Ning Group.... What's that?

We've created a Ning Group for District 7910 so.... What's a Ning group??

A Ning group is very similar to a Facebook account, only it's specific to a group. It's a way to connect with other members in the District to hear about events, share ideas, foster fellowship and a whole bunch of other great stuff.

If you haven't recieved an invite to join just click here to request membership. You'll need to be in District 7910 to join and at the moment I hold the only key. You can also find the link in the sidebar listed as District 7910 Ning group. Join today to see what's going on in your District.

Concord Club Joins the Blog Network

The Concord club is now live on our social blog network. You can visit their blog at http://www.concordrotary.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on their name in the sidebar. Welcome Concord members, we look forward to reading about your club!

Thank you 2009 GSE Team!!

Well, our 2009 GSE team is back from the Philippines and their blog readership has spread like a wild fire. Here are some stats taken from Sitemeter:

Visits
Total
1,031

Average Per Day
12

Average Visit Length
3:47

This Week
84

Page Views
Total
2,102

Average Per Day
28

Average Per Visit
2.3

This Week
193

They did the District proud on their trip and their posts on their blog has contributed volumes to the Distict 7910 Public Relations effort. Way to go team!!!

If you haven't seen their blog check them out at http://www.gsephilippines2009.blogspot.com/

Ayer Rotary Club joins the District Blog Network

The Ayer Rotary club had me as a guest speaker at their dinner meeting last night. They are now members of the District blog network. You can read about their club activities at http://www.ayerrotary.blogspot.com/.

If you haven't had a chance to visit their club, you're missing a fun night. This is a lively bunch that really knows about fellowship. I felt very welcomed and they even let me win their raffel. If you're in need of a makeup, this is a great place. Welcome to the network!

Tyngsboro - Dunstable Club Joins the blog network

Jill Lennon, member of the Merrimack Valley club, gave a presentation to the Tyngsboro - Dunstable club Thursday morning. The club's blog is now active and you can visit them at www.tdrotary.blogspot.com. Welcome !

Acton - Boxborough club joins the network

I presented to the Acton - Boxborough club today and they're now live with their own blog. You can visit them at www.actonrotary.blogspot.com

GSE team winds up visit

Well, the GSE team is winding up their visit and the posts on their blog have made quantum leaps in helping the district learn how blogs can connect our clubs. Great Job Doug and congratulations to the GSE Philippines team.

In case you missed it, I posted a link to the Rotary club of Kalibo on the GSE blog. There are additional posts about our team. You might get a different view on their visit by reading their posts. The link is http://rckalibo3850.blogspot.com/ or just visit the GSE Philippines blog.

Dracut Club joins the blog network

The Dracut club is now live on our social blog network. You can visit their blog at www.dracutrotary.blogspot.com or by clicking on their name in the sidebar. Welcome Dracut members, we look forward to reading about your club!

Secret blogs!

Are you a district blogger?? We have a new blog to help the new users of blogs in the district. Membership is by invite only so you need to contact Dan LeBlanc for access to the blog. This blog is a sharing forum for users where you can get advice and share ideas to really Funkify your blog. The Blog is www.7910blogger.blogspot.com.

Public Relations

The Public Relations Team has a new blog site. Click on www.PR7910.blogspot.com to follow their work.

GSE Philippines blog

If you've not seen the posts from the current Group Study Exchange (GSE) team, you're missing quite a lot. Its been two weeks since their departure and so far it's been the experience of a lifetetime.

As of this post there have been 1421 page views on thier blog and many of these views are right here in Massachusetts. Great work! You can access their link on the NortheastLink blog or by clicking http://gsephilippines2009.blogspot.com/.

MV Rotary's Job Show TV Show Begins To Come Together

Shown are some of the crew of The New England Job Show as they are editing some of the hours of footage that was taken outside of the studio. The rest of the Show will be shot in the studio at Chelmsford, Massachusetts and will be ready for airing soon. The Show is sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Rotary Club. For more information write to thejobshow@gmail.com

Lowell Club Joins the Blog Network

The Lowell club has joined he blog network and has begun making posts. You can read all about their project and club news a www.lowellrotary.blogspot.com .

First District Governor with a blog

Klaus Hachfeld is the first sitting District Governor with a blog. You can read all about his role as Governor by visiting http://www.klaushachfeld.blogspot.com/ or clicking on his name in the sidebar.

Dan LeBlanc was the guest speaker at the Chelmsford club this week and Chelmsford has joined the growing network of district bloggers. The new blog is up and running. You can visit them at www.chelmsfordrotary.blogspot.com or click on their link in the sidebar.

Merrimack Valley Rotary Club To Sponsor Job Hunting TV Show

The Merrmack Valley Rotary is sponsoring and creating a television show to help people who are unemployed find work.The show will be manned by people who are unemployed and will feature experts in the job hunting process giving valuable tips on the challenges that the unemployed face.

The show will also give individuals who are unemployed the opportunity to give a 30 second free commercial about themselves in the hopes that an employer will find them and hire them.

The show will be taped locally and will be shared with cable stations throughout the area. There will be two half hour shows each month that will be aired several times throughout the month.
Shown is a picture from the first planning session at the Chelmsford TV studio, where the show will be produced. Matt Scott, station manager, is shown giving the crew an overview of TV show production.

For more information contact mvrotary@gmail.com.

Carol Toomey's new blog

Carol has joined us in the blogging world and will be making posts as she starts her term as our next District Governor. Follow her year on her blog http://www.caroltoomey.blogspot.com/

Banning Rotary

I was given this article by fellow Rotarian and thought I'd share it here. It's hard to imagine that Rotary and Lions clubs would be banned from any country but a conservative Muslim group in Indonesia is calling for just that.

