PETER JOHNSON, FACILITATOR TRAINING CHAIR,
Peter is an investment advisor and Certified Portfolio Manager with UBS Financial in Portland, Maine and a member of Yarmouth Rotary, Currently Training Advisor for the New England Multi-District President-Elect Training Seminar (2017-19), he was District Governor (7780) 2001-02, and has also served as District Foundation Chair (7 years), District rep to Council on Legislation (2x), Rotary Leadership Institute Regional Vice-Chair, a three-time club president, recipient of The Rotary Foundation Meritorious Service Award, and a Foundation major donor. He resides in Yarmouth, Maine with his wife Carolyn, who is also a Past District Governor (2013-14).
2018 THEME AND WHAT IT MEANS
Congratulations! You have been selected to serve as President of your Rotary club for Rotary year 2018-19. It will be a rewarding and exciting year, but one that requires the commitment of time and effort to ensure a successful and exciting year for your club. The success of your club depends on your strong and effective leadership, but your District Governor-elect and the district leadership are here to support you along the way. The theme, Inspire to Lead & Empower to Achieve has driven each of the eight District Governors and their leadership teams to build a Presidents-elect Orientation program that culminates in a continually improving PETS weekend that will allow you to pay it forward. If you can take the knowledge about Rotary and the inspiration that you will receive at PETS, you will also be able to Inspire to Lead your club and your members and Empower them to Achieve the goals that your club has mutually agreed upon for your year as President.
Northeast PETS will be held on March 8-10 at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, MA. We are planning to combine a spectacular lineup of high profile Rotary International keynote speakers and unique keynotes from non-Rotarians during our opening plenary and meal sessions, four Group Breakout discussion sessions with Club Presidents-elect from clubs from around New England, and mulitpile sessions with your District Governor-elect, district leadership and your Assistant Governor.
We promise to inspire Presidents-Elect to lead their clubs and to empower them to achieve success! Thursday afternoon will kick off with dynamic sessions on developing an “elevator speech”, how to hit your "Tweet" spot with your club and a session on mastering social media , creating professional videos with your phone to attract and engage members. Thursday’s program will provide the chance to form Rotary and professional partnerships with “classmates” and will offer valuable tools to utilize not just as a club leader but also in our professional lives.
Presidents-elect Orientation Focus
Check with your District Governor-elect about their specific plans for their Presidents-elect Orientation sessions. These will be a combination of in person meetings and online meetings or video presentations of five core subjects. Rest assured that you will begin building your knowledge or Rotary, enhance your leadership skills and learn how to utilize the technology that provides the systems to manage the process of leading your club. Participation in each of these sessions will allow you to assimilate the knowledge over a three to four month period and consult with your current president and even past presidents who can provide the helpful frame of reference.
Our objective is for you to arrive at Northeast PETS prepared with the basic fundamentals so you can devote your time at PETS focusing on the best practices of being an effective Club President and a strong Rotary leader. You will find that each one of these sessions relate directly to the general breakout sessions you will be participating in at PETS. The entire Northeast PETS 2018 Training Team is committed to making this PETS a rewarding experience for you, both from an educational perspective but also from an interpersonal Rotary experience. Remember the First Object of Rotary: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity to serve.