
November E-Club Newsletter Page 21 of 21 PLEASE COMPLETE THE DISTRICT SURVEY It will take only a few minutes of your time.
http://www.websurveymaster.com/s/TELLUS7020