March 19, 2024 -SPEAKER SERIES
Christina de Castell, Chief Librarian & CEO Vancouver Public Library
Christina de Castell has held roles bridging technology, collections, research, and public service in her more than 20 years as a librarian. She is passionate about the role of libraries in building communities and exploring ideas, and fascinated by the way that technology is changing how we learn and communicate. It has been recognized that libraries and librarians have been caught in the middle of ongoing culture wars, between calls for book censorship and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protections for thought, belief, opinion and expression. Issues that have been ongoing for millennia, back to the age of Socrates. The modern technologies available to us all have magnified the issues, and perhaps, the solutions.
Christina joined VPL in 2006 and was appointed Chief Librarian & CEO in 2018. Her prior roles at VPL include Director of Collections and Technology, Manager of Online Information and News, and Manager of InfoAction. Before joining VPL, she worked at the BC Securities Commission. She holds a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia.
We look forward to seeing you together with a guest or two next Tuesday. Check your email for the meeting RSVP invitation. Please note that the deadline to RSVP is no later than Sunday Mar 17th as our numbers need to be guaranteed to TCC on Monday morning.
Mar 26, 2024 REGULAR SPEAKER MEETING
Speaker: Andrea Tang, CEO, Variety - The Children's Charity
All Rotarians welcome to participate. Work off any frustrations you have, this event will charge participants to have the chance to spray paint or hit a car with supplied materials (such as baseball bats, rubber mallets, etc.). All proceeds go towards The Rotary Foundation's education arm.
Donations needed include: metal bats, canopy tents, folding tables and chairs, and monetary support. All would be greatly appreciated to alleviate some of the event cost.
Franco Gallo, President Elect, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Catherine Darley, Secretary, hosted ZOOM
Jim Evans, Sergeant at Arms, introduced guests
President’s Announcements:
Welcome to our guests, new and returning, as well as our own members who have taken time out of busy schedules to attend. We are grateful to see new faces, remember guests are ALWAYS welcome at our meetings.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Members' moments and special presentations:
Michael Woolnough spoke about the cleft palate repair project that we support in Bali through our International Service Committee. Some other projects of note that we support are: an education project in Dara Salam, Tanzania, a library development project in Ethiopia, and a few WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene) projects. It is fantastic when you have the opportunity to visit these projects if you are travelling to or near the area. Michael is hoping to see the cleft palate project in Bali when he on his trip to the Rotary International Convention in Singapore.
Michael strongly encouraged people, if they can, to attend the RI convention in May. These events are always fabulous. You develop wonderful friendships from around the world and have great fun while visiting a beautiful city.
Note that the 2025 RI Convention will be in Calgary, June 21-25. Touted as “the largest convention in Calgary’s history”, and essentially in our backyard.CLICK HERE to read a bit about it on the Destination Canada site. Start planning now…
John Bathurst, for those who do not know, former member, Don Kavanagh, willed a significant portion of his estate to our club’s foundation. Don’s passion was firmly rooted in the youth exchange program and the funds received are dedicated to help youth in Vancouver. One such project these funds are used for is to support the Britannia boys’ basketball team. The basketball program helps the kids, living in a high risk area of Vancouver, to be involved with positive experiences and shape their lives, learning leadership skills along the way. This year, the team ranked 9th this year in provincials.
John Hayto attended the NAYEN (North American Youth Exchange Network) conference held in Vancouver. There were 450 Rotarians attending, all there with the common bond of youth exchange. This year we are sending two young men to France & Italy respectively, and another longer term exchange student will be going to Japan. We have an incoming student coming in from France. The youth exchange program is a highly successful Rotary program. Many of the youth who participate attest to the fact that the experience changed their lives in an incredibly positive way. At the conference it was noted that in 2022-23 over 560 students were on exchanges around the world. Another comment worthy of Rotary: If everyone were a Rotarian in the world, there would be no wars. We would be surrounded in peace. How true!
We are looking for host families for our exchange students. If you or someone you know is interested in helping, contact John asap. Regardless of whether these students are housed with you or not, everyone is encouraged to get involved with them. Meet them, show them some of the local sites, let them experience the Rotary spirit.
Frederique Niel & Peter Clarke provided another very useful social media training. CLICK HERE to see the slides. Some tips:
React to our club’s posts. Quickest to simply click on the heart to like the post, better to add a comment, even better to share the post. The more reactions a post receives the higher the profile on the platform.
Create your own club posts. Take a picture during an event and share it on your own Instagram account. Use hashtags, e.g., #rotaryclubvancouver, #RotaryRideforHearing, #RotaryServes, #ServiceAboveSelf, etc.
We need information from our club members and our committees. What are we interested in? Your successes! Let us know what you’re proud of, stories of individuals who have been helped, on-going projects.
For all committees and members: Please submit, by the 3rd Monday of each month, to Peter Clarke a final copy for posting. Include: a title, a good quality photo, short text, and hashtags.
Create a Vanity URL on LinkedIn for yourself, change your URL to something more meaningful.
Create your profile in your native language. Whatever the viewers browser is set up for, that’s what they will see.
Program - CLUB DAY:
The focus of the meeting was getting to know one another a little better. If the level of buzz in the room was any indication, those who were there thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to chat with one another. Thank you to all who took the time out of their busy schedule to join us.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to friendship, collaboration, and support.
