It was funny. We have a guest suite we call the "Governor's Suite" because of all the DGs and PDGs that spend time in it when visiting our end of the district. This past Friday night, after our clubs fundraiser, was no exception. This is what I learned - actually, I already understood but it is worth mentioning.
He said "And I am dealing with adults, not children, not even young adults but adults in their fifties". He was talking about the way some club presidents and AGs talk and act like kids not getting their way. "Let me pitch or I am going to take my bat and ball and go home!"
Rotary is not different in this respect, I have seen it happen in all organizations I have belonged to, even church. I understand that when I am DG I will have a lot of "petty" problems foisted upon me, but I am pretty easy going, I can handle it. But I am assured this will happen, just as sure as sunrise tomorrow. All part of the journey.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Our Club's Annual Fundraiser
Wow. Friday, March 12th was our club's annual casino night fundraiser. Pam and I were the co-chairs this year. There were moments Friday that I thought we wouldn't pull it off. A full 40% of the donated items for auction and almost 50% of the ticket sales were not turned in until Friday afternoon. When the event opened I was still running around in a t-shirt and jeans. As of today I have no idea how much money we raised to help others, but I know we were profitable. I know this post is not part of the DG trip, but in a way it is because without doing things like this my club probably would not have nominated me for DG.
As an aside, let me say that this fundraiser has worked very well for us. We started it when a Rotarian from Ohio brought the idea to us 8 years ago and we have made as much as $35,000.00 clear. We have professionals bring in casino gambling tables and slot machines, the chips are play money, we furnish a dinner, music and dancing, an open bar and, of course, our live and silent auction items and a few other ways of making money. The past two years a good one was what we call the "The Wheel of Hope". Kind of like the Wheel of Fortune, but standing upright, the wheel has 48 spaces on it. We put a nice trip as the prize, sell tickets and spin it at sometime during the night. This year all the money, including a match from a local foundation, was used to package over 70,000 (? typing from memory and both 40 and 70 stick in my mind) meals with an eye towards relief in Haiti. When we started this our club was very small and we hired out almost everything, now, as the club has grown, we do a lot ourselves. In 2005 we ran our fundraiser at the same time as our fundraiser for tsunami relief and the combined total was in excess of $85,000.00 with about 23 members involved.
As an aside, let me say that this fundraiser has worked very well for us. We started it when a Rotarian from Ohio brought the idea to us 8 years ago and we have made as much as $35,000.00 clear. We have professionals bring in casino gambling tables and slot machines, the chips are play money, we furnish a dinner, music and dancing, an open bar and, of course, our live and silent auction items and a few other ways of making money. The past two years a good one was what we call the "The Wheel of Hope". Kind of like the Wheel of Fortune, but standing upright, the wheel has 48 spaces on it. We put a nice trip as the prize, sell tickets and spin it at sometime during the night. This year all the money, including a match from a local foundation, was used to package over 70,000 (? typing from memory and both 40 and 70 stick in my mind) meals with an eye towards relief in Haiti. When we started this our club was very small and we hired out almost everything, now, as the club has grown, we do a lot ourselves. In 2005 we ran our fundraiser at the same time as our fundraiser for tsunami relief and the combined total was in excess of $85,000.00 with about 23 members involved.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Spring Training is not just for Baseball!
In the course of the past month I have taken part in three training programs and still have one to go. On February 6th we had pre-PETS. The purpose of this training date is to get information into the hands of the PEs and Incoming AGs that will not be presented at the Multi District PETS. As DGND, I joined the DGN and DGE to present the district program.
On February 20th we had our District Leadership Training Seminar. The same group of presenters, plus the District Trainer and District Webmaster presented to all incoming district leadership people. This included chairpersons, the tri-level AGs and Governor corps. The purpose was to lay out the game plan for the next year but we also covered a lot of what we had covered two weeks prior and since the Incoming AGs were at both sessions there was concern over the repetition. The DGN is talking about combining those two events next year which may be the answer.
Finally, on March 4-6 we had our Multi District PETS. Over 220 PEs and AGs from Florida attended. I arrived in Orlando Wednesday evening as I had an early morning meeting on Thursday. All 8 DGNDs served as Sgts. at Arms and did our best to keep things running smoothly.
I attended our last District Pets a few years ago, and the first Multi District PETS. There is no comparison. Getting together as a state allows us to bring in some really first rate presenters and speakers and the fellowship that develops between districts is great. I met all my "Classmates" the DGs of 2012-2013 and we got to know each other pretty well.
A couple changes this year. All the PEs and AGs received small homework assignments from PETS to be completed prior to PETS. The purpose of them was to put everyone on a level playing field by bringing new Rotarians up to speed with established Rotarians. You might have a PE that has been in Rotary just a couple months and another with twenty years experience. If you teach to the level of the new Rotarian the experienced Rotarian will be bored to tears - so they came up with these homework assignments so the newbies could have a leg up. We are still waiting for the evaluations to be compiled but the verbal remarks were favorable.
