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(16 Nov) Vibrant Club District 2482 Bulgaria Seminar in Ruse (+GAL)
The Vibrant Club District 2482 Bulgaria Yearly Seminar took place in Ruse, Grand Hotel Riga on 16th of November 2024.
The seminar was a whole day event and in general was organized in interactive sessions with a lot of interesting discussions. It included innovative themes as AI, Storytelling, Video power, effective communication, Rotary Fellowship, ICC and others. The seminar was hybrid and there was a number of participants that took part online that could not attend for one reason or another in person or travel to Ruse. There was also a District Governor of Serbia Vlado Marich that participated online and shared the experience of projects and active club life in their District.
One of the main topics of the Seminar was the Club culture and the Past President of RC Sofia International Hristina Malchevska was one of the Rotarians invited to share best practice, participated in a discussion, as well as presented information about our club life and answered two questions:
For understandable reasons, there is a more frequent change in membership in your club. How do you maintain an atmosphere of camaraderie and engagement?
Hristina explained that RC Sofia International is a club in which both foreigners and Bulgarians, and the official language of communication in our meetings is English. For this reason, we often have members who temporarily reside in Bulgaria and leave the club when they return to their home countries or move to another service. To maintain the atmosphere of friendship and commitment despite these changes we have the following strategy.
First, we place great emphasis on the orientation and integration of new members. We organize special interesting events, as well as at each of ours meeting we present current projects and initiatives. We also aim to actively involve new members in club activities as well as district seminars where they can learn about Rotary’s culture and values.
Second, we encourage regular communication and participation through various platforms, such as social networks, online meetings and regular email communication. This helps members feel connected and informed, even when they cannot physically attend meetings. All of our formal meetings are hybrid.
Third, we organize regular social events, such as informal meetings (especially summer time), excursions and themed evenings that contribute to building friendly relationships outside of official meetings. This creates a more cohesive and friendly environment where members feel engaged and motivated to actively participate in an activity. (Dancing, mountain climbing, culinary dinners, bowling, volleyball, etc.)
On the other hand, the fact that our club is international makes it a lot attractive both for foreigners residing in Bulgaria – Rotarians or people wishing to serve Rotary, as well as for Bulgarians who are looking for international culture and in many cases have lived abroad or work in international companies.
You bring together people whose work often requires travel and heavy workload. How do you enable them to fully participate in club meetings?
Our Past President made clear that we understand that our members have busy schedules and travel frequently. To facilitate their full participation, we offer flexible options for attending club meetings. We host hybrid meetings that allow members to participate both in person and online. This way, even when they are on the road or have commitments, they can join the meetings and be active participants.
In addition, we encourage members to get involved in various club projects and initiatives that they can carry out according to their time and ability. This includes working on a project, participating in online discussions and planning charity events. In this way, each member can contribute according to his abilities and feel part of the club, regardless of his workload.
Also, at one of the sessions our Past President Hristina presented ICC (Intercountry committees) and their work as well as she talked about the theme / project idea Rotary for the Earth, possible project for Ecological and Environment initiatives of our District, End Plastic soup and the harm of plastics was one of the main topics.
