Important: Change of Meeting Cadence

~ From President Nancy

Update on Meeting Schedules.  Beginning in October, we are making a change to our Rotary schedules.   Our Board describes it as a change in our Meeting Cadence. On the first and third meetings of each month, we will have a luncheon meeting at one of our downtown venues. For these meetings, there will be a live Zoom feed, so that members that are unable to be with us in person can still join in. Then, on the 2^nd week of each month, we will have a more informal gathering, on a weekday late afternoon or evening, to have fellowship and a discussion topic or activity to do together. We will call these our “Second Week Events.”

Our first Second Week Event is on Tuesday, October 10^th from 5:30-7pm at the Renaissance Hotel at 515 - 6th Avenue in downtown Seattle (on the corner of 6^th Avenue and Madison). We will have the chance to socialize and enjoy complimentary appetizers and have a SPOTLIGHT ON SERVICE, in which some Seattle 4 Rotarians will share how these members have plugged into service that has been fun and fulfilling.  

The emphasis on service ties in with the other change in our Cadence. We will not have a meeting scheduled during the 4^th week of each month. Instead, we will keep you informed of service opportunities available throughout the month. These service opportunities can be something you can do on your own or use as a great way to find another Rotarian or friends of yours to volunteer with you. With each of our service suggestions, we will have a point person from our Club that will be there, with whom you can serve.

One bit of useful research in our District helped us understand that now was the time to try this change of Cadence. Of District Clubs that were surveyed, one-half of them are offering one or two evening meetings or happy hours for members each month, in lieu of their regular meeting time. Clubs that have switched out some of their regular meeting time with evening events have reported increase in membership, particularly among younger members, and more attendance at these evening events than were anticipated.  

We hope to have this change in cadence allow us to reduce the monthly program cost that each member pays and will report back to you in October on that. As you may not know, our Club spends thousands and thousands of dollars per luncheon meeting on audio visual expenses to have screens, microphones and live Zoom feeds of the meetings (followed by our ability to see the replay of the meeting at a later date). Our sponsors cover a fraction of this cost. So, we want to make an adjustment in the program expense and have it be sustainable. We promise to update you on this in October.