Rotary E-Club of Melbourne

To open the website of Rotary E-Club of Melbourne, please click here.

A number of Club members have expressed interest to find out more about the involvement of RCM in the formation of an e-club at the current time.  This note is meant to address the basic questions that have been asked.

Involvement of RCM in the Formation of Rotary E-Club of Melbourne

District 9800 decided to form an e-club based around the Melbourne geographical area and logically invited RCM to be the Sponsoring Club in the charter of this exciting innovation.  Once it is chartered, this e-club will be totally separate to RCM.  In the interim RCM has offered the services of our accounting and banking facilities to support the start up.  There is no commitment of actual RCM funds; the start up seed money is coming from D 9800.

A District 9800 District Extension Committee has been formed under the leadership of PDG Ann White.  Stephen Lake and Trevor Nink from RCM have been appointed to the Committee along with representatives of RC Hawthorn and RC Albert Park.

Why an e-club?

District 9800 is chartering an e-club in 2012 to provide an opportunity for people to participate in Rotary who may not be able to make weekly face to face meetings.

An e-club will attract people as members for different reasons:

• People who travel a lot and can’t make mid-week meetings regularly or often but may be available for project work on weekends
• People whose work schedule is unpredictable and feel they cannot commit to a fixed time/place weekly
• Young people who are comfortable with the technology and the lower time commitment for meetings
• Younger mothers with little available spare time (particularly if they work)
• People who may have difficulty getting to traditional meetings due to physical disadvantage, access to transport etc
• People less interested in the social component of traditional Rotary but want to work on projects

How the Rotary E-Club of Melbourne will Operate

There are many different ways that an e-club can work, however it has been decided that it will be best to work in the manner below.

• This will be a hybrid e-club; i.e. a club where the members are mostly drawn from the same geographical area.  This allows them to get together to perform service projects and enjoy social events.
• E-club members go online to the club’s website each week and participate in the various discussions taking place, view the topic for the week and comment on it, volunteer for the club’s events and service programs, update project status, watch videos of speakers etc.  This is counted as attendance and can be performed at any time within the week.  This flexibility means that members can be travelling or working long hours and still make contact each week with the club.
• Arrangements are being considered for members of traditional Rotary clubs to be able to log into the website of the Rotary E-Club of Melbourne to do make-ups
• Apart from the weekly meeting being replaced by online access to the website, a hybrid e-club does everything a traditional club does.  The members may decide to have committee meetings using online meeting tools rather than face to face contact – or they may get together at times convenient to members to plan projects.  That will be their decision.
• It has been decided to form the new club with a core group of past Rotarians so that the new club begins with a firm foundation of Rotary knowledge.  A second phase of member recruitment will be seeking interested non-Rotarians.
• All candidates will be required to meet the normal requirements for acceptance as Members just like in the traditional Rotary clubs.
• The club website has two areas:
  • Public access area contains information about Rotary, the club’s activities etc the same as most traditional club’s websites
  • Club house area which members log into with their password and which gives access to the chat room, blogs and any material considered limited to members.
• The e-club will also host the Project Bank which is a database of projects being conducted by Rotary clubs in our district who are looking for additional volunteer resources.  Any Rotarian or member of the public will be able to select a project and contact the relevant club to volunteer their time.  This feature is not a standard e-club program – this is an innovation for District 9800 to provide all clubs in the district with an opportunity to do bigger, better projects by accessing volunteers willing to help from outside their club.

The Project Bank would be maintained on the e-club website as one of their facilities for the district.  This should ensure the perception of the e-club as an enabler of other club projects through provision of access to the database and also resources from the new members.

The Project Bank will go a long way to providing a sense of Rotary first and club second with all members of the District able to work on something which inspires them, even if it is being conducted by another club.  It removes the silo effect currently rampant in Rotary where club members often know very little outside their own club.  This initiative provides a basis for smaller clubs to grow by providing access to many projects for their new recruits.  It also resolves the “first year blues” for the new e-club.

How Current D 9800 Rotary Clubs are Participating in the Formation

• The e-club charter committee is looking for the name and contact details of Rotarians who have left their club within the last 5 years and who the club would be glad to have back again. All that is needed is the following:
  • Name
  • Email address
  • Mobile phone number

These names are required as soon as possible and preferably before June 30^th 2012 but will be accepted at any time.  These past Rotarians will be contacted to ascertain their interest in joining the e-club.  Those who respond positively will form the basis of the e-club.

• From July onwards, the formation committee is looking for project details which can be added to the Project Bank.  Once the new club website is up, the Project Bank will be provide an opportunity for volunteers to work on Rotary projects.

Relationship of Rotary E-Club of Melbourne with Other D 9800 Clubs

Clubs in the district may have a fear that the e-club will take away members that could have joined their club.  This is unlikely as those people joining an e-club have effectively chosen a remote flexible meeting option over the opportunity to meet face to face at a fixed time and place.  The experience of other districts is that very few members transfer to the new e-club.  In fact, often members of e-clubs remain until their circumstances change, and then they leave to join a local traditional club that provides the opportunities for fellowship.

Once the new club is chartered, it has been suggested that traditional club members wishing to transfer to the e-club should be required to do make-ups at the e-club for three months to ensure they understand how their Rotary membership will operate within an e-club – it may not be as attractive in practice.

To date 48 e-clubs have been chartered worldwide and two e-clubs have had their charter removed for various reasons.  Lessons learned from the experiences in other clubs are embedded in the suggestions arrangements for the Rotary E-Club of Melbourne.