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Rotary
International partners with Citrix
GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar
Rotary International wanted to offer Rotary clubs and Rotarians new
tools to meet, collaborate, raise funds and communicate via the Web.
Rotary in Germany, recognizing the need for a better approach,
welcomed this initiative by RI in Evanston.
Herwig Niggemann, spokesperson for the Rotary district Internet
communication officers in Germany, said, “In the past, all
trainings, inductions and meetings for our individual groups were
conducted face to face, demanding a huge amount of time, expense and
logistical effort from all participants. Also, regular regional
events took a full day, with travel times of up to three hours,
making full attendance almost impossible.”
Looking for simple, easy-to-use and cost-effective Web conferencing
tools, Rotary International turned to Citrix Online. The
organization now recommends Citrix® GoToMeeting® for online meetings
and Citrix® GoToWebinar® for online training and events to all local
Rotary organizations.
GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar offer Rotary clubs many opportunities to
complement or replace on-site meetings and events with online
activities, enabling participation from anywhere. Project management
and other business activities can be done via the Web to keep all
team members up to speed. Larger audiences can be engaged by holding
a virtual press conference, launching a new service project or
conducting a Web-based fundraiser.
Rotary in Germany saw the potential of GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar
for online training of members and volunteers, as well as for public
education and advocacy regarding Rotary’s areas of service. Rotary
Germany can now extend its reach to new members, volunteers and
donors, and its members can collaborate more easily with colleagues
to simplify project management, education and fundraising
activities.
“Today, regional meetings for all 14 German Rotary districts are
conducted via Webinars,” explained Niggemann. “Also, smaller groups
meet on a regular and ad-hoc basis using GoToMeeting. For example,
the Internet officers meet every month to discuss program
development, organization of Web-based training and strategic
approaches.”
The Citrix Online services make it possible to provide an ongoing
and time-efficient training program for all Rotary members. In
addition, Web-based club administration simplifies the work of the
management board and aids in public advocacy.
“Rotary in Germany has been using the Citrix Online tools for more
than a year,” said Niggemann. “Individual Webinars have attracted up
to 200 participants, and we have also conducted several Webinar
series. The easy-to-use GoToWebinar technology promotes user
adoption and enables our presenters to quickly concentrate on the
actual content and the audience.”
He noted, “The setup and management of meetings and Webinars are
easy and efficient. We value the ability to keep track of
participants and send reminders. The icing on the cake is certainly
the ability to record Webinars.”
Rotary in Germany has received positive feedback from Webinar and
online meeting participants. Attendees praise online learning,
especially the fact that complex issues can be explained and grasped
in phases, as compared to a day-long meeting. Travel time and cost
savings are major benefits as well. Also, 20 to 30 percent of the
seminar participants attend Webinars and online meetings not only
for the Rotary content but also because they are curious to explore
a new technology and way of learning for use in their private lives,
extending the benefits of GoToWebinar and GoToMeeting.
Niggeman concluded, “Web-based technologies such as online meetings
and Webinars help us to meet the evolving needs of our members and
the people we serve. GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar enable us to step
into a new era of knowledge transfer, learning and training with
less stress, time and cost.”
Rotary in Germany welcomed the Mac version of GoToMeeting and added
it to its recommendations, as the Mac is an operating platform
frequently used by its members.
Flat-rate pricing for GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar covers unlimited
meetings and built-in voice conferencing via phone or computer.
Districts, clubs and Rotarians are eligible for a 60-day free trial
and 15% discount for both tools.
Learn more, or sign up for a free trial at
www.gotomeeting.com/rotarian |
