When The Alarm Doesn’t Work…

My schedule on Tuesday was one that no one who values sleep would look forward to. After getting off from my night shift I was going to change and head to the office with the goal of getting there around 10:00 AM. I was going to leave around 2:30 or 3:00 so that I could sleep for a two to three hours before heading off to the lodge for a 7:30 meeting. If I was lucky things would go quickly and I would be able to catch another hour or two before heading back to work at midnight.

Well… that didn’t happen. The day started off in the right way as I got to work about 15 minutes early and starting addressing a few things on my list right away. However, by the end of the morning I was in the midst of pitching and the schedule was looking optimistic to say the least.

Having found a good point to take a breather in the middle of the afternoon I got in the car and headed back to the apartment. Maybe the schedule could be redeemed…. My mind would have none of that. Throughout the drive home I kept thinking about whether I was missing emails and who I needed to follow up with right away.

By the time I got to Bala Cynwyd, I was wide awake so I went into the office, got my computer out, and started sending out and responding to emails. I thought I had only stopped to work for a minute or two but when I glanced at the clock it was already 4:30 and my energy immediately left my body as if carried off by a sudden breeze. It was time to sleep so I set my alarm for seven, got into bed, and said good bye to the world within a minute of my head hitting the pillow.

The next thing I half remember is my wife coming home around eight, saying something about missing lodge, and reaching for my phone which had not moved since I fell asleep. I don’t even remember if I responded. Fortunately, when she reached for the phone she reset my alarm so that I could get up for work in another three hours. I hate missing meetings but sometimes your body simply vetoes your plans and that was the case last night.

It was probably the best thing for me but it still annoys me that I wasn’t able to pull through this week without any alterations to my schedule. At least now it’s a short term problem as my last weekday shift is tonight. Finally, I get to live, work, and feel like a human being again. Something I have been looking forward to for a long time.  

PR CPR

Get your club back into rhythm.

Just a few thoughts stemming from a district meeting I had last night in King of Prussia....

Public relations and communications are an important part of any successful company or organization and Rotary is no different. Too often, this is something that is overlooked both at the club and on the district level but that perspective is slowly changing and those of us in District 7450 are doing our part by encouraging our fellow Rotarians to make that mental transition. However, this is a transition that is going to take a lot of time and a lot of energy.

The mentality that exists within most clubs, particularly smaller ones, is that the focus needs to be entirely on the service side of things. Those items or tasks that are necessary to promote the club itself are secondary. This is why many of us struggle with both membership and fundraising.

Unfortunately, there is also the generational and technological disconnect that exists in the membership which hinders the adoption both of methods and strategies essential for growth. Obviously, things need to change and they need to do so in a big way. The question is how do we implement such change into a system and a population that is hesitant to embrace a new way of holistic service to the community, club, district, and one another?

Change needs to be a step by step process not a mandate. A perfect example is social media. Many members are uninterested in having a Facebook profile and don’t see the need for one. The task then becomes to create the need. Show them why it would be a good thing to have in their lives both personally and regarding their Rotary involvement.

Maybe they want to see all the pictures of their grandkids, maybe they want to meet new people, maybe they want to get more involved in their service but are unable to make a regular time commitment. Demonstrate the value it can have in their own lives and they will better understand the need for the club to have a presence as well. It is not a guarantee but you will, most likely, reach at least a few members with this approach.

Traditional media is also something that needs to be high on the priority list and while it may take greater effort it can also carry with it a greater impact on your club’s exposure. Most clubs, large and small, promote large events and service projects to the local main stream media but that is only part of the story. Clubs need to write about and disseminate information regarding the weekly guest speakers as well as the induction of new members at the very least. Remember, if your club’s name is seen one time it’s a good thing but when people see your club regularly then you are entering into the realm of PR. This is when you are seen as an integral part of the community.

There are numerous other topics and details that can be discussed around the subject of PR and communications and many of them I have either already covered (here and here) or will be covering in the future. But, for now, I will leave you with the above topics for consideration and I encourage you to get involved by finding new ways to promote your club and to promote Rotary. There is no question that we do great work as Rotarians but sometimes they can go by the wayside if no one knows about them so let your voice and your club’s voice be heard.

