Stirling Rotary meeting July 31st. 2015
President Peter Mehta welcomed members, along with several visitors. These were the speaker, Ian McNeish, Knut Holmsen, president of the rotary club of Orangeville, Ontario, Malcolm McArdle from Alloa Rotary and Andrew McMurray of the Dundee club. President Peter’s Not At Home event on Sunday past had proved a great success.
The President then introduced the speaker, Ian McNeish. Ian spent 30 years in the police, as well as participating in rugby, mountain rescue and cycling. His spare time achievements include scaling Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. He now wished to draw our attention to the existence of” e-rotary” clubs, an experimental concept, as far as the UK is concerned, but growing in popularity elsewhere, with 100s already in existence worldwide. These clubs hold no physical meetings but, instead, meet on-line, using technology akin to a conference call. They are particularly well suited to individuals who are constantly on the move and cannot make the commitment to a regular get together. Pilots, international business people and those in remote areas, not to mention the disabled, are obvious candidates for membership of an e-rotary club.
The concept originated in 2001, in the USA, mainly around Boulder, Colorado and was officially approved in 2010. Meetings typically last for half an hour. Ian’s club is called The Rotary E-club of aviation district 1010 and “meets” every Wednesday night at 8 pm. At the moment, all the members, apart from Ian, are pilots and their numbers have grown to 25. When this figure reaches 20, they can be ratified, so the club is not yet chartered but should be soon. One of the advantages of the e-rotary concept is that the lack of expenditure on lunches, dinners, etc. means more can be spent on good causes.
President Peter offered the Vote of Thanks, which was well supported. This week’s meeting is a business meeting, with Visitors Host Tommy Thomson. More information on Stirling Rotary can be found on the club’s website www.stirling.rotary1010.org.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener