Next week we have the pleasure of District Governor Jeff Neale
Last Meeting
Venue: Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: Rtn Fiona Biedermann (Seaford)
Rotary Guests: DG Jeff Neale, AG Helen Charles, AG Di Clements
Attendance: Zooming with 19 members 4 guests - the blurry image, to protect the innocent, is shown below
Announcements by President Nathan
Welcome all! There was a Board meeting this morning which finalised committee composition with each member allocated a primary committee plus other areas of involvement. Committee meetings are to replace club assemblies. The Board will again be meeting via zoom at 1pm on Thursday.
Guest Speaker: Fiona Biedermann - Membership!
David Middleton introduced Fiona Biederman who is the District's membership officer. She joined Seaford Club in 2016, has served as Club President, participated in District training and has now turned her attention to assisting clubs boost their membership. Fiona brings a background of over 15 years in change management and is passionate about building on strengths of clubs and individuals..
Fiona stressed the importance of public image - we should be all about the sort of club that people are keen to join. Sausage sizzles are great for fundraising but such images may not be appealing to a wider audience.
The important ingredients to consider are:
Who is your audience?
Why should they care?
What actions do you wish them to take?
When to be taken?
How do they find the necessary information?
Putting the best foot forward through strong club teamwork, good products, great value, and strong belief/passion will succeed. Knowing what matters to existing and potential members is a big advantage.
Promotion activities should focus on building awareness with helpful imagery, sharing positive Rotary stories wherever, be visible, effective communication across a wide range of media, and being creative with presentations. Given all this, the bottom line should be passion and having fun.
Changing the way we do things is necessary......aim to:
connect with our audience
refresh information and style on our websites and social media (many club websites are 1970s style!)
logo and branding consistency
clean appearance
great action photos are like gold
communicate regularly
engender inclusiveness in club culture
make the effort to build goodwill...introduce and start conversations
run fabulous events
Fiona did a quick check of our website [and Facebook, which was given a tick]. On the recruitment section of our website, improvements could be instituted with strong photo illustrations, and some rewording.
The top three action areas are:
Know who you are Know what members are passionate about Be conscious of the audience
The overall approach is to build on the innate strengths of the club and its members, choose new and more attractive ways of communicating and operating, and modifying approaches which have negative impact.
We all waved (royally) to Fiona as thanks for her incisive presentation. David's offer of wine went down the proverbial drain.
Spots
Stephen Baker mentioned that Alex Jonson was recovering well at Calvary Rehab from a mild stroke; the good news is that Irene is in charge.
Jerry Casburn explained that we are limited to 36 attendees at next week's visit of District Governor Jeff Neale which should be readily manageable.
Paul Duke reminded members to bring the bottle of wine being donated for the ROMAC luncheon auction in August.
Brendan Kenny asked members who have accepted for the ROMAC luncheon on 29 August but yet to pay to do so.
Chris Davis advised that there will be a meeting on Thursday morning to decide the SA Police Officer of the Year 2021 nomination for consideration by the Police Commissioner.
Finale
The meeting closed in a blaze of deleted screens at 7,24pm. The food was excellent!
ROTARY NEWS
Club turns masks to bricks
By Abdullah Al Fahad, Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid, Bangladesh
The Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid has been collecting and cleaning used masks and gloves to mix with cement and create new products from the waste.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with a new environmental challenge. Every month, more than 120 billion disposable masks and gloves are being thrown out, with some of them polluting our land and water.
Our Rotaract club, like many, is concerned about the environment. Emboldened by Rotary’s newest cause, protecting the environment, we decided to do something about this problem. We began a recycling effort which we called our Clean Earth project to collect masks that were littering our streets, parking lots, and other common areas and find a way to reuse them.
Medical experts have said that the virus can survive up to three days on an object. We place the masks that we pick up in a locked room for three days. Then we bleach them and wash them with detergent over a period of 24 hours. We dry them in sunlight, then tear them into smaller pieces and mix them with cement. We use this mixture to create planting containers filled with soil, which we plant trees inside. We have also made bricks with the mixture and find it stronger than regular bricks. We are planning to use the bricks to build toilets in rural areas. We are working with other clubs to expand our effort, perhaps creating a recycling center where people could bring their used masks, and we could employ other people to help us turn them into bricks and other products.
As much as 13 millon tons of plastic makes it way into our oceans every year. Masks often contain plastics such as polypropylene with a lifespan of hundreds of years. Rotary members are creative and innovative, and we are sure that with some thought, other clubs could join us in finding ways to convert glove and mask waste into usable commodities. Let’s protect this planet of ours while we embrace Rotary’s newest cause.
Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre
10.30 am on the first Friday of the month is good for a chat with Rotary friends and a caffeine fix! Next one is Friday 6 August
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 3 August 2021 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Event: Visit of District Governor Jeff Neale
Set-up and Welcome.......Leonie Kewen and Patsy Beckett (Heather Kilsby)
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Pam Trimmer & Vera Holt
Week 4: 28 August 2021
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Vera-Ann Stacy
Week 5: 31 July 2021
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Jerry Casburn & Reno Elms
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Pam Trimmer (T) 8293 2612; (M) 0415 238 333; e-mail: pamela.trimmer@bigpond.com
Bunnings Mile End and Mitre 10 Barbeques
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month (commencing 9am).....next one Saturday 7 August
The Tale End.....
The editor is introducing the opportunity for members to contribute their best funny short story/ joke. The only catch is that the editor decides whether it is worth top spot or bottom spot in The Tale End. You will note where Jerry finished for this edition.
Thought for the week
“At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.” – Ann Landers
David Middleton introduced Fiona Biederman who is the District's membership officer. She joined Seaford Club in 2016, has served as Club President, participated in District training and has now turned her attention to assisting clubs boost their membership. Fiona brings a background of over 15 years in change management and is passionate about building on strengths of clubs and individuals..
Our Rotaract club, like many, is concerned about the environment. Emboldened by Rotary’s newest cause, 
