Last Week's Meeting......Cassandra Pireu, Giles, the Ukraine and New Members

There was a disappointing turn out for Julian Nagy's presentation on the way forward for the Club and a lot of questions were left unanswered simply because there was no-one there to answer them.  You can count the people there, just add 1 for the photographer and take 1 away for a visitor.  Our membership continues to grow and the percentage attending meetings falls in proportion.  Last week I submitted our attendance figures for July to RI, 36%.  July was a particularly bad month as many people were away but despite that it is a cause for concern.  What are we doing wrong?

This Week

Our Speaker is Cassandra Pireu who is the second of the recipients of the Rotary Club of  Johannesburg New Dawn Scholarship granted to the Dept of Sociology at The University of the Witwatersrand.

Why didn't I just say Wits?  So many people from overseas read this so I thought I better spell it out.  'Wits' could be a skin-lightening cream manufacturer as far as they know!

Guess which one is Cassandra in the photo.  All will be revealed on Wednesday...there are no prizes.  Is he the same Cassandra Pireu who writes for Business Day?

Meeting Wed 29th August (5th Wednesday) No Breakfast Meeting
We will be going to Giles' Restaurant, 9 Grafton Avenue, Craighall Park, 7,00 for 7,30.  We will be able to order from the menu without any problems.  It would be easier to split yourselves into groups of 6, say, for billing purposes as it can be problematical if there is one big bill!  Unfortunately I will not be able to attend as I am giving a talk to another Rotary Club.

Please let me know if you are coming plus any guests you might be bringing with you by Monday 27th August. Many thanks!!!!!

Opened in 1994, by Ian and Jenni Gillies, Giles began as a small neighbourhood pub with a rather large restaurant. The name was spawned through the combination of Ian’s nickname and from the title of Giles cartoon books (drawn by Roland “Carl” Giles and published in the London Daily Express from 1945 – 1991) some of which were copied and pasted on the original dinner tables. Tragedy struck on December 6th 2005, when Ian was murdered, a calamity that devastated the Giles community and all who knew this much loved restauranteur. THE FAMILY: Giles is still in the family and it is owned by the three Gillies’ children, Benjamin, the current managing member, and Kiarin and Bryn, both silent members. Like many family businesses, other family members also get involved and Sandy is still the bookkeeper.

THE MENU: The menu has changed somewhat over the 17 years yet the favourite dishes still remain unchanged, namely, The Grandma Burger, Andy’s Fish and Chips, Flo’s Delight and the Oriental Chicken Salad. To keep the menu fresh, varied and interesting there are monthly specials. The wine list is extensive, non-expensive and features some unique estates. The Giles cartoon theme still remains on the tables and within the menu with additions from Ian’s personal collections that he drew.

 

 

Top: The Rotary Club of Cotonou Ifê, Benin, celebrates Rotary's anniversary with a cake in February. The club is one of several formed recently in Benin. Photo courtesy Boris Crestia. Bottom: Claudio Spiguel, third from left, and other members of the Rotary Club of Guaxupé, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with a car they purchased for a school for at risk youth. Decals on the car helped publicize Rotary's involvement, and led to several membership inquiries. Photo courtesy Claudio Spiguel

Rotary International on Facebook

Eight years ago, Géné Villaça-Crestia was asked by her district governor to start a new Rotary club in her country, Benin.

She had been a Rotarian for only four years and didn’t really know where to begin. But she had a few things working in her favor: Villaça-Crestia is extremely passionate about Rotary, and she doesn’t take no for an answer.

“I don’t hesitate to drive to people’s places and come back again,” says Villaça-Crestia of her recruitment style. “I don’t wait for them to get back to me and tell me they don’t have time. I insist and go after them until they understand what Rotary is all about and the good it will do them to join.”

Villaça-Crestia’s techniques have been extremely effective. Within three months of her district governor’s request, she helped launch the Rotary Club of Cotonou Rive Gauche, Benin, and became the charter president. During the next two years, she helped form three other clubs, including two composed almost entirely of younger Rotarians.

This year, she and her son, Boris Crestia, a public relations specialist and Rotary Public Image Coordinator for Zone 20A, have teamed up to recruit advertising, public relations, and media professionals for another new club, which will soon be seeking its charter. Members have set goals of promoting basic education and literacy in Africa and serving as a public relations resource for other clubs.

Be passionate and persistent

Villaça-Crestia says the key to recruiting new members is to show them how passionate you are about Rotary and be persistent.

“People say they came to Rotary because they felt my passion and I could communicate it to them,” she says. “In this state of mind, any challenge is never really impossible.

“More than once, I had to wait hours in a reception area in order to meet an important or busy person and be able to convince them to join Rotary or give to The Rotary Foundation,” she adds. “But when you just explain to people, for instance, that the same money they pay for a nice meal in a good restaurant could help immunize a great number of families against polio, most people are sensitive to this and react immediately.’’

Villaça-Crestia says her favorite thing to say to prospective members is that by being Rotarians, they can be a bridge between the millions of dollars available through The Rotary Foundation and the poorest populations of the world. “Knowing that, and not becoming a Rotarian, is almost criminal,” she says.

Be involved in service and be visible

Brazilian Claudio Spiguel is another Rotarian who has succeeded in recruiting members. When Spiguel became president of the Rotary Club of Guaxupé in 2005, the club was hovering below 20 members and in danger of losing its ability to make a significant contribution to the community.

By focusing on getting members involved in service projects and publicizing those projects, he had helped raise membership to 34 by the end of his second stint as president. While serving in various leadership roles since, he has spread that enthusiasm to other clubs in the district, with similar effect.

Spiguel shared the following tips:

• Teach club members the Foundation’s grant process and immediately engage them in pursuing projects that benefit well-known service organizations in need in your community. “To date, we have done five Matching Grant projects, and each has improved our credibility in the community.”
• Broadcast the results of your work through partnerships with local media. “We created a weekly program at a regional TV station called ‘Rotary in the Community,’ a talk show with interviews and presentations about our work and Rotary in general. It has reached many people with our message.” ( Read a blog post from Spiguel)

What you can do

Share your passion for Rotary with your family, friends, and community during Membership and Extension Month in August. This year you’re invited to take part in two activities designed to help you remember why you joined and convert that excitement into inviting others to join.

By taking the Rotary Membership Challenge, you commit to sponsor a new member, tell a friend or colleague about your club’s projects, or volunteer as a mentor to prospective or new members. After you complete the form, Rotary will email you links to resources to help you meet the challenge.