INTEGRATING BROTHERS

ROUND TABLE ESTONIA

By Mr KAUPO KONGAS, National Editor, Round Table Estonia

IN THE BEGINNING of June 2020, the new board members of Round Table Estonia were elected at the National AGM. Full of enthusiasm and eager to kick off the beginning of a new season, with the first board meeting already held to discuss the plans for the 2021/2022 term. One of our concerns was that the new members were not very familiar with the history of our tables yet. Another concern for the board were the low membership numbers and the viability of the clubs.

TO ADDRESS the first concern, various ways to store information for future young brothers were discussed. It turned out that there’s a Tabler in one of the local clubs involved in filming. After a short discussion, a plan was put in place. We will start making a Round Table Estonia documentary, during which we will visit all the Estonian clubs and conduct interviews with both the founding brothers at the time as well as currently active ones. The purpose is to find out how the club has been developing and where it is today. So far, the movie team already visited 4 out of the 15 clubs. A visit to the birthplace of Round Table in Norwich, England, is also planned to get a chapter from the very beginning of the Round Table movement. The film crew is positively charged and we’re working towards having the film premiere at our AGM 2022.

IN ORDER TO improve the viability of the clubs, we prepared a presentation for the club presidents, which beautifully summarizes what a strong club is. To form a strong club, three conditions must be met: > What kind of men are we expecting to join the club? Young and active men > There are new brothers, now what?

Strong bond between Tablers: purpose-meaningbelonging > Achieving trust and the strong bond Getting to know each other, building trust.

Relation-ships between brothers also outside the club meetings. Brothers, not just for the duration of the meeting, but for life, 24/7!

IN ORDER TO HAVE a strong club, we also need new brothers at the table. A "New Brother Integration" program is being developed for this purpose. The goal of the program is to offer the new brother a full experience of Round Table within his first year. This includes meetings and events within Estonia, as well as Round Table travel. The purpose of the Round Table would be offering the chance to make new friends within Round Table and to have an international experience of Round Table. And of course, to show the actual size of the whole movement. The new brother will have some additional obligations to participate in this program, but if the first year has been a strong year in terms of participation and activities, it is much more likely that he will continue to be active and determined.

ON BEHALF of the entire Round Table Estonia board, we are wishing a wonderful tabling season and positive experiences for everyone!