UPCOMING MEETING DECEMBER 6, 2022
Annual General Meetings
An appeal to bring with you any coats & winter outer wear you have to donate to students of Britannia School. All sizes wanted. We'll collect at the meeting and then deliver to the school.
The club's AGM is scheduled for Tuesday Dec 6th during our regular member meeting. It's a short portion of our meeting but we really do need quorum, which is 1/3 of our membership or 35 people, to attend in person. While we understand that there are many reasons people cannot attend meetings in person right now, it would be greatly appreciated if those who are able to attend in person try to do so on December 6th. An RSVP will be sent closer to the meeting date.
The VRC Foundation and the RCV Hearing Foundation AGMs will follow directly after out regular meeting.
UPCOMING MEETING DECEMBER 13, 2022
Holiday Social - wear your best sweater
Last chance to bring any coats & winter outer wear you have to donate to students of Britannia School. All sizes wanted. We'll collect at the meeting and then deliver to the school.
We will be collecting coats for students at Britannia School. We are hoping to help. If you have any gently used winter coats that would fit a school aged youth (i.e., child size through to adult), you can bring them along to one of the next two meetings or drop off at the Terminal City Club as they have kindly agreed to collect them for us to pick up
Please keep Wendy and Bill Dauphinee in your thoughts and prayers! “… More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
(Alfred Lord Tennyson)
Over the weekend of November 19 to November 21, 2022 Wendy and Bill Dauphinee informed Phil Webber and the other Rotary League curlers that Bill has had a serious downturn in his health. He has been fighting cancer for some time but now has larger and more numerous tumors in his liver than previously known and they have also spread to his lungs. He is very weak and sleeps more than half the day.
While there appears to be nothing that the oncologists can do to stop the spread of the cancer, Bill and Wendy wish to inform Rotary Club members and friends that they would enjoy your visits. Please email or call Wendy or Bill at 604.985.9693, wendy@dauphinee.ca or bill@dauphinee.ca if you wish to arrange a time for a short visit.
Phil spoke with Bill immediately before the Rotary Meeting on November 29 and his voice was strong as he reiterated the invitation to visit him.
Few Rotarians have done more for our club over a sustained period of time than Bill and Wendy.
Bill joined the Rotary Club of Vancouver (“RCOV”) almost forty years ago on September 1, 1983.
When Phil Webber joined RCOV June 15, 1999 (after 12 years with Rotary Club of Vancouver, Arbutus), Bill had already served as the Treasurer of the following Societies incorporated under the Societies Act of British Columbia:
Rotary Club of Vancouver;
the Vancouver Rotary Club Foundation (a registered charity) and its predecessor foundation of the same name which was amalgamated with the Oscar Olsen Foundation so as to reduce administration costs; and
the Rotary Club of Vancouver Hearing Foundation (formerly called RHF Hearing Foundation).
As Treasurer of these four (later reduced to three) societies until June 30, 2016, Bill served on their Boards of Directors and oversaw banking, bookkeeping, accounting and income tax compliance services which involved many hours of his volunteer time.
Also, as Treasurer, Bill was an integral part of the RCOV’s Finance Committee which oversaw the finances of the three RCOV societies and budgeting for their annual operations.
Wendy and Bill have also been an integral part of the team which puts on the RCOV’s and Rotary Club of Vancouver Hearing Foundation’s annual Rotary Ride for Hearing, both overseeing 5 AM to 7 AM registration and check-in of riders, at the beginning of the ride, and numerous tasks and functions required at the end of the ride; including accounting and reporting, at the Post-ride Celebration Banquets, of the rides’ annual financial success as a fund raiser benefitting the deaf and hard of hearing through donations to be made by Rotary Club of Vancouver Hearing Foundation.
About the time Phil Webber joined RCOV, Bill emphasized to him that he believed the key to our Rotary Club’s effectiveness, including in carrying out Community, International and Youth charitable and humanitarian projects, was fellowship and the strong bonds of friendship which developed and were nourished among the Rotary Club members. Just a taste of Bill’s and Wendy’s contributions to the social fabric of the RCOV are:
Their annual organization, along with Myron Kuzych and former member and past Club President, Mel Endelman, of the Rotary Club of Vancouver’s curling league (still ongoing) and the annual curling bonspiel (latterly a weekend at Squamish until interrupted by COVID) which has been instrumental in introducing numerous persons, including Rotary International exchange students from all over the world and Rotary Club members, to the sport of curling;
Also pre-COVID, organizing and hosting an annual Christmas caroling party in their home, open to all club members and attended by many, many Rotary Club members and their spouses;
Joining other Rotarians at numerous social events, including the Chinese Soirée and annual fundraising dinner auctions; and
Vacation travels with other couples from Rotary.
I am sure that Bill and Wendy are one hundred percent behind the current initiatives of our newest RCOV members, headed up by Brittany Ford, to inject more fun into Rotary through the Fun Committee; formerly called the Fellowship Committee, for a while called the Friendship Committee.
Please email or call Wendy or Bill at 604.985.9693, wendy@dauphinee.ca or bill@dauphinee.ca if you wish to arrange a time for a short visit.
