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Posted byBrian F. Thompson
onNov 28, 2013
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Meeting: Chair - Duane Evans; Music - Jerome Martin; Grace - Bob Kimmerly
Attendance / Guests: 31, including Michael Brechtel, Guest speaker & Calvin Li, guest of Danny Chau
Photo: Shows "Green Bob" Kimmerly oozing his Rider Pride after their trouncing of the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the Grey Cup.
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Announcements:
- President Duane reminded members of the Memorial Service for Charter President Ben Lang at Canterbury Court on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 pm. This will be an opportunity to say hello to Bill Arnold and Doug MacDougall who live at Canterbury.
- Carol Turner has had her eye surgery postponed.
- Fred Kraft reported on his presentation of $900 USD to the Rotary Club of Placencia for them to use to purchase toys for poor children in that community. If all goes according to plan, we will see via Skype a live presentation of Santa giving gifts in Placencia at our Monday, December 23rd meeting. You might want to bring your spouse to that meeting. Fred also reported on the ramp and handrail we built at the Placencia Health Clinic plus the three picnic tables and two benches which were built for placement on the new Municipal Pier. The Lifeguard Tower which we built last year is now being painted red, blue and yellow.
- The Board of Directors will meet this Wednesday at 5:30 pm at the Petroleum Club. Members are reminded that we have made a new arrangement with the Club and as of the first meeting in January, 2014, our per meeting fee for the meal and a 50/50 ticket will be $22.00. Please bring loonies or twonies to make it easier on those who have desk duty. The next Board meeting will be in mid-January.
- Following today's meeting there will be brief meetings of the Membership Committee and the Past Presidents (Nominating) Committee.
- Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday, December 9th. It will be brief and we will have a speaker that day.
- Our annual Christmas Party will be held on Friday, December 13th at the Glenoral Club. We will be sharing the room and the buffet dinner with the staff of Alta Flights (Bob Lamoureux's company) in order to make the event financially feasible. Cost will be $60.00 per person and dinner will be ready at 7:00 pm. Contact Bob Lamoureux if you are not already signed up.
- Finemaster Bob Kimmerly fined everyone $2.00 for failing to answer questions about the numbers worn by old Saskatchewan Roughrider players. He even stumped the stubble-jumpers!
- 50/50 Draw - Brian and Darrel failed to match cards so $58.50 carries forward to next meeting.
PROGRAM - MEMBERSHIP MARKETING INITIATIVE
Club Service Director Ingrid Neitsch introduced Michael Brechtel, Director, Advertising & Creative Strategy with Berlin Advertising & Public Relations. Michael is also involved with Ted Talks Edmonton, and he is the current President of the Edmonton Advertising Club. His company, Berlin Advertising has been assisting our Club in the development of a Membership Marketing Plan. Michael is married with a 13 month old son.
Michael talked about several things, including:
- Aligning our goals and our communications strategies. Do our communications tools consider our key target audiences?
- Branding, meaning what others think of us, and how we might influence that. He used the example of footwear manufacturers Nike and Puma where Nike brands it's products as performers and Puma stresses style.
- Berlin has recommended that we focus our communication efforts on professionals who are well established in their career and who may be approaching retirement. These are people who are active and engaged, and who will be seeking ways to stay involved as their professional career winds down (ie. they are able to get out of the proverbial "rat race"). It will be important to not state this literally in our materials so as not to deter others.
- Our brand could be providing a meaningful role for mature professionals.
Upon opening to questions from the audience, the following important points were raised:
- Bill Buckham suggests that we refrain from using the word retirement in our communications and instead stick with mature and looking for something new.
- Jerome reminded everyone that the conversation on this topic is just getting started and it will involve with the input from all our members and potential members.
- Ingrid talked about some next steps in the process and mentioned that one member had been inspired to quickly jot down 20 reasons to join the Rotary Club of Edmonton West. What if we all did that and pooled the results? Give it a try and give your list to Ingrid. We are actively in the process of re-configuring and updating our website under the guidance of David Gibbens. If you have ideas, he would welcome them. Ingrid also passed out copies of a new poster advertising the Grandview Concert Series. This poster was printed in Raj's shop. Be sure to share it with others. You will also see it on our website.
- Darrel talked about how we are re-focussing our approach to attracting new members. Our target groups include recently retired persons, owners who are selling their businesses, empty-nest professionals (kids moved out), and busy professionals.
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