Lars: Rotary Basics
As a long standing member of RTE, Lars is well known to RTE and hardly needs any introduction. Those who know Lars also know the incredible contributions he has made to not only our club, but the district and Rotary International.
Prior to the meeting, Lars distributed a booklet called Rotary Basics. This information was designed to assist new members with a better understanding of Rotary, but even older members can benefit from reading it.
Lars asked the audience if there was anything in the booklet that stood out for them. There were several comments. George was surprised that there was no mention of make-up meetings. Laura thought it was interesting that there were differences between the UK and Irish clubs. John M suggested RTE order a supply to handout to members.
Gunizi spoke about the similarities between Rotary in Turkey and RTE. Meetings are conducted in a similar fashion. and we share some of the same problems with attracting members. In Turkey, Rotary is not well known.
Shirley also spoke about her experiences with Rotary. While Rotary is well known in Hong Kong, it has not done well penetrating mainland China.
Ron D spoke about the benefits of visiting other clubs. Much can be learned from others and he is aware of one club that has a mandatory requirement that its members visit a different club at least once a month.
Lars spoke about how Rotary is becoming more flexible about what constitutes as a meeting. In some cases, one meeting a month is permitted and the hope is that this increased flexibility will help Rotary retain more members. For several years, membership has remained relatively unchanged at around 1.2 million and growth is needed.
Lars concluded with some lesser known Rotary facts:
- The Four Way Test was created by Herbert Taylor as a way to help a company avoid bankruptcy
- The Rotary Foundation was started in 1917 by RI President Arthur Klump
- Rotary international projects are designed to be self-sustaining after the funding ends
- Rotary has contributed $1.6 billion and countless volunteer hours in the battle to defeat polio