#0019 - James McQuillar

James McQuillar, affectionately dubbed Chili, initially resisted joining Rotary due to time constraints and feeling out of place. Yet, after persistent encouragement from Mac Patel, Chili's journey took a transformative turn. Now, as the district and club membership chair, he draws compelling parallels between his role at Tinker Air Force Base and his Rotary work, emphasizing the transformative power of relationships and understanding in both spheres. Discover how stepping outside one's comfort zone can create meaningful connections that drive positive change.

Rotary's ability to connect people locally and globally is truly unparalleled. We'll uncover strategies for expanding membership and impact, starting with local community involvement and moving up to district and zone levels. Through personal anecdotes and mentorship stories, we'll explore how eliminating barriers and leveraging shared knowledge can exponentially increase influence. This conversation offers a deep dive into fostering a culture of continuous learning and engagement within Rotary, with a focus on dynamic growth and retention strategies.

Club culture is more than just retention rates; it's about creating an engaging and vibrant environment. We'll challenge the notion that high retention equals vibrancy and discuss the importance of energizing meetings to attract and retain enthusiastic members. By making club activities member-centric and focusing on community involvement, Rotary clubs can foster a more exciting atmosphere. Whether you're navigating the dynamics between traditional and newer members or seeking ways to enhance engagement, we'll provide insights into being a change agent and ensuring Rotary's continued vibrancy and impact. Join us on this journey of gratitude and growth within the Rotary community.

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Transcript

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The Power of Rotary Connections

Speaker 1 0:29

Welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast . I'm your host , brian Schreiger , and with me today is our guest James McQuiller , also known as Chili . How are you doing today , chili ?

Speaker 2 0:42

I am doing wonderful . Thanks for asking .

Speaker 1 0:46

Of course , thanks for joining us . So you are with the Midwest City Rotary Club and you are currently serving as the district membership chair . Is that correct ?

Speaker 2 0:57

That is correct , in addition to the club membership chair also .

Speaker 1 1:03

Oh , wow , okay , so tell us a little bit more about your origin story . How did you get exposed to Rotary ?

Speaker 2 1:13

Well , our Rotary story and your Rotary story has a common denominator . My Rotary story probably started 12 years ago when I started frequenting a business in Midwest City and this one guy was persistently telling me about Rotary . And I persistently told this guy no , I was always . I was already involved in other civic organizations and I just didn't have the time . But this one guy was persistent . He kept at it for two to three years , asking me to join Rotary , asking me to come to different club meetings , and I always told him no .

Speaker 2 2:01

So finally , after about a two and a half year period , I finally went to a Rotary Club meeting . I told him no at first after the meeting because the club didn't look like me . And he countered back to me is how are you going to change something if you're on the outside looking in ? And that struck a chord with me . And he also said that if Rotary is doing everything that you're doing in the community and you like what they're doing , then don't let this be a barrier to you to make changes from within . Make changes from within . So that person sparked me to join the Midwest City Rotary Club in .

Speaker 1 2:55

July of 2015 . And the rest is history . So 2015, . So you're coming up on your 10-year anniversary .

Speaker 2 3:02

I am coming up on my 10-year anniversary . Uh , uh , this one person that we're I'm talking about , uh , uh . He continues to pour into uh Rotarians across the district and he continues to advocate uh community service , not just being a Rotarian , but just being a a good human being and doing the right thing . People , for people and for your community .

Speaker 1 3:29

Of course and I don't think he's shy I'm going to mention his name . His name goes by Mac Patel . He asked me quite a few times myself and has done quite a bit for me and Rotary as a whole , and he's our upcoming district governor . So I don't think I've met someone as persistent and as dedicated as Mac , to say the least . And you're right , our stories do connect . Are you working on Tinker Air Force Base right now ?

Speaker 2 4:04

I'm still currently employed as a GS worker , a contract officer , with the 552 Air Control Wing and I just manage and oversee all of the training contracts for the E3G and the upcoming E7 aircraft for the warfighters .

Speaker 1 4:22

So for the typical civilian out there , tell us a little bit more about that .

