Governor's Visit
Posted
on Oct 07, 2014
by Angela Craig
October 3rd we greatly enjoyed meeting and hearing from our District 5050 Governor, Lyle Ryan, who visited with his lovely wife PJ. Lyle is a 28-year member of the Rotary Club of Everett, and has worked with Rotary since high school, serving on numerous boards and several organizations. Currently, he is the Executive Vice President, Chief Production Officer and Branch Administrator at Coastal Community Bank, where he has worked for over four years, and has been in banking for 43 years. Originally from Oregon, he and his wife are partners in a ski school, and he has participated in numerous triathlons.
Governor Ryan shared three main points of emphasis with us during his presentation, which he exhorted us to focus on in the coming year: 1. Retention of Existing Members, 2. Organic Member Growth, and 3. Defined Member Growth. Regarding Retention, Lyle recalled that at the recent 2014 Rotary International Assembly in San Diego, 2014-2015 RI President Gary C.K. Huang shared in his opening presentation "Light Up Rotary" that for the first time in many years, Rotary membership has dropped below 1.2 million, and he called for a goal to grow Rotary membership by 3% worldwide by the end of the Rotary year. That's 85 new Rotarians for our District. He noted that if we retain our existing members, we won't need to replace them, so we need to take care of one another. For many of us, this is our second family, so if you notice that someone doesn't show up to Rotary for awhile, don't be afraid to give them a call and see how they're doing. He urged us, "Don't let anybody escape your Club this year."
Regarding his second point of Organic Member Growth, Lyle explained that we "need to retrain ourselves to always be looking for new members." Ask yourself this, of current work clients or coworkers: Do they know about Rotary? Do they know that I'm a Rotarian? And, always be ready to explain why joining Rotary would benefit them.
On his third point of Defined Membership Growth, Lyle told us about how, at the 42 Rotary Clubs in our District out of a total of 58 that he has visited so far this year, he has asked this same question of the members: How many of you are younger than 40 years old? In all but a few, no one raised a hand. He asked us, how are we missing those in their 20's and 30's, and how can we begin to reach them? He said that the problem is, Rotary has been quietly doing great things for 109 years, emphasis on "quietly", so that age group hasn't even heard of Rotary in most cases. Our delivery model for attracting new members has been hindered by when and where we meet, our stringent attendance requirement and the implication that you have to be wealthy to be a Rotarian (because of the dues), instead of telling them what we can do for them. Where else can you plug into an experienced group of business people who can mentor you in your career, he asked.
Club President Gary O'Rielly along with Governor Ryan presented two of our members with pins for special recognition: Loren Hole, because of his 47 years of perfect attendance and that he gives annually on his birthday to a special fund; and Tracy DeLorm, because she chairs the Community Services Committee, coordinates the Club's participation in Aquafest and coordinates the Club's bi-annual participation in the Community Supper program at Ebenezer Lutheran Church. But, Gary said that we all deserve special recognition because our group is like family, and warmly thanked us for our ongoing commitment, friendship and loyalty.
Governor Ryan reminded us to mark our calendars for the District 5050 Conference, which is 30 April through 3 May 2015 at the Tulalip Resort. On April 30th there will be a golf tournament and guided tours of the Boeing Plant, the Tulalip Museum and Native American art at the Casino. Over the weekend there will be break out sessions and plenary sessions with speakers from all over the world. He asked for volunteers to host these visiting Rotarians in their homes on Friday night. Lyle closed with this reminder of his three main points: 1. Take care of each other, 2. We're all recruiters, and 3. Introduce younger people to Rotary.