Membership Forum Showcases New Ideas for Building Vibrant Clubs

Posted by David Manzi

on Oct 03, 2015

This past Thursday evening, we had a very engaging and productive membership forum. Rotarians came together from 37 out of the 47 clubs in district 7930!

Our presenters were fabulous. Chris Baker, president of Downtown Boston, Christa Papavasiliou, district Rotaract chair from the E-Club of New England and Joe Fiorello, vice president of Belle Isle Rotary led a great discussion on: Young Professionals: how to attract, engage and retain young professionals into Rotary. Past presidents Anne Lewis of Rockport and Brad Clark of Ipswich along with district membership committee member, Lisa Healey from Burlington and district executive secretary, John Ferguson from Boston 7 discussed exciting initiatives to offer clubs looking to expand membership and opportunities for those in their community that are seeking ways to serve. Satellite and Service clubs provide that opportunity! Also, what was discussed was ways to get corporate businesses to join Rotary to strengthen their ideals and service to that of Rotary. Non- profit memberships for our community partners to be part of a symbiotic relationship, all in the name of service to our communities.

After the breakout sessions, our team led a fun-filled collaborative fellowship gathering. Some of these included Rotarians who wrote letters of support for our men and women veterans. We also had our own “Purple Pinkie” table where we continue to focus our efforts on Polio eradication. There was even a place for Rotarians to share their passion, comments and concerns of Rotary by expressing thoughts for all to read.

The evening was for Rotarians to come together to discuss ways for us to promote the Object of Rotary. How to attract new members into our organization, how to keep Rotarians engaged and to provide content for which Rotarians can go back to their clubs and to their communities to promote the ideals of Rotary!

Thank you,