With quite a few apologies but nevertheless with full tables we welcomed our first meeting for April. PE Chris Muir was kind enough to step in as a Chairman at a short notice and orchestrated both the Regular and the Extraordinary General Meeting. Our financial reports for both the Club and the PAF for the 2016/2017 financial year are approved and ready to be filed. Sergeant-at-Arms Luke made sure there is something to report in this year's reports as well.
I started my report during the meeting with a negative news only to make way for all the positive ones that came after. The project application that I wrote for 2017/18 Brisbane City Council Community Development and Capacity Building Grants Scheme was not approved. I must admit that my efforts to get some non-Rotary-traditional funds in the Club so far go in vain. Nevertheless, I will keep on trying.
On the positive side, members have reported 344 volunteer hours in March. That is a new record and we confidently went over the 300 benchmark. Given the number and scope of activities that we plan until the end of the year, this achievement can only be improved.
Speaking of achievements, I received the 2017 Red Frogs Impact Report with a "Thank you!" note for our Club support. Printouts were made available to members during our regular meeting. It is an amazing achievement which can only get better with our support in 2018. The Red Frogs CEO, Andy Gourley, will provide us with further detail during the Club Changeover meeting on the 25th of June.
We are also progressing with the organisation of the Club 95th anniversary. It may not happen at 100% the way we want it mainly because the Brisbane Lord Mayor is quite busy but all other planned activities seem achievable. In that relation I received an English version of the Virtual reality drink/drug-driving software which shall make it easier to use. So far I was testing a Dutch version.
Two reminders on other ongoing work:
Jayani, our strategy advisor, should have been in contact with you. Please, assist her as much as you can! We are trying to get every perspective in our Strategy document. I am aware that majority of members have already met her or communicated with her their views in writing. I understand that 1.5 hours for the in-person interview is a considerable commitment. If you are unable to spare that amount of time for a personal meeting, a telephone option is available. Alternatively, you can get the questions in writing and attend to them at your convenience. Please, let her know what would suit you best! As a reminder of the topic, the 4th video from the Ideas Factory was shown to attending members on the 9th.
James Delahunty is working hard organising his Testimonial Lunch. He even got media coverage in the New Farm Village News. Printouts were made available to members during our regular meeting. Please, give him a hand if you can!
During the April 9th meeting we inducted Jaqueline De Lacy. Here is her short bio:
Jaqueline De Lacy was born and raised in northern Zululand, South Africa. She achieved her Bachelor’s degree in Social Science at the University of Kwa-Zulu/Natal in Pietermaritzburg where she majored in psychology, law and socializing. After university, Jaqui worked in Durban for a few years before deciding to take two years off to complete a circumnavigation in a 40 foot catamaran with her father and sister. The 18 month voyage was cut short for Jaqui when she was forced to abandon the last 3 months and the Indian Ocean crossing due to a dodgy appendix.
Back on land in South Africa, Jaqui worked for a short while in a number of finance roles and then in London before to emigrating to Australia in 2006 where Jaqui has worked for Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Bank of Queensland.
Service has always been a part of Jaqui’s life, an enthusiastic Brownie, Girl Guide and Young Leader she was awarded the Empangeni Town Council award for Altruism, the School trophy for the most Public Spirited Pupil and was chosen to represent the Rotary Club of Empangeni as an exchange student to Argentina in 1992. At university Jaqui volunteered at the Hilltops Children’s Home working with pre-school children and while living in Sydney volunteered at a community café in Redfern. Since moving to Brisbane she has felt the lack of social connection and involvement in her life and is looking forward to being an active member of the Rotary Club of Brisbane.
Welcome to the Club, Jaqui!
Two items related to District 9600:
I received an update on the District 9600 trees planting project. The planting is confirmed to take place on the 28th of April at John Sprent Reserve. Target is to plant 1414 trees. It is Dan Adler and myself from the Club who registered to take part.
As advised by Mark Williams the registrations for the 2018 District 9600 Conference close on Wednesday 11th April. The Conference will take place at Maroochydore from 20th to 22nd of April. I personally won't be able to participate because I am travelling abroad and will not attend the next two meetings. PP Graeme Whitmore has kindly agreed to wear the President's chains while I am away.
We had Denise Schellbach as our "Member in the spot light" on the 9th of April. Jacqui Page will be the next one to speak on the 16th of April. One should not miss the opportunity!
