Issue 1 July Russ Hobbs, District Governor A NEW ROTARY YEAR. that is what will be remembered.

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1 Issue 1 July 2006 Russ Hobbs, District Governor A NEW ROTARY YEAR Mary Ann and I got to hear Rotary International President William Boyd address my fellow District Governors in San Diego, where he outlined his vision of the year. He asked us to Lead the Way by seeing the needs of our communities and addressing them. He told us to look at the broader international picture and to LEAD THE WAY to a safer, healthier, and fairer world, through our own efforts and through our example to others. District District Governor Russ Hobbs (Russ & Mary Ann) Sunnyvale Rotary RussHobbs@allstate.com Bill said that Rotary is about showing the world the better way. It s about making a promise to our communities that we will be the kind of people who listen before we speak, who think before we act, who value integrity and unselfishness above profit or convenience. Bill said that as Rotarians, we need to think big by expanding our strength through partnerships with other organizations, including governments and major funding organizations. Together we can break through the layers of bureaucracy and corruption that too often exist in the countries with the greatest needs. We work people to people. And we need to think small, remembering that if we lift up the life of one individual, we have done something wonderful. I believe that we are ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS this year as we NAVAGATE the uncharted waters of our Clubs and District. If we do our job well, long after we no longer hold whatever position we now have; the impact will still be felt. If there is clean water in one more village, If a child s life is saved because of the cardiac care unit that we are putting into Peltier General Hospital in Djebouti Africa, If one more child doesn t get polio because of the National Immunization Day that we are participating in this coming November, If someone who was unemployed now has new skills and a job, If our clubs are stronger and more active than they were, If our communities are a better place, that is what will be remembered. As we Lead the Way, let us have a great year full of fellowship and service.

2 Rotary D5170 Newsletter July Page 2 A SPECIAL THANK YOU Our past Rotary year has been one of SWEET BEGININGS with Past District Governor Arleen. Thank you to all the Club Presidents, Assist Governors, District Leadership Team, Lt Gov Angie, and Arleen for giving us such a banner year. Our District continues to LEAD the WAY in so many areas Foundation Giving, Matching Grants, Ambassadorial Scholars, and Interact just to name a few. I hope you will all join Mary Ann and me at the Roast and Toast at Saratoga Springs in Saratoga on July 6 th to celebrate the great year that Arlene and her team had. BRIDGING THE WORLD Bridging the World was the theme for the 97 th Rotary International Convention in Copenhagen Denmark. It was the first hosted by the Nordic region, and the first jointly held in two countries. Mary Ann and I enjoyed the activities at the Bella Center where the opening and closing ceremonies took place, as well as workshops on literacy, water, hunger, and health, membership, foundation and others. Tivoli Day was a special day as 20,000 Rotarians enjoyed the beautiful flowers, the Pantomime Theatre, famous Scandinavian artists, orchestra and fireworks which all contributed to the unique atmosphere in this 160 year old amusement park. The House of Friendship featured Swedish and Danish business, culture and history, as well as Rotary Fellowships and Projects. It also served as the place to meet your friends and plan the day s activities. One of our favorite events was the Brad Howard annual Get Together Sunday night. He always finds a unique place for our friends from Rotary to gather, and this year, the Restaurant Vestauranten was no exception. Originally part of the old meat market, it is located in the heart of the city, within walking distance of Tivoli Gardens, and it has been carefully restored, to keep the high ceilings and exposed beams. The dinner was sumptuous, the fellowship wonderful, and Brad again Led the Way.

3 Rotary D5170 Newsletter July Page 3 ROTARY FAMILY DAY WITH THE A s Saturday - July 29, 2006 Come one, come all, to the new and improved Rotary Family Day with the A s. This is an opportunity to come to Russ Hobbs first district wide event, and it is strictly fun, except for the important business of funding RYLA, which requires no work other than buying tickets and coming to the ballgame. There will be no training, no meetings, no deadlines (except for buying tickets), no agendas, no notes being taken, and the only requirement is to enjoy the company of your fellow Rotarians and guests. We will be showcasing a few of the Rotary Fellowships this year, of which there are more than 87, and Suzi Blackman will be organizing this presentation at the tailgate party. Donna Brown will be heading up the tailgate party this year. There will be an A s player signing autographs about an hour before the game. Parking lot opens for tailgate parties at 10:30 a.m. (at the latest). The tailgate party will be on the Southeast side again the same as last year. Tickets are $26 Field level, $18 Plaza level and $14 Plaza Outfield level. Every ticket yields a minimum of $6 to RYLA. We have contests (per capita) for most tickets sold by a club, with first prize, a luxury suite for up to 24 guests at a future game, second prize, 4 Field level tickets and a pre-game batting practice visit for a future game, and third prize, an autographed baseball. The winners can use the prizes or raffle them off for another good cause. Our goal is to sell 2006 tickets in Go to the District 5170 Website to download the information and order form, fill them out, write the check and send it to Bob Dubro ASAP. The best tickets go first come - first served, and that means a filled out order form with an accompanying check at Dr. Dubro s office! Go A s, Go RYLA!

