It is now that time of the year that many members go away to warm parts and leave an opportunity to build our Club while they are away.
The Club has an obligation to the Caterer to field 20 mealers each week (it is supposed to be 25) to keep our meeting costs at $20.70 pp and keep our venue. Two weeks ago, we fielded 14, this week 16. Members will be charged for the shortfall through their dues. Right there, we are looking at a $200 cost directly spread over all members. A knee jerk solution is to reduce the meeting frequency, find a shed somewhere that's cheap, meet at a friends house or Zoom it and hide out until all those members come back. Like any hibernation activity such as the one we just had with COVID lockdowns, it takes months to get back into rhythm if at all.
We can all jump up and down and complain that this is a great waste of members money OR we can accept that every member is responsible for the situation and should do what they can to turn a bad situation into a good one. We have the greatest opportunity for growth staring us right in the face, so let's work it in our favour. Let's face it too, 20 bucks for a simple dinner and a great venue is good value and we need to keep value in our membership equation regardless of the season.
So here's the plan. For each meeting from now until August, we should collectively endeavour to bring four new people, ie: potential Rotarians, business people, community leaders, inspirational people, speakers to the Club each week. That way we won't be wasting good food (which we are paying for anyway) and our Club will be exposed to many potential members to grow the Club. Our Club will also get a workout to improve its offer and move where it needs to be to attract people who want to give back to the community. Who knows, we might even get people who can expand our reach and grow our skillset. I know we do need to work on our offer, public image and communication skills, so this opportunity has additionally built-in opportunities!
Two weeks ago, attending members had a far-reaching discussion about reducing meeting frequency, meeting in a hall, having no meal and basically going into hibernation. From the discussion, it was apparent that dinner and a warm inviting venue were high on the list of musts. A bar, some IT facilities and a quiet room to have speakers or discussion were also important. Several stated that they would not come to meetings without dinner and may even leave the Club. I am certainly with that crowd; I have no time to find dinner along the way to a meeting and stuffing it down in the car is not an attractive option. I am sure fast food will cost more than 20 bucks too!
So let's get on with building on a wasted opportunity rather than thinking about wasting away. I can already feel the energy that new people will bring if we take the time to invite them!
P.S. I have heard that John Rosenthal has a whole street full of people to invite, so let's stop wasting time and start inviting people to our Club. We have a lot of things we need to get on with........!