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A week of successful events
Type: Story
Published: Nov 26, 2020
As we come to the time of year when festivities abound, there have been several highly successful events over the past week in our District including the International Men’s Day Virtual ‘Happy As Larry’ Lunch jointly hosted by Rotary Brighton North and Rotary Melbourne. Well-known comedian and actor Shane Jacobson entertained the audience, along with Rotary District 9810’s “Toilet Warrior”, Rotarian Mark Balla. My congratulations go to both clubs and in particular, Presidents Peter Killey and Marion MacLeod on not only delivering a fantastic event, but also the very important messages on men’s health.Also held this past week was Rotary Central Melbourne’s 28th Annual Paul Harris Breakfast, which was combined with District 9800’s Business Leaders Breakfast at which Ian Wishart, CEO, Fred Hollows Foundation, spoke on eliminating Trachoma. This event was very well attended and highlighted the powerful results that Rotarians are able to achieve when working together to eliminate d
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International Women’s Day Events & Projects
Type: Story
Published: Feb 12, 2021
International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on 8th March with many events scheduled over the following week. Women in Rotary are staging a unique online event in which you can participate on any of four days from Tuesday 9th to Friday 12th March. With an impressive line-up of speakers from Rotary International’s President 2022-2023, Jennifer Jones, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, to New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, this is sure to be a wonderful and informative event. More information can be found via this link: https://www.iwd.org.au/This week, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at Afri-Aus Care’s launch of their Empowering African Australian Women project. Using UBUNTU guidelines, the project’s focus is to work with women who are going through traumatic experiences because of resettlement challenges and create opportunities for women to become financially independent and to raise their children in a positive way. Their aim is to empowe
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2019 End Polio Events
Type: Story
Published: Oct 31, 2019
In keeping with our District’s can-do attitude, we conducted 2 events to celebrate World Polio Day. A great walk on Saturday 19th October for Rotary District 9800 to help End Polio Now saw 65 Rotarians and friends turn up to support the event at Albert Park Lake with another 30 at Lake Neangar in Eaglehawk (Thanks AG Ron Payne). Well done to both teams who enjoyed a great opportunity to promote Rotary and our over 30-year effort to eradicate Polio from the world. It is anticipated that this event will grow every year.
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Rotary District 9800 Conference, Concerts and Community Events
Type: Story
Published: May 12, 2022
The past few weeks I have had the privilege of attending some outstanding events which have demonstrated how resilient Rotarians are. The first was our District Conference in Albury which saw over 350 people gather to celebrate and “Get Together in Albury”. Secondly, Rotary North Melbourne hosted a Ukraine Appeal Concert at the Melbourne Townhall supported by 700 attendees. Finally, Rotary Central Melbourne and District 9800 in partnership with Mentor Match supported by the Victorian Government are launching the Victoria-wide initiative on Thursday 26th May with the grandson of Nelson Mandela as guest speaker. After managing the challenge of COVID, in just over three and half months the District Conference was successfully held in Albury in late April with over 350 people to celebrate and “Get Together in Albury”. From the Smoking Ceremony which opened our proceedings through to the Pipe Band which closed our Conference, the program presented a d
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Resuming Face to Face Meetings
Type: Story
Published: May 27, 2020
Is there a more relevant question at the moment?Is there a more difficult question to answer? The restrictions have challenged our communities, our Rotary clubs and ourselves.Overall, Australians can feel proud of their response and results in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and Rotary can feel proud of the way we have responded. The rapid transition to video conferencing platforms, and establishing new projects and fundraising activities has been nothing short of amazing. You all deserve a big and hearty congratulations.Although there has recently been a slight easing of the restrictions, there is a real need to proceed with caution in recommencing face to face meetings or public events and activities.I have been asked by many over recent weeks for the District or Rotary to provide some guidance around Rotary clubs resuming meetings and events.So, whilst not wanting to dictate a particular course of action I feel it is prudent to provide some guidanc
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Best Practice: Essentials of an Effective Website.
Type: Story
Published: Sep 11, 2020
Websites have two key audiences: your own members, who need to be kept up-to-date with developments and interesting stories; and, prospective members looking for a suitable club. For visitors to the site, you need to make immediate impact by capturing their attention.Many non-Rotarians don’t know Rotary, let alone all the great things we do. Tell them who we are and headline the outstanding things your club does.Put your internal member information on a separate page of the site so that prospective members are not lost in the detail. Immediate contact informationWeb surfers have short attention spans. Make sure your club’s contact information is immediately visible, including when you meet.A clear pathConsider putting an “I’m interested in…” tab on your front page to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. Use a drop down menu showing community service projects, youth projects, international projects, membership issues, and spec
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Ping Pong-A-Thon – Working to free the 45,000,000 slaves in the world today
Type: Story
Published: Oct 16, 2020
By Matt MaudlinI joined Ping Pong-A-Thon (The Pong) in April 2017 following a 20-year career housing those at risk of homelessness.The Pong is a quirky Australian movement that brings communities together and unites them under one cause: freedom to some of the world’s most vulnerable people – those caught in slavery. Pong holds table-tennis marathons each season (September to November). A Pong event is typically between 3 and 24 hours. One’s table-tennis ability is never the issue…the important thing is to play! The business model of ‘play table tennis to end slavery’ probably should not work! Yet, nine years later over $2.3 million has been raised from over 500 Pong events, positively impacting tens of thousands of lives in South-East Asia. It works! Everyone can Pong. Events have been hosted in schools, pubs, churches, shopping centres, gyms, cafes, law firms, a beach and backyards. Quite simply, if you have space for a table-tennis table, you can ho
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The Rotary Foundation Makes Life-Changing Projects Possible
Type: Story
Published: Nov 12, 2020
As we focus on The Rotary Foundation throughout November, it is important to remember that our support makes it possible for us to engage in life-changing projects globally. There are many ways to maximise the effectiveness of our year-end giving campaigns, including making a gift to the Foundation on Giving Tuesday, 1st December; Giving the gift of Rotary this holiday season. Share our digital flyer with members and potential donors; and, learning more about our new peer-to-peer fundraising tool, Raise for Rotary, where you can create fundraising pages that are easy to share with family and friends through social media and email.With our nation observing Remembrance Day this past week, it was also timely that I had the pleasure of listening to Gabe Hau, District 9800’s Peacebuilding Committee Chair, deliver a wonderful presentation on the Global Peace Index 2020—Measuring Peace In A Complex World. I would encourage all clubs to make contact with Gabe (ghau@optusnet.c
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Multi District Conference 2021
Type: Event
Published: Apr 26, 2021
Contact: Philip Archer 01May2021 May 01, 2021 11:00 AM – May 02, 2021 1:00 PM VIC Australia Saturday 1st and Sunday
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District Governor Nominee Amanda Wendt sets her sights on the next generation
Type: Story
Published: Jun 06, 2021
By Tricia ReardonPerhaps it was a sliding doors moment when Amanda, as an elite track athlete in Brisbane in 2007/8 met a young American Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and agreed to accompany him to several Rotary events prior his return to California. She’d never heard of Rotary up to that point. Fast-forward to 2018 and Amanda, as a member of the Rotary International Communications Committee, was invited by RI President Barry Rassin to address International Assembly in San Diego on how to attract, engage and activate millennials. Seated in the front row was the American Ambassadorial Scholar who had first introduced her to Rotary.But that is exactly what happens in Rotary … people connect and build life-long friendships. And it is this that Amanda has enjoyed so much about her Rotary journey. While she only joined in 2010 – not a long time some would consider given what’s ahead for her in 2022-23 – Amanda has amassed an incredible depth of experiences at club, district and eve