How They Roll at the Natomas Chapter Of Rotary International!

By Kathleen Ronald

Southwest Bureau Chief
(California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona)

Dear Readers:

It is such an honor to be able to report on The Rotarians of the Natomas Chapter, whose website is at http://www.natomasrotary.org/. I remember from when I was a young girl, all the various events that my parents, who were Rotarians themselves, supported in our community.

I adore Rotary and what they stand for. I spoke today with Brad Asbury, who serves as not only the Membership Chair, but also the Vocational Chair and the Programs Chair, about his beloved Natomas Chapter. I meet Brad a few months back at the EntrePalooza event in Sacramento.

Shortly after that event, Brad asked me to come back and be a speaker for his organization this past week. It was an honor to be there, and I dedicated my talk to my father, Bob Ronald, who acted in several roles for many years in our hometown of Aberdeen, Washington.

Click on: http://www.clubrunner.ca/Cprg/Home/homeG.asp?cid=698 .
This organization holds a special place in my heart.

Brad was telling me that Rotary started in February 1905! You can learn more about Rotary by visiting their website, located at http://www.rotary.org/ .

Rotary began originally as a networking club, and then transitioned into a group that focused on community service. They have 1.2 million members worldwide with 32,000 clubs in over 200 countries around the world. Amazing!

They also have a Foundation component to their organization, which almost single-handedly stamped out Polio... click on http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/ridefault.aspx . Wow! Each member is requested to donate $200.00 a year so that the Foundation can continue its work in the world.

Brad and I were talking about the organic networking that naturally occurs as you spend time with the members both at the weekly meeting, and while working on community service projects. He feels that networking is more effective when it is the secondary purpose. When your focus and intent is to form friendly and trusting relationships with the people who volunteer beside you, the business relationship aspect becomes a natural extension that develops freely. I agree!

I observed, from visiting other chapters, that the average age for Rotary Club members is around 60 years old. Brad agreed that this was the case for most chapters, but pointed out that the Natomas Chapter is an exception. I was thrilled during my visit to see the range of ages that attended this Chapter.

During our chat, Brad explained that each chapter has a personality of its own, and that the Natomas Chapter is considered a “trend setter,” and really has its own unique and creative vibe. I experienced this firsthand. Their chapter started in 1997 and has been busy adding value to the community they love ever since. Gina Stafford, their current president, is a dynamo and has a large vision for this Chapter. All the board members work very closely together to bring that vision to their community. When I asked why Brad joined, he replied that he wanted to give back to the community that he had lived in for over 20 years. This is a perfect example of the selfless attitudes of servitude carried by Rotarians.

There are many facets to the Rotary experience. They have several arms of the organization beyond the weekly meetings, including a youth group at the local high school called Interact. You can learn more about Interact by clicking on: http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/YouthPrograms/Interact/Pages/ridefault.aspx The Interact Program is intended to give kids the ability and opportunity to develop their civic-minded skills.

I also had the opportunity to speak for several of the Inner Wheel Chapters that are specifically meant for the wives of the Rotarian chapters (http://www.innerwheel.com/).

This group has much to offer and I pray that you might be moved to check it out as a networking option that has the “community factor,” which is a rarity in this day and age, as our youth are starved for opportunities and motivation to serve. Our communities are blessed to have this organization in 200 countries and I encourage you to consider e,ploying them as one of your principal networking options.

If you are interested in finding out exactly how you can get involved at the Natomas Chapter of Rotary, you can reach Brad Asbury, at either basburycsa@yahoo.com, or rotaryclubofnatomis@yahoo.com.

Brad Asbury can also be reached by phone at 916-607-3104.

All the best,

Kathleen Ronald

The Queen of Business Connecting

President of Speaktacular

www.speaktacular.com

Direct Telephone: 310.633.0411

Direct Email: kathleen@speaktacular.com

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How They Roll at the Natomas Chapter Of Rotary International!

