At this morning's meeting, we welcomed two members of the Gold Coast Corporate Rotary club, Anne Morgan and Laura Johnstone. Both are key members of their club (both Past Presidents), and thus expert in this relatively new format of "Corporate" Rotary Clubs. In difference to the traditional model (meeting weekly, as our club does), they meet in person just once per month. The location: most of the members have their business in the two Corporate Centre buildings in Bundall. They meet on a rotating basis, at one of the members' board room. Professional people frequently meet each other strictly on business, as when an accountant meets with a lawyer to consult a third party client. "A more personal relationship, via a Rotary club, builds trust" Anne said. Well, think about it: this was the very original model that Rotary's founder, Paul Harris, established when he invited three business men he knew. They also met in each other's board rooms, and - as with Gold Coast Corporate Rotary - membership was by invitation. As with most Rotary clubs, it's not difficult though these days to be invited to Gold Coast Rotary: They organise frequent bar-be-ques in the court yard to promote their club!). But there are lots of differences to the original model of 1905: foremost of course: women are most welcome (having two Past Presidents presenting would underscore this point). The main difference is in the alternative "corporate" membership model: A business can become a corporate member, with up to three nominated persons of that business as "active" Rotarians. (Surfers Sunrise offers a similar model, but with two "active" members per business). So, as the saying goes - the rest is history. Over 46,000 clubs world wide, over 1.2 Million members. Thank you, Anne and Laura, for sharing your knowledge with us today!
(Photo, from left: Laura Johnstone, Anne Morgan and our meeting chairman of the day, Rock O'Keefe.)