Rotary PR

How Large is Your Rotary Wheel?

My husband and I recently spent a weekend in western Pennsylvania, and as we always do when we are exploring new territory, we kept our eyes pealed for those blue Rotary wheels that are posted on the side of the road announcing where Rotary meets in that community. 

The Rotary wheel is one of the best-known logos in the world, right up there with Coca-Cola’s red stripe and the AT&T globe. It’s also one of the most respected! So all we need to do is use it!

And clubs in 7780 are using the Rotary wheel in the most innovative ways. Many of our clubs wear that wheel on our work shirts, as decals on our cars, print them on placemats at fundraisers, and include them on the bookplates of the books we give to elementary school kids and as speaker honoraria to the local library. Think about it: If you give a book, that’s a service. If you give a book with a bookplate inscribed with your club name and the Rotary wheel, that’s a service PLUS it gets the Rotary name distributed all over town.

The prize for largest free-standing Rotary wheel in 7780 (and as far as I know, the world!) goes hands-down to the Wheel of Saco Bay and Kennebunk. It’s big! The Wheel was originally conceived and built by Al Carignan of Saco Bay, and in addition to publicizing local events, it was frequently loaned out to other clubs, rolling (on its own trailer!) as far as Rhode Island to take part in parades.

By 2006, after years of hard use and exposure to the weather, the Wheel was on its last cog. Its renewal is an incredible story that exemplifies “Rotary shares!” At the heart of the story: David Moravick and Roland Gagne arranged for the Wheel to be rebuilt by the Center for Technology using the original template. Today, the Wheel is once again a movable “fixture” announcing Rotary events and fundraisers all over York County.

To create your own wheel, mega- or otherwise, contact David Moravick of the Kennebunk club. To purchase Rotary bookplates, placemats and other signage, check out the official Rotary catalogs. Or, save money and print your own: You can download PDFs of the Rotary wheel from the RI website: http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/graphics/index.html

Wear Rotary With Pride

You and I are the best possible advertisement of what Rotary exemplifies!

Think about it: As we go about our business, as we are involved in church or youth activities or special interests in our communities, or even when we just let someone in line in front of us at the supermarket, we are living examples of what it means to be a Rotarian. Proudly wearing that Rotary lapel pin is just about the strongest marketing message every one of us can possibly make.

Most 7780 clubs don’t stop with lapel pins, of course: Many have tee shirts, golf shirts, aprons and jackets all sporting the Rotary wheel and name.

My own club isn’t exactly known for its highfalutin’ fashion sense, but when we got the Sergeant-at-Arms to agree that wearing our Rotary Club shirt with first name emblazoned on the pocket “counted” as wearing a name badge, shirt sales increased exponentially! Of course, the point isn’t to wear the shirts just at Club meetings, but rather, to community activities …

The Oxford Hills club is a trendsetter in this regard: Not content with sporting the Club name, wheel and “Service Above Self” moniker, Oxford Hills emblazons the back of their tees and sweatshirts with a list of all the local charities it supports (see photo). That way, when anyone wonders what Oxford Hills does with the money it raises, the answer is evident – both going and coming!

                                               Home, Home on the Web

The current Rotarian magazine (Dec 07, page 21) asks the question: Is your club website doing its job? 

Like it or not, our websites are our clubs’ most public “faces.” And as we all work to attract younger, presumably more IT-savvy members, the club website will be an ever-increasingly important recruitment tool as well as communications device.

Smart clubs think about the image they want to project before they develop their site. Take Brunswick Coastal (www.coastalrotary.org): Their home page leads off with the big question: HOW DO YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE? and then describes the myriad programs the club sponsors both here and abroad. The message is clear: We may be small in numbers, but what we are doing is big! Join us!

I’m not going to restate the points in the Rotarian article – read it! It includes great tips on website messaging, organization and design, and also my favorite topic: The need to keep your site up-to-date. If the last time you posted a new member induction was way back in 2003 … or if you haven’t reported on your “annual” family event since 2006 … or if the last newsletter posted lists “upcoming” programs that took place last August … need I say more?

Many of us have gotten so used to our websites, that it’s hard to properly review them. After all, it was up-to-date the last time we checked, right? Oh, was it that many months ago?  Ask a new/prospective member, or maybe a member’s non-Rotarian spouse, to look at the site and truly, truly assess its strengths and weaknesses. Does it use Rotary acronyms that are inscrutable to the outsider? Does the page that describes the literacy program have, umm, misspellings or typos? Is it easy to find the “stuff” that Rotary newbies might look for, in the way they might look for them?

Or maybe you’re starting from scratch. Of course you can always develop your own, but good software is available for club websites from ClubRunner and ClubWizard, at a cost of about $50 per month. Not sure how to pay for it? Many of the clubs in our District ask local businesses to “sponsor” their site, and that opens the possibility to even turn the site into a profit center! Yeah! Check out Portsmouth (www.portsmouthrotary.org) and scroll down to the bottom of the home page for a great example of this.

 Plan Your Calendar with PR in Mind!

