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Club
Meeting Customs and Practices
Early
departures -- Rotarians are expected to remain for
the entire meeting unless circumstances prevent
it. Most members find an occasion or so each
year when they must depart early. Depart as
quietly as possible. However, it is important
that early departures are the exception, not the
rule.
Seating
-- Club members are encouraged to vary their seating
place and company in order to get acquainted with
all fellow Rotarians and enjoy the full benefits of
Rotary membership.
Courtesies
to visitors -- Rotarians are expected to welcome
visitors brought by other members and visiting
Rotarians. Invite visitors to join your table,
introduce them to others, and bring them into table
conversations.
Courtesies
to speakers -- Besides the usual courtesy of
attention and politeness, Rotarians are encouraged
to come forward after the meeting and thank and
compliment the speaker. Rotarians avoid
departure from the room during the speakers'
introduction and talk. Many Rotarians who find
they must depart early, express their regrets to the
speaker in advance.
Cell
phones -- Rotarians are expected to turn off cell
phones or place them on vibrate mode during Rotary
meetings.
Club
banners -- Many clubs have club banners. It is
customary to present a banner to visiting Rotarians
from other countries and to return a banner to a
club that presents us with one.
Rotary
Lapel Pins and Badges
Rotary
lapel pins and club badges are an important practice
in Rotary. Each Rotarian is presented a lapel
pin and badge upon induction into the club.
You are encouraged to wear the lapel pin at all
times as it helps identify you as a Rotarian and
community leaders. You will often find that
wearing your lapel pin when you are away from your
home community will often bring recognition and new
friends from Rotary contacts who recognize the
pin. You are expected to wear the lapel pin to
each club meeting.
Your
Rotary badge includes your name and your
classification. The badge is always worn at
club meetings and helps us all to get to know one
another.
Board
of Directors
The
Board consists of selected officers and directors as
specified in the By Laws. The Board of Directors is
the governing body of the club. Except for
changes to the By Laws, the Board makes virtually
any decision on the part of the club. Its
actions are, however, subject to appeal by the
entire membership. Officers are selected by a
nominating committee and take office on July 1 of
each year. Directors are appointed by the
President.
Four
Avenues of Service
The
Object of Rotary is implemented through the
following four areas of service:
-
Club
Service -- The things a Rotarian does to help
make successful the running of the Rotary Club
itself;
-
Vocational
Service -- The things a Rotarian does to promote
the 'ideal of service' through the business and
professional world;
-
Community
Service -- The activities in which Rotarians
participate to make the community a better place
in which to live;
-
International
Service -- The activities in which Rotarians
participate to foster the advancement of
understanding and goodwill among peoples of the
world.
Club
Service
Club
service is the involvement of the Rotarians in the
club and its operation. Whether the Rotarian
leads the Pledge of Allegiance or accepts an elected
office, that Rotarian is performing club
service. There are many opportunities for
every Rotarian to serve: club committees, assisting
with programs and events, accepting an elected
office or directorship, holding a district office,
hosting a GSE team member, or inviting prospective
members to visit the club are just some of the many
opportunities for Club Service.
Vocational
Service
Vocational
service is rooted in the classification principle
which distinguishes Rotary from other
organizations. Each Rotarian is charged with
the obligation to convey the spirit of Rotary to
their professional colleagues and to represent the
ideals of their vocation to the club. The role
of Vocational service is to encourage and foster
high ethical standards in business and professions,
to recognize the worthiness of all useful
occupations, and to see occupation as
opportunity. Vocational service has also
embraced collective action in a club aimed at
promoting Rotary's service objectives throughout the
world of work. Club activities might include
career days for students or forums on ethical
problems. Check the "Four-Way
Test"
Community
Service
Community
service is the service Rotarians do to improve the
quality of life in the community they serve.
Rotary Clubs seek to serve through inspiring members
to individual acts of service and they join together
in collective action for Club service projects and
activities. Both are important.
Individual
Efforts -- You are involved in Community service if
you are seeking to bring community problems and
issues to the attention of your club and by
participating in their resolution by taking
leadership roles in civic, cultural, and service
organizations.
Corporate
Service - Corporate action is club action which
involves the time and talents of club members
working together. Club service projects and
annual fund raising events are examples of Corporate
Community Service.
Financing
-- Funds to support community service projects come
from a variety of sources: dues, voluntary gifts,
and fund raising projects. All fund raising
activities need to be consistent with good taste and
local community standards so the reputation of the
Rotary remains high.
Public
Relations -- While publicity should not be the
primary goal of a Rotary Club, proper publicity
should be given to worthwhile projects as a means of
extending Rotary's influence in the community.
In public releases covering your individual
community service please identify yourself as a
Rotarian.
International
Service
Rotary
believes that international understanding, goodwill
and peace can be advanced through a world fellowship
of business and professional people united in the
ideal of service. Rotary clubs have many
avenues and opportunities for international service.
World
Community Service -- WCS is a program through which
a Rotary club in one country works with a Rotary
club in another country to accomplish a needed
project that will help raise the standard of living
and increase international understanding.
Rotary
Award for World Understanding -- The purpose of the
award, first awarded in 1981, is to honor persons or
organizations whose actions exemplify Rotary's Ideal
of Service, especially in promoting international
understanding, goodwill and peace. The award
includes the designation of ten Rotary Scholarships
to students in developing countries, designated by
the award recipient and given in the awardee's name.
The
Rotary Foundation -- The Rotary Foundation is a
philanthropic trust which each year provides some
$90 million for international scholarships, cultural
exchanges and humanitarian projects large and small
that improve the quality of life for millions of
people. Rotary is widely regarded as the
world's largest private provider of international
educational scholarships. more
Polio-Plus
-- Rotary's single greatest initiative is the Polio
Plus program. It was launched in 1985 to raise
money to immunize the developing world's children
against polio. In 1988, Rotary joined the
World Health Organization in committing itself to
the eradication of polio by 2005, Rotary's 100th
anniversary. Rotarians contributions to the
global polio eradication effort have exceeded $500
million (as of 2003). Along with the dollars
raised, a huge volunteer army mobilized by Rotary
International provides support during National
Immunization Days.
Rotary
Youth Exchange -- Youth exchange between clubs and
districts in different countries with the young
person from one country in a Rotarian home in
another country is an important international
service.
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