Speaker 2 4:30

Basically I'm just a facilitator between the government and the contractor . I have no say or no bias in what's written in the contract . My job is just to make sure that the contract's being fulfilled , that the government does not impose any other additional requirements on the contractor that's not written within a contract , and I also make sure that the contractor is fulfilling the written law of the contract . And I also make sure that the contractor doesn't do anything beyond scope of the contract . So it's all about people . It's trying to find collaboration between the government and the contractor . When there is a conflict or a dispute on what's written in the contract and most of the time , 99% of the time we don't have to go to arbitration Both parties will come to a resolution and find the best solution without having to get legal involved in it .

Speaker 1 5:31

Okay , so you're more or less , you're a peace bringer .

Speaker 2 5:37

You know what . I guess you can call me a peacemaker , but everything I do is based upon relationships . Just as in Rotary , it's easier to get collaboration from folks when you have a relationship with them . The time to collaborate or to find to effect change isn't if you don't know somebody . You come in a place cold or with no identity to them . If they know you , they respect you , they will listen to you and a lot of good things happen from having great relationships with people .

Speaker 1 6:14

I like that you bring that up . It's something that Rotary has taught me If you understand the world a little bit more and the place place in which an individual is and you know their development space tied to all areas of their life , it's easier to not react as quickly and make a decision that is tied to a little bit more objective analysis that is correct .

Speaker 2 6:44

I think that you , we can speak from experience , but we know that if we don't know people and we don't know circumstances , we don't know their stages in life or what they're going through , sometimes we will do or say things that are reactive , that will not be beneficial to the situation . And then later on we find out more information and sometimes we wish we had not pulled the trigger so quick , if we had known those things , if we had a better relationship with those people that were involved . So it's all about relationships , all about getting to know people . It's all about doing more than shaking hands . It's doing things outside the confines of your club , outside the confines of your job , connecting with a person on a personal level , finding a common ground . If the person likes sports , we talk about sports . If you like pickleball , we do that Books . Just find a common ground to connect with a person and the world will be yours or relationships will be yours .

Speaker 1 7:51

Yeah , I like that a lot . I still don't see the big picture in a lot of ways , but every time I go to a Rotary meeting or every time I do a podcast or try something that's slightly outside of my comfort zone , I get an opportunity to meet an extra person or an extra group of people , so that social cup gets filled a little bit . But also in my finer moments I have an opportunity to give a little bit more . That consistency starts to develop and the clarity starts to become more of a constant .

Speaker 2 8:30

And I'll agree with that .

Speaker 2 8:32

Sometimes it's a push-pull mechanism when it comes to clubs , looking beyond their , looking beyond their structure for , let's say , for new members , and trying to understand where your new members , or your potential new members , where they're at , in their station in life . Uh , how can we involve ? How can we change to be more accepting ? How can we open up our ears without reacting ? How can we really understand what they're trying to tell us ? And how do we not be so reactive and so egotistical and dumping our chest and saying we've been doing this for the last 20 , 30 years .

Speaker 2 9:19

It works . But we also know that in order for Rotary to be effective in the future , that Rotary has to change , that clubs have to change their models , that we have to change our culture . With the change we have to get with the technology , we have to just get out there and be more , be willing to connect with people across different more than just different backgrounds , different walks of life , and clearly , clearly understand where they're coming from . If Rotary is to continue to survive , if Rotary is to continue to be one of the preeminent organizations out there when it comes to community service and willing leader servants out there .

Speaker 1 10:06

Yeah , no , when you were , when you were talking about that , I was thinking about the fishbowl . You know that's commonly talked about and you know , sometimes lack of clarity or cleanliness within the water , without you know exposing other elements or bringing in clean water , so to speak , the vision can get cloudy . And also , you know I haven't looked recently but maybe a net 100 , 200,000 every day or something like that . I don't know exactly what number it is , but it's relatively close . So our population continues to grow and I don't think you know even a person that travels consistently . They probably get more of that chemical response .