4 Rotary D5170 Newsletter July Page 4 THE MEMBERSHIP CHALLENGE You re the new President, the person who is expected to perform the miracles this year for your club. Your Job: make the meetings interesting, oversee the committees, be the leader, and increase the Membership! And, you have the gift to do these things. This is why the club selected you for that position. Del Blaylock District 5170 Membership Chair If you want your club, which is already a good club because it is Rotary, to be a Great Club, you ll need to increase your Membership. Why? Rotary is in the business of Creating Miracles, and in order to do that, We need more Rotarians! Some Presidents just try to hold on - at least not lose members. I don t want to be the President who ended the year with less than we started, they often comment. Being a Club President is like the game of golf. Golf is a mind game. You who play know that when you come to the water hole, you ve been hitting them straight all game, but your mind says, water, and when you program your shot to fear that water, what do you do? Splash! If you program your mind to think Membership Development, you ll see a big plus at the end of your year. I had a Greek Language Teacher in college who was famous for saying, He can, who thinks he can! Great words to live by. Start concentrating on Membership Development Now! Show your club by example that Membership Development is one on one. If you and your board set the example now, and kick off your year with some new members, you ll see it grow more and more. I ve been in Rotary eight years, and each year I have brought in at least two members per year. I do it simply. I target individuals who will be good Rotarians, and simply say to them, What service club do you belong? The answer is one of two things. What s a service Club? or Nobody has ever ask me! When they say that, I immediately say, Well, I m asking and I ll pick you up on Tuesday, at 11:45 am, that is when we meet, and you can be my special guest and see what Rotary is all about. I never talk about someday you should attend, I talk about now! Keep Membership in front of your club and help your members feel the responsibility to develop and help your club grow. When they bring in a new member, they feel good about themselves. They are saying to the club and the community, I m sold on Rotary, and I want you to be a part of that service! We are planning a special Membership Development Seminar on Tuesday, July 18, at 6:30 PM at St Rose Hospital in Hayward for those in the northern part of the district. For those in the southern area, on Thursday July 20, at 6:30 PM at the Double Tree in San Jose. These meetings are necessary for Presidents, Membership Chairs, and Membership Committee Members. As District Membership Chair, I want to be helpful to you in developing your club. If you need me for a presentation before your club on Membership, simply me at gneedle@aol.com. Or my cell, (510) You can help make this a great year for Rotary!

5 Rotary D5170 Newsletter July Page 5 SMALL CLUB MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT To develop a successful Rotary Membership Program, the Membership Chair and his/her committee must consider a four part program: Darrell Monda Past President Los Gatos Morning Rotary 1. Identification of possible members recruited from either the current members, or potential members from the community which the Rotary Club resides in. 2. Inviting the prospective member to have breakfast or lunch with the club and introducing him or her at the meeting. 3. After the second visit, assigning a club member to be a sponsor and then taking time to explain the membership packet. Most Clubs do the first three However, forget the first three parts of the program and develop #4: A strong club image that attracts prospective members to the club. Prospective members want to be part of something fun and exciting, and that makes the job of meeting your clubs membership goals much easier. The Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club was formed in the summer of 2003 with 15 key members who in one way or another all knew each other from local town activities, including 3 members from the Los Gatos Rotary Club for which a breakfast meeting was more convenient for them to attend. Our first main project was to host a free community jazz concert series and that became our branding focus, The Cool Cats of Los Gatos. One of our members created an image of a cat which wore dark sunglasses and was playing a saxophone. This was embroidered onto orange hats which all the members wore. We used the concerts to identify potential members. We handed out brochures and talked about the benefits of being a Rotary Member. We talked about why you should join a club which was equal males to females and younger in age than your fathers Rotary Club. We also talked about how you ll be joining a club which was dedicated to raising money for both international projects and local projects benefiting community programs. From this identification of possible members, we then invited them to meet with us on Wednesday morning. We assigned them a sponsor and began the process of membership development. We stressed the fact that we were stray cats uniting, and cool cats forever. This cool cat image had a strong appeal to our prospects. We positioned ourselves as a different kind of service club - full of energy and able to take on new and exciting projects. And we did just that for the first year. We began the second year with 32 members. At the beginning of our third year we had 51 members, and as of June 30 th of our third year, we will have 65 members. The Jazz on the Plazz concert series is now heading into its fourth year starting on July 19 th and we re ready to start a new membership recruitment program. We have new brochures printed and a bill board that show the benefits of Rotary membership and the time and place where we meet. During the concert series, we talk about Rotary membership and invite whomever to come to join us at our breakfast meetings. In addition to Jazz on the Plazz, we held another outstanding fund raising event called Claws for a Cause. This event attracted over 1,000 people for an all-youcan-eat lobster dinner. The claw was featured three times in the local papers, resulting in people hitting our web site looking for more information about our Club. The message to the prospective member: We are a small but exciting club who does great things for your community and the world, and have fun doing it!

6 Rotary D5170 Newsletter July Page 6 DISTRICT CALENDAR OF EVENTS JULY 5 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose 6 Roast & Toast, Saratoga Springs 8 Charter Night Gilroy Sunrise-Eagle Ridge Golf Course 11 The Rotary Foundation Seminar-North, St. Rose Hospital, Hayward 13 The Rotary Foundation Seminar-South, Doubletree, San Jose 18 Membership Seminar-North, St. Rose Hospital, Hayward 20 Membership Seminar-South, Doubletree, San Jose 29 Day at the A s AUGUST MEMBERSHIP 2 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose 5 Zone Membership/Foundation Training, Los Banos SEPTEMBER VOCATIONAL SERVICE 6 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose 27 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose OCTOBER INTERNATIONAL SERVICE 13 Coaniquem Fundraiser- Blackhawk Partners in Rotary Service club visits 19 Avenue of Service-Hayward 29-Nov. 8 West Africa Projects Fair/African Immunization Trip NOVEMBER THE ROTARY FOUNDATION 1 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose DECEMBER YOUTH SERVICE 6 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose (Rotary Foundation Drawing) SAVE THE DATES APRIL District Conference - You Otter Be There Monterey, California JUNE RI Convention Salt Lake City