The goal of the Dictionary project is to promote literacy; we all know that. But among the added attractions of the project is the chance to spend a day with enthusiastic elementary school students and to enjoy the marvelous thank-you notes the kids write (typically replete with misspellings!). Then there’s the opportunity for great club publicity. After all, what local newspaper can say “no” to an article that highlights so many little kids?  That’s what the Newburyport club discovered when the local Daily News gave a banner headline to coverage of its Dictionary project.

As you are planning your calendar, be sure to think about those projects that combine “service above self” with great Club publicity. Damariscotta-Newcastle, for example, runs an annual “Four Avenues of Service” speech contest at its high schools. The semifinalists (and their teachers) come to the club to present their speeches. The winners earn a small scholarship and recognition of a job well done; the Rotary club’s motto of service becomes an ongoing high-school activity with great PR appeal and potentially far-reaching effect.

It’s not only youth that local media love to highlight. Since 1960, Boothbay Harbor has named a senior citizen who exemplifies Rotary’s values of service.  The club roasts and toasts its selectee (and makes sure to invite the newspaper editor!) at its annual Lifetime Service Award Dinner, and more often than not the event garners front-page headlines in the local paper.  

What all these activities have in common is they are great recognition programs in keeping with everything that Rotary stands for, they cost very little to do and can be repeated year after year, and the local media just love them!

And then there are the Rotary programs that ARE local media! Case in point is Rochester’s first-annual Rotary Radio Day radiothon held in May ‘07, which put Rotarians “on the air” for 12 straight hours. A Rotarian or special guest joined the program every half hour and told the story of Rotary, the Foundation, and all the things the club has done for the community over the years. Not only did the club “get its message out,” but Rotarians sold advertising spots to local businesses and individuals, with the Club receiving 80% of the proceeds, or a net of $3000. Wow!  Yes, it helped that club member Gary James owns the radio station, but this is one idea that is highly transferable (hey, maybe my club can do it on the local channel TV station)!!

Do you have a fabulous project  – or an insurmountable problem – related to Club public relations? Le me know: mpeak@polaris.net and I’ll share your wins and seek ideas to help cure your woes. Together, we’ll spread the word on all the great stuff our clubs do!

--Marty Peak Helman, District PR Coordinator

Gary Speers shares an album-ful of newspaper articles written about the Damariscotta-Newcastle club.

The Local Paper Won’t Print Anything About Our Club

(and other urban legends)

Common wisdom in the Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club was that the local Lincoln County News wouldn’t run anything on Rotary. The club meets Tuesday breakfast, and the weekly editorial deadline is Tuesday noon. That tight deadline was really hard to meet, but even when club members busted a gut to do so, the paper invariably failed to run their article. 

That was the situation when Gary Speers became president and de facto PR chair in 2006. Gary responded by doing something bizarre: He called up the editor directly, and asked what the problem was.

Simple question, simple answer: It turns out that, because the editor didn’t often receive articles from the Rotary club, she didn’t leave space for them. When they did show up, the paper was invariably full, and the material was usually out-of-date by the following week. Hence the cutting-room floor.

Simple answers usually result in even simpler solutions: Gary cut a deal. Gary would guarantee an article written and submitted every week by the Tuesday deadline, and the editor would do her utmost to make sure it ran in the paper.

One year later, the Damariscotta-Newcastle club has a scrapbook full of articles and photos that have run weekly in the Lincoln County News, and general recognition of the club and its activities has never been greater in the community.

There’s a moral to this story. If you feel your local paper or media outlet is ignoring you, remember Gary: Pick up the phone, get to the bottom of the problem and work out a solution. 

Past District Governor Marie Williams affixes the Rotary decal to Bath Sunrise's new meeting

place as Lin Maria Riotto looks on.

So the District Governor is Coming to Visit!

So the District Governor is coming for her official visit! You’ve filled out the Club Questionnaire, arranged for a special reception following the meeting, and asked club members to dress “spiffy.” Have you also thought about the “free” publicity you can also garner from her visit?

With all due respect to Governor Liz (and all past District Governors), an official visit, in and of itself, is hardly a headline-maker in your local newspaper, radio or TV cable station. After all, local news editors are interested in local personalities, and a visiting VIP (especially -- to those of us in Maine -- a visiting VIP from Massachusetts!!) is hardly worth getting excited about!

But you can arrange for it to be otherwise.

Many clubs take advantage of the District Governor’s visit to induct a new member, award a Paul Harris Fellow, or honor a club Rotarian of the Year. Voila! Make sure to bring your digital camera and snap a photo of the DG and the honoree, under your Club banner, of course. Send the photo to your local editor and make sure that in addition to stating the reason the local Rotarian is being honored by a dignitary from away, the caption includes the date/time of your club meetings and the fact that Rotary is always welcoming to visitors.

You can do even more: Consider the message you want your community to know about your club, and use the DG’s visit to help get the word out! Last year, Bath Sunrise moved to a new venue, Mae’s Café. Later, when then-Governor Marie came for her official visit, she “attached” the Rotary decal to the restaurant door, and that’s the photo that ran in the Times-Record! Now, it’s in the local “newspaper of record” that Bath Sunrise meets at Mae’s Café – and the restaurant didn’t object to the free publicity either! So think about “your” message – and make sure to put it on Governor Liz’s agenda.