I don't normally write messages in the bulletin, but this issue is a little different from past issues, so I thought some explanation might be in order.
This issue is prepared on a trial version of the Clubrunner application. If it works, out preparing bulletins this way offers a number of benefits:
While the platform does not offer quite as many bells and whistles as the platform I have been using to date, it still has more than I can use effectively. On this score, I declare parity.
This platform is less cantankerous than what I have been using, and ity seems it cuts down bulletin editing time by up to half. Furthermore, it requires considerably less IT expertise to use than the system I have been using to date.
This solution offers simultaneous publishing by email and on the web. No more laborious uploading of bulletins to the web.
I am hoping that the size of the emails that hit your inbox will shrink appreciably.
As always, however, the customer is always right. Bulletins still need to display adequately across many platforms - more than I can test by myself. Please let me know if you have any problems reading this bulletin, because this feedback is vital to coming the correct decision as to whether we should continue with the clubrunner platform.
We had another unusual day at the Club on the 12th of February, second in a row. (RE)Launching "Member is the spot light" was very successful and Dan Adler blew the minds of the audience with what "next Thursday" is doing for its clients. I am convinced that every current member should be given that opportunity. Please, note that Dan:
Put the presentation and content bar very high but there is no expectation that future presenters comply with such high standards.
Promised $1,000 to Rotary Brisbane for every referral accepted to do business with but there is no expectation for such a commitment.
If a member would like to take the opportunity, please, let me know! I will assign an appropriate meeting on first come first served basis. Members can propose up to three preferred dates and I will try to respect the preference unless someone else was assigned to a date earlier.
Chair on the 12th was Wal Bishop. It was nice to see him back in action after seven weeks of Christmas holiday. Wal welcomed Professor Narelle Haworth as our guest speaker. Narelle is the Director of CARRS-Q, the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety-Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and she introduced us to quite a few problematic issues that autonomous (driverless) cars face or will face. After having Dan explain us how he explores hypes, it was great to hear Narelle telling us how research tries to burst some in regards to obvious shortcomings. She did get members thinking despite that some of us tend to “know it all” and she received a memento from our Chair the effort and contribution.
As a hands-on example of how CARRS-Q does research I also brought an invitation to Club members to participate in one. So if you have a child who is in high school grade 10, 11 or 12 or graduated in past year 2016/2017 you can participate in a focus group and get a $20 petrol voucher. Let me know if you want to give it a try and I will pass contacts to the CARRS-Q researches that asked me to spread the word.
Some last week's Club business in single sentences:
Eddie's Van where most of our almost 600 volunteer hours during the past two months come from is featured in Rotary Down Under, page 31.
The Club information folder was sent to QUT Business School for our Ideas Factory.
James Delahunty's Testimonial lunch banner is ready, looks awesome and is due to soon replace the International Women's breakfast one in our signatures.
The International Women's breakfast is coming soon so we may cancel the Club regular meeting on the 26th.
Now a couple in more than one sentence:
Last Wednesday I met Michael Evans, PP of Rotary Club of Brisbane Mid-city. The Solomon Islands project he is trying to push forward with the Kyeema Foundation looks promising. My advice to him was to split the required funding in three and speak in person to three of the Cluster Clubs, incl. ours which he already did, to adopt one third each. I personally see an opportunity for a good District grant application where we will have to put forward $3K and ask for another $6K. Furthermore, the direction is well aligned with PE Chris Muir's priorities for next year.
Clean up Australia Day is on the 4th of March. Rotarian Terry Kung proposed that the Club joins in cleaning Hamilton Reach. The instruction is: Go to the "Clean up Australia Day" website, select "Join a clean up site" and then insert the name Hamilton Reach into the right hand search bar! You then simply click on the "Join" button and provide your personal info to complete registration. I know that Keith and Michael have tested and succeeded in joining so no technology-related excuses, please. :)
On 10 of March 2018 from 18:30 the Rotaract Club of Brisbane Rivercity is holding a "Shine for Shelterbox" cocktail party where all profits from the evening go towards Shelterbox. Tickets are at $90 and a booking website will be up and running soon for interested people. The link will be published on their Facebook page.
Next week we have a Board meeting right after our fellowship-dedicated regular meeting. See you on the 19th.
Chair for the day was Wal Bishop who gave us all a masterclass in how a meeting should be chaired. After the loyal toast and toasts to the people of Australia and to Rotary International, Chair Wal invited President Daniel to deliver the President’s message for the week.
