by Judith Filangeri
With all the wonderful service that every Rotary club provides to its community, blowing our own horn in a way that's interesting to our community is usually a lead pipe cinch.
No doubt there are still a few communities where the local media is eager to report on the start of a new Rotary year with last year's officers stepping down and new Rotary officers stepping up. But let's face it, in most places, unless the Rotary officers installation party includes murder or, at the very least, mayhem, the press couldn't care less because the public couldn't care less.
Certainly our folks deserve to be honored - but communicating this in a way that's of interest to anyone outside of the club is a major challenge.
Instead of blasting a press release that does little more than list the names and titles, focus on individuals. Target the business press, the page of the local paper that features business leaders, the local TV media. Keep it short, a paragraph or two, no more than 150 words. If the media wants more, they'll ask. And this is the one time you'll want a formal head shot as the accompanying picture.
Incoming Officers: Write about the leadership skills and experience of the incoming president, secretary, or treasurer, for example, emphasizing the reason this person was selected for the position (besides the fact that they didn't step back fast enough).
Outgoing Officers: Sing the praises of the outgoing officers by describing the most community-focused projects accomplished by the club during the past year. Keep the emphasis on the great things this club has done for the community…under the leadership of these great officers.
Rotarian of the Year: As with incoming officers, emphasize the reason this person was so honored, and then briefly describe the individual's professional standing in the community.
Rotarian officers are business leaders, visible in the community. Our goal needs to be to have someone come across the story over morning coffee and say, "Wow. I didn't know Jane Doe over at the bank was in Rotary. She's just finished her year as president and just listen to what her club has done for us in the community."
So much better than murder or mayhem, don't you think?
