DGE February Update

February has been a month focused on training.  On the 12th we held District Chair training at Judy Bain’s property at Waitarere Beach.  On a perfect Sunday we held an interesting day discussing the roles and responsibilities of the District Chairs.  I have attempted to restructure District committees so that they are more aligned with RI.  After a nice walk along the beach at lunchtime the afternoon was spent discussing some of the issues facing district.

Over the weekend of 3-5th SP PETS was held in Auckland with 5 of the 6 New Zealand districts sending their PEs .  The weather played havoc with some of the Wellington and Taranaki participants arriving late or not being able to attend.  It was an inspirational weekend with some great speakers, notably New Zealand RI Director Stuart Heal talking about change in Rotary, RI Director Tom Thorfinnson talking about Rock Star moments in Rotary and Howard Tong talking about Rotary PR.  A highlight was the Saturday night dinner at which Sir Anand Satyanand was awarded the RI Rotary Award of Honour by Past RI President Bill Boyd. There were also a number of District specific breakout sessions discussing the roles and responsibilities of Presidents and specific issues such as struggling clubs.  It has been great getting to know the AGs and PEs and we are now beginning to form a close-knit team.

Other activities this month have been setting the District budget for 2012/13 which will remain the same as this year except for a $2/member increase to cover PR.  At $56/member our District fees are among the lowest of the New Zealand districts. 

Work has also begun compiling the District Directory, a large job and I am grateful to the work Adrienne Murray is doing on this.  Work has also started preparing for District Assembly in May.  Bob Austin and his team are continuing to work hard on Changeover in July and our joint District conference next year, our thanks to the team for their hard work.

The coming month will see us continuing to focus on the District directory and preparing for District Conference in Wanganui.

Graeme and Chris

DGE Activities January 2012

Luckily we had a very quiet family Christmas in New Plymouth,  New Year is now a distant memory as we were off to Florida  on 4^th January for our homestay option being the initial part of International Assembly.  Considering we arrived in the middle of their winter the temperatures were actually higher than we get in our summer – most days in the mid 20’s.  The hospitality was unbelievable, with several clubs coordinating a welcome – a boat trip around the lovely lakes of Winterpark (yes alligators live there too) and  a ‘typical’ American BBQ on the shores.  This amazing hospitality continued for the whole week.  Must admit we had some very early starts to attend breakfast Rotary meetings 70 miles away from our hosts !!   The Rotary meetings themselves were very friendly and fun giving us lots of ideas to float for our coming year.   Other highlights whilst we were in Florida were visits to the Kennedy Space Centre, EPCOT Centre, and the Tiffany Exhibition at a Winterpark Gallery.  It was an opportunity to meet and make friends with people from a diverse group of countries including Finland, Serbia, UK, Europe and Australia. 

Kennedy Space Centre

Hosts in Florid

Time to head to San Diego, whilst a little cooler very comfortable for the Kiwi contingent.  Orientation and finding our way around the hotel was the first priority – it was on the very large scale!  Our time was organised from breakfast starting at around 7.30 am and first sessions commencing around 8.30am.  Whilst the Kiwis arrive very well prepared for this event there was still heaps to learn and lots of discussion and networking over coffees, lunches and dinners.  Having dinner with the rest of the table unable to speak English is certainly a challenge.  Hearing speeches from Kalyan Banerjee and Sakuji Tanaka with the ultimate surprise coming from the CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committing another 50M to the Polio eradication programme.  Traditionally part of the social  “commitment” from the Kiwis is the Haka on International Night.    After much practice, face painting and copious quantities of Dutch courage our performance got a standing ovation from the 1500 strong, the men taking off their shirts during the performance got a huge roar from the crowd.  Taking from this week – getting a huge insight into the bigger picture of Rotary, also the admission that Rotary will have to make changes real and listening to John Hewko, the newly appointed General Secretary I’m sure they are heading in the right direction – watch this space.  Definitely moves are afoot – to encourage and attract younger members, more women and more cultural diversity.

Haka group

DGEs with RI PE Tanaka

Back in New Zealand it is time for us to start planning for District Chair training, SP PETS, and working on getting the District directory together.  

DGE Activities December 2011

Christmas was a chance for Chris and I to relax with family and friends before the hard work begins in 2012.  By the time you read this Christmas will be over and we will be in the States at International Assembly and our year as DG will be fast becoming a reality.  The big challenge for us over Christmas was to work out what to pack to take away given baggage weight limits and the large amount of NZ memorabilia and gifts we needed to take. 

December was a month of planning our District Committee structures and appointing Committee Chairs and Committee Members.  You do not realize just how many District Committees there are until you start ringing around to confirm existing chairs or appoint new chairs.  I have decided to make a change in Committee structure to more closely reflect RI committee structures and themes.  The support from across District has been tremendous and we now have in place all of the main chairs. Following on from this will be then need to start putting together the District Directory as soon as we return from the States – not a trivial task.  In early February we will be holding District Chair training and then it will be getting ready for Multi-District PETS. The District Changeover and Conference committee are continuing to work away and great progress is being made – our thanks for all the hard work.

So a short report from us this month but plenty of work has been going on behind the scenes.  We will look forward to reporting back following our 3 weeks in the States and time at International Assembly.

We hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

DGE Activities November 2011

DGEs at Tawa training

There seems to been an endless number of courier boxes turning up from RI full of Rotary training material and information!  The heavy focus for Chris and I this month has been on completing Presidents Elect training and on 13 November we completed the second PE training session in Tawa.  Again, another successful day with lots of positive feedback.  PEs will now attend South Pacific PETS in Auckland in March next year which will see the PEs from across New Zealand coming together for a weekend - great sharing opportunity of ideas and aspirations.

