Gov. Tom's Message

by Gov. Tom Varner

Communications

In the last few meetings I have attended, the talk has gotten around to communications and how we reach different generations. As most educators know, to reach all of the students, you have to employ multiple teaching methods and techniques. Some students learn by listening, some by reading, some with pictures, and some by experience.

It is apparent that we must use a multi-media approach if we want to reach out to all age groups and all generations. I have never met anyone lately that has not realized that we need more young members and more diversity in Kiwanis. We need to reach out to these groups in the medium that they are most comfortable with in today's world. I found the following chart by Louis Lloyd in the Sunday, May 22, 2011, Richmond Times Dispatch:

If we look at the row labeled "Medium", we see everything from newspaper and radios to mobile media. The latter are the BlackBerry's, the I-Phones, the I-Pads, etc. I notice in my Distance Education or Internet courses that even though they are on the computer more and more, students are using their mobile devices to communicate rather than opening their computer's email feature.

What this should be telling Kiwanis is that whenever we want to reach out to people we need to employ radio/print, television, computers, and mobile communications media and methods. If you will go on line, that is log on to either the 2011 District Convention homepage at www.kiwaniscdc2011.com or the Kiwanis International home page at http://www.kiwanisone.org you will see links to Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Flickr, and other social media. These reach the Millennials and GenX.

However, we cannot forget the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, and the Boomer Generation. We need to get our message on television and the radio and we need to get stories into the newspapers. We have to depend on other people who control these media to get the message distributed, and that is our problem. How do we convince the publisher and station managers that Kiwanis has a message and it needs to be heard?

We do have a very sellable product and we need to market our biggest assets. The first of these is our Service Leadership Programs. The second is our service in the community. This is why Kiwanis exists. That is the reason Kiwanis is the greatest service organization in the world. Kiwanis International has ready-made radio and television spots, but we need to make our own spots. It may take nothing more than a camera shot of young people receiving help or working to help others.

Sometimes we make fun of our members who always have their cameras and have many photo ops of Kiwanis in Action. That is what the media want. It is our job to take the pictures and send them to the print and broadcast media for publication. Remember to record your work in community service and with the young people, they will help you reach the media and the community.

MONTHLY DIARY

This has been another challenging and diverse month of travel. After the Lieutenant Governor Conference ended on the first, I flew to Indianapolis on Thursday, April 5 to attend the Maternal Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) (Project Eliminate) conference with Governor-Elect Jeffrey Wolff, MNT Chair John Tyner, Kiwanis International Trustee Jerry Peuler and Kiwanis International Foundation President-Elect Hugh Siggins. The session was presented in two parts. John and the financial campaign chairs met to go over collection and pledging strategies. The rest of us met with other District leaders to discuss ways to use programs to promote MNT and Kiwanis. In this campaign, we want to grow membership in Kiwanis as well as to collect $110 million dollars to eliminate MNT. You will be hearing more about this in the future.

On Thursday, May 12, I made my official visit to Division 10 as a part of the Manassas' Steak Cookout. This event has traditionally kicked off the campaign season for Kiwanians who are running for Governor-Elect. Our one candidate, Carolyn Richar, attended and addressed the attendees. Past Kiwanis International Foundation President Jane Erickson who is a candidate for Kiwanis International Trustee was also present. This is always a fun event and this year was no exception.

On Tuesday, May 17, I attended the Spiritual Aims Breakfast with the Heart of Virginia Region. On Friday, Lin and I and most of the living Past Governors attended their annual meeting in Shepherdstown WV. It was a weekend of great fun and fellowship and I was impressed with the positive support for the District and Kiwanis exhibited by our past leaders. PG Tom and Carol Ganse were our hosts, and they did a tremendous job of arranging and making everyone feel at home.

This past Monday through Wednesday was a wild experience. Between 8 AM Monday when we left our home until yesterday at 4 PM, Lin and I drove 999.2 miles and visited three clubs in Southwest Virginia. On Monday, I dropped Lin off at a friend's house in Wytheville, drove to Abington to pick up Past Trustee Jack White, and then drove to the Kiwanis Club of Wise. I met with the founder of UVA-Wise who was a real fountain of information. He knew all of the people I worked with in the Community Colleges.

On Tuesday, I went back to Abington for the Kiwanis Club of Abington meeting at noon. They are another great group of fun loving, vibrant Kiwanians. They had two young potential members as guests. One was an attorney for Abington and one was a banker. They will both be an asset to the club, so I hope the club can close the deal.

After the meeting, Lieutenant Governor Jon Rife, who is also the Trustee-Designate from Southwest Virginia, led me to Grundy where I got a tour of the town and an insight into its modernization and expansion. This was a real highlight as I inducted two new Kiwanians. One is a pediatrician and internist and the second is the new Scout Director for the area. It was interesting in that both were natives of Grundy who had left and had returned and were excited about being able to give back to their community.

I drove back to Wytheville Tuesday night and I believe I have every bug in the mountains on my car. Early Tuesday, Lin and I said goodbye to Sue and left for Roanoke to visit the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke. This was another exciting meeting. The club presented scholarships to six senior selected from over 40 applicants. Five of the scholarships had corporate sponsors and the sixth funded by the Club's annual pancake breakfast. It was great day and great young people. We can be proud of what we do help our young people their lives.

Now I am back in Ashland with 117 emails to read and other work to finish. This week is what it is all about with new people, new clubs, and our youth. We do good work. We should be proud of what we do and we should let the world know we are Kiwanis and we grow our communities and develop our young people into the leaders of tomorrow. Now, let us all go out and so something good for our youth and our communities.