MEETING RECAP - 1st of October 2018
Submitted by Will Arscott and incorporating notes by President Paul Gauthier
Our First Official ‘Discussion Meeting’
This week we tried a new format and had a discussion meeting. The tables in the room were laid out in a rectangle to facilitate discussion. We had eighteen regular members and one prospective member present. President Paul started the meeting right on time and we were into happy and sad dollars before your scribe had arrived.
Cashier - Wayne McGillivray
Set-up - Al Morton & Wayne McGillivray
Grace - Steve Wilson
O Canada was not led by Wayne McGillivray and was not sung. This was raised later in the meeting and it was decided that O Canada would be part of meetings in this format.
Happy and Sad Dollars
It had been agreed that this meeting should have some element of fellowship so while there was no sergeant we did do happy and sad dollars early in the meeting while people were eating. Given the size of our group and the table we were able to go around and give everyone a chance to be happy or sad
Your scribe needed to eat so there was no attempt to record all the happy and sad dollars. Overall we seemed to be quite an agreeable group. There were all the regular happy dollars for our football teams. Jack Brodsky put in an appropriate sad dollar for the amount the of the crop that remains in the fields in this wet weather.
Announcements
Jack Brodsky read a letter on the proposed administrative amalgamation of the five Saskatoon Rotary Clubs. This project has been put on hold for the time being. A great deal of work was done in this area and hopefully, it will not have been in vain. The proposal had gone to a vote and further exploration had been approved by all five clubs.
There are issues raised in the process that need to be addressed before any amalgamation could occur. Rotary thanks Nutana member Joe Dierker for his work on summarizing these issues. Joe identified thee issues that would need to be addressed prior to an amalgamation:
1. The structure of each of the clubs would need to be reviewed. In many cases, the club’s by-laws are out of date or not being followed. In view of the open liability, the members of most clubs face this should be addressed.
2. With the exception of Nutana, the Rotary clubs in Saskatoon are not incorporated. Our club has an incorporated structure created in the early years of RAP but we are not using this structure to hold our projects. The problem is that, without incorporation members may be jointly and severally responsible for any debts or judgments incurred by a project. This is not a problem until it is a problem. With amalgamation, we could face even larger liabilities as individual members.
3. CRA registration as Charities. Only Nutana and our club are fully registered charities the other clubs are partially registered or not registered at all. Charitable status could be threatened in an amalgamation with un-registered clubs.
Joe’s advice is that these three problems need to be addressed before any amalgamation could proceed. Jack has promised to make the letter available to members.
Discussion of Meeting Formats:
Here your scribe yields to the notes of President Paul. The editor’s notes will appear in italics.
The following format for a discussion session meeting was approved with the addition of singing O Canada
O Canada
Grace
Happy/Sad dollars – to retain an element of fellowship in this format
Discussion of agenda items/topics
Source of agenda item and explanation of why it is of concern or interest
Discussion points - Sharing of thoughts and suggestions
Conclusions and consensus
Action plan: what; who; when; where
Suggestion(s) for future agenda topics
[Discussion meetings would not necessarily have to take place at noon or include a meal. Possibly we could try one in the evening at the Saskatoon Club. Many items such as World Community Service Projects could be addressed in either a regular meeting format or in a discussion meeting format depending on which was thought to be more appropriate.]
Topic # 1 – Future meetings: Format rotation and frequency
Source: Regular meeting discussion September 10, 2018
Why: Concern about value to members of only the formal meeting format
Discussion points:
Four formats currently suggested:
Formal meeting; discussion session; volunteer activity; social, other?
Frequency of Rotary member meetings – regardless of format
4 times per month; 3 times a month; 2 times a month
Frequency of each meeting format per year (36 meetings per year)
Formal meetings? per year
Discussion sessions? per year
Volunteer activity? times per year
Social gatherings? times per year
Conclusions:
The four suggested formats were adopted. Other formats will be considered if brought forward in the future.