Speaker 1 11:04

But the awareness , unless we're looking up into the sky or maybe having a deep thought tied to a railroad track or looking out into the water , some of those beautiful moments do exist where we can kind of connect with the rest of the world . But I think it's very common and I'm just speaking from experience so I can't speak for anyone else but I believe that it's a common human experience to think that maybe the world is just Midwest City and it's only 50,000 people , or it's just a subsection of a city out in Massachusetts that has maybe 4,000 or 5,000 people , and we really don't understand . Oh , go ahead and we really don't understand .

Speaker 2 11:44

Oh , go ahead . Oh no , I'm agreeing with you . Let's go back to Rotary . When you talk about connectedness and let's say Midway City Rotarians or Delcey Rotarians , or just name a Rotarian club in Oklahoma that everybody , you may think that the world revolves around your club . But unless you start visiting other clubs , connecting with other clubs , strengthening other clubs by participating in their fundraisers , their events , you get to see that not only is there a bigger , bigger picture out there , but you also see that there are a lot of more resources to tap into . You also find out that you're not alone out there when you have your individual club challenges , when it comes to , say , change , when it comes to demographic change , when it comes to membership upgrades , when it comes to let's just get it to a simple level . You know when you have personality conflicts within a club , they're not germane or unique to your club , but you don't know that if you don't get out there and experience what other clubs have to offer in this great , great world called the Rotary world .

Speaker 1 13:02

Yeah , no , I love that , and sometimes I get frustrated , sometimes I think things are constricted or there's more of a limitation , prior to realizing that it's myself that I'm the limiter .

Expanding Rotary Membership and Impact

Speaker 1 13:14

Uh , but the fact that rotary is 1.2 million strong and the fact that being in rotary actually , in a lot of ways ways , elevates an individual's platform and gets them to connect with the other you know , 8 billion plus in the world in and this is my opinion in a much stronger way . So it's not , it's not this sectioned off . Hey , you know , I'm only going to throw business to a Rotarian , even though you know that's promoted internally . Or hey , you know , this person doesn't want to join . Let's stop loving on them .

Speaker 1 13:48

And I'm not speaking for everyone . Everyone has their , you know their own paths and development stages and stuff like that . But I think in a lot of ways , uh , our organization at least from my experiences in this specific district it actually helps us to connect and give back to everyone outside of Rotary too . So it's not just this . You know this really cool thing that we're part of , where we're only giving within our own structure . It's literally enhancing our ability to give to the entire world , and I think that's a really cool thing and I think that in a lot of ways , the opportunities are endless .

Speaker 2 14:29

And yes , I agree with that . But when it comes to let's bring it back down to , let's say , for your membership , I get a new club member before I can talk to him or her about this big beautiful world of Rotary and and the big worldwide projects that Rotary is involved in . Most of the folks coming in want to know what is Rotary doing in the local community . So I start with you know we'll start with the local community and we'll build upon that and we will build layers of , let's say , layers of Rotary ship that there are things you do at your club level and hopefully we're getting our members involved early . Some clubs do a better job than others . Some clubs don't do such a great job , but it's getting those guys and gals plugged in early and something community-wise , their community feet wet .

Speaker 2 15:22

We tried to encourage them . Or , as our mentor did to us , he didn't encourage us really , he kind of pulled us along with him . He would just tell us Chili , brian , you're going to Cushing , you're going to Gage , I'll pick you up at 10 o'clock . There was no room for error when Lukash Patel wanted you to be somewhere . And I think sometimes as a membership chair or as a person , as really leadership sometimes we have to be a little bit more like Patel is that you have to provide the means , transportation , provide the lunch , provide everything . You take away all of the excuses of why somebody can't join you in your road to adventure and plus , on top of that , you have a personal relationship with them and it's very , very hard to say no to that . So , club level get them involved .

Speaker 2 16:26

Uh , we try to then take them to other clubs and hopefully they get more rotorized and seeing stuff at the district level of how things are connected at the district and how I can forge relationships with multiple clubs to get projects done not only in in my community but in their community , which in turn enhances the state of Oklahoma . Now they see that Now they can go to a zoned meeting and find different districts , eight , nine districts all meeting together at the zone level , and now your world opens up exponentially . You see presidents and membership chair people , pa people that all have a common goal , that we all have the same challenges . It opens up that reservoir , that bank of knowledge to you and you now become more aware that we are not alone in nothing that we do here .

