4th Edition                                                                             17 August 2020 
What a fantastic “people of action” we are!
 
Rotary clubs in our District have adapted so well to the new normal of various levels of restriction, that a decision has been taken to re-start our D9810 “Highlights” publication.  We need “Highlights” back because there are so many activities, special meetings and learning opportunities coming up that one newsletter can’t hold them all. 
 
For this edition all events will be moved to a separate document (look out for “Open Doors” Events in your inbox) and, from the beginning of September, “Highlights” will be back on a monthly basis. 
 
For several items in this newsletter the collected wisdom of the D9810 Rotarians has been harnessed.  During our informal Morning Tea and Sundowners sessions Rotarians share their ideas, hints and tips and I have shamelessly commandeered them for this issue.
 
Too Much News: Too Many Ideas
Just a reminder than the entirety of “Open Doors” may not fit on one email page.  Make sure you see it all.  You’ll know because our wonderful Editor, Michael Ellinger, always adds a great “finisher” and then signs off at the end.  If you don’t see the whole thing, just click on the link at the top of the page and view it in your browser.
 
Mental Health for Everyone
At this time of strict lockdown mental health has worked its way to a higher priority in many clubs.  Ideas for mental health activities fall into two broad categories – helping others and self-care.
 
Two Rotarians in D9810 with some expertise in the area have offered their help.  You can invite to your meeting Madalyn Parlet of the Rotary Club of Lilydale (M: 0412 316 408     E: Mp526mp@gmail.com) or Claire Button of the Rotary Club of Chelsea                     (M: 0406 857748  E: claireb@bigpond.net.au) as guest speaker.  Both have professional expertise in the area of mental health and will address your club’s needs in either designing a project or developing self-care activities. 
 
Community Service Continues
A  recent Community Service Project for the Rotary Club of Rowville-Lysterfield is supporting Foothills Community Care (https://www.foothillscare.org.au/) and their community meals each Wednesday at Ferntree Gully.  This arrangement came about after the CEO spoke at the club via Zoom in early May.  FCC provides a weekly meal program and food packages to the needy and vulnerable. 
While lockdown has impacted dramatically on the ability for Foothills to hold their community meals in the original format, the meals are still provided as takeaway and the number visiting for a meal has escalated alarmingly.
 
Our Club, together with Knox Rotaract members and other Rotarians, has stepped into the role of assisting at the Ferntree Gully location by making slices for dessert, or soups to be handed out to those waiting in the cold, several times a month. The food is made at home and delivered in the afternoon, with little contact with any of the other volunteers. Given the restrictions on travel currently, all contributors carry their Rotary badge and a letter from our President to attest that the travel is for care purposes, just in case they are queried by police. It is very pleasing that we are being supported in this task by members of the Knox Rotaract Club and members of our Satellite Club, who are very keen to be actively involved in this project. All members are encouraged to wear club apparel when making deliveries.  Knox Rotaract has been acknowledged for their support on the FCC Face Book page.
 
Two Significant Ideas for Clubs Making Plans
In the last issue of “Open Doors”, you may have seen the link to the Michael McQueen video “Kick Start Your Club” and, hopefully, some of you watched it.  Michael’s blog recently included an interesting article titled “Is Your Status Quo Strangling Your Progress”.  Go to https://michaelmcqueen.net/blog/are-your-conventions-crippling-your-progress for an eye-opening and somewhat amusing article to help pave the way for new ideas in your club.
 
And for a really new idea on what a Rotary Club could look like, check this video from Rotarian and author Mark Huddleston.  I found this video a revelation.  This might be the way a Rotary club would look if it was started by people with no pre-conceived ideas.  Check it out and see what you think.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuJw0so4fzs
 