Frequency of Rotary member meetings
Two regularly scheduled meetings per month, plus occasional additional special gatherings for hands-on activities and socials.
Regularly scheduled meetings to be a combination of speakers and discussion sessions. Discussion sessions may include: club assembly, vocational talks, directors'
reports, and other rotary related matters.
Actions – The program schedule for the second half of the Rotary year (January to June 2019) to be prepared consistent with the above conclusions. Board of Directors and Program Director will report on this before the end of December 2018.
If we meet each week we would have about 36 meetings in a year. If we met three times per month we would have about 27 meetings per year. If we only have two meetings we would be down to maybe 18 meetings per year. There was considerable discussion:
Al Morton - it is common for newer Rotary Clubs to have only two meetings per month.
Jack Brodsky - we can have formal/discussion meetings and other opportunities to serve. He might favour two meetings and one service/social event per month.
Peter Whitenect - two meetings per month are quite adequate.
Mark Gryba - two luncheon meetings per month using regular and discussion formats then look for another six to ten hands-on opportunities to serve per year.
Peter Zakreski - if we are to reduce the number of meetings then the dates of the meetings need to be firm well in advance so people can put them in their calendars.
Will Arscott - there are problems with reducing the number of meetings. People do not book a particular time in their week for Rotary. If they have to miss a meeting it can then be a long break between meetings. This does not mean we shouldn’t reduce our meetings only that we need to be aware of these problems.
Wayne Storozuk - are getting the meetings online a possibility either at the time of the meeting or on a time-shift basis?
Jack Brodsky - the internet could be good particularly if it could be interactive. Jack was thinking of our members who are away south through periods of the year.
Dave Sundby - most of our meetings should be formal and incorporate things like Rotary vocational talks. Discussion meetings should occur as needed.
Huey-Ming Tseng challenged us, quite rightly, about what this means in terms of our desire to attract new members. She asked whether it was possible to use the change in meeting formats to make the club more attractive to potential members.
Peter Whitenect - We have better meetings with better quest speakers but our numbers are so far down that it is difficult to justify getting major speakers. He asked if other clubs would combine to create a better audience for a key speaker. It was indicated that there was little interest in this at the President’s council.
Topic #2 – Potential local Hands-on projects
Source: Comments and literature indicate that Rotary members, Friends of Rotary; and potential members perceive great value in being able to tangibly give back to their community. Having a list of current and potential hands-on projects to pursue when capacity allows would serve our Club well to engage all members and provide an immediate answer to potential Club members/Friends of Rotary when they ask: How can I get involved?
Discussion points:
List of current hands-on projects
Interest from current members and Friends of Rotary to engage in local hands-on projects
Brainstorming on potential hands-on projects
Priority listing of suggested hands-on projects
Conclusions
Friendship Inn meal preparation and serving will occur no more than two times per year
Interact Club idea was supported; provided we can get Rotary members to step forward. Need two or three members per Interact Club. Open to all five Rotary Clubs.
Resurrect “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” social
New members welcome to bring forward projects of interest to them.
Clean-up projects (Rotary Park, highways)
Actions
Referred to Board of Directors for assignment.
There was considerable interest in more hands-on projects. Some examples came forward. Other initiatives were discussed including bringing back events like ‘Guess who is coming to dinner perhaps including members from other clubs.
Dave Sundby spoke about people who have their own projects (either global or local) and how we attract them to our club. He suggested we create a strategy to attract such people.
Other items discussed
Pavilion Status
Ken Wilson, our architect, has decided to change firms requested to do structural reviews. Previous contact had not progressed at all over the last 8 months. Should have all structural approval completed by end of October 2018. We can then move on to costing; seeking out in-kind sponsors; formal approvals from City and MVA; and public consultation. Would like to start construction in spring 2019.
Video meetings – Wayne Storozuk indicated that a potential new member may be able to provide this service. Further report required. [If the meetings were available in an electronic format it would be appropriate to re-think the Rotateller in its current format.]
Adjournment
