Tuesday's bi-annual trade show was a time of extraordinary pride for Rochester Rotary. The quality of the businesses and the caliber of the Rotarians who own, lead, and represent these organizations were impressive by any standard. Just imagine a world in which every relationship and every transaction could have both buyers and sellers stand up and say . . .

"Yes! All that I say is the truth, and I promise to be fair to everyone concerned with this deal. I also think that by using our products and services we will build a better long term relationship that will have at its roots a mutual foundation of goodwill, and benefit to both of our organizations. And if I or we fail to live up to these standards, please call me personally, and I will do everything I can to make it right and get our relationship back on track".

Is this some kind of dream world? Of course not! All it takes to make it a reality is to Do Business with a Rotarian.

However, there is one problem with all of this. The problem is a lack of public awareness about how we Rotarians conduct our lives and our businesses in accordance with the Four-Way Test. We need to get the word out to everyone in our region that if they are seeking a product or service provided by a Rochester Rotarian, they owe it to themselves and their organization to give our members a chance to earn their business. It is indeed a problem, but the Business to Business Committee under the excellent leadership of Julie St. Germaine and Alan Vitberg has a solution.

They have formed a small, high energy SWAT team to help drive the entire community to the Business Directory section of our website. Sam Merlo is the team leader and his current squad consists of Bob Brenston of Intech Solutions, Jim Cavagnaro of TCN Neworks, and myself. Here's the plan:           

• Create and post a video on our website on "Why do business with a Rotarian?"
• Encourage all members who wish to promote their business to update their Business Directory listing (not our confidential membership roster) with a consistent easy to read format.
• Create and post short testimonial videos of success stories.
• Gain publicity in local media that will attract local businesses to our website.
• Enhance the "search" and "keyword" functions of the Business Directory.

Stay tuned for more news on this initiative . . . it could be a really big "deal"!

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On Tuesday evening Sandy and I wandered over to Barnes and Noble to a presentation and book signing event by Rochester Rotarian Tony Sciolino. His book is entitled The Holocaust, The Church, and The Law of Unintended Consequences. The large meeting room was filled with a standing room only, overflow crowd spilling into the hallway. Everyone was captivated and completely attentive to this brilliant, humble, scholarly man as he described his research on what the Christian Church did and did not do to help save the lives of millions of Jews during the 12 years of Adolf Hitler's reign. The evening was educational, inspirational, and controversial. Tony's research challenges with facts and judicial skill what we might want to believe or have been led to believe about the behavior of the church during those catastrophic times. I was, and remain, overwhelmed with pride that I have gotten to know Judge Tony Sciolino, and cannot think of any organization other than Rochester Rotary that would have afforded me this privilege.

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The PGA Championship at Oak Hill is on the verge of selecting Rochester Rotary and our Sunshine Campus as one of the major charities to provide volunteers for the event to be held August 5^th - 11^th. Our role will be to work in the hospitality concessions area and if selected, the National PGA Concessions contractor Levy Restaurants will make a substantial contribution to the Campus. If selected, we will need to fill 50 volunteer shifts per day at the tournament and our planning has already begun. Club Vice President Peter Sarratori has agreed to chair the event committee and Club Vice President Pat Stack will recruit and organize the volunteers.

Call to Action: If you have a potential interest in volunteering, I need you to send an email to Myrna at the Rotary Office, myrna@rochesterrotary.org, with the subject line of PGA. This is not a commitment, just an expression of interest.

Both the Charitable Trusts Board and the Club Board have fully endorsed our desire to become a part of this world class event. The community recognition, the fun and fellowship, the excitement of being "on course", and the contribution to the Sunshine Campus all present a unique opportunity for us in 2013. Please send in your expression of interest today!

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