The Program
Rotarian Walt Sobczyk introduced Ms. Adia Thompson White, the director for multimedia communications at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. A cheerful, enthusiastic proponent of social media, Ms. White started off with her own story of getting involved with Facebook. She started in 2008 and was a ‘friend’ of her boss and coworkers, a fact she was not excited about. But since then she has embraced many of the platforms. She noted the importance of platforms like LinkedIn, for networking and keeping up with trends in business. Her favorite is undoubtedly Pinterest, which is focused on craft ideas, decorating, shopping, cooking, etc.
It seems that YouTube is now the number one search engine by volume. Millennials especially do not seek out words, but videos. Facebook on the other hand has its largest growing demographic as those over 55. Baby boomers prefer Facebook. Instagram used to be the place where millennials went, but they may be moving on. (Did you know there are 40 billion photos on Instagram?)
According to a recent survey, Americans consume most of their news on Facebook and Twitter. (I am dismayed by this revelation.)
What should our Rotary club do about this? We should be on social media; we’re seeking out younger members and they search on social media for opportunities for community engagement. Here are the five keys Ms. White recommended to us:
- Post Consistently! (If you post once a day or once a week, do it religiously.)
- Respond to messages and comments promptly.
- Like, share and comment on the posts by others.
- Engage your audience with questions, polls and events.
- Enable your ‘donate’ button.
- Bonus: go live!
Ms. White was a superb advocate for participation in social media and her presentation was warmly received by all.
The Meeting
Bob Healy led us in singing a Rotary tune which is seldom used—for good reasons. Then President Gary led the Pledge and the Four Way Test. The invocation was presented by Bernie Cohen. Our School of the Week is Ghent Elementary.
Visitors
Wayne Shank introduced our visitors. Anthony Mia brought Elizabeth Duncan-Harper from Red Hawk Strategy Solutions. Bill Burnette introduced his son, Michael. Kelly Stefanko invited Eileen Aquino from Bank of America.
Announcements
President Gary presented Bill Lehew with his Blue Badge. Chip Vogan announced that November will be Guest Month, i.e., bring a guest to lunch. The table with the most guests will get some wine. A review of the upcoming alternate events was announced.
Happy Bucks & Fines
Judge Joe Massey announced that Halloween would be a bigger party than usual as he would be retiring on that day. Dyteya Lewis paid happy bucks for attending her first district Rotary conference and how much she enjoyed it. Rick Coradi was happy to introduce an ODU student from Turkey, who was an avid Rotaracter at home. (He is going by ‘Chuck’ as his real name is more complicated.) Rick also pointed out that Carlisle Wroton won the Senior Championship at the Elizabeth Manor Club. And Chuck Spence contributed monies for a UVA victory
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Raffle
100% table was 3. Carlisle Wroton won the raffle and drew the Queen of Spades—so his pot is not going to be large. Let’s hope his attendance is stellar!