Views on Zoom
At “Morning Tea with the DG” and “Sunday Sundowners”, one of the topics of discussion was the pros and cons of online meetings.  The question was asked because many seem to comment on how much they dislike Zoom.  It was, therefore, a bit of a surprise to find there were more good points than drawbacks.  Here’s the list.
Pros
  • No travel required
  • Can have guests from anywhere – former members and friends of the club
  • Can have speakers from anywhere
  • Speakers are more willing to attend as there is no travel time.
  • Meetings cost less as there is no venue hire or catering costs
  • Fellowship is strengthened
  • Meeting attendance is higher
  • Members have a strong feeling of connection
  • Older people and those with mobility challenges can join in
  • Using “chat rooms” for fellowship can allow members who don’t usually mix to get to know each other better
 
Cons
  • Not the usual fellowship in meetings
  • Not an easy option for those with few computer skills
  • Impossible for those who do not have a computer or smart phone
  • Side meetings are harder to arrange (some agreed that this may also be on the pro side)
  • Some individuals are just averse to the idea
 
What is the view in your club?  Are the pros enough for your club to consider retaining online meetings even when in-person meetings are permitted again?  Would meeting on line once or twice a month provide your club with benefits and flexibility not available in traditional meetings? 
 
Rotary Quotes
ImageAnother idea arising from the Morning Tea or Sundowners meeting was that D9810 could help supply clubs with inspiring Rotary quotations for newsletters and meetings.  Good idea but a bit time consuming.  Fortunately, someone has done it for us.  A dedicated Rotarian regularly tweets Rotary quotes.  Find him on Twitter @RotaryQuotes   His name is Bryan Kelly.  Here’s a sample.

 

Adapting to Zoom
Has the structure of your club meetings changed because they are online or are the meetings much the same as they always were but held in an online environment?
Here are some ideas to adapt meetings.
  • Have the guest speaker as the first item of the meeting.  That way non-Rotarian speakers do not have to listen to (or endure) your club reports and the banter between members which is all meaningless to them.
  • Keep your meetings short.  Rotary meetings, especially on line, can be completed in an hour or less.
  • Hold some fellowship time (before or after the meeting) in randomly assigned “chat rooms” so members can have informal discussions and get to know each other better.  The random assignment means that members who may not normally socialise at meetings will get to know each other better.
  • Save the ceremonial parts of your meetings for the end.  The invocation, toasts and other ceremonial activities do not necessarily need to be at the beginning.
Using a new meeting medium provides a fantastic opportunity to adopt a new meeting approach. 
 
Don’t Let Club Zoom Meetings be a Secret
Are your Zoom meeting log ins difficult for members to find?  Do members complain that they can’t get into the meeting?  Is there a need to send the login details several times to ensure members can find them easily?  Just prior to the meeting, is there a regular flurry of members emailing and texting in search of the log in information?
Here are some tips provided by Ian Ballantyne of RC BMC. 
  • When booking your Zoom meeting us the “recurring meeting” setting to ensure you have the same meeting link, ID and password for every meeting.
  • Publish the link in every club bulletin.
  • Put the link on your website and Facebook so anyone wanting to visit you club can do so easily.
  • Keeping the same log in credentials will become even more important when Zoom changes its requirements so either a waiting room or meeting code will be required for every meeting.
For those concerned about security, Ian reminds us that our meetings should be open to anyone, we want to attract visitors to our meetings and, should the visitor be malign in any way, the meeting host can eject them easily.
 

A message to all Victorians

Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, has recorded a message to all Victorians.

A link to the video message has been provided, we invite you to share it amongst your community. We sincerely hope that you are well cared for and safe during this time of uncertainty.

https://www.governor.vic.gov.au/all-news/message-governor

 

Office of the Governor
Government House Melbourne - Victoria 3004 - Australia

www.governor.vic.gov.au | Twitter: @VicGovernor  | Instagram: @VicGovernor  | Watch: https://governor.vic.gov.au/videos

We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal owners of country throughout Victoria and pay our respect to them, their culture and their Elders past, present and future.

 

Order of Australia Association. 
Order of Australia holders may be members of the Order of Australia Association. This membership gives access to a list of holders of the order and is a great source for finding interesting guest speakers.
 