Speaker 2 17:21

Nothing has been , there's nothing that hasn't been , and then it has been done already by Rotarian , that I don't have to recreate the wheel all by myself , that I can go and call my brother Rotarian and 6110 . I can borrow , benchmark his material , give him credit for it and bring it back to my district or my club and use it to benefit everybody . Sure , so it goes . It goes back to relationships . It goes back to , uh , being specific and targeted and our response to our members , and sometimes it's an arm twisting , uh , and we've learned from the master arm twister in a great way of how to how to eliminate obstacles , how to make people say more yeses and less no's to you yeah , no , it's .

Speaker 1 18:11

Uh , it puts me into deep thought , uh , and appreciation . I , in a lot of ways , the wheel was getting me to think we don't have to reinvent the wheel , but we can literally use the wheel of excellence to our advantage and also , in a way , a lot of what's happening is systematic enlightenment the first organization that I've really been part of that has not only taught me how it works , but also how things , how systems around the system , work , like there's no , there's really no limit as to what can be absorbed and what information can be acquired . If I have a moment of clarity and I do appreciate that platform because it just continues to give and it helps me give in return- Excellent and it also it goes back to that exponential factor of that .

Speaker 2 19:24

By myself , I can only do one or two things , but when I start combining multiple clubs in a district , if I start combining multiple zones in a district I mean multiple districts in a zone my small project becomes larger . I can impact a lot more people in my community when I band together , when I get out there and actually hold hands with my fellow Orkarians to make changes in my community . Once again , I don't have to reinvent the wheel , and you said something earlier . I go back and listen to it , but I'm going to take that as a phrase . It'll be one of my warrior cries when it comes to membership about not reinventing the wheel out there that there are things that you can pull from and add to your toolkit to make your club better , to your toolkit to make your club better To follow up on that thought .

Speaker 1 20:29

what plans are in place to tackle District 5750 growth and retention ?

Speaker 2 20:37

The biggest thing that we're going to do is , as we talked about earlier , is that in the past we try to create events , create new events . We spent a lot of money on some high-profile events that yielded very little new member participation . What we're finding out now is that there are events already established out there that are looking for vendors that will give a Rotary table , either a reduced fee or a free fee , just to set up a table . Tables and stands with roadie brochures out at state fairs , at county fairs , at a fair of the heart at February 26th , february 27th , there's a Band of Brothers movie that's being sponsored in part by 6750 . We're going to set up a membership table out there on those two days to connect the public to what rotary is doing , the connection with rotary and veterans and the connection of rotary to mental health . Any club or district that has an event , we will have membership tables out there . In the past , all of these events at different clubs , be it Spelling Beer , be it Ponca City Shrimp Oil , be it our Shrimp Oil , be it the fundraiser in Weatherford , woodford Gage , we have never , ever , had a separate membership table to tell people about Rotary . So those are the things that we're going to do to get the word out and to expand the potential membership net of Rotary out there . The second thing that we're going to do is in some of our rural communities , rural communities that are really , really struggling with a loss of youth in their community and a loss of manpower . We're going to look at all of those different companies along their highways that are in agribusiness or oil welling and we're going to talk to them about corporate sponsorships that perhaps they cannot send a member to the club on a weekly basis but they can be partners with the Rotary Club in making that community better . So those are the two biggest things that we're going to look at from a membership team to not only bring in more members but also to make sure that the club experience is correct , in the right climate for retaining your members .

Creating Vibrant Rotary Club Culture

Speaker 2 23:39

Some clubs have a high retention rate . A high retention rate does not necessarily mean that your club culture is conducive for your members and we can speak about that . I know several clubs that I've been to . I look at their numbers it's 100% retention rate . But when you walk in the club the club environment is not conducive for if you want to keep members there , if you want to keep young members engaged , we have to figure out a way to energize those meetings , to look beyond the numbers , look beyond 100% retention rate .

