There were 26 members present. The only guest was Gerry Keenan from Trees That Feed who is working on the Club’s breadfruit tree project in Haiti and is going to apply for membership in our Club. John Thomas did the “thought” of the day which was that “today is more important than yesterday or tomorrow, so make the best of it”. Rich Lalley announced that Rotary lost one of its more important member, Jack Blane, who was President of the Wheeling Rotary at least a couple of times and has played a major role in raising funds for Rotary’s polio project over the years. Rich donated $50 to the Rotary Foundation in Jack’s honor and said that the Gates Foundation will double that amount as part of their match program to the Foundation. Members can contact Rich directly with their donation or they can respond to the email they received from Kristina Laib from District 6440.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Gerry Keenan gave a short report on Rotary’s breadfruit project in Haiti. He just returned from Haiti where he is working to organize a Rotary Global Grant for our Club to participate in a project to plant several thousands of breadfruit trees in Haiti. There are several U.S. Clubs and a couple of Haiti Rotary clubs that are also participating in the project. A formal proposal will be made by the participating clubs within the next few weeks and the project should be underway in 2019. Bill Leske announced that we are still in need of auction items for both our May benefit, as well as the Little Ricky’s reception on March 8th. Heidi Sibert thanked Felicia O’Malley for sponsoring a table at the Kids Against Hunger food packing project March 17th and that she is trying to have a special table for the volunteers from our Club that day. Volunteers are needed to pack food on the three shifts of 8:30-10:30, 11:00-1:00, and 2:00-4:00. Contact Heidi or Tom Nash with the times you can serve.
HAPPY BUCKS: Tom gave in recognition of Patti chairing our meetings in his absence. Liz Taylor donated due to a cell phone malfunction! Barb Tubekis donated in recognition of all the efforts and results of the U.S.A. athletes in the Olympics, especially the women’s hockey team. Heather Higgins donated for the many young people who have been speaking up for better security in our school systems and Wes Baumann also contributed for that reason. Heidi donated because the Des Plaines River crested short of the prediction, which minimized the amount of materials she had to take out of her garage.
Dig and Grin: Bob Baker (because of his occupation) was requested to read a newspaper account of a passenger plane having to land due to malfunctioning toilets even though there were 85 plumbers on board going to a convention. Bob didn’t seem to think the story was very funny, but his under-the breath comment as he was leaving the speaker’s podium broke up the audience. Bob felt better at the end of the meeting when his ticket won the week’s $5 raffle prize. (Members should know that we now have a winner every meeting in order to increase sales of our raffle tickets.)
SPEAKER ALISON HENDERSON, FOUNDER OF MOVING IMAGE CONSULTING COMPANY: Alison explained that her consulting company advises companies on appropriate body language in the work place, as well as on the very timely subject of sexual harassment. Her company addresses subconscious behavior which contributes to a toxic environment. She said that overt sexual indecency is obvious, but it is more difficult to detect and correct perpetual, misunderstood and nonverbal behavior. Although most companies have provided some training on sexual harassment, she said that the personal training sessions are far more effective than showing employees a video tape. She said with the recent allegations and resignations of those associated with this type of activity, that she has observed a change in the workplace with men not commenting as much on non-work things such as how a woman wears her hair or clothes. Alison has published materials on “Reducing the Drama in Business Relationships” and “Listen With Your Eyes”. In deciding what is inappropriate behavior in the office, the employer has to consider the workplace culture and environment and then make sure there is harassment training that fits the workplace. The employer has to be aware of vendors or those people providing services on the premises—often times these people are not as well trained on this subject as the employer’s own employees who have received training. Employees have to be aware that they should not invade another person’s space—e.g. standing too close to a person in a conversation; stepping towards a colleague who has stepped back to protect space; or looking over another employee’s shoulders in viewing computer or other work product. Managers should stay on the same level as an employee when meeting in the manager’s office; they should not appear tense when an employee comes in the office for a meeting; they should not roll their hand over on top of their hand shake and should not shake with both hands unless they know the other person well; and men need to be careful about avoiding work contact with women simply because they are unsure what constitutes sexual harassment. Employers have to realize the importance of avoiding discrimination charges since the average complaint filed with the EEOC costs the employer $75,000 to $125,000 if a violation is found. For those with questions or comments, Alison invited them to contact her at: alison@movingimageconsulting.com