Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley In Touch September 2013 | Page 4

R.I. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 Paul Harris famously wrote, “This is a changing world: we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.” While we will never know what Rotarian Paul would have thought of the Internet Age, I think I do Rotary International President Ron D. Burton Rotary’s new website is actually two sites: one for the family of Rotary, and another for people interested in finding out more about Rotary. When you create an account and log on as a member, you’ll gain access to a host of new Rotary tools. One I hope you’ll all use is Rotary Club Central, an efficient and effective way for clubs to set goals, track their progress, and maintain continuity from one administration to the next. You can also create or join a Rotary group, an interactive discussion forum that gives you a way to find and talk to Rotarians with similar interests. You can exchange ideas and experiences, and benefit from the experiences of others from all over the world, at any time of the day or night. It’s a tool with wonderful potential to improve our service by allowing us to learn directly from others already involved in projects similar to those we might be planning. For non-Rotarians, the new site will show what Rotary is and what we do, highlighting the uniqueness of Rotary and how Rotary clubs strengthen their communities. They’ll be able to see a snapshot of different Rotary projects and areas of service, find out more about how Rotary works, and explore ways to get involved. I am excited about this new window on the Rotary world and invite you all to visit, explore, and learn – as we write the story of Rotary, again and again, together. know what he would have said about the idea of a Rotary website: that not only should we have one, but that it should be the best possible – keeping up with advances in technology, and always responding to the needs of Rotarians. I’m proud to announce that after a redesign that has taken two years from concept to completion, the new Rotary.org is now live and available to Rotarians and Internet users everywhere. It contains many of the features you’ve asked for, most notably a much improved search function and navigation, new ways to