The Rotary Spark Podcast - Angela Rickman’s Influence on Rotary’s Public Image & Community Engagement

Angela Rickman shares her remarkable 12-year journey with Rotary and offers invaluable insights into the world of public image enhancement for clubs. Hear from Angela as she recounts her experiences, from her early days in Rotary to her roles as the secretary and public image coordinator at the Ponca City Trailblazers Rotary Club. Discover how Angela's dedication has not only elevated her club's public image but also influenced broader efforts at district and zone levels. With her expertise, Angela guides us through effective communication strategies that have proven successful in attracting new members and securing sponsorships.

Angela's passion shines through as she discusses signature projects like the annual Crawfest fundraiser, where community fun meets impactful fundraising. She reflects on her time as district governor in 2020, illustrating the meaningful connections she's made both locally and globally. Angela's story is a testament to the profound influence Rotary has had on her life, revealing a vibrant network of individuals committed to positive change. Join us for an inspiring conversation that highlights the power of Rotary and the significant impact of fostering public engagement.

Transcript

Brian Triger: 0:26

Welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast. Today I have with me Angela Rickman. How are you doing today, angela?

Angela Rickman: 0:34

I'm doing great. How are you?

Brian Triger: 0:36

Doing well. Thank you for asking. Tell us about your current position or positions and some of your experiences that you had early on in Rotary.

Angela Rickman: 0:47

Absolutely Would love to share. So I am currently a member of the Ponca City Trailblazers Rotary Club we just chartered last year, so almost two years now Excited about that and I serve on the board and serve as secretary for our club and public image. So definitely stay busy. From a district level, I try to stay very active and involved and right now I'm serving as vice chair for Mid-America Pets, which helps prepare our leadership teams for their president year and that is coming up very soon here in March. And then from a zone level, I am an assistant rotary public image coordinator for Zone 31.

Brian Triger: 1:42

Okay, and how long have you been a rotarian?

Angela Rickman: 1:49

Zone 31. Okay, and how long?

Brian Triger: 1:51

have you been a Rotarian? I have been a Rotarian for 12 years this month, wow, and give us a little bit of insight about what goes on at the zone level.

Angela Rickman: 1:58

At the zone level, we get to support districts with any help that they need, specifically for public image, and I support several districts that I'm assigned to and help them understand from branding compliance to how to better use social media or how to tell their story or how to tell their story.

Brian Triger: 2:29

Do you see any common patterns tied to clubs or districts?

Angela Rickman: 2:33

being able to tell their story. Yes, I think the clubs that are able to successfully share with the public what it is that they're doing, besides just eating or having speakers at a meeting they're the ones that are really able to help grow, whether that be from a membership perspective or even from, maybe, a sponsorship perspective, if they're looking to get people engaged in things that they're doing from a project level.

Brian Triger: 3:01

From experiences, I've seen that your club has been doing really well in all areas of marketing, so thank you for being an example. Do you have any tips for any of our clubs in this district to get started?

Angela Rickman: 3:27

when it comes to social media, to remember that public image is truly about the public and I see a lot of clubs that their posts are more as if they're talking to their internal club members, even though it's an actual public page. So really understanding your audience and making sure you're not using jargon or telling people why they should come visit and not necessarily talking to only your club members. Maybe you have a separate club page, but your public Facebook page should be really focused on your audience, which is non-rotarians.

Brian Triger: 3:58

That's a really good point and it gives me some more stuff to think about that I can definitely share with my club and hopefully with the district as a whole. From a member perspective, Are there any projects going on that you're excited about or that you'd like to promote?

Angela Rickman: 4:16

Well, we've always got a ton of projects going on. One of our biggest projects last year, we decided that we wanted to have a signature fundraiser and we are currently working on our second annual Crawfest, which is an all-you-can-eat crawfish foil live band and just a whole lot of fun and that will be coming up here on April 26th and looking forward to, you know, having that in the public, but maybe our friends from Rotary be able to join us for that as well.

Brian Triger: 4:52

In the last 12 years or so. How has Rotary, or the community of Rotary, how has that, impacted your life?

Angela Rickman: 5:05

I would say when I joined Rotary 12 years ago, I had no idea what it was and really I didn't expect that it would take me to where it has today. It's been a really exciting journey. When I decided to first be club president, I decided I think I'm going to go check out a district conference and just made so many good friends across our district and clubs, across our district and clubs. And then, when I was privileged to be district governor in 2020, kind of took that to that next level where I was able to go and meet people from around the world in Rotary and it's just been so impactful, realizing truly that it's not just what you see in the magazines about. You know how Rotary is international and we have 1.4 million members, but there are just so many great people out there, not only locally in the US but globally, doing such great things. So it's really afforded me a lot of opportunities and, I think, helped me grow from a personal and a professional level as well.

Brian Triger: 6:15

That's great. One thing that comes to mind is the international conference next year. Do you plan on going to Calgary?

Angela Rickman: 6:24

I am tentatively looking at it. Yes, I want to go very badly. If I can make it work in my schedule then, yes, I would encourage everyone to go to an international conference, and this one is fairly close so it should be easy to get to, but absolutely phenomenal events if you've not been to one.

Brian Triger: 6:47

I really look forward to going. I have never gone I'm about a year and a half in but I look forward to attending my first conference, so thank you for that advice. What advice do you have for any Rotarians?

Angela Rickman: 7:05

I guess my biggest piece of advice would be that you are going to get out of Rotary what you put into it, and so you know, if your goal is just to attend meetings, that's great.

Angela Rickman: 7:17

You're probably going to get a lot of you know, great information from the community and learn a lot.

Angela Rickman: 7:23

But if you get involved just a little bit at another level or take the time to participate in events that are happening, for example, at the district level, you'll just get so much more out of Rotary, whether that just be connections or even friendships outside of Rotary. So really encourage people to you know, give, you know, think about getting engaged more, right, not just be someone that shows up to a meeting, but really engaging and seeing how you can help, whether it be with a project. I know when I did my first grant project for my previous club, I just really had no idea, like you know, yes, I knew we were helping people, but once I was able to see the project come to life and seeing how it impacted the individuals that we helped, it was just, you know, my rotary moment, in a sense, that I realized, hey, I'm a Rotarian and so I hope everybody has the opportunity to do that, and you just got to get engaged to be able to do that.

Brian Triger: 8:30

That's great advice. Well, thank you. Thank you for participating in this podcast episode. I really enjoyed chatting with you. Thank you for participating in this podcast episode. I really enjoyed chatting with you. Thank you Anytime and ITSpark for assisting with the development of this podcast, and Almonte Library for loaning the space out for us to be able to record this episode. Have a great night everyone. Thank you.