25 Excuses You Can Have During the Recession | chrisbrogan.com

Jim Kukral's blog this morning pointed me back to a Chris Brogan blog post I'd saved for reading later...uh, since I'm so busy making excuses, actually using some of these - 25 Excuses You Can Have During the Recession | chrisbrogan.com

With the stock market up 700 points with 20 minutes left before close, I think we're all feeling a little more giddy than we were when it closed on Friday. So, it should be slightly easier to avoid making excuses.

The consensus on Friday was that the market was falling due to people's fears and nothing based in fact. Basically, the world is going to hell in a hand basket and I might as well save as much as I can before I lose it all.

Excuses!

Excuses don't just hold you back during a recession. Excuses are the line of least resistance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but then again, nothing lost, right? Wrong! As Wayne Gretsky said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

So, stop making excuses! That goes for me, too!

More soon!
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25 Excuses You Can Have During the Recession | chrisbrogan.com

TNNW, October, 2008, Week 2: "Achieving Timelessness"

By Adam J. Kovitz

CEO, Founder & Publisher

There used to be a time when you had to be famous to achieve a certain timelessness. Why...fortune and fame might have meant that they would name buildings after you. Even our museums today honor those who have achieved a certain level of fame to be honored.

The coming of traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio and television took this to a whole new level. Remember the show, "This is Your Life..." in which well-known celebrities would be honored in the span of a half hour. Their life stories would be told in front of millions of people while influential people from the honoree's past would surprise them onstage. Talk about having your life flash before your eyes!

With advances in networking and the "new" social media, we are seeing more evidence of this on a more personal level. Remember a few years ago when EACH ONE OF US were honored as Time Magazine's Person of the Year? The cover featured a mirror to show that we had finally "made the big time". The message was to honor the fact that new media has radically changed the status quo. It's no wonder, then that "reality" shows, which feature every day folk like you and me, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube are so popular. EVERYONE'S A STAR!!!

Getting back to the timeliness theme...I recently had my life literally flash before my eyes on Facebook (check out my profile if you would like to see as well) when not only did I connect to my current business contacts, friends and family, but also my childhood, high school and college friends as well. The comedy has and continues to ensue...

As you can imagine, I started getting "tagged" in pictures from my "young and impetuous" years. If you check out my photos you will see for yourself.

Of course, the inevitable happened as well...videos...

Yep...a video has now surfaced on Facebook with yours truly in it. Nothing major...nothing embarrassing (except of course my 80's hairdo). Just some quick banter with some high school friends. I'm sure this is just the beginning for me, and if it's happening to me, it must be happening to others out there...probably you as well.

Another thing that I found interesting is that an early Facebook friend of mine passed away last year, yet his profile is still there. His friends continue to memorialize him on his "wall". I'm still connected to him as well. His Facebook profile has become a monument to his life.

Being a futurist, I tend to read books, blog posts and articles from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. As I was pondering how my Facebook profile has been evolving into something of a museum exhibit, showing my life, I was reminded of some metaphysical/philosophical tidbit I came across once that talked about time being something that "doesn't truly exist". We think of time as a horizontal line moving ever forward into the future, but the writer postulated that time is more "vertical". Therefore, all time is happening now and the feeling of us moving through time is somewhat illusory.

So what?

What I find interesting is how social media, the internet and advances in human networking are allowing us to (re)connect in such ways to support such a theory. We can literally begin to view past, present and even future with more clarity than ever before!

Getting back to the more mundane I also find it coincidental that the biggest investment we make in our networking activities is not financial, but of our time.

So while here in the U.S. money might be tight for many of us, hopefully there is no shortage of time...we all have the same 24 hours a day as everyone else. The results we want to achieve depend solely upon how we choose to INVEST OUR TIME.

As always, I look forward to Networking with you...

- Adam
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TNNW, October, 2008, Week 2: "Achieving Timelessness"