There lies a huge opportunity to educate the world about the many, many wonderful things that are accomplished through Rotary and other civic organizations. One can understand the hatred towards the United States given the events over the last ten years. I've seen many Rotary dollars and hours spent in countries around the world without regard to religion or political beliefs. Rotary may have been started in the United States and be headquartered in Chicago, but it truly is an International Organization with leaders from around the world.

I hope that these Islamists can rationalize this and participate in the many programs to save and better those less fortunate. The URL to the story is http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14380&geo=5&theme=8&size=A , http://www.indonesiamatters.com/3881/zionist-movement/ . It's a sad day when people publicize half truths to push an agenda.

Bedford Club Joins the Virtual Network

Dan LeBlanc, Jill Lennon and Ken Masson were guest speakers at the Bedford club today and Bedford has joined the growing network of district bloggers. The new blog is up and running. You can visit them at www.bedfordrotary.blogspot.com or click on their link in the sidebar.

Gift of Life NE - Urgent Need

THIS IS URGENT ! Please consider how you can help. This is an excellent program, with many children saved by our district Rotarians. Ted Shaughnessy (see below) can give you contacts for clubs and Rotarians who have had this excellent experience.

DG Klaus

Host needed to save life of 3.5 year old Jaada from BelizeGift of Life NE needs a host family/club for 3.5 year old Jaada and her mom from Belize who are coming here for life saving open heart surgery on March 2.

Belize is English speaking. Surgery is March 2 at MA General Hospital in Boston and pre-op is Feb 25. Jaada and mom will both stay in the hospital from March 2-9 or so . Then go back for a follow up a week later another follow up a week latter and possibly ( not common) a third follow up another week later. So they will be with the host from about Feb 24 - March 2 and back around March 9 through late March. Hosting can be shared with others too.Please consider opening your heart and home so Jaada can measure her life span in decades rather than days. This will be a life altering experience for the hosts too.YOU can make a difference. Yes you can. Gift of Life NE is a project of Rotary District 7910. See our website www.golne.org Other kids will be coming later too so be sure to contact Ted if you will consider hosting at any time.

Contact Ted Shaughnessy, for more information or to discuss hosting.Email: tedshaughnessy@golne.org617-957-3461 cell781-449-4876h781-449-2320w

Westford Club joins the network!

The Westford club now has a blog and is part of our virtual social network. The URL is www.westfordrotary.blogspot.com and a link is posted in the sidebar under neighboring clubs. Sign up for their newsletter to hear about all the great things happening in their club.

Gotta love Gates !

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded US$255 million to Rotary International in the global effort to eradicate polio, bringing the total committed by Rotary and the Gates Foundation to $555 million.

http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/090121_news_gates255milliongrant2009ia.aspx

Blog Networking presentation

Dan LeBlanc and Ken Masson of the Merrimack Valley Area Rotary club will be making their first presentation today on creating blogs and networking the district. The Westford club has graciously invited us in as guest speakers.

Want to join in the fun?? The Westford Club meets at the Westford Grille in Westford at 12:15. Hope to see you there!

The unemployed - an opportunity

Given the growing numbers of unemployed people (myself included), there lies a huge opportunity for a vocational project. What better way to publicize Rotary, help businesses grow and help people find work.

The Merrimack Valley area club is working on a networking event that answers these needs. A new blog has been created and is gaining ground around the world. Check out http://www.rotaryinmotion.blogspot.com/ to see what they're up to.

4 Corners

It's been quite some time since this blog was created and we've had visitors from the 4 corners of the world, 1500 + according to sitemeter. Visitors have viewed from Pakistan, Australia, Alaska, Tanzania and more.

To see where our readers are coming from click on the sitemeter icon at the bottom of this page. Once the site opens up, search by world map and then select the last 100 visitors to see the most recent.

District 7910 is getting the word out.

2009 - Year of the blog

Ken Masson and I have begun to set up meetings with various clubs in the Merrimack Valley Area for our presentation and vision on blog networking. So far Merrimack Valley, Westford, Chelmsford, Lowell, Billerica and Bedford have booked us as guest speakers.

Our goal is to have the clubs of the Merrimack Valley area linked together through a network of blogs by March 1st this year. We will approach other clubs once we've established this base. If your club has interest in creating their own blog and connecting before then, we'd be more than happy to be your guest speaker.

Let's make 2009 the year of the Rotary blog network!

Merrimack Valley Rotary club jumpstarts the economy

Answering the need of businesses and the people of our district, the Merrimack Valley Rotary Club http://www.mvrotary.blogspot.com/ is developing a monthly network night to help jumpstart the economy. Our goal is to help people and businesses connect for jobs and additional work to bridge the current economic downturn. This vocational project is expected to branch out to other clubs seeking to participate through their own network events. Visit our newest blog at http://www.rotaryinmotion.blogspot.com/ and sign up on Feedblitz to learn more.

Regards,

Dan

New blogs & posts

The GSE team is up and running, only 31 days before departure. Max has really gotten the blog bug and is making posts on the different events happening pre trip.

A new blog was just created for Matylda Tomaszczyk http://mtomaszczyk.blogspot.com/ . She'll be posting her experiences from Poland once settled.

If you'd like to learn more about where your Foundation dollars go, here's an opportunity to see it in action. Sign up for Feedblitz on both blogs to follow their experiences.