Back To Basics

It had been a long time since I wrote a pitch and dialed reporters and heading into this week my nerves were making themselves known. I don’t know why it is. I guess it is just a simple fact of time off playing with my mind and the trials of the last year swimming in the shallow end of the gray matter.

While it took me a few minutes to collect the words and summarize the press release into the pitch after that it was second nature to me. Some things you just don’t forget how to do. I even felt more comfortable than in previous experiences in just talking to editors and reporters rather than trying to pitch them.

I think that, in the end, the time off was good for me. Time away from the industry spent in various other sales and customer service roles has made me better at what I love to do. Those jobs have enhanced my passion for my career and they have helped me to hone the lesser of my skills to the point that I am able to feel an instant confidence in the office.

I still question things from time to time but that is simply a matter of getting back into a routine and learning a new process of how things are preferred at my new company.  It is much like someone who knows how to write but has to adjust to using AP rather than MLA. You get the gist of it right away but sometimes you find yourself falling into an old pattern.

The main thing however is that I am happy to work on things and adjust my approach. There will always be things that I can improve upon but nothing I can’t work on. In fact, I am looking forward to long days at the office. It is amazing the things that you miss when you have been away for so long.

A week into the new job and despite the transition period I am in at the moment as I finish up my nights at the front desk I am excited to stay up and go to the office. I gladly sacrifice sleep for the feeling of comfort and belonging that I experience doing the work. Speaking of work, it is now time to walk around the corner and knock out another shift. Only four to go but I’m not counting.

Graduation Weekend

I wonder if I'm at the right location? I wish there was some way of telling.

While I did miss my usual Rotary club meeting in Bala Cynwyd on Wednesday I was still able to get my Rotary fix on Saturday. Somehow I was able to make myself crawl out of bed at six in the morning, pick up a couple of my fellow Rotarians, and make my way to King of Prussia for the third, and final, installment of my Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) training. By the end of the day I was a graduate.

Regional events such as this are both a great learning experience but also a tremendous social experience as well with people in attendance from a numerous states all there for the same purpose, to become better Rotarians. As always, it was a diverse group of people ranging in age (20’s to 80’s), occupation/vocation, and Rotary experience (I met people who joined within the past year as well as people who have been proud Rotarians for over 50 years). These aspects were much like my previous takeaways from other sessions and events that I have attended but there was something a little different for me on Saturday.

It all started during the registration process.  As I waited for my information to be retrieved and I was writing the check, I ran into a young man who was a guest speaker at our club earlier in the year. We had gotten together for coffee afterward to talk about Rotary and, at the time, I offered my perspective on the Rotary experience and assisted him in reaching out to other clubs. We hadn’t been able to reconnect since but now I was seeing him, a newly minted Rotarian, taking the next step in becoming a leader in his club. Albeit small, I am glad I was able to play a role in his decision to join.

Heading into the first session of the day, I took a look around the room and noticed many familiar faces. There were a handful of us that have attended level two together and now we found ourselves reuniting for round three. While we were all from different clubs, districts, and states we all picked up from where we left off as if we had known one another for years. Needless to say, my comfort level was significantly higher this time around.

With class underway time seemed to fly by with a group of excellent instructors that knew just the right direction to take us and questions to ask. It was at this point that I came to realize just how far I had come as I was able to answer questions and make contributions with certainty rather than with a tentative tone (of course, it didn’t hurt that one of the sessions was entirely about PR and communications). This third and final part of the training really was a culmination not just in the educational sense but in shifting my mentality. For the first time I felt as if I was ready to be a leader within Rotary.

I am positive that I would have come to this actualization without RLI but I have no idea how long it would have taken and whether or not I could be as an effective leader without it. In general, with the past couple of years being so tumultuous, I am glad that I have had the consistency and guidance that Rotary and my fellow Rotarians have offered to me. While our goal as Rotarians is to serve others and our communities we can’t deny the service that Rotary has offered to each and every one of us in making us better people.