 
Face Mask Project in Indonesia
 
In Issue 2 of “Open Doors” you will have seen an article about a facemask project in Indonesia supported by the Rotary Club of Glen Waverley.  I thought Rotarians may be interested in seeing these pictures of the masks being distributed by Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors.  Great pics thanks to PDG Graeme Woolacott
 
 
Fun Ideas in Lockdown
Bogan Trivia.  Dress up as Bogans of course with several rounds of questions
Arm Chair Travel.  Dressed up in holiday gear - everything from underwater scuba gear, Hawaiian shirts, snow gear etc.  Everyone showed three holiday photos (there were different categories) and the rest guessed where they were taken (a good idea to allow everyone to take turn sharing the screen).
 
Cocktail Party for member behind the badge (everyone dressed up for the night including bow ties suits and cocktail dresses) 
 
Two Truths and a Lie.  Everyone made three statements of which two were true but one was a lie.  Rest of the members had to decide which was the lie.  Can be really amazing as well as funny.
 
Murder Mystery Party  (a game can be purchased on line.  Search for Good Food Good Wine and a Wicked Murder.  Everyone was dressed as their character.  Envelopes with game instructions were delivered one week before the event to give everyone time to decide on a costume but clues were in sealed envelopes not to be opened until instructed to do so on the evening.
 
Show and Tell.  Each member had to show something and talk about it.  Our experience included war medals, family heirlooms, old diaries, hobbies, sentimental artifacts and lots more.
 
Christmas In July (see pic).  Christmas Dinner at home including set tables, Christmas decorations and people all dressed up in Christmas Gear.   There were Christmas cracker jokes.  Everyone had wrapped up a mystery parcel giving three clues as to the content and the rest tried to guess what it was.  Members spoke about their most unusual Christmas.
 
In the planning stages for Zoom are;
  • Father's Day Celebration
  • Halloween Party
  • Melbourne Cup/Oaks Day Party
  • Christmas Party    
 
These have all been so much fun and we have had 100% attendance at nearly all of them.
 
All the above ideas contributed by Christine Anderson of RC of Ferntree Gully (seems like a fun place to be!)
 
Another suggestion from Colin Read of Rotary Club of Nunawading.
Radio plays from the 30s, 40s and 50s which are out of copyright are available at from
https://www.simplyscripts.com/radio_all.html   This could be a lot of fun as a club or cluster event.  If the actors are good enough, it could be a fundraiser.
 
One club (nameless) decided to spotlight the club’s talents with an online concert.  Some surprising and some funny results.  When it comes to finding out more about your fellow Rotarians, this could be a fun alternative to the traditional “behind the badge” presentation.
 
Video Winners and a PI Lesson
Each year the Rotary Zone 8 Public Image Team holds a short video competition for Rotary Clubs.  This year the joint winners were Rotary Club of North Hobart and District 9670: MERV Project.  These two-minute videos are worth a look and may inspire your club to do something similar. 
But wait… no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find the video from D9670 online.  What an opportunity gone begging!  What a great lesson for Rotary Clubs!  So, below you will find the link to the North Hobart video and, to make up for “the missing link”, here’s a bonus of last year’s winner from Rotary Club of Canterbury.
 
 
 
Regards
Alma
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Celebrating the achievements of the Rotaract Club of Yarra Ranges
 
On Saturday 25 July, we attended a Rotaract Changeover like no other! It was all held virtually but this did not stop us from celebrating the achievements of each Rotaract Club in our District, including the newly chartered Knox Rotaract Club.
 
As part of these celebrations, each Rotaract Club can nominate members of their clubs for a range of awards. We are honoured to announce that Sarah Jacobs and Andrew Ermel received the Rotaract Excellence Award for their outstanding contributions to our club over the past 12 months. Our club also received the Communication Award. This was awarded due to our use and growth in communications especially through social media.
  
We awarded Carol Lawton our Rotarian Supporter Award due to her ongoing commitment to our club, Carol always attends our meetings, provides ideas on events and how we can better ourselves as a club and provides a strong link with our sponsoring club, the Rotary Club of Croydon and Montrose. She is always a strong advocate for us and this was evident in their club coming on board with our Coffees for Nurses initiative.
 