Speaker 2 24:22

Why are you at 100% retention rate ? Why are you at 100% retention rate ? Are you static at that number ? Are you actually getting more members that are reflective of your community or is it just the status quo that are just staying there and as they get older and unfortunately , they pass on ? Are their roles being filled , backfilled ? I use the word back , so that's a bad term . Do you have a plan attrition plan to replace members ? Do you know what your growth rate is ? Do you know what your attrition rate is ? If you got attrition rate of 7% , is your membership plan reflective of that ? Are you going after more members to bring your club to make sure that you have the right number of people to continue to serve your community and the right number of people to continue to support our great foundation of rotary foundation ? I think , once again , those are the two big but great .

Speaker 1 25:22

Oh , I didn't mean to interrupt . Sorry , go ahead , I was done . Oh , I think one of the biggest tricks to learn and I make the mistake of doing this too one of the differences I've seen between the clubs with and without Atmosphere is making it about the members and also the outside world the members and also the outside world the more static clubs or the club experiences are . Typically , let's see , you want to shy away from being like really negative , but I'll you know , is it the truth , right ? So that's okay . Sometimes it's tone deaf and also it's also too much about the club or and I might get struck by the Rotary gods for saying this too much about Rotary . At the end of the day , the people that are drawn in , I believe , are the people that realize that not only do we care about them , but the rest of the world . So if we let the conversation be about non-Rotarians , I've learned that on this podcast , a lot of our district , not to say that like there's going to be a ton of really valuable information in this conversation specifically . I know that I'm 100% confident of that .

Speaker 1 26:33

In most of the episodes I can say very similar things and I appreciate everyone who participates , but the more that an episode let's just take it as a kind of a metaphor for a club the more that the episode is about someone outside of Rotary or their experiences outside of Rotary and letting an individual's imagination connect the dots between Rotary and the rest of the world and letting them realize that they're on a big planet and letting their mind wander . There's more oxygen to breathe , there's more excitement tied to possibility . It's not just you know the principles and Paul Harris and you know I can list 10 more things that are really important , that mean something to me but will take a little bit of time for the new member to absorb the more that an individual who's welcomed in or someone who's a prospective member , let's say even someone who's never going to join Rotary , but adds value to the meeting because they're bringing a story tied to their community involvement which adds a ton of value to the meeting and the organization as a whole . That's the kind of stuff , in my opinion , that adds to vibrancy .

Speaker 1 27:48

If you make it too much , in the same way that with two individuals I've learned this many times with you know my , my failed romantic pursuits If I make it too much about Brian , that relationship's going to fail . Even if Brian is important and Brian's my favorite word because I'm Brian Someone's going to get tired . So if you make it specifically about the club or specifically about the district , or specifically giving kudos to too much of a person and you forget that you're on planet Earth , it's going to make someone suffocate

Enhancing Rotary Club Experience

Speaker 1 28:18

. So I think one thing that I've learned as a New Rotarian and also as a Rotary Spark podcast host , is to get excited and welcome the elements of everything outside of Rotary , because without the world , without the people that are not members , rotary wouldn't even exist .

Speaker 2 28:39

That's a great point you brought up about . I use the term rotarized . Great point you brought up about I use the term rotorized is that everybody comes into Rotary . Everybody comes at different levels of what they want from Rotary and I can't expect a brand new member to want to be inundated with all the big picture about Rotary , polio , paul Harris Foundation , how to be a sustaining member , a sustaining member club those are all great , great , great things to be a Rotarian . But a new member doesn't need that . When they first come to a club , I think they need to know that .

Speaker 2 29:22

What is their why ? You know why Rotary and why Rotary versus , say , being an alliance or Knights of Columbus or a Mason or just name any other civic organization out there why do you want to be a Rotary ? And once we get their why , it's up to us to make it fun for them , to make sure that your meeting , your one-hour meeting , that's an investment of their time . You have to respect their time also . And how do I respect their time ? Is I got to make that meeting as engaging , as informative as possible ? Meeting as engaging , as informative as possible ?

