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A
brief history of the development of Rotary eClub One of District 5450
By
Rotarian John Minter, PHF, Governor’s Special Representative, Charter
President, originally a member Rotary Club of Boulder (Sponsor)
[March 2001] How it started
The
incoming District Membership Chair asked the District Internet
Communications Officer if we could create a Rotary Club on the Internet.
"Sure" he replied. Here we are. The idea of a e-club is not new. There
are many non Rotary examples. But it is not a trivial task to sort through
a set of 100 year-old customs and procedures to capture the essence of the
world’s most successful service club.
[APRIL, MAY] Initial design
The
District organized a Design Team made up of Rotarians with significant
club experience; skillful in using the Internet; representing the types of
members the club hopes to attract.
District goals
The purpose of
Rotary eClub One of District 5450 is to extend Rotary to business,
professional and community leaders in District 5450 who are unable to meet
traditional attendance requirements because extensive travel, or
conflicting occupational demands, or physical immobility, or residence
beyond reasonable distance from an existing 5450 Rotary club.
Community building
on the web
The
major challenge to designing and building an e-club is not technical,
but sociological. Several recent publications helped us think through the
critical issues.
Three books stand out: Design for Community: The
art of connecting real people in virtual places
, Derek Powazek, a writer and experienced web community builder.
Tells it like it is in a style that puts you "there". You'll learn what
works and what doesn't when building and running virtual communities on
the Web.
http://www.designforcommunity.com/
If
you still want to build a Rotary e-club after reading this book you
will likely be successful. Community
Building on the Web, Amy Jo Kim (
Peachpit Press, 2000) Highlights from the book may be found at
http://www.naima.com/community/
Online Communities: Designing Usability,
Supporting Sociability, Jenny Preece (John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, 2000).
http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/onlinecommunities/
On this web site you will find examples of
interesting communities, tools for building community and research
articles.
[May] Proposal
Proposal reviewed and approved by a select panel of District 5450
Governors, past, present and future. Proposal signed by DG Alan Loeb, DGE
William Leeper and DGN Michael Hayes. For us, involving district
leadership in the details of the proposal were crucial to its success.
The
proposal submitted to RI through our Zone Director, Lynn Hammond.
[June] Project approval by the RI Board and assignment to RI New
Models program
[July - August]
Refining design: Constitution, Bylaws, Procedures (provisional status)
[September - October]
Internet platform selection
[November,
December] Testing platforms; Organization
[January] Charter and Initial operations
[January 4,
2002]
Chartered
Presented by
Bhichai Rattakul RIPE Kenneth.C.Townsend@Rbcdain.comat the Quad-District
Foundation Dinner, January 18, Denver, Colorado
Benchmarks
[February 2002] Creating the Meeting Program which has become a
popular makeup with traveling Rotarians.
[September 2002] Accepted first international member
[December 2002] Adding Credit Card transactions for dues, fees, and
donations
[April 2003] First Community Service Project - Honoring Foster Parents
[June, 2003] Featured in The Rotarian magazine. Increased average
number of make-ups daily from 50 to 120.
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