On top of this, a few days later, we received the 2019-20 Rotary Citation with Gold Distinction. This was awarded for helping Rotary connect the world in the lives of people all over the world.
 
Congratulations to Sarah, Andy, Carol, members of the Rotaract Club of Yarra Ranges and to all other award winners and Rotaractors on such an amazing 2019/20 Rotary Year.
 
   
   
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Mentoring Program - Opening Opportunities
 
 
In District 9810, we have the benefit of a long-term close relationship between Rotaract and Rotary. One of the benefits of this relationship is a Rotaractor being able to offer up an idea to an incoming District Governor, and that idea then becoming reality. As was the case this year, which led to the creation of the Rotary-Rotaract Mentoring Program. 
 
The program currently involves mentors hosting a series of free professional development webinars for Rotaractors, Rotarians and program alumni across Australia. Not only does the program serve a diverse audience, the committee organising the program is also composed of Rotaractors and Rotarians collaborating with complimentary skills. This has allowed for a strong and speedy planning period, with the first webinar having been successfully delivered on the topic of 'Interview skills and finding the right job for you'. The second part of the program aims to connect vocational mentors with young professionals, to offer personalised, long-term mentoring. Already, surveys into interest and feedback from the program are yielding positive results. 
 
Some of the scheduled upcoming webinars for the rest of 2020 are listed below, with more in-demand topics being scheduled for 2021.
- The impact of social media for good 
- Managing a team in uncertain times 
- Integrating younger generations into your workforce 
- Managing projects 
- Financial management 
 
If you are interested in being part of this opportunity as an attendee or mentor for this program, please feel free to reach out to our committee at mentor.9810@gmail.com
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District 9810 RAWCS Coordinator
 
The role of District 9810 RAWCS Coordinator is currently vacant, and the District International Service Committee is seeking applications from Rotarians for this position.
  
Please find attached a Position Description for the District 9810 RAWCS Coordinator.
 
The role is open to all D9810 Rotarians, and if you are interested in taking on this role of leading RAWCS in D9810, please contact District International Service Chair, Tony Stokes, on the phone number below or at International@9810Rotary.org.au
 
Regards,
Tony Stokes
District 9810 International Service Chair
Rotary Club of Box Hill Central
Mob: 0419 577 886
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Facemasksoz
3 layer washable cotton face masks with wire nose bridge in patterned and plain fabrics available and hand made by Rotarians Trish Carr and Les Marton (RC Box Hill Burwood).
 
You can order from the website – sizes available are Adult, Youth and Child  $8.80 per mask plus postage.
 
www.facemasksoz.com or 9720 1177 during business hours.
Face Masks for Personal Use or For Sale
Peter Cole from the Rotary Club of Belgrave, has been working with experts in the field to design and make the most practical and comfortable face masks for personal protection during the pandemic.
 
The masks allow the wearer to breath, see each other and stay safe from droplets in the air.  They are light weight, anti-fog, and glasses can be worn comfortable underneath.  The masks have been designed by a Melbourne based optometrist.
 
Rotarians may be interested in these masks for personal use, for use in their businesses or as a fundraising opportunity.  Recommended retail price is $30.
 
For more information contact Peter Cole by email at petercole99@hotmail.com or on 0488 888 848
RDU Advertising Commission - Boost club funds by up to $7,000
Rotary Down Under is offering a 25% commission incentive to clubs and districts that secure advertising in the magazine.  See information above and, for more, contact Judy Drake at RDU on 02 9633 4888
And to finish off....
 
 
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Hi to all.
 
I look forward in seeing all your articles and stories every fortnight for me to publish in "Open Doors". As mentioned above by Alma, this weeks "Open Doors" has been split in two to keep the Rotary good news articles and stories separate from all the new events which are now happening through out the district.
 
If you would like to see previous versions of "Open Doors" click here.
 
So please send me your photos and articles to highlights9810@gmail.com prior to the next edition which will be sent out on the 31st August. Also send me your events for "Highlights" which will be back out in September.
 
All the best
 
Michael Ellinger 
Rotary Club of Oakleigh Clayton Huntingdale
Highlights Editor