RI President-elect Mark D. Maloney gives his "Grow Rotary" message at PETS training March 1-3 in Denver
I flew into Denver with great expectations. As president-elect nominee for the Rotary Club of Missoula, I was about to spend three days with colleagues from Districts 5390, 5440, 5450, 5470 and 5630 representing a good number of the western U.S. states. We started our training early on Friday morning, coffee in hand and schedules ready. Members of each District met in separate rooms to kick off PETS sessions. District 5390 met in the Aspen Room of the Denver Renaissance Hotel by Marriott on Quebec Street. The reunion of familiar faces from all around Montana gave way to conversation, sharing and fellowship. District Governor-Elect Sandy Wong lead our District get-togethers, with DG Rick Moore there for presentations and awards.
Friday’s session began with a presentation on membership by Julie Aubrey, membership officer for Rotary International. Julie spoke about the urgent need for all Rotarians to “share Rotary” with others. Enhancing membership is the most important goal for all clubs this next year, she says. Julie acknowledged the aging out of some Rotary Clubs that have not kept up with needed growth.
Each time a club member moves away or dies, the club has lost another valuable member. These resignations must be replenished with new members. And with the influx of new members, we must learn how to encourage them to participate and to retain them as members. “Members are most likely to leave within the first two years,” warns Julie.
She shared a variety of membership resources available on the RI website. She said that the publication “Connect for Good” has recently been revised.
Julie also brought up the need for clubs to be more creative and flexible in their membership. If a club has a corporate membership, for example., she says it is important to include a Corporate Committee in the governance structure as a way to discuss corporate connections that may help develop partnerships for fund raising, as well as attract new corporate partnerships.
She said clubs need to create an “Attraction Plan” and a “Retention Plan” for membership. Communicate the plan to members and get member buy-in to support and work the plan, she advised.
“You need a strong Membership Chair,” she said. “Someone passionate about Rotary and membership. Membership. Membership. Membership. Think Membership.”
Julie was also assisted by Larry Dimmit, RI director, and DG Rick Moore in presenting membership awards. The Director’s Star Award is given for membership growth in the Zone and the District. Clubs must attain a gain of at least one net new member for 2017-2018. Fourteen clubs in District 5390 achieved that distinction, earning the prestigious Star Award.”Very few districts in our Zone achieve that award, so you should be very proud,” said Larry of District 5390’s achievement.
Rick praised Sandy Wong for her leadership at the district level in membership. “Upcoming DG Sandy Wong was membership chair for two years and deserves recognition,” says Rick.
District and PETS-wide training over the three-day period included a variety of interesting topics, such as harnessing social media to advantage, understanding club culture, fostering/managing change, managing community projects, dealing with controversy, inter-generational issues, giving strategies, strategic planning for clubs, and more.
A highlight of the weekend was a visit from RI President-Elect Mark D. Maloney. He gave a strong message about the need to increase Rotary membership and be creative about doing so.“Grow Rotary,” Mark said. “Grow it in places where Rotary thrives. Start a new satellite club and help it survive and thrive. There is nothing in the Rotary Constitution that says Rotary has to meet in a certain place, or meet at all. A club can meet every one of the rules and the ‘Rotary police’ will not come swooping down.”
Mark unveiled his new theme and logo for the 2019-2020 year, a wheel of connected figures that represent people connecting around the world. His theme of “Rotary Connects the World” is depicted in the logo of different colors representing different nationalities and creeds all over the world. 
“But each figure also has blue,” Mark said, “representing that we are all Rotarians.”
Mark spoke not only to District 5390 members at its district gathering, but also addressed the entire conference of attendees at the Saturday night dinner and luau event, in honor of the president-elect’s 2020 RI Convention scheduled for Honolulu. His message to “Grow Rotary” was repeated loud and clear.
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As I mentioned at the outset of this article, I flew into Denver with great expectations. I left with my head loaded with ideas and enthusiasm for our upcoming next couple of years of Rotary. Martha Ripley and I learned all about being a club president, how to grow our club and to change with the times. We spent several hours planning together to benefit our club’s future. While I served as a Rotary Club president in the past, that was a long time ago. I was in my mid-30s then and Rotary had only been coed for a few short years. So much has changed since the mid-1990s. Yet, in some ways, little has changed. We are all still good people interested in serving our community, enjoying one another as friends, supporting fellowship, helping youth, promoting international understanding, and eradicating polio in the world. Today we do that with men and women from all walks of life, all different ages, and from various parts of the world. We share different ideas, goals and objectives. We connect. Rotary is still all about connecting our community and connecting the world.
PETS was a marvelous educational and fellowship experience. It was a chance to serve our club and the world. I thank the membership for giving me this opportunity to be your president-elect nominee. Consider when you might take that chance to serve in a Rotary leadership role. You’ll discover how rewarding it can be to connect.
—Victoria Emmons
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. END POLIO. The words on the posters hanging around the conference room at the Comfort Inn bore a similar theme — the message direct from Rotary Brand Central — that Rotary members are People of Action. That’s what the District’s Public Image Chair Patrick Plantenberg (Townsend Rotary) wants you to understand and he hopes that you will spread the message. Rotarians helping to spread the word is how a consistently positive image of Rotary gets formulated in the public’s mind, he explained..jpeg)
“Bonjour” to her audience. The Big Sky High School senior will depart later this month for France where she will spend a year with two different families, initially on the coast in Saint-Malo for six months and a second French town yet to be determined. The Missoula resident said she was excited to be living at the beach. With only one year of formal French language study under her belt, Paisley looks forward to learning about a new culture, language and people. Although she will spend her senior year in France, Paisley plans to return to Big Sky High School for yet another year to complete her senior studies. She is interested in pursuing culinary programs at Missoula College and her experiences living in France will surely help her develop a love of “la cuisine française.” France remains at the top of the list for cultivating some of the world’s best chefs. Bon voyage, Paisley! 
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Cindy is the executive director at YWCA Missoula. In 1992, after finishing her degree in business administration she began as a shelter and crisis line volunteer for the YWCA. She spent the next seven years working at the YWCA as a direct services provider responsible for case management and program development in the domestic violence and vocational services programs. In 1999, Cindy left the YWCA for a two-year stint as the executive director of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, a statewide advocacy, public policy, and public education organization. In 2001, she returned to the YWCA to lead the organization as Executive Director using a combination of her academic background in business and her on-the-ground experience in the direct service arena..png)
founder of the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative (MIC). Casey received his degree in Industrial Technology and Engineering and for many years worked as a Smoke Jumper, in parachute design, and as a mental health program director. In 2013, Casey graduated from the University of Montana with a Master's Degree in Social Work. While at the University of Montana, MIC was formed and continues to grow. Casey gets excited when he sees others who passionately live out their faith and values, and when faith organizations and nonprofits come together to address very complex social challenges.