Got my Red Badge - so what does that mean?

Yesterday, Oct. 30, I was inducted (indicted??) into RB Sunrise Rotary in a painless ceremony. As part of the ceremony, I was handed an information packet which answered a couple of my questions.

The first question I had was what does Red Badge mean? It turns out that a new member has a little red badge placed on his name tag to identify him as a new member. In order to have the red badge removed - a goal - the new member must complete enough tasks to earn 10 points. There is a smorgasboard of tasks that can be completed, or the member could probably cheat a little, and do 1 task 10 times! Tasks include, for example, leading the pledge of allegiance; giving a short "who am I" icebreaker speech; attending a board meeting; etc. Nothing that will kill you outright!

The second question I had is, now that I'm a member, what are my responsibilities and obligations? I was told that there are numerous ways for me to get involved in Rotary, and the president himself would brief me on some of those ways. Otherwise, I stand the chance of becoming a RINO - Rotary in Name Only. That could be fatal, so I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Why join Rotary?

I was asked why I joined Rotary? What caused me to make the drive at 6:45 AM to my first Rotary meeting? Afterall, for some of us, 7:15 AM meetings are EARLY.

Well, it wasn't the scrambled eggs, although they are just that - scrambled eggs.

There are 2 reasons that I decided to check out Rotary. First, I'm in business. Recently, I became acquainted with several people who mentioned that they are Rotarians. After hearing this a number of times, and they are people I respect and am comfortable being associated with, I decided that perhaps I should look into Rotary for purposes of business networking.

This decision was made just after I decided to leave another networking group that I found to be a very poor fit for me. It's not that I expect lots of business to come immediatley flooding to my door as a result of networking with other Rotarians, but, rather, that I can associate with others on a professional level. I hope to be able to develop both friendship and business relationships with these people - over time.

The second reason for joining Rotary is, again, another vacuum - community involvement and service. I recently left another organization where I served as Vice President. There, unfortunately, I had discovered some rather unethical behavior by the leadership of the organization, and felt that I should resign and remove myself from the organization. There was no way I, alone, could cause improvement or change. Who needs that kind of distraction in a service organization?

So I'm looking for involvement and service on a personal level. Rotary seems to offer that.

So those are the two main reasons I'm in my car driving to mediocre scrambled eggs at 6:45 AM. It ain't just the eggs!