President Daniel welcomed our guest speaker, Professor Narelle Haworth and guest Robyn Burridge who was visiting us to observe the RCoB. Apologies were received from James Delahunty, Stan Francis, Don O’Donoghue, Denise Schellbach, Michael Stephens and Phil Gresham. If you have got this far in the bulletin, you have already read Dan’s message!
Chair Wal then invited members with spots to the podium:
PP Keith Watts explained some new developments from the membership committee and board. Effective immediately, the admission fee of $100 has been re-instated, since taking on new members does involve real costs to the club and waiving the fee has not proved to be a key factor in attracting new members. Furthermore, induction will now not be able to take place until the admission fee and first period’s club dues have been paid.
Mark Williams announced that Rotary Peace Fellow Morgan Marks has arrived in Australia and moved into her accommodation at St. John’s College. Morgan is an impressive person and we are lucky to have her hosted within the club while she completes her 18-month Masters degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. Morgan is a former Peace Corps volunteer to Zambia and is an expert on mediation who has been working in equity issues in Montana. We look forward to seeing her at Rotary functions throughout the next 18 months.
After a short period of fellowship, Chair Wal invited Dan Adler to the front of the room to present the first of the “Member in the Spotlight” segments we have seen in a while. Dan then proceeded to mesmerise members with a multimedia presentation introducing the team and some of the projects at his advertising services company, Next Thursday. From a mass media video ad for Broncos membership through a complete re-image for Amart Furniture to a highly-targeted direct-mail campaign to 40 key decision makers in the marine insurance industry, all were impressed by the depth of thought and heights of creativity to be found at Next Thursday. Dan also announced that he was prepared to reward members’ referrals that resulted in net new business at a rate of $1000 each.
Direct mail as you have never seen it: A Broker's Pack for Marine Insurance
Following Dan’s presentation, Wal introduced Professor Narelle Haworth, director of CARRS-Q at QUT who was our guest speaker for the day. Narelle brought members back to earth with a very practical discussion of the issues around autonomous vehicles and why we might not be seeing as many of them on our roads as soon as many commentators are telling us. Behind the hype there are many thorny issues that will need to be solved, ranging from how autonomous vehicles will communicate their “intentions” to pedestrians and other users of the road to the “moral-philosophy-ex-machina” issue of exactly what an autonomous vehicle should do when all else has failed and there is no non-harmful choice that can be made. At the end of the presentation, Chair Wal thanked Narelle for her enlightening and in some cases disturbing words and presented her with the traditional framed certificate of appreciation.
Professor Narelle Haworth details the issues behind the hype on autonomous vehicles.
Following the guest speaker, SAA Luke quizzed us all on our knowledge of the upcoming winter Olympics. We didn’t know much and the club is now that much richer. The raffle was “won” by Peter Ryan, but once again the Joker escaped. The raffle prize has now jackpotted to the extent that the eventual winner could get two timeshares in Mundubbera, not one – according to Treasurer Warren Walker.
By d’Arcy Lunn, 2016-18 Rotary Peace Fellow, International Christian University, Tokyo
With peace makers from around the world at the International Institute on Peace Education conference in Innsbruck, Austria
Take visiting 15 countries over five months, then add in any number of training events, an internship, research, attending conferences and events, and meeting two Nobel Peace Laureates, and you get an amazing formula for gaining skills in peace building. The final and most important result of this equation, though, will be what I eventually do with it all. I have some ideas about that.
d’Arcy, left, with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee and former Rotary Peace Fellow Wisdom Addo at a PeaceJam event in Liberia.
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is a wonderful opportunity to earn a Master’s in Peace Studies at an esteemed university. With it comes an Applied Field Experience (AFE) where Fellows spend time almost anywhere in the world learning about peace with practitioners, academics, and others associated with peace in various ways.
The variety of Peace Fellows is as diverse as the applied field experience opportunities. In my class there was a Fellow from Bangladesh pursuing his field experience in Geneva, a Fellow from Sierra Leone and Gambia in Nigeria, from Argentina in Bolivia, Australia in Israel, and from the United Kingdom in Tanzania and Thailand.
I am originally from Australia, but have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel for the better part of the last 17 years. So I used the five-month applied field experience to see and experience as much as possible during a round-the-world trip that began in Japan and included North America, Europe, West Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
During my field experience, my focus shifted from researching the way people perceive peace in different contexts (conflict, non-conflict, and post-conflict) to engaging in dialogues for reconciliation during an internship with Search for Common Ground in Liberia. I also took part in conferences centered on engaging youth in peace and educating people about peace.
I was not the most comfortable in the traditional classroom setting but out in the field my understanding flourished alongside highly engaging and effective educators, practitioners, and ambassadors for peace. The opportunity still seems like a dream.
