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By PP John Minter, PHF
Charter President Rotary eClub One,
and prior member Rotary Club of Boulder (Sponsor Club)
How it started
In March, 2001 I was the Internet Chair of District 5450 Colorado
when the incoming District Membership Chair called me one morning
and asked if we could create a Rotary club on the Internet. "Sure,
why not?" I replied after mentally ticking off a list of what it
might take to do that.
Behind my seeming flippant remark was five years of web development
by several Rotarians including Harriett Schloer who developed an
initial guide for putting Rotary clubs on the Internet. Others who
were involved included the Rotary clubs of Boulder and Smoky Hill,
followed by web development assistance from within District 5450.
Parallel interest existed with Rotarians on the Internet (ROTI) and
the International Computer Users Fellowship of Rotarians (ICUFR).
Concurrently, pressure was also building for the Rotary
International Board of Directors to take advantage of the Internet.
From the very beginning we knew that the major challenge to
designing and building a Rotary club on the Internet was not
technical, but sociological. A significant task was our need to sort
through many 100 year-old customs and procedures of Rotary to
capture the essence of a traditional Rotary club and translate this
seamlessly into a web-based Rotary club.
Most Rotarians are recruited from “Main Street” into traditional
Rotary clubs, an ideal vehicle for connecting, informing and
inspiring Service Above Self. The Internet adds another appropriate
vehicle that can connect, inform and inspire Rotarians too. These
are prospective members who no longer operate in a “Main Street”
environment, but are traveling regularly all over the globe or
working on business and professional schedules that prohibit
attending regular face to face traditional Rotary meetings.
District goals
The purpose of Rotary eClub One is to extend Rotary to business,
professional and community leaders who are unable to meet
traditional attendance requirements because of extensive travel, or
conflicting occupational demands, or physical immobility, or
residence beyond reasonable distance from an existing Rotary club.
Initial design
District 5450 appointed a Design Team of Rotarians with significant
Rotary club experience; skillful in using the Internet; representing
the types of members the club hoped to attract. That said, the key
to the e-club’s successful early presence on the Internet was the
District webmaster, Gary Fletcher, Past President of Smoky Hill
Rotary. His commitment and professional skills helped Rotary eClub
One to present itself online in a very user-friendly format. Logical
navigation inside the website made it visitor-friendly and a
welcoming environment for members and guests.
Community building on the web
We spent the first weeks of development seeking to understand what
we were getting ourselves into. Several publications helped us think
through the critical issues of designing an online community.
Three books were especially helpful:
Design for
Community: The art of connecting real people in virtual places , by
Derek Powazek,
a writer and experienced web community builder.
The author provides useful commentary that puts you "there".
Community
Building on the Web, Amy Jo Kim
(Peachpit Press, 2000) was another
book that provided insight and rules of thumb that guided our
thinking. Her book is considered to be a "cult classic" and is
available in 7 languages, becoming required reading in game design
studios and university classes worldwide.
Online
Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability, Jenny
Preece
(John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, 2000) provided examples of interesting
communities, and tools for building community and research articles. In fact, you can now “sit in” at YouTube on presentations at Stanford University and elsewhere about forming online communities. Designing Online Communities from Theory
Proposal
Our final proposal was reviewed and approved by a select panel of
District 5450 leaders including District Governors, past, present
and future. The proposal was signed by DG Alan Loeb, DGE William
Leeper and DGN Michael Hayes. Involving district leadership in the
details of the proposal were crucial to its success and we believe
this is an essential step in the process in any Rotary district that
is planning a new Rotary e-club.
With the sponsorship of District 5450 and the Rotary Club of
Boulder, the proposal was submitted to RI Board of Directors as a
proposed pilot project. Our Zone Director, Lynn Hammond, then
Chairman of the RI Board Executive Committee, shepherded it through
the approval process in June of 2001.
Provisional Status
With acceptance by RI we began work in earnest; identifying and
experimenting with web platforms, drafting bylaws and procedures,
developing organization structure and management systems, and
recruiting members.
Chartered January 2002
Rotary eClub One became official when our charter was presented by
RI President Bhichai Rattakul at the Quad-District Foundation
Dinner, January 18, 2002 in Denver, Colorado.
The RI e-club pilot project allowed a number of Rotary Districts to
experiment with different forms of online community, pure e-clubs
and hybrid e-clubs. This evolution will continue as new ideas are
tested. Expect change. Welcome it. That’s how Rotary grows. At
Rotary eClub One we fine-tuned many of our systems (technical and
administrative) during the pilot project, developing sound
procedures that have evolved with time.
Ultimately, the technical platform devised to connect, inform, and
inspire Rotarians is a productivity enabler, nothing more. It is
critically important that founders of new Rotary e-clubs understand
this, right from the beginning. The technical platform is purely the
administration and communication engine and it must not be a
distraction from the fundamental ingredients that make any Rotary
club successful.
Real success in any web-based Rotary club will be achieved through
the commitment of Rotarians who focus on the Rotary ideal of Service
Above Self.
John Minter, PHF |
Rotary
eClub One – A Brief History