October 25, 2023 Breakfast Meeting Notes

 

We welcome back prospective member George Baranowsky..

 

Tony returned from his Covid hiatus and gave us his popular trivia, famous rocks edition, including a reference to glacial erotica (corrected to glacial erratic).

 

50/50:  Steve won and donated the money  to Common Man for Ukraine. 

Card game: Alicia won the chance to draw for the did ace but was unsuccessful. We will continue next week. .

 

Braden is back from his wedding and honeymoon trip to Aruba. Congratulations!

 

The Board meeting was held last week but we did not have a quorum so we did no voting. Today enough board members were present that we were able to vote on a $200 grant for Wentworth to buy Christmas trees (approved). Another grant was tabled for now; it is a request for Responders Together NH to raise money for veterans services but we have not heard of this group previously and want to be sure that it is legitimate. Denise will research this group further.

 

Penny Sale: Setup was great. We have enough prizes but if there are add-ins we can accommodate them. Alex will be bringing in a few additional items. If you did not bring your items last week, you will need to bring them to the Penny Sale. Rotarians should arrive around 3 pm on the day of the Penny Sale. It takes an hour or so to set up, and then we take a break and return by 6 pm. Northway Bank will send a couple of volunteers. Interact, the National Honor Society and the Circle Program have been approached to help. Steve noted that sponsors are recognized on our Rotary Foundation website and on all of our promotional materials throughout the year (posted on the podium at the Penny Sale). This year he will also list sponsors on the back of the Penny Sale sheet. 

 

Our speaker today is Courtney Jarecki, our District’s social media consultant. She gave a presentation on social media and how members can promote our club Facebook page. We are hoping to have members rotate responsibility for the Facebook page on a monthly basis.

 

As members know, our Facebook page was deactivated this spring, so we have a new one and need to rebuild our followers list. Courtney started by showing us this new Facebook page. When you are on your own Facebook page, you can type in the search bar on the left to find another specific page (not a group or event). Search for Plymouth Rotary NH and click on the it and you will be taken to our page. Once you are there, you should engage with the website. This means you should select Like, Comment, and Share) to help spread the word. Facebook  is controlled by an algorithm, so the more we engage with the club page, the more the algorithm will push the page.  Club admins can then respond to your comments and further promote the site. You should also Follow the page, as this counts higher in the algorithm. 

 

Braden asked for the best way to regain our followers. Courtney said we should put out a notice that we lost our old Facebook page and make a heartfelt plea to the community to help rebuild it by selecting Like, Share, Comment and Follow. Every speaker we invite should be asked to give a Like or a Follow our club Facebook page. 

 

We should have several admins in case something happens to one person’s personal account (currently we have 5). We can also create a QR code to ask people to follow our Facebook page and put it on the posters for the Penny Sale. 

 

When someone likes your post, admins can hover over your name to see if you are also following. If you are not, there is an invite button so that the admin can ask you to follow the page. We can also follow other businesses on our page. This will get us promoted on their Facebook page. Then we can go to their page and engage with them. We should follow all nearby Rotary clubs and area nonprofits. 

 

We need to be sure to put out content regularly to keep the site lively and interesting.

 

Happy dollars: Mike, Denise, Alicia, Sharon, Beth and Tony all shared happy dollars. Tony also noted that 2 weeks after the Penny Sale is the Knights of Columbus fundraiser. He has been nominated to be the announcer and Denise will help him. 

 

Rotary Leadership Institute will met this Saturday in St. Johnsbury.

 

Mike also announced a new plan for meetings structure. We will conduct business first, then move to the speaker around 7:30. This way if people need to leave by 8 o’clock sharp they will have attended the business part and can just leave when they need to.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lora Miller, secretary