Training well under way

Another highlight this month has been attending a Multi District Governors Elect (GETS) training in Brisbane for 3 days followed by District Institute for 3 days.  GETS saw 22 DGEs from Australia and 6 from New Zealand, along with DGNs, and DGs coming together.  We were lucky enough to have RI President Elect Sakuji Tanaka and his wife Kyoko with us for the week.  Sakuji and Kyoko were delightful to be with and although their English was a little difficult on a one to one all Sakuji ‘s speeches were delivered in English and well received.  Several impromptu hakas were performed (to counter the didgeredoo!!!), good training for International Assembly in January.

Following GETS District Institute was held.  One of the features of Institute this year was the invitation to several hundred emerging Rotary Leaders to attend.  A number of inspirational speakers gave talks on various aspects of Rotary and Rotary projects but perhaps the most memorable was a young 23-year-old refugee from the Congo who had overcome great odds to study towards becoming a teacher.  He spoke of the war in the Congo and losing most of his family and the opportunities that Rotary had given him through RYLA.  He is now in ROTORACT and plans to join Rotary.

With Sakuji and Kyoko

The past month has also been a time to start looking at the District Committee structure.  I plan some changes to align the District structure more with the RI structure.  We have also been working with District Chairs to put committees together.  By the end of the year we hope to have all committees in place so that work can begin in putting next years Directory together.

Five DGEs from NZ

And finally, with International Assembly a little over a month away in San Diego, we have been getting prepared to meet all of the other Rotary 2012/13 DGs.  Prior to this we are being hosted by a District in Florida for a week immediately following Christmas.  

DGE Activities October 2011

The heavy focus for Chris and I this month has been on completing our training material and to start training and building up a working relationship with the new Assistant Governors elects and President elects.  Only 5 clubs are still to appoint PEs.

On 16 October with the help of Deb Gimblett (DGN), Dexter Bambery (PDG) and Tony Fryer (PDG), an AG training day was held in Foxton.  It was a good chance to meet the AGs and talk over plans for the coming year and set a focus for the year.  A warm day saw us all having a relaxed BBQ lunch and a chance to get to know each other a little more.

Last weekend we held the first of two PETs 1 training sessions.  This meeting in Wanganui was for PEs and AGs in the northern clusters.  Along with setting the scene for next year and assisting PEs with planning for their year, it provided an opportunity for the AGs and PEs for each cluster to come together and get to know each other.  My thanks to Adrienne Murray and Philip Reidy who also came up Wanganui to collect the details of all the new PEs and photograph everyone for next years Directory. 

In the coming month the second PETs 1 session will be held in Tawa.  Chris and I also head off to Brisbane for a multi-district Rotary Institute and an opportunity to meet up with all of the current DG, DGNs, DGEs for a two day training session.  It will also be a time to start looking at filling all of the other District positions and start preparing the Directory.

The District Changeover and Conference committee continue to make excellent progress and plans are well in hand.  We continue to work closely with our District 9920 counterparts to arrange speakers for the joint conference in Rotorua.

The District Changeover and Conference committee continue to make excellent progress and plans are well in hand.  We continue to work closely with our District 9920 counterparts to arrange speakers for the joint conference in Rotorua.

Assistant Governor Training – 16 October Foxton

Training for the 2011/12 began in earnest in Foxton on the 16^th October with Assistant Governor training.  Facilitators present were, DGE Graeme, DGN Deb, Judy Bain and Tony Fryer.  After watching the French Wales rugby semi-final on a rather wet night in Palmerston North we awoke to a fine day on the Sunday.  This enabled us to get the BBQ out and have a BBQ lunch.  It was a great  day with lots of fun and learning.   Next step on the training programs is PETS 1.

Judy Bain talking to the AGs about facilitation skills.

Some in depth discussions

DGE Activities September 2011

Last month has focused on appointing Assistant Governors and Presidents Elects, and preparing for their training.  We now have a strong team of 12 AGs appointed.  Seven clubs have yet to appoint PE’s for 2012/13.

Over the past month we have reviewed and updated the President Elect’s training manual.  My thanks to Adrienne Murray with help in putting this together.  In a departure from the past it is my intention to provide all training material in digital form only.  For anyone who is interested in seeing a copy of the Presidents Manual a copy can be found on the District 9940 web site on the home page at http://www.rotary9940.org.nz/

or on the resources page at http://www.rotary9940.org.nz/Resources/Docs/PE%20Manual%202011-12%20District%209940%20Sept%2018%202011.pdf . 

Another focus this month has been preparing training material for AG and PE training, which will take place in Foxton on 16 October for AGs and 30 October in Wanganui and 13 November in Tawa for PEs.

I also facilitated at the latest Rotary Leadership course 2 run in Wellington.  This is a course aimed at new members to Rotary and potential Rotary Leaders.  Two members of our club attended Course 1 last year and Nic Walmsley the latest course last month.  Unfortunately there was not enough interest to run Course 1 again last month.  However at the end of this month and early next month both Courses 1 and 2 will be run again and I would suggest to anyone that might be interested that they contact Nic Walmsley.

Last weekend we attended the Matched Twin Exchange Orientation day in Palmerston North.  It was disappointing to see only 3 outbound students this year, all from the Manawatu/Taranaki area.  The three young boys going on the exchange all presented themselves very well and I am sure they will be good ambassadors for New Zealand and Rotary.

The District Changeover and Conference committee are making excellent progress and plans are well in hand.  We are working closely with our District 9920 counterparts to arrange speakers for the joint conference in Rotorua.