Speaker 2 30:08

If I don't make it as engaging , as informative as possible , I may have a problem of . I may have a club directory membership of 74 , but I consistently only have 31 that show up . Ding , ding , ding , ding , ding ding . There's something wrong in that picture that perhaps I need to look at . What am I offering my members ? Why do I have such a low what do you call that a low attendance rate ? It should be a little bit higher . If my club is excited , I should be looking forward to going to Rotary . It should be something on my calendar that I've circled , that I want to be a part . I want to fellowship with these men and women . I want to find out what other projects we're doing . I want to find out what I can do to help my community If I'm not there .

Speaker 1 30:58

Yeah , the attendance is easy to figure out . I know that it can be more complex , but at the end of the day , if the attendance is low , it means that people don't want to show up . You can ask yourself why . You know , maybe it's boring , or you can attach really easy labels to tied to the experience , but for whatever reason , uh and and everyone in the club or district and or district , depending on what which one we're talking about is responsible . So , whether someone has a position or not , if I would say that it's the responsibility of everyone within that group , if someone doesn't want to show up , they just they don't see value in showing up , like I don't .

Speaker 1 31:35

Personally I don't show up to things that I don't want to be a part of . If people don't believe in themselves or don't believe in a group that they're part of . I know that that energy is contagious and since you know , as a developing human being , I believe in myself and a lot of the things that and individuals that I'm connected with , I want to be around that energy so that when I have moments of doubt and despair , I can , I can hit a platform that springs me back up a little bit quicker . I don't really . You know I've , I've aged enough , I'm , you know , I'm not super old , but it's all relative . I want to have an environment that uh has a higher morale because , um , in ways I'm selfish and also , in being selfish , I'm allowed to be selfless at times selfish .

Speaker 2 32:29

I'm allowed to be selfless at times , but once again it goes back to what Andre said in his podcast . I'm going to paraphrase something he said about . He had something similar where members weren't showing up and the solution is a lot of folks want to sit there and just make a judgment based upon no fact . Well , they're not coming to the meeting . You know we should automatically kick them out of the club . Andre said to him well , have you called them ? And that's my position is . Before I do any action , I want to find out why aren't you coming to the club meeting ? What can we do to make it more inviting ? And I have to be willing to listen to that feedback . Uh , unfortunately , sometimes we don't listen to the feedback or we're slow to respond to the feedback and we may lose members that way . So I got to do a better job of internalizing each club member's concerns for what they want from their club experience and , as Andre also said in his changing a club culture , it's sort of like you know you're watching a big aircraft carrier turn in the middle of the ocean . It takes a lot of room , it takes time to turn that big aircraft carrier around and sometimes to change the club dynamics or a club that's 70 years old or older to change some of the conventions . It may take time and sometimes the instigator or the initiative of the change will not be the benefactor of it . It'll be people coming after him or her . They will be the benefactors of , of the change that they planted the seed of . So hopefully , hopefully , I will take that at heart to take those inputs back to your boards to make sure that at least they're

Navigating Rotary Club Culture and Growth

Speaker 2 34:29

being heard .

Speaker 2 34:29

Number one Can things be changed and implemented ? There's some small things that can be done to change the culture of a club almost instantaneously that won't offend your old guard or your new guard . I use those terms affectionately because most clubs have an old guard and a new guard and that is the challenge of trying to find collaboration between changing conventions that the old guard has been used to for 30 years . The new guard wants action . They just want to do stuff . I want to do a project .

Speaker 2 35:09

I'm not necessarily too concerned about the meeting format . I could care less about the lunch . The old guard likes the social aspect of Rotary . That's important to them . Younger members may not like the social aspect , at least not in that club environment . They like another avenue . Maybe let's do a social offsite somewhere and just let's just just just let our hair down a little bit . So that's the collaborative effort that we have to look at it and sustaining Rotary for the future to keep us viable , to keep us viable to keep these fresh new faces coming in , these fresh new ideas , so we don't get stagnant and we die on the vine .

Speaker 1 35:50

As we've been told many times , if you don't change , eventually you're going to trick yourself out and become useless in your community . That's really good insight . Uh , from your perspective , do you have any ? Uh , let's see as as we wrap up , do you have any tips for new rotarians ?

