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Rotary eClub One - Real People Building Real Relationships

By Rotarian Tom Green

As a visitor to this website, you may or may not be familiar with the story of Rotary eClub One.

Rotary eClub One was chartered January 4, 2002, as Rotary International's first club with operations supported by the Internet.

The mission of Rotary eClub One from the beginning has been to connect, inform and inspire members who are travel bound, place bound, or schedule bound and prevented from fulfilling traditional Rotary Club attendance requirements.

There are five key goals:

·         Use the Internet to retain Rotarians who would otherwise be lost to Rotary

·         Use the Internet to attract new Rotarians

·         Use the Internet to facilitate meetings

·         Use the Internet to manage service projects

·         Use the Internet for fellowship by creating a friendly community of like-minded Rotarians

Our members are spread across the globe and come from a host of professional backgrounds.  Some of our members include doctors, nurses, engineers, IT professionals, marketers, administrators, authors, hoteliers, and teachers…. just to name a few.  This wide range of vocations is one of the strengths of Rotary eClub One.

When we are not at work we cherish family life and those we love. Some of us have young families, while other members are proud grandparents, “empty nesters” who enjoy time with their grandchildren at home, as well as regular travel to far off places.

Still others are just starting out and enjoy adventure at every turn. Some of us are older… but still enjoy the many new adventures of busy and productive lives.

What we all have is a commitment to “Adventures in Service”, looking for new and innovative ways to help the needy in several countries around the world. We have service projects underway in every continent except Antarctica, quite an achievement for a Rotary club of 43 members!

Many of our members have a passion for similar types of Rotary projects.  Still others share common hobbies and other outside interests.  These common interests lead to friendly connections with fellow Rotarians….

There is nothing like putting a smile on the face of someone on the other side of the world who has become a friend through Rotary eClub One. Regular communications via email, VoIP or online chat enable these friendships to grow and flourish.

Rotary eClub One members enjoy fellowship through our Club Assemblies and Board Meetings which are conducted using an on-line web meeting host. We post pictures of our personal community projects in our clubhouse and on our website. Our club newsletter keeps us aware of what our fellow members are doing around the world, as well as acknowledging Rotary anniversaries and personal milestones of our members. When members travel, they often visit with fellow club members at their destination.

As with any Rotary club, we celebrate when children or grandchildren are born. We support members who are going through difficult times. We encourage a return to good heath when members have medical challenges. In other words, we share our joys and sorrows just as all Rotarians do.

As well as connecting by computer, there are times when our members reach out and make personal contact with each other.

This year, a new concept was introduced to Rotary eClub One: Regional Team Meetings. Designed to encourage members within geographic regions to assemble for a day or two of casual fellowship, this idea was put to the test recently with a group of members who reside in North Carolina.

Rotarians based in North Carolina had the first regional gathering in October 2008.  Members and spouses met first on a Saturday evening at the home of Tom and Susan Green.  Tom has been a member of Rotary eClub One since 2003. Joining the Greens were Robert and Carol Steen and Joe and Maggie Spears – also members of Rotary eClub One.  Don and Diana Myers, friends of the Green’s and members of the Monroe NC Rotary Club joined us for dinner that evening too.  What a great time we all had getting to meet our Rotary eClub One friends face to face.  We discovered many things we had in common (as well as being members of the same Rotary club) and this made our gathering all the more enjoyable.

Then on Sunday the group gathered for brunch and a short business meeting.  Having the evening before to get to learn more about each another we moved easily onto the business at hand.  Many good points of interest were noted and Carol Steen (also the Rotary eClub One Secretary) forwarded our observations and comments on to the Board of our club.

What a great weekend to share together.  But fellowship is only part of our story.  The story of Rotary eClub One goes on through the many lives we touch through our individual and collective service projects across the globe. 

At Rotary eClub One we are committed to “Thinking Globally and Acting Locally”.  This is the cornerstone of our success.

Editor’s note: This story was submitted by Rotarian Tom Green. Tom has served Rotary eClub One with distinction, both on the Board and behind the scenes.