* come in person to celebrate with Purdy's chocolates!!
Last Meeting November 29, 2022
Kendall Jessiman, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Sandra Lowe, Secretary, hosted the Zoom portion of the meeting
Peter Clarke, Sergeant at Arms, introduced guests
Miya Otake played O Canada on her harp via video
President’s Announcements:
Thank you to all of you who came to enjoy the companionship of your fellow club Rotarians.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Special announcements and Members' Moments:
A reminder to all that it is important to RSVP if you are going to attend the meeting. Though we'd rather you attend even if it's not possible to let us know, versus not attending. Thing is that we get charged an overage fee per person over the number we have guaranteed and we'd rather use that money for projects if possible.
Wayne Fraser,President 2021-22, announced the slate for the 2023-24 Board
Vice-President, to be determined
Director (2023-25), Parisa Adrangi
Director (2023-25), Nadja Gehriger
Director (2023-25), to be determined
John Bathurst provided a lot of information about The Rotary Foundation (TRF), explaining why one should consider it for donations. The TRF is one of the best run charities in the world with very low administration fees meaning that almost all of the money donated goes to support projects. If you have any questions, please contact John via phone, email, or chat in person at a meeting. CLICK HERE to view a version of John's presentation.
A reminder to bring coats and warm clothing next week. See above for more information.
We are reminded from Parisa Adrangi and Navid Morawej that there are still major concerns in Iran. Let us not forget the struggles there.
Phil Webber let us know that Bill Dauphinee is palliative with cancer at home. He’s currently strong and would love to hear from his fellow Rtoarians either by phone or in person. Just call in advance, would love to see anyone who can take the time. See above for more information. Please keep Bill in your thoughts as he and his family go through this difficult time.
Program:
Paul Martin introduced speaker, Alyn Edwards, whose topic was Crisis Management and Communication. You may remember his career as an investigative reporter with Global TV. As a reporter Alyn was involved with some very interesting stories. His other hat has been as chairman of a communications firm, Peak Co. and yet another passion is for classic cars.
Peak Communications Ltd. is reputation management firm. We all have reputations that need to be managed, both personal and professional/business. It has become very hard to manage reputations with social media.
Alyn provided some examples of serious situations that were global news:
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, was the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. British Petroleum (BP), Anthony Hayward stated at the time, “"I'm sorry. We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused their lives. There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I'd like my life back." He, shortly thereafter, announced that he was taking the weekend off to participate in a yacht race.
In contrast to this, when BC Ferries ship the Queen of the North hit an island and sunk in 2006 the company President, David Hahn, who had no media training, heard about the accident around 2 a.m. By 5:00 a.m. he phoned Global TV to advise the that a story is coming. David went on TV at 7:00 a.m. talking about how BC Ferries was handling the situation. He promised that they would be open and transparent, etc. David, with little to no media training, basically understand the 1st tenant: the 1st one out is the one to control the chatter.
In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods experienced a devastating listeriosis outbreak in some of their meat products. It killed 22 people. The CEO and President, Michael McCain got out in front of the media every day explaining the companies reaction and that they did an instant recall and were cooperating with all the investigations. Contrary to the BP oil spill, McCain’s first comment to the public was, “Tragically, our products have been linked to illness and loss of life. To those people who are ill, and to the families who have lost loved ones, I offer my deepest and sincerest sympathies. Words cannot begin to express our sadness for their pain.”
Teck Cominco’s lead smelter in Trail, BC had workers exposed to dangerous levels of thallium in 2001. The plant had been shut down for maintenance on a boiler. The contract workers were to go in and clean. The health people had gone in and tested, said it was fine for the cleaners to go in. After 65 workers exhibited ill health, getting very sick very quickly, further testing revealed that the metals in the air were beyond acceptable limits. Tech Cominco acknowledged that they needed to take responsibility, which they did. The President acknowledged a mistake had been made and what the steps would be in an attempt to rectify the situation and to compensate the workers.
Noted as one of the best crisis management situations was that which followed the arrest of an animal hospital’s, Canada West Veterinary Specialists, former employee for bestiality. Though the person in question had been fired two years prior, the link between them and the vet hospital was made when the arrest became public. To separate the organization from the individual, they concentrated on a good news story to promote. Rumble, a dog who was protecting his property got shot and beaten by burglars during the home invasion. The animal hospital got called to see if they would help as Rumble’s owners could not afford his care. The vet hospital agreed to donate their services. The resulting publicity went international for their efforts. Incredibly, just before this went on TV, people were calling wanting to help Rumble. Donations were sent under the name of Rumble. The amount received was more than what the cost of his care was. It was used to set up the Rumble fund to help others in the future who couldn’t afford care. It was definitely a zero to hero situation in four days.
In closing, dealing with any situation, the first line of defense is to know the facts, good or bad. Then all internal and external communication flows from those facts.
It is vital to remember that the 1st out with the info controls the message. Always make the hard calls first and take action immediately. Don’t wait. If you don’t tell your story, others will fill in the blanks with their imagination.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to your hard earned reputation.
