Club Assembly, WVRC on January 13th
I’m uncertain how to present all that went on today, but perhaps a way to begin is to record the results of the Windmill Contents Ideas which were left on the table.
I passed out about 65 copies, and 29 had comments – the rest were blank. Of those who responded, Question #1 was should we do more to build up our coming speaker. The vote was 27 yes, 1 no. Question # 2 wasn’t a question – just a statement that we needed “What’s Happening” and that was accepted. Question #3 was about a Program Sponsor – whether to have ads, in effect. 9 said yes, and 13 said no, so ads don’t seem to be popular. Question #4 was about the article on Flying Rotarians. 22 said yes, 3 said no.
So that should be added. #5 was about bios of members and the vote was 21 to l in favor. Six preferred alpha listings, seven said seniority should prevail, and two wanted the newest members featured. So this is one we should add. The next statement pointed out that we made no mention of what went on at the meetings, and did we agree. Six said yes and seven said no – hard to choose, but a brief summary was what most preferred. Humor prevailed 12 to 6, so I’ll need some stories, please. The final summary, to change the Windmill or leave it alone, 11 said change, and 5 said no. This is the heart of the discussion – how many, overall, want it changed, and how many want it essentially left alone. This would have been possible to survey if that question had been asked – with a third option, no, I don’t read it (which is a legitimate opinion). However, that wasn’t done.. Let’s remember that this isn’t rocket science – we can do with the Windmill whatever we want, and we do now have some good new suggestions.
Briefly, the meeting: Pledge, HENRIETTA LIAN. Song, LENNY FRIEDMAN and PP JIM DOWNIE, America. Invocation, SLOSS VIAU. Special Guest (and New Member) PEGGY BLOOMFIELD, intro by PP STEVE SCHERER. Another New Member, NICK KAHRILAS, intro by PP JIM COLLINS. PP STEVE, again, special intro of his daughter, Rachel, with the comment that the first time she was introduced here she was just three feet tall! She returns to Law School at Indiana today.
Coming events, Sweetheart Brunch February 12th at Lawry’s – it will be special!
Centennial Celebration, Feb 17th, Long Beach Hilton, room for two more couples.
RI Convention, Chicago, 18-22 June. This will be a WOW!
Rudy’s World – per TERRY WHITE, its the King Fahad Mosque, in Culver City.
Health Update – BOB TROXLER, who is 97 years old, has pneumonia, and is in intensive care at Santa Monica Hospital. And don’t forget BRUCE ROLF, who is still at Berkeley West. He’s down to 99 lbs, and a card would be nice... None of us does as many nice things as we could.
CLUB ASSEMBLY, emceed by President RUDY. About fifteen minutes was allowed for Table Talk, discussing the outline prepared by YOE. The seven tables were then called upon (each with a designated Reporter). CHRIS BRADFORD and MIKE GINTZ both took notes, and I had my tape recorder. I’ll try to combine the three sources as to what the comments and ideas were.
DON NELSON, How about a Health Section? We should put the resume of the upcoming speaker in the Windmill, which would allow a shorter intro and more time for them to deliver their message (see notes in first paragraph above). We MUST improve on the timeliness of delivery of the Windmill – it comes too late, often. Monday or Tuesday at the latest – or should we be looking for a local printer? The font size should be larger.
Clip Art would be a good addition.
ELIOTT TURNER, DICK ROBINSON’S wife likes to read it, thus email doesn’t work for them. ELLIOTT, (who is essentially out of control), then said he didn’t care if his ex-wife reads it or not! They liked the idea of a weekly article about one member, which could perhaps be written by the member himself... They also liked the idea of the sponsored ad, maybe every couple of weeks or so. Could we include the weekly menu?
Updates by the Service Committees would be good. Should we deliver it by fax, to save postage?
PP MIKE NEWMAN, We should stick with what we have – it does well – and it should continue to be mailed. That way, it is a more permanent record, which can be picked up anytime later. We like the idea of a paragraph on the incoming speaker, which should be provided by the person who invited them to speak. Reports from the Avenues of Service would be welcome. Let’s not overlook Rotaract – they should be reported on periodically. They would like a monthly feature bio on some of the senior members.
PP STEVE DAY admitted that they actually discussed some OTHER matters! Once the uproar over this admission died down, they reported they would like to build up the speakers a bit. In other words, more about the speaker should be included. They liked the brief program summary idea. They didn’t like the idea of a sponsored announcement, but periodically members could provide brief tidbits about what they do (thus stressing vocations), on a rotating schedule.
PP JIM COLLINS was concerned about the length of the WM – and apparently brevity is preferred over fulsomeness (good word, huh?) Keep it concise and readable. Could we perhaps have more advance info on programs, so if the needed bio isn’t on time, we would still have some information available. A listing of change of status of members would be useful. Both email and snail mail delivery should be offered.
HANK HEUER, We think the WM should retain its present form. More details about speaker would be good. There was some support for a listing of all fishing trips, and it was hoped that the reports on DePauw would continue.
PP STEVE SCHERER, Their table wondered if we could make Ernie more of an editor, and thus not totally responsible for actually writing all the content. This would involve Service Chairs writing some of the columns. We would like a summary of the meeting, rather than a detailed recital. We should focus on upcoming events, and they are concerned with timely delivery. KACY ROZELLE also reported for this table. They want the Committee Chairs to report periodically. Member bios are good. No paid ads.
A brief program summary was preferred. Upcoming events should be featured.
MARK BLOCK very kindly noted my long-time efforts with the WM – which drew some applause, and I appreciate this, very much. He wanted me to understand that the various comments which have been made today are not to be taken personally by me, and I do understand they are directed to the publication, not to YOE. It is true that we have to be aware that adding features will increase the length, so this has to be done selectively. Apparently, about 40% of our members are not likely users of email, and thus we need to continue to provide printed copy where requested. That’s why you can order it both ways, OK? ELLIOTT TURNER pointed out that length, itself, is not the problem – if it’s interesting, it will be read. Some anonymous wag noted that if you leave it in the bathroom it WILL be read! And GORDON FELL reminded us that you don’t read the entire newspaper – you pick and choose. More photos would be good. LENNY FRIEDMAN noted that a humor column would be very appropriate, which drew some applause. MIKE GINTZ, among others, noted that while he had originally been in favor of going to email, he now finds that he doesn’t read it nearly as fully as when it was just printed. Also, if it comes only by email, your spouse probably doesn’t see it – so ask for a printed copy, OK? An easy alternative here is to print your own copy from the email display. LEE DUNAYER asked what we had actually saved in this transition process to email, and DON NELSON answered that it saves us about $3,000 a year. There are about seventy on the email list, and sixty on the printed list, at present. Should we distribute the WM at meetings – that is, have extra copies available? Could we have a special section devoted entirely to what went on that day, so those who attended could skip it? Perhaps the four Avenues of Service should report what they are doing each month, on a set basis.