Chair for the day was PP Chris Muir who led the membership in Rotary grace and toasts.
First item for the meeting was President Daniel's address. Daniel noted apologies from James Delahunty and Robyn Burridge and welcomed guest Sanjeev Pandey who is having a look at the RCoB. Full text of Daniel's address is shown above.
At the end of his address, Pres Daniel had the pleasang duty of inducting new member Jaqui De Lacy. Welcome Jaqui and we hope your time with Rotary will be fun and fulfilling!
President Daniel Presents new Rotarian Jaqui De Lacy with her Rotary Welcome Pack
Denise kicked off spots with the worrying news that Rotarian Don O'Donoghue is back in hospital and was not well at all when Denise last spoke to him. Our thoughts are with you , Don, and we all hope that your condition will improve so that we can see you again soon.
Denise also reminded members of the luncheon meeting with Police commissioner Ian Stewart on 14th May. Please RSVP to Denise if you are attending to make sure you get in before it sells out.
Secretary Michael reminded members that the RSVP date for the RCoB Golf Day is coming up soon and appealed for members to register soon. Details HERE.
PE Chris Muir spoke to members about hs recent trip to the waters off Arnhem Land. The trip was great, but the level of plastic pollution was very alarming.
After a short time for fellowship, we were treated to another in the occasional series of "Member in the Spotlight". This time it was Rotarian Denise Schellbach who took the stage. Denise told us about her life as a court reporter, mother, foster mother, philanthropist and boarding house owner. There were inspiring anecdotes such as the time Denise and her family dropped everything and backpacked around the world. This was a bold move that many of us were thinking we should do or should have done, but it takes a decisive person to actually do it. There were also a couple of hilarious anecdotes including a replay of the kind of conversation that could ensue as a result of the fact that people only had to get one digit wrong when dialing a well-known brothel to have the phone answered by Denise at her boarding house. On reflection, the conversations that could have resulted from someone trying to call the boarding house and getting one digit wrong could have been just as funny but are most likely unrecorded except by the special branch.
Member in the Spotlight, Denise Schellbach.
Following Denise's presentation, Sergeant-at-arms Luke collected a few dollars from the assembled plublic before the drawing of the raffle. Peter Ryan was the holder of the ticket drawn, but like the last 40 holders, he could not get the joker. The Raffle jackpot has now exceeded $1200.
The Rotary Club of Brisbane was chartered on the 29th May, 1923. We will be celebrating that event in the Queen Street Mall stage area at 11am on the 28th May with the official handover of a mobile kitchen trailer built with a grant of $30,000 raised by the Rotary Club of Brisbane to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army Emergency Services runs a small fleet of emergency trailers that are positioned around Queensland for early response to natural disasters and other emergency events. Please join us in the Queen Street Mall on the 28th May for this and other celebratory activities.
$30,000 Mobile Kitchen donated by the Rotary Club of Brisbane to the Salvation Army Emergency Services.
This is one of an occasional series of "Clubrunner Corner" articles, and this time I am writing about the power of the Facebook Share.
Besides being the perfect medium for cat videos, keeping up with the grandchildren and political invective, your Facebook profile page has a great power to drive eyeballs to the Rotary Club of Brisbane website, publicise our activities and attract new members.
If you click on a story link in the bulletin or choose "show more"at the bottom of a story on the RCoB home page, you will often see a social media share bar at the bottom. If you then click on the "F" symbol, you will automatically share the story on your own Facebook page. This will put a link to the story and a photograph into the FB feeds of all your Facebook friends, and if one of them clicks on that item, they will be taken to the RCoB website.
Just by sharing the story about the Peace Fellow Seminar, I managed to increase our website traffic on that day by 10 views or 30%.
By Parry Monckton, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia
In early March, members of my club joined the Operation Crayweed team at Mona Vale Beach to restore the denuded reef on the Sydney shore coastline. We decided to help plant a Crayweed forest as part of our unique response to RI President Ian Riseley’s challenge for Rotary members to plant trees around the world. Underwater trees, you see, are just as important, if not more so, to restoring the health and vitality of the world’s oceans.
Time and development have not been kind to the Sydney reefs. Pollution killed off a lot of the Crayweed before better sewage treatment and extended outfalls were put in place in the late 1980s. The quality fo water has improved dramatically. Unfortunately, seaweed forests do not return all by themselves. Enter Operation Crayweed, which has already had great success in eight sites around Sydney. The Mona Vale reef site will be the ninth seaweed forest planted.