A few of the very many highlights include:
Taking part in two conferences in the mountains of Switzerland, one on preventing violent extremism and the other on the inclusion of children in decision making and peace processes at the Caux Peace Forum
Learning and growing as a proponent of peace with a dynamic and enriching network of 100 peace educators in Austria
Receiving over 250 responses from dozens of countries around the world to my online survey about people’s perceptions on the culture of peace. Add your voice
Interviewing over 10 inspirational peace professionals and practitioners on their theories of change
Supporting a program to establish community dialogue for reconciliation in Liberia on converting the temporary peace following their civil unrest to long-term peace and prosperity
Working with Rotarians in Jordan to connect UNICEF, WHO, and Rotary with a school for polio eradication advocacy and engagement in proactive peace
A few unexpected opportunities also came up as part of my field experience:
Being an observer for the first round of elections in Liberia, a fascinating and hands-on look at their democracy leading up to, during, and after the election
Meeting two Nobel Peace Laureates, Leymah Gbowee from Liberia and Jose Ramos Horta from Timor Leste, and hearing their stories of courage and advocating for peace. They have become role models to me.
Taking part in two workshops at a youth peace conference in Liberia and Singapore with PeaceJam, bringing together local youth and Nobel Peace Laureates
I’m humbled and grateful, and come out of this experience with a high resolve to make peace an active and important component of my life and future. I hope to polish and refine all the small lessons and insights I have learned to create Teaspoons of Peace – small but significant choices, decisions, and actions creating more peace in the world.
I couldn’t have imagined a better opportunity than my applied field experience to engage, learn, and grow in my understanding and practice of peace. Thank you Rotary.
District governors-elect got their first look at the 2018-19 presidential theme Be the Inspiration Sunday at the International Assembly, an annual training event for incoming district leaders. RI President-elect Barry Rassin urged the audience to build a stronger organization by inspiring a younger generation and by getting the word out to the community at large about the work Rotary does. “I will ask you to inspire with your words and with your deeds: doing what we need to do today, to build a Rotary that will be stronger tomorrow; stronger when we leave it, than it was when we came.”
We caught up with incoming district governors after the theme was announced to get their thoughts on being the inspiration.
Charles Tondeur, Rotary Club of Hazebrouck-Merville, France (District 1520): “I think Rotary needs to be open to new ideas, and this theme encourages us to think about ideas that will inspire our members. Inspiring is about bringing new energy.”
Yoko Hattori, Rotary Club of Tokyo Hiroo, Japan (District 2750): “This theme is clear and direct, which is going to be useful and powerful for the leadership in districts. He’s asking us to think about how we take care of our Rotary family, but also how we inspire beyond Rotary.”
Malcolm Kerr, Rotary Club of Cobram, Australia (District 9790): “I thought the theme was, well, inspiring. I especially like the way he talked about the sea connecting us all. We have to inspire our districts, we have to inspire our clubs, we have to inspire our individual members, and we have to inspire in the world beyond Rotary. It’s a pyramid of possibilities.”
Jim Cupper, Rotary Club of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA (District 6360): “What I really liked was Barry Rassin’s emphasis on the environment and how we’re going to fit that into the things that Rotary does. Be the Inspiration is easy for most of us to work into our message to our districts and our leadership teams. Part of inspiring our clubs will be training them to use the amazing tools that Rotary has.”
Linda Murray, Rotary Club of South Everett/Mukilteo, Washington, USA (District 5050): “The theme is so important to Rotary right now, when we all need inspiration. Barry Rassin talked about getting the word out, so I’m going to go post the theme and talk about it on Facebook tonight! His message on membership is so important, urging us to be open to new ideas. ”
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
District governors-elect got their first look at the 2018-19 presidential theme Be the Inspiration Sunday at the International Assembly, an annual training event for incoming district leaders. RI President-elect Barry Rassin urged the audience to build a stronger organization by inspiring a younger generation and by getting the word out to the community at large about the work Rotary does. “I will ask you to inspire with your words and with your deeds: doing what we need to do today, to build a Rotary that will be stronger tomorrow; stronger when we leave it, than it was when we came.”
Charles Tondeur, Rotary Club of Hazebrouck-Merville, France (District 1520): “I think Rotary needs to be open to new ideas, and this theme encourages us to think about ideas that will inspire our members. Inspiring is about bringing new energy.”
Yoko Hattori, Rotary Club of Tokyo Hiroo, Japan (District 2750): “This theme is clear and direct, which is going to be useful and powerful for the leadership in districts. He’s asking us to think about how we take care of our Rotary family, but also how we inspire beyond Rotary.”
