Mitone is a Past President (2013) of our Club and has gone on to serve at the District level. Mitone has been involved with membership at the District level for a number of years and currently serves as District 5150’s Membership Chair where she leads workshops and formulates policy to assist the District’s 46 Clubs engage, grow and maintain their memberships.
During COVID Peloton grew by two million members. In 2021 they outpaced their competitors. Their user engagement increased by 333%! How did this happen and could there be some gems of wisdom for Rotary in this success story? Mitone shared with us the three key areas we should focus on—Community, Brand Experience and Influencers.
Community: serve the community, capitalize on community service and networks. We need to have active online support and offer encouragement to one another online as well as in person. In the Peloton world, Mitone was congratulated by other Peloton members when she hit her 400th ride. Use hashtags (###) to find your friends, #Rotary on Peloton shows 40 members for example. By the way, there are Rotary Peloton members that ride together. We are already doing some great things in this area, i.e., the little libraries. Additionally, we posted some pictures and a write up on the Club Facebook page. This is a great example of something we should share with our friends.
Engagement: taking advantage of social media, especially now, is key. Virtual meetings, sharing service projects, Facebook, our Club website, Instagram…pick your flavor and go for it! There is a District 5150 Facebook page for information sharing as well as the District website. People are attracted to like-minded people—show them what we do. Right now we are doing a good job of showing what we do, we just need to share it, spread it around. It’s a good thing to do for your business too.
Influencers: we are all influencers! Mitone suggested creating member profiles that would include Club involvement, personal achievements, profession/vocation and interests. These could be posted and shared on Facebook. We could talk about other involvements, career, passions, interests, etc. let’s celebrate one another. Every other week we could put up a member profile to share. We could also share why we are in Rotary.
Q and A
Q. Warren loves the idea to share profiles. A. It is a huge multiplier.
Q. Stacy, where is Peloton from? A. New York. Q. We are in a small community, can this be adapted for our small community? A. We can use social media to showcase and attract people. We can also use it to foster engagement. Our posts are already good, we just need to share more.
Q. Liz already has a quick template in mind to start off. She would also like to use pictures, she could start off using project photos she already has. A. We don’t naturally toot our own horns, it would be nice to have others add to or fill in the profiles.
Q. EJ has plenty of photos. He didn’t recognize Mitone on any of the Peloton commercials 😄. He suggests constant reminders would help. A. A tribute to Robin Jeffs would be a good start.
Q. Susan asked if we could push our posts to other clubs. A. It would be best to share to the District 5150 page.
Q. Ralph observed that Peloton is hot in a pool of people with Pelotons—similar to Rotary. We’ve got to hit the right people, targeting is important. A. Ask. Just like Ralph asked Mitone to join Rotary. The number one way to get new members is to ask. Each one bring one.
Keep in mind that you can’t run at 110% all the time, you have to be okay with that. If someone isn’t ready at a particular time, try again, they might be ready then. Also, a different club might be more appropriate for someone after awhile. Just keep asking. Ralph noted that his sister was asked to join a club in Indianapolis. After she attended a meeting, she received emails from several members expressing that they were glad to have met her.
Q. Liz mentioned that sharing our website with a speaker is helpful. A. Sharing the speaker bio with our Zoom link is also nice. Our Facebook page should also list our website.
On Wednesday, January 26, from 5-6 pm Mitone is leading Rotary 101. This session is designed for all Rotarians to understand the history, mission and vision of Rotary International. This is a FREE event, but pre-registration is required. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsfuGspjMuE9DoTIOSFiDXiVtQ727XiEk9.
Liz also suggested that we reach out to members who aren’t comfortable with Zoom. Joe suggested that might be a job for the Sunshine Committee, he’ll work on it.
Mitone was thanked for an inspiring program and given a Polio certificate.
Club Meeting - JANUARY 13, 2022
Pledge of Allegiance - Warren led us.
Inspirational Thought - Stacy, "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." Henry Ford
Stacy announced that the District’s International Committee contacted her, they are meeting on the 19th. Also, Joaquin is very interested in our meetings, but has been very busy.
Rose—Relay for Life is on the move. Do we want to participate? The consensus was yes. Renee has volunteered to help, looking for more volunteers. Last year we raised $12,000–Rose wants to top that and will follow up with us.
Rose reached out to Senior Coastsiders regarding delivering Meals on Wheels. Kevin and Rose have done some deliveries and enjoyed it. They would like to get more volunteers, they are looking for fill-ins so the permanent Meals on Wheels volunteers can have an occasional break. Email Rose if you are interested.
Coastside Hope has ongoing events, Second Harvest and Brown Bag; they need volunteers, go online to sign up.
Warren reminded us that February 11th is our joint meeting with the Pacifica and Millbrae Clubs. 5:30-8:30, Jackie Spier will be there.
Happy/Crappy News 
from the Personal Soapbox
Liz mentioned that Eric Shapira recently had major surgery on his lower back. He is home and doing well.
EJ is happy that he got his third Oktoberfest booking for the year last night.
Steve is celebrating peace and quiet. A neighbor is cutting down 18 trees and it’s been noisy for 3-4 weeks. 90% of the leaf drop is gone too.
Ralph announced that 2022 is his 50th year as a real estate broker and he is still enjoying his job.
Mary’s son and grandson had COVID. Fortunately her daughter-in-law, who has immune issues dodged it.
John Evans got to celebrate his Birthday in fine style. His daughter took the family to the Olympic Club for lunch and some golf on a beautiful day. They capped it off by watching the sunset from Twin Peaks. His age and number of years in Rotary equal 115 years.
Montana is the fourth largest state in land mass, it is 43rd in population. It is bordered by Idaho, Wyoming, the Dakotas and Canada. The capital is Helena. Joe shared that a donor made a bequest to the CA Academy of Science when Joe worked there. The donor told him about his family connection to Montana and that Helena was named after his grandmother, the former postmistress.
Montana has the most mammal species in the U.S. Custer’s last stand took place in Montana. There is surfing in downtown Missoula on the Clark River. Balloon attacks! Thirty balloons landed on Montana—during WWII the Japanese were trying to catch the forests on fire. Someone tracked the sand used for ballast to the easternmost island of Japan. A raid was promptly scheduled.
Member Montana Experiences
Susan enjoyed a wild ride down the Flathead River. It was supposed to be a leisurely fly fishing float, but the river was swollen from an exceptionally rainy season and became a white water experience.
Big Sky is on Stacy’s bucket list.
Rose’s grandson lived in Montana for awhile. They visited him often and found it to be absolutely beautiful. Missoula is a ready fun town.
Warren took a motorcycle trip to Montana in 1971. He crashed in Yellowstone, was treated in a Ranger hospital, watched Silence of the Lambs and met a stalker. Whew
