Written by Sambasiva Rao Patilbanda (Rotary public image coordinator, zone 5)
RI President Ron Burton, at the Sydney convention, while talking about membership growth and how we are failing to adequately capitalize on our investment in Rotary said: “The bottom line is that Rotary’s future – it’s very survival – is up to us, we can either get up out of our chairs and really make something happen, or we can just sit there and become an endangered species and eventually die off.”
The above statement is a reflection of the situation we are in. We have to make something happen. We have to capitalize on all the good things we do around the world and encourage others to join Rotary. We have to start telling our story, our Rotary story – our success story.
Each one of more than 3000 rotary clubs in India has a success story about a project or event that can be shared with the world. Each one of more than 1, 30,000 Rotarians in India has a Rotary moment to share. Let us start telling others about how we – as Rotarians – have helped millions of people around the world lead a better life.
I and past district governor (PDG) Kamal Sanghvi, in our role as RPICs, are trained to help others tell their story in a compelling way and with a unified voice. Speaking in one voice will allow us to expand our reach into our communities and will highlight what Rotary has done around the world.
Start talking about our revamped, user friendly website; adopt our new voice and visual identity guidelines. Promote the use of Rotary tools designed to help Rotarians track progress towards their goals (Rotary Club Central) and share their projects with the greater world (Rotary Showcase). Use our Brand Center to let the public know that Rotary brings leaders together to exchange ideas and take action to improve communities everywhere.
Capitalize on our investment in Rotary by presenting ourselves to the world and sharing our stories with others. Bang the drum and don’t stop.
Regional Leader Blog 
It really true that we all have to keep talking about our new RI site, using our new voice and our visual identity; but for all this we have to be convinced that the Strategic Plan has been conceived to guide us to reach our goals based on this:
“Rotary brings leaders together to exchange ideas and take action to improve communities everywhere”.