Now the question remains, do I move forward and attend graduate classes or should I give back and become an instructor or both? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

  
Video courtesy of Rick Trivane, Past President of The Rotary Club of Bala Cynwyd - Narberth and, yes, I did promote the club's raffle (mentioned in a previous post) while walking up to the front to get my certificate and pin. 

Where Is The Sanity In Sanitation?

This past week I came across a quote that, unlike other times when I have read similar statements, got me thinking. West side artist Art Schmaltz, who turns trash donated by friends and strangers into sculptures, said the following:  "I’ll wake up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, look at that! There’s a bucket of junk. Let’s get to it!’" It is just one of those little tidbits that you stumble upon… I have no idea how I got to the site to read the quote but here it is.

We all know there are plenty of buckets of being pitched this week with the question of whether any of it can be salvaged and made into something useful or, at the very least, appealing. The ideas and perspectives have been a polarizing force in this nation and it makes one wonder if there is a middle ground, a meshing of the trash found on each side that can bring to fruition something that is palatable to the general public. At this point, I sincerely doubt it.

It is one thing to deal with junk like in a junkyard where bits and pieces can be culled from the heaps of rust and given new life. Sometimes you don’t need a new part to make a car run. Will it be as efficient as a new one, probably not but it is cheaper and there is a chance that it could work quite well. That is not what we are dealing with today.

Garbage even has its benefits. Allowing an idea to breakdown and serve as compost for future concepts is not necessarily a bad thing. However, you have to keep in mind that compost piles, like the federal government, contain a lot of crap.

Trash is essentially useless. It doesn’t offer anything of value in its present state nor will it break down and serve as fertilizer for future legislation. Trash is trash. It is a blight that effects us all and leads to such situations like the one we find ourselves in right now… too much trash in a landfill and you will have to cover it up as best you can and move on to someplace else.

Both the current legislation and the tactics being utilized by both parties are more harmful to the political environment than dumping barges of Styrofoam into the Chesapeake Bay. You can say it’s a good thing and that it would offer wildlife free floatation devices but at some point you have to call them on their bull burgers and then you have to deal with a massive clean up knowing that things will never return to 100%. Trash is trash and we no longer have enough sanitation workers to handle the problem.   

Long Night At The Lodge

Simply put, yesterday was a marathon. 26 hours without sleep isn’t very good for the system but it is great for getting things done. What began with my night job quickly transitioned to my new day job. After that I was able to spend a couple hours with my wife before staggering back out the door and off to my stated lodge meeting.

I was already tired by the time I got into the car and the driving did not help the situation. However, as soon as I pulled into the parking lot my eye lids seemed to lift and the weight was removed from my sluggish legs. By the time I got out of the car I was ready to go for the rest of the night and it’s a good thing because it was a long night.

The crowd seemed a little light and everyone looked like it had already been a long week but we all took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with our brothers. It was also a great time to chat with the District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) who was there in an unofficial capacity and so it was a much more laid back affair. Dinner always goes quickly and soon enough we all began making our way up stairs for the meeting.  The one problem… where was the Secretary?

I knew that the Assistant Secretary was out of town but I was expecting to see all the officers there for the meeting. If he didn’t show up it would have been my turn to sit in the chair and I had very limited experience and really nothing to work with as I don’t have access to the locked office. This had the potential to be very interesting.

With ten minutes to spare, all officers were present and getting ready to go. Our meeting got underway on time and we made a quick night of the agenda to leave ample time for the Shriners presentation to follow. With the meeting over and the presentation concluded it was time to finish up a few things in the office and head across the street for a quick beer.

A small group of brothers gathered around an upstairs table talking about the goals for the following year. It really isn’t too early for such conversations. There are a few great ideas and shifts in mentality that I am looking forward to being a part of when I take office in December. It really is shaping up to be a great start to what I hope will be a longstanding tenure at the lodge.

We all made our way back to the parking lot while still continuing the free flow from our earlier conversation until the only two people we left were me and the DDGM. Unfortunately for him, I can talk. By the time I got back in the car it was about 11:00 PM, dead tired, and excited for both the following day at the office and the following year in office. It was a long day but a great one!