Antoher change was making the DGNDs the Sgt. at Arms. In previous years that was the DGNs jobs but by passing it down another level to us guys, the DGNs were able to take part in the program instead. Great idea!
The biggest change that effected me was the inclusion of the DGNDs in PETS planning. Florida PETS is actually incorporated. It has an executive committee and a board of directors. The BOD is comprised of the DGNs or incoming DGEs, whichever way you want to view it. They meet 5 times a year, four in Orlando and once at the Zone Conference. They are the final say in how their PETS will be run. The executive committee makes suggestions and points out any potential problems, but the BOD runs there own PETS. The DGNDs had a meeting with the incoming president of the executive committee and received copies of the articles of incorporation, constitution and bylaws along with a briefing on how PETS works. We were then allowed to sit in on the BOD meeting to see it in action. Further, we will be on Linkedin and able to watch the boards work between meetings. We do not participate or comment, but it should be an excellent way to watch and learn.
Next up is our District Assembly on April 10th. It is at that meeting that my nomination will be validated by the district membership, at least I hope it will. I will have a couple functions at the assembly. My year class of AGs are AGs for Membership and Service, so I, along with the incoming Membership Chairman, will be presenting a membership breakout session. Also, as I am still chair of the Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee, I will be giving a brief presentation on that program as well.
As you can see throughout this blog, since my nomination on November 21st I have been kept quite busy. Our current DG still works full time. I don't know how he does it. My suggestion would be to carefully weigh the time commitment before aspiring to this position. Even being semi-retired I find my days pretty full.
That's it for today. I need to form a habit of blogging every day so I don't have to catch up as much. I'll work on that.
On February 20th we had our District Leadership Training Seminar. The same group of presenters, plus the District Trainer and District Webmaster presented to all incoming district leadership people. This included chairpersons, the tri-level AGs and Governor corps. The purpose was to lay out the game plan for the next year but we also covered a lot of what we had covered two weeks prior and since the Incoming AGs were at both sessions there was concern over the repetition. The DGN is talking about combining those two events next year which may be the answer.
Finally, on March 4-6 we had our Multi District PETS. Over 220 PEs and AGs from Florida attended. I arrived in Orlando Wednesday evening as I had an early morning meeting on Thursday. All 8 DGNDs served as Sgts. at Arms and did our best to keep things running smoothly.
I attended our last District Pets a few years ago, and the first Multi District PETS. There is no comparison. Getting together as a state allows us to bring in some really first rate presenters and speakers and the fellowship that develops between districts is great. I met all my "Classmates" the DGs of 2012-2013 and we got to know each other pretty well.
A couple changes this year. All the PEs and AGs received small homework assignments from PETS to be completed prior to PETS. The purpose of them was to put everyone on a level playing field by bringing new Rotarians up to speed with established Rotarians. You might have a PE that has been in Rotary just a couple months and another with twenty years experience. If you teach to the level of the new Rotarian the experienced Rotarian will be bored to tears - so they came up with these homework assignments so the newbies could have a leg up. We are still waiting for the evaluations to be compiled but the verbal remarks were favorable.
Antoher change was making the DGNDs the Sgt. at Arms. In previous years that was the DGNs jobs but by passing it down another level to us guys, the DGNs were able to take part in the program instead. Great idea!
The biggest change that effected me was the inclusion of the DGNDs in PETS planning. Florida PETS is actually incorporated. It has an executive committee and a board of directors. The BOD is comprised of the DGNs or incoming DGEs, whichever way you want to view it. They meet 5 times a year, four in Orlando and once at the Zone Conference. They are the final say in how their PETS will be run. The executive committee makes suggestions and points out any potential problems, but the BOD runs there own PETS. The DGNDs had a meeting with the incoming president of the executive committee and received copies of the articles of incorporation, constitution and bylaws along with a briefing on how PETS works. We were then allowed to sit in on the BOD meeting to see it in action. Further, we will be on Linkedin and able to watch the boards work between meetings. We do not participate or comment, but it should be an excellent way to watch and learn.
Next up is our District Assembly on April 10th. It is at that meeting that my nomination will be validated by the district membership, at least I hope it will. I will have a couple functions at the assembly. My year class of AGs are AGs for Membership and Service, so I, along with the incoming Membership Chairman, will be presenting a membership breakout session. Also, as I am still chair of the Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee, I will be giving a brief presentation on that program as well.
As you can see throughout this blog, since my nomination on November 21st I have been kept quite busy. Our current DG still works full time. I don't know how he does it. My suggestion would be to carefully weigh the time commitment before aspiring to this position. Even being semi-retired I find my days pretty full.
That's it for today. I need to form a habit of blogging every day so I don't have to catch up as much. I'll work on that.
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