The social time preceding the September 29 meeting batted around ideas for getting Glacier Hills residents to our Meetings in the Michigan Union, tips on parking, exclamations of admiration for Mary Avrakotos and the other potters for the exhibit at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and the promise of more information about the Adopt-A-Highway trash pickup coming this Saturday. Executive Director Lori Walters closed the discussion at 12:30 and prepared the meeting for President Susan Froelich.

Tom Strode played God Bless America. Amy Goodman’s inspiration celebrated the end of Zoom season by reflecting on all that our club accomplished during the last eighteen months,  activities which reflect Rotary’s dedication, resolve and resilience.  President Susan welcomed the attendees, thanked the people who make the meeting run smoothly, and announced birthdays. She announced the deaths of Larry Collins, a former member, and Gene Nissen, father of Beth Nissen.

Dennis Powers summarized the Rotaract project and introduced Rotaractor Andrew Scheiffler. Andrew is a Senior at Michigan this year is excited about being paired with Eli Savit for the Rotaract mentoring program. More mentors are needed so contact Dennis to spend enjoyable hours with a fantastic Rotaractor: carhart2018@aol.com.

Tom Millard invited us to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway pickup on Saturday, October 2.

There will be two events focused on Polio Plus. Author Jim Tobin will review and sign his book, The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency, at Literati on Wednesday, October 20 at 7:00 pm.  Ashley’s and Dragonmead Beer and Stout will sponsor Pints for Polio from Monday, October 18 through Sunday, October 24. There will be a Happy Hour at Ashley’s for Rotary Club of Ann Arbor members and guests on Sunday, October 24 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. Proceeds from both events will go to Polio Plus.

President Susan told us about how the upcoming meetings will roll out.  We MUST RSVP if we want to attend and also to eat. The Union needs to know nine (9) days ahead of time how much food to prepare. There will be seating for those who don’t want to purchase lunch. This means RSVPS must come on Monday of the week preceding the Wednesday you want to eat. Watch for details about the new procedures. You will be receiving RSVP information through email each week.

We will have to be masked. Next week wear a funny mask, write up and be prepared to report on a funny experience you had wearing one. The October 6 meeting will feature a parody by Don Duquette about our club life during Zoom.

Notes from the Program

President Susan gave a long and detailed introduction to Sally Hart Petersen, who chaired out annual club survey.  The 110 responses were evenly divided between male and female with a slight skewing towards female as they are a smaller percentage of the club. Responses were heavily skewed towards the 65+ age group with 70% of replies coming from them. Highlights of the results are below (The results can also be viewed here: 2021 Annual Rotary Survey Results_Membership Presentation):

• More people reported spending less time over the five years this question was asked
• Club members support a wide array of other organizations
• Approval of all aspects of the meeting are down slightly from last year
• The program schedule often or occasionally affects the decision to attend a meeting for 69% of the respondents
• Programs offering  information relevant to personal or professional interests and topics that are entertaining affect the decision to attend
• Programs on the environment and climate change, medicine, and arts and culture would attract new members and improve attendance of members
• Programs on topics of local interest, the work of our club, UM and science were also popular
• Members overwhelmingly support the hybrid model combining in person and Zoom meetings
• Members are confident on abilities on E-mail, desktops an laptops, text, and tablets, not so much on social media
• Members rely for information on the club overwhelmingly on the AA Rotarian and personal contact, vanishingly little on social media
• This is also true for how members wish to be contacted by the club
• Several ways were suggested to acquaint members of the public about Rotary
• Most members are on the lookout for new members and prefer to organize the nomination process on their own
• Many members are interested/willing to sponsor or mentor a new or transferring member
• slightly more than half the respondents were not willing to work on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Raising awareness in the general population is seen as the best way to attract new members
• Providing networking opportunities, diversifying the membership and showcasing outcomes and opportunities for service would attract new members
• There was no standout reason members might consider resigning from the club
• Overall satisfaction with the club has declined in tandem with satisfaction in all facets of life in the last two years
• Two changes identified that would make the Rotary experience more rewarding are in person meetings and social events to get to know members

Sally concluded her presentation by summarizing the findings and presenting recommendations for going forward. These included

• Moving the meeting times from noon to a time more convenient for people who are working
• Continue with hybrid meetings
• Focus on personal connections to grow the club rather than social media
• Provide more, and more visible, and more ‘one off’ opportunities for service

Sally also recommended the club leadership should engage in a long term strategic plan to grow and maintain the membership.

President Susan closed the meeting with this  Quote of the Day: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will
forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Sally fielded questions after the meeting closed.

Sally’s presentation can be found here: 2021 Annual Rotary Survey Results_Membership Presentation

Notes by Agnes Reading

Photography by Fred Beutler