Perfect Rotary attendance is not as difficult as it was years ago for several reasons. The main reason is that a Rotarian now has from two weeks before to two weeks after a missed meeting to attend a recovery meeting. Before the change to this rule, the period was only from a week before to a week after. The second reason is the availability of Rotary e-clubs, where a Rotarian can go online to an e-club and watch a show for 30 minutes or more to qualify for attendance.
This allows the member to qualify to make up a meeting without having to attend in person. A third reason perfect attendance is so much easier is that many Rotary functions other than club meetings can now be counted as a recovery meeting. For example, attending a Rotary board meeting, participating in a Rotary community service event or fundraiser, or attending a Rotary district function. The last reason it’s easier now is that the Internet makes it much easier to find the time and place of a local Rotary meeting while traveling. That said, having perfect attendance is still something many Rotarians take pride in, and for good reason.
Let’s look at each of these factors individually.
In 1995, Rotary changed the attendance rules to allow an additional week before and after a missed meeting for a Rotarian to make up a missed club meeting. This extra time makes it much easier to find an opportunity to apply makeup. If you are traveling, if a family crisis occurs, or if work is very busy, this gives you much more scope to find an opportunity for the meeting or function.
At the same time, the rules for what qualifies as makeup were changed to include the types of activities mentioned above. This makes it possible for a Rotarian to use the types of activities he may have already been doing to cover up a missed meeting.
For Rotarians who are used to using the Internet, eclub meeting makeup is a simple and easy way to achieve perfect attendance. Less time consuming, convenient, and helps with general education and Rotary awareness when using eclub recovery meetings.
The fact that a Rotarian can easily find a recovery meeting when traveling makes this option much more practical for most traveling Rotarians. In the past it was necessary to find or have a copy of the manual that listed all the clubs and their meeting times and locations. This may or may not have been current. The Rotarian then had to plan ahead to take meeting notes at the times and places he planned to travel. There are now several great options for locating a local club meeting. Of course, one option is to use the Rotary International website. Another great resource is using the new Everything Rotary iPhone app for Rotarians with an iPhone. With this application, the Rotarian simply clicks the “Find a Club” icon and a map of the local area appears with pins showing the location of local clubs. Clicking on a bookmark displays the location and time of the meeting. This allows the Rotarian to find the meeting using their phone’s web browser service and does not need to have a laptop or try to use the RI site on the small screen of a phone. To get this app, visit the iPhone store in the app store and download the Everything Rotary iPhone app, and use the Rotary Club Locator feature.
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