Speaker 2 36:15

uh . But my number one tip for new rotarians is to get involved early . We keep saying that's that's kind of a trite , overused uh uh statement . Get involved early . What does that actually mean ? Get involved early ? It means that every club has a list of projects that they're already involved in that you like and get attached to it . If the club does not have a project that you like and you have an idea for a project , by all means don't be shy about sharing your ideas with your club . And of course we talked earlier about old guards versus new guards . Sometimes our old guard may not be receptive to some new projects .

Speaker 2 37:07

Don't get discouraged by the first initial response that you may not be able to get your project done . Work within that club structure as best you can to make a change . If you start coming to the meetings every week and it feels like it's an obligation , you have to check yourself and check your club . Perhaps that is not the right club for you and there's nothing wrong with that . There are other clubs out there that we can make sure that we find the right broader experience for you . Or maybe you don't want to be involved in the club but you want to be involved in all of the projects the club is responsible for . We will put you on a mailing list that will keep you posted on every and all of our projects that you can be involved in without having to be a Rotarian . Perhaps later on that becomes . You can start a new club based on a cause , based on a project club . So once again , my whole thing is for new Rotarians is to get involved .

Speaker 2 38:22

Number two is at any opportunity that you have , especially here in Oklahoma City area . I mean we're home to about 15 clubs . I'm counting UConn , uconn , norman that's a different district but we can still go to their club down in Norman . More , we have multiple clubs , lots of clubs in our area for you to go visit . Just because you can't make a meeting at your club , there are other clubs to go to . To build more relationships in those clubs . Look at how they're doing things . You can say , holy crap , I love the way they're doing this or hey , I like the way my club is doing this . But bottom line is you can share information with each club , you can bring stuff back to your old club and you can make your club better .

Speaker 2 39:14

Number three is somewhere down in your second year , go to a district event . Um , go to a district event , be it pets . Uh , be at your , your district conference . Your district conference is something I encourage every rotarian to go to . It's paid for by your district . The only thing you have to do is get your transportation there . But it's not . It's another opportunity for you to be exposed to members from all 32 , 33 clubs in your district and it shows you the connectedness of your Rotarians in your district and your club and you form more and more better relationships and friendships by participating in these district events .

Speaker 2 40:03

So that would be my advice , advice for new Rotary members and once again , don't be discouraged by if change doesn't happen fast in your club . If you go to a club that is a conventional club and when I say conventional club , when I say conventional , conventional , we're talking about a club that that sings a song , pledge of allegiance , a prayer and the four-way test . And if those things don't suit you , uh , there are other clubs out there that don't do all of that and we will find the right club for you to thrive in . So , once again , don't be discouraged by the lack of change in a conventional club . Don't be discouraged that this is a sign of what Rotary is . Just look at yourself and think about . I can be that change agent . I can be the person to plant the seed of change in this club . I may not see the change , but at least it'll get that big ship , that big aircraft carrier , to start shifting momentum and changing in the right direction to stay relevant in the future .

Speaker 1 41:24

Sure , yeah , that's a lot of really good information and , from personal experience , that seems to make a lot of sense . For anyone who wants to explore other clubs , then it's a great thing . I transferred within my first couple of years and it was a great decision . It doesn't mean that all Rotarians are . It doesn't really mean anything . It just means that there are many different opportunities that all of us can explore and and yeah , I really like everything that you said there's always an opportunity to stay , transfer , pivot and create a satellite club or even a new club . I'd recommend you know , as I'm finishing up my second year , if you're not sure what you want to do , speak , speak to your closest mentor and kind of mix that with your own gut instinct and and and just go with it , because whatever , whatever's inside that's going to push you to do whatever it is , regardless of what anyone else has to say , it it it's going to be the right move . Um , so oh , go ahead .

Speaker 2 42:32

No , I'm saying good Cause I think I think my job as a membership chair is to try to try to remove obstacles as much as I can within the confines of my , my club culture .

