Changeover Dinner- Graduate House
New Club President Ian Ada congratulated Past President Janet on her wonderful year, and expressed hope that she will be joining us again very soon. Ian thanked DGE Julie and AG Don Heath and Glenis for sharing this event with us and performing the duties they have. He noted that Club Visioning Day gave us a wonderful opportunity to focus on a few key things that we all think are critical to our future viability and growth.
It was recognised that the Club recognised has some wonderful strengths that we must retain no matter what future actions we take:
- Friendly
- Excellent venue
- High quality speakers
- Wide range of skills knowledge and experience
- High retention rate
- Committed members
- Very good relationships and achievements with a range of organisations in Carlton
Ian noted however that the Club does have some weaknesses that need to be addressed:
- Ageing membership
- Limited active members
- Lack of a signature project
- Lack of media recognition and presence
- Lack of recognition of our work in the community
However a range of opportunities are also obvious:
- Make the requirements of membership much more flexible
- Have a clear message of what our unique selling proposition is
- Have considerably more service projects where we provide resources to help the community based on our skills, knowledge and experience, and not just through raising and providing funds.
- Share fund raising opportunities with our cluster colleagues where we do not have the resources on our own
- Engage the local media to promote our achievements
Therefore key initiatives for the year Ian is President would be to concentrate on or include:
- Agreeing on the requirements we will have of new members and the benefits they will get in return, so we can develop a marketing program specifically targeted at the more than 10,000 people who work within two km of here at the University, hospitals and medical and biotech research institutes
- Establish a relationship with key figures in local media and have a range of our stories given wide coverage
- Seek to build on our support for specific international projects such as Women’s education in Afghanistan, and biogas plants and suspension bridge in two Cambodian villages
- Using more of our skills and knowledge to better meet local needs, such as helping migrants and refugees in our community get more established in their lives.
- Identify a ‘signature’ project
Within this array of actions, plus ongoing activities, there is opportunity for every member to be involved in the implementation of at least one of the many things we do. Ian encouraged members to participate in one area that interests you most.
Ian introduced members of the 2014/15 Board and other important positions within the Club and thanked everyone for helping celebrate our last year whilst looking forward to this one.