Set out below are downloadable presentations and other useful web links from LETS. These are set out by each of the subject areas, and also provide key contacts, should readers need further assistance.

Contents

Social Media for District 9940
Public Relations
The R.I. & District Websites as a Resource
Making "Rotary Down Under" Work for You
The What, Why and How of a Club Website
Club Bulletin
Assimilation & Education of New Members

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Social Media for District 9940

The attached paper was presented to District Assembly on 16 May 2010. It presents information about social media, its potential use for Rotary communications, and proposed next steps. To download click here.

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Public Relations

To download PDF file (1Mb) of presentation on club PR planning click here

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The R.I. & District Websites as a Resource

Well, if you've found your way to this page, you hardly need help!!

Use the menus on the left-hand side, and at the top of this page to explore the D9940 website, and the international links. You will find much excellent material

A highly recommended site to source Rotary graphics for your website or club newsletter is Tord Elfendahl's beautiful site in Stockholm, Sweden. Please remember to acknowledge Tord in your publication if you use his library. Click to go there

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Making "Rotary Down Under" Work for You

We often hear Rotarians say "RDU is full of Australian material". But let's get some perspective here - NZ represents only about a sixth of the clubs in Australia and NZ.

The more important question we should be asking is "Are we going about making our submissions to RDU in the right way?". Here are some tips ...

• Download a one-page item about RDU by clicking here.
• Download guidelines on how to get published by clicking here.
• Download a one-page item listing key RDU contacts by clicking here.

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The What, Why and How of a Club Website

Getting Started

Take a look at some of the websites created by D9940 clubs by clicking here.

Do take time to take a look at these. Indeed, look at sites worldwide. Have a real think about what you liked or disliked about these sites. Did they appeal (or otherwise) because:

• the site loaded up on your PC relatively quickly?
• it was up to date with current information. (A site that hasn't been updated for several months is a real turn-off).
• navigation around the site was logical and quick? (A good rule of thumb to follow, is that if it takes more than three mouse clicks to find what you want on a site, visitors will be turned off).
• the site made interesting and appealing use of photos and graphics?
• it had provided links to relevant websites that you might be interested in?

Planning

Like any successful endeavour, planning is essential. Your club must firstly determine the purpose and objectives of the site, and what audience you hope to reach. Is it just for:

• Club members?
• To encourage people to visit, or even join your club?
• To promote community projects?
• Or to showcase Rotary in your area?

In all likelihood, it is some of all of these things.

When the District 9940 website was first proposed, a site map was developed. To download a couple of pages of this, as an example, click here. A carefully considered site plan will bring dividends in assisting the development of a logical layout, and allowing sensible navigation of your site. Remember also, that Rome wasn't built in a day, so your site plan will assist you in determining your priorities for your site.

Some Tips and Ideas

• Make picture and graphic files SMALL. This site has an unofficial limit of 30Kb for picture files. The reason for this is that they will download quickly. Save as medium to low resolution jpeg files. Reduce photo widths to 100-120 pixels for head (passport-size) shots.
• Establish links to local sites of interest. Think of other reasons a Rotarian visitor might wish to visit your town. For some good examples of this, see the Rotary Club of Plimmerton's "Our Town" page, and the Kapiti Island link on the Rotary Club of Waikanae's homepage.
• Can you promote a project or event via your site? The Rotary Club of Norfolk Island (D9910) promotes a cookbook as an ongoing fundraiser. Click here.
• For longer pages, such as this one, provide an index to its contents to aid visitors' navigation. Remember to include a "Back to Top" at the end of each segment.

So what do I do next?

You will need to contact Webmaster Noel Evans to discuss your plans for your site. It would help if you could forward some ideas as to how you would like your club "masthead" set out. Think of this as the "canvas" on which you wish your information to appear. To see the Rotary Club of Plimmerton's masthead click here. A draft site map would also be useful.

Clubs in the Wellington Region can use the Wellington Community Network (WCN) site for free. Most towns will have a sympathetic Internet Service Provider (ISP) that assists clubs and not-for profit organisations. Check with your local council.

But these days, most software programs like Microsoft Word or Publisher provide an easy means of creating web pages with a minimal technical knowledge. Alternatively there are freely-available Content Management Systems (CMS) like Joomla!, Silverstripe and Mambo that can be downloaded off the Internet

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Club Bulletin

A Club Bulletin should inform and entertain. It should be a cohesive force. It will also form a substantial part of the image of your Club, good or bad, useful or not. Will you plan before your year starts? Will you have a team? What format? What content? What design? Who are you reaching? How? Why? Answering these questions is 90% of the job.

Bulletin Notes

The bulletin notes from LETS are in the form of (well) a bulletin! To download this as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (582Kb) click here.

Distribution Tools

If you are distributing your bulletin via email, a useful method is to distribute in Portable Data Format (.PDF) using Adobe Acrobat. The full Adobe Acrobat allowing the creation of PDF files is somewhat expensive but there are free PDF creation tools downloadable from the Internet such as CutePDF (www.cutepdf.com) and PDF995 (a href="http://www.pdf995.com">www.pdf995.com)

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Assimilation & Education of New Members

In this segment, two Microsoft Powerpoint presentations are provided ...

1. A CLUB presentation (90Kb). This is designed to be downloaded and customised to suit your club. Its template explains your club history and achievements, how it is organised into committees, the benefits of membership, etc.
   To download this presentation click here
2. A ROTARY INTERNATIONAL and THE ROTARY FOUNDATION presentation (485Kb). This provides further Rotary background for new (and maybe not so new) members. It explains Rotary Foundation programmes such as PolioPlus, Matching Grants, Group Study Exchange, etc. It is designed to follow on from the club presentation.
   To download this presentation click here

In addition, Prospective or new members can be referred to the "Why Join Rotary?" page on this site. This has further information about Rotary and its organisation. To go there click here

All members should be encouraged to visit the Rotary International website www.rotary.org for a vast repository of Rotary information and news.

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