Speaker 2 42:43

Um , if I can't find , uh , something within the confines of my club culture , if I can't find something within the club , I don't want to lose a person as a Rotarian , especially when I know that they'd be great Rotarians and good Rotarians . It's just to find them the right club out there , and I can't be egotistical to have a possessive nature while we're losing a member . No , we're not losing a member at all , we're gaining a member . We're gaining a member who's going to be happy in another club . We're gaining an asset that's going to thrive , which is going to make the Rotary better and make your community better . I'd rather do that than to dismiss a person and then they have their fist balled up about Rotary and they won't share anything about Rotary . It's all going to be negative about Rotary . Our job is just to make sure that we're helping people to be better Rotarians , either in your current club or in somebody else's club .

Speaker 1 43:41

Of course , and I like that you mentioned , you know , holding onto , because you know we forget , I forget sometimes . All the clubs are temporary and so are our lives . So as the planet , so as I mean you know there might not be an immediate benefit to this , but so is Rotary International at the end of the day , you know , just appreciating the energy as it transfers through all of these temporary vessels in the healthiest way possible to make this experience in this world , you know better , for as many people as possible , I mean , that's really the best all of us can do .

Speaker 2 44:20

I can't , I can't , I can't even say it better than that , brian . That's all we can . That's all we can do , only be . I can only try to be a good human being . If I'm a good human being and a good spark , hopefully that'll rub off on the next person in my circle . I can only be that in my circle of influence . Just be a better human being . If you're a better human being , you'll have a better community .

Speaker 1 44:49

You'll have a better world and life will be a whole lot better . Well , that's a great way to wrap up . I'm just going to make a few announcements . I want everyone who wants to know about any of the events that are going on to do two things . I want you to go to rotary5750.org Check out some of the events that are going on , to do two things . I want you to go to rotary5750.org Check out some of the events that are listed there . It's a combination between district and club events .

Speaker 1 45:14

I also want you to go to the club directory , which is on that district , and check out each individual website tied to each individual club and find out through there kind of what's going on . That'll give you a chance to plug into their social media . If you see that there's nothing or limited information there , don't be shy . Pick up the phone , maybe give them a call . They might be getting their social media together or just restructuring . In some ways . It doesn't mean that there's nothing going on . It just means that each club is developing at its own pace . So a few things that are coming up the Spelling Beer on February 28th for the Midtown Club . We also have Pets coming up . I believe it's March 20th , which will give everyone an opportunity to learn about leadership , and then we also have the April 26th crawfish boil for the Ponca City Trailblazers . Like I said , there are additional events , club and district specific , within the month of January .

Speaker 1 46:18

On rotary5750.org , if you reach out to the district administrator or anyone in the district chain really any Rotarian you can find out exactly what's going on . There are events that are happening all the time and I also want to take this opportunity to to just thank all of the listeners out there as I go through the stats and see the different regions and demographics tied to each and every individual

Expressing Gratitude in Rotary Community

Speaker 1 46:48

listener . Just know that , regardless of what pace this project grows at , I love each and every one of you . I don't necessarily know all of you , but I'm aware of most of you . Know all of you , but I'm aware of most of you , and I just want to let you know that I'm thinking about you , regardless of what direction this project goes in , and I really appreciate your support .

Speaker 1 47:12

We have eight subscribers right now . We've gotten close to 700 downloads . Every single download , every single moment that you listen to this . It means a lot to me . It's my opportunity and , as we grow , our opportunity to share the message of Rotary and how our district communicates with the rest of the world . So I just really want to let you know that my heart is in this and I really appreciate every single person that's connected to this world , so thank you for that . I also want to thank IT Spark for being the vessel that we've utilized occasionally to develop this project . Rotary District 5750 , also 5280 , albert Hernandez is going to be actually as the district governor is going to be with us next week . He inspired this project and I'm trying to think did I forget anyone ? Bricktown Rotary Club ? I'm a new member , so thank you , bricktown Rotary Club . You've been fantastic . Thank you for welcoming me into your club and with that , thank you again , chili , and I hope everyone has a great evening and a great weekend as well . Thank you .