Club members gathered, measured, weighed, recorded and observed the quality of marine life on the individual kelp plants. These had been transported there from an earlier collection in the day from well-established reefs south of Sydney. Fifteen healthy plants were then put into each of nine pre numbered labelled green mesh bags then closed and fixed with cable ties. Three scuba divers from the University of New South Wales/Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences of Operation Crayweed (including leader, Dr ‘Ziggy’ Marzinelli and his team) floated them out from the beach to a predetermined reef site and anchored them down with clips and ropes with five preplaced stainless steel anchors to 45 bolts in the reef.
They were placed into about three to four meters of water, which took several. Our members were busily engaged in their scientific activities and sealing the mesh bags and carrying them to waiting divers. After repopulation of the reef, these nets and anchors will be removed.
The sites will now be revisited periodically. The Crayweed ‘forest’ that will emerge in the next 6 to 12 months will gradually take over the reef in coming years allowing the return of crayfish, fish, and all manner of other marine life to restore the natural underwater habitat lost in past years and for future people to enjoy.
Individual plants don’t have the effect a forest will, but clubs or members wishing to help can purchase these underwater “trees” to contribute to a future planting by contacting our club. Look at it as a way of responding to Riseley’s challenge if you wish. There is plenty of shoreline reef off of Sydney in need of restoration. Operation Crayweed will give us periodic updates on the health of the forest of weed.
By Stephanie A. Urchick, chair of Rotary’s Strategic Planning Committee
We are now more than a year into the process of revisiting Rotary’s strategic plan, a process that will allow us to examine our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in order to move the organization in a direction that will allow Rotary to thrive in the years ahead. Our new vision statement is the first lap in that three-year journey.
You may have seen the vision statement and wondered what its relevance is to you. If Rotary were a ship approaching land, our new vision statement would be the lighthouse that keeps us from running aground. Our vision statement explains what we want to achieve, in the same way that our mission statement explains our focus, and our strategic plan represents how we are going to get there.
Strategic planning is a process, not an event. And it is certainly not limited to activity conducted in the board room. Almost 30,000 Rotarians, Rotaractors, and alumni participated in the 2017 triennial strategic planning survey sent out last January. Our strategy office and our consultant partner, Grant Thornton, then conducted countless focus groups, in-depth interviews, and discussions with Rotarians, non-Rotarians, Rotary leaders, alumni, Rotaractors, and others to gather more insight. Over the course of all these sessions, more than one million individuals had an opportunity to provide input.
Out of these focus groups, different elements emerged that were then tested around the world to be sure they were culturally appropriate to both a Rotarian and non-Rotarian audience. These elements became our 24-word vision statement.
“Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”
President-elect Barry Rassin did a masterful job of unpacking the vision statement to incoming district governors and other leaders at the 2018 International Assembly in January. More and more leaders and members are having a chance to see and hear the vision statement and think about how these words reflect the impact we wish to have on the world.
Entering the second year of the process, we will begin to test “priority concepts” that will move Rotary toward our vision statement. These concepts are being tested in every part of the world through additional focus groups, to ensure these concepts resonate in all geographies, all languages, and all cultures. In the third year, the rubber will hit the road. Strategies and tactics will be created and approved, and districts and clubs will be asked to try them and give us feedback.
Why is all this important? Let’s look at Amazon, a great example of the power of strategic planning. Amazon was the very first company to endorse free shipping. Amazon, researchers have noted, rose to power not by inventing a new product or service, but by analyzing the entire industry and making multiple moves into the future, much like a chess game.
Our three year-process allows for many checkpoints along the way to determine if we are still on the right track, if external or internal aspects have changed, and if a response to these changes requires altering our trajectory. When the strategic plan finally rolls out two years from now, there will be more than one million people who — because they had input — can say, “I helped shape that plan.”
What would we like you to do? Share the vision statement with your fellow club members. Think about what it means to your club. And look for opportunities to give your input into our strategic planning process. Help us chart a course for taking action to create lasting change.
President Daniel Vankov
Secretary Michael Stephens
Treasurer Warren Walker
President Elect Chris Muir
Imm. Past President Graeme Whitmore
Sergeant-at-arms Luke Marshall
The Rotary Club of Brisbane Inc.
ABN 75 152 438 499
GPO BOX 2909 Brisbane Qld 4001
District 9600
Club Number 17787
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