The District Nominating Committee

Our District Nominating Committee is made up of representatives from all eleven areas and it's purpose is to select future District Governors. It is preferable, but not necessary, for the individual to be a Past Assistant Governor so they understand a little more clearly both the responsibilities of being a District Governor and the leadership skills required to be successful in that position.

The position is appointed for three years. Each year either three or four members will rotate off the committee and their replacements selected. Also, if anyone can not or does not fulfill their obligation to the committee, they are replaced.

You guessed it. It is the District Governor Nominee's job to do this. This year three members rotated off naturally but an additional four had to be replaced as well. Two had to withdraw and they selected someone from their area to sit in their chair for that day only. One had moved out of her area into another where there was already a representative. One did not show up. This was a first, an anomaly, but I ended up having to choose replacements for seven areas. The four that were finishing cycles I had to replace for either one or two years. The three natural rotations I had to replace with a full three year term.

I sent my ideas out to the Governor Corps and asked for their input and ended up with a good group consisting of all Past AGs or at least in the AG Tri Level currently. So far five of the seven have accepted. I am still waiting to hear from the other two.

I often refer to this as the single most important day in district committee work so I tried very hard to choose candidates that would take the job very seriously. The DGE was most helpful in one case where I had chosen a candidate that would do a good job, but there was some uncertainty as to her future availability. The DGE suggested a couple others, both were excellent ideas that I have overlooked so a possible problem was averted by selecting one of those two. The rest were received well.

This is the reason for this blog. There are so many things that your are responsible for at each governor level, but there is no document listing it. I mean you can look up the Governor's Training Manual online, but the district specific items aren't there or anywhere else. When my journey is over, or perhaps after each year, I think I will revisit my blog and just create a list of responsibilities that I learned about only after being selected.

A Slow Week?

The past eleven days have seen the DGN doing the following:

I was the speaker at the DG's club. The subject was TRF so it was easy for me and required very little prep time, just printed out some TRF Direct and Benefactor forms for handouts.

My wife and I attended three club fundraisers. Two were very large with multiple food and wine vendors, live music, etc. The third was rather unique in that the club charged $5 for a copy paper size box of documents to be shredded. They had a shredding truck on the premises and you could watch through a window and see your documents being destroyed. Pretty cool. We actually paid them double because it was worth that for us to clean house a bit and this little club does really nice things so the money was well spent.

At our club meeting I picked up dictionaries for an elementary school near my home. Our district gives dictionaries to all the third graders. My wife and I handle the school nearest us. This year they have seven third grade classes. We go into each classroom and show the kids the different parts of the book. There is a section on presidents, states, the constitution, etc. and, what the kids like best, is the longest word in the English language. Inside the front cover we stick a book plate from our club, signed by a club member, with a line for the student to put their name. For some kids, this is there very first book.

I attended the monthly board meeting of Rotary's Camp Florida which is getting ready for a capital campaign. The organizational/kick off meeting will be in a couple weeks.

My wife and I were invited to a VIP reception the evening before one of the fundraisers. It was very pleasant with light jazz, live, heavy hors d'oeuvres and a wine tasting. We bit on a couple live auction items but were not successful. (However at their silent auction the day of the even we took home 5 items and made a real dent in our discretionary spending account...lol.

As part of the District Training team I have two presentations to prepare, one on the tri level leadership model our district uses, the other on running a successful club. This week I completed the draft, including PowerPoint presentation for the tri-level part. I have two weeks to complete the other one. This is one of the more difficult exercises but I have been collecting best practices and will put them to good use here.

This was the week I selected Rotarian's to sit on the District Nominating Committee but I will make a separate post for that item.

The time since my last post seemed rather slow, Rotary wise, until I checked out my calendar and started to update this blog. I guess there was a lot accomplished even though it didn't seem like it. I am enjoying this journey a lot but it certainly is a very large commitment with regards to time and resources.

International Convention - New Orleans

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the International Convention. Our Zone Director's excellent idea of having class hospitality rooms at Zone Institute paid off big time. My classmates are actively participating in planning a reunion for us in New Orleans. Is that cool or what? Looks like it will be on Sunday. I am sure I will have updates as the time draws nearer but my wife and I are registered and have our rooms.

We Have A New DGND!!!!! It has been a year already!

I find it so hard to believe but it has been a year since I started this journey. Now, I am no longer the lowest rung on the DG ladder. I was very pleased to see a friend of mine selected this year. When we had discussed running for DG it was to be he followed by me in our dreams - we reversed the order but this is very, very cool.

I sat in with the nominating committee. The chair and the three people in the Governor Corps are non voting members of the committee. One representative from each of our eleven areas votes for the DGND after the interviews.

This year was a bit odd. I thought my friend was a very clear cut victor - was I biased? I really don't think so as the DGE and Committee Chair also had him as a clear winner. Still, there was spirited conversation amongst the voting members, and the non voting members.

I feel the best person was selected. As I have tried to keep this blog pretty anonymous, I will not mention his name but "You know who you are - Congratulations!"

Monthly Recap

Boy, I am not good at keeping this blog current. I have two years and eight months to get better - maybe longer if I delve into PDGland.

So what has gone on this past month?

On October 8th I attended the dinner for discussion leader for the Rotary Leadership Institute and the next day facilitated session for TRF and Membership.

After a week at my factory in Wisconsin I returned in time to spend some time at our club exhibit at Bay Fest, a fun, food, craft etc. annual program. Great fun.

On October 18th I picked up our Ambassadorial Scholar from Nigeria and took her to a club meeting. Nothing but fun. She is incredible.

After our club meeting and a new member induction on the 19th, the 20th found me at a meeting of our District Training Team.

A quick trip to California to visit my brother was followed by an appearance at a local club's fundraiser kick off gathering for sponsors and VIPs on October 28th.

Picked up my new car on the 29th. I only mention this because I wonder how many miles we will put on together during the 39 month lease. I cannot imagine.

Monday, November 1st brought me to Rotary's Camp Florida for a Governance Committee Meeting.

November 2nd found me at another District Training Team meeting. I have three major projects. I have to rewrite the AG tri level leadership criteria, complete with flow charts and scenarios. I also have to create Power Point Presentations for the Tri Level Leadership plan and Running effective club meetings for part of Pre PETS. I have three weeks to complete these tasks. Plus I have to do a TRF presentation at our Governor's club on November 12th. I am cool with TRF so it will not be an issue, still, I have to do some planning.

I know it looks like a lot of work, but I am enjoying every moment so far. My DGE has included me on every step, I have attended all her PETS meetings, I have taken an active role in her leadership training. This is so great because the transition from her year to mine will be totally seamless - something I will do with my successor as well.