Sorting The Wheat From The Chaff

14 applicants - needed to weed a few out.
Wanted to create a team of 4 members plus 1 reserve in case someone has to pull out prior to the exchange - I'm not allowed to. It'll be pretty tough on whoever makes the reserve place, so we'll need to make the team-building expereinces of value to everyone.
After long deliberation we got down to 9 applicants to invite to the selection day, and we divied up the jobs needed to organise this event.
Some of the reasons we excluded some but not others were:

• Lack of basic information about work history
• Apparent focus on self rather than  making a difference to others
• Lack of awareness of Rotary

As said before, whittled down to a strong field, looking forward to getting the team on board.

Team Member Interviews Shaping Up Nicely

We're very pleased to have received 14 applications for Team Members from across the district. Need to do an initial sort before emailing invitations to attend interview. Interview venue and refreshments booked for October 10th. Need to hone our format, tasks and questions for the day.

Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities

Very informative meeting with Garth yesterday, covering much useful ground and detailing actions for this next phase - recruiting high quality Team Members and liaising with Suresh - District 3220 GSE Coordinator - in Sri Lanka.

Reminder that closing date for applications is September 17th.
We are planning for interviews to be held on October 10th - times and venue still to be confirmed.
Outline programme as follows:

11.00 Welcome, introductions and overview of District 1100's GSE expectations for the Team Leader and Team Members

A light lunch will be provided

1.15 Formal interviews lasting up to 20 minutes begin, to include a 5 minute presentation by candidates along the lines of 'Give a 5 minute presentation about yourself as if to Rotarians in Sri Lanka.' Computer and data projector are available if required.

n.b. all the above is subject to confirmation, Candidates will receive full details of the day well in advance.

District 1100 Rotarians - please encourage any potential applicants to look at this website
Potential applicants - read the Team Handbook for Team Member criteria.

Website/Blog Nearly Ready For The Public

Looking forward to the team members bringing their skills and ideas to bear on how we're going to keep this website fresh and engaging. Applications close September 17th - will publish interview dates once they've been agreed.
Want to get publicitiy going to recruit team members - so date there are 7 applications/expressions of interest but we'd ideally like double that number.

Some more finessing with setting up this website/blog. After several tests and trials managed to move it forwards well. Easy tools to use with Blogger - and becoming more confident each time I come to it.

Another smiley face :-)

Criteria For Team Members

Click here for Introductory Flier about GSE

In case we get this blog publicised to the world of Rotary soon, and there are prospective team members seeking information in advance of the application deadline of September 17th here's a few starters for 10 ...

Aspiring GSE Team Members must be:

• Aged between 25-35 and be in employment
• Able to take one month off from work
• Able to get travel insurance to meet RI requirements
• Fully supported by your manager/team leader at work
• Willing to fully engage in orientation and team building activities prior to the exchange itself (12 hours or more)
• Prepared to deliver at least 5 presentations to District 1100 Rotary Clubs and at District Conference April 8th-10th 2011

We will be looking for intelligence, humour, willingness to learn, ability to work as part of a team ... and ...

Applicants are advised to familiarise themselves with the GSE Team Members handbook which can be downloaded as a pdf

Once application forms are completed and signed they should be sent to Garth Raymer

Good luck :-)

Run, Rabbit, Run!

now it starts to get serious - the planning and delivery of a successful GSE. This includes editing this blog from a few draft headlines into something real and alive - something useful and interesting for:

• My wife, Su, who is wondering where she will go on holiday whilst I'm leading this exchange
• Aspiring team leaders of future GSE teams
• Potential GSE team members
• Previous, current, and future GSE teams across the globe (contributing to World Peace and Understanding)
• Fellow Rotarians and Rotary Clubs which we will meet during our stay in District 3220 Sri Lanka

First formal meeting with Garth (from District) planned for next Wednesday (8th Sept). We'll be working through plans for interviewing team members (applications close September 17th), as well as running through the 'Team Leader Todo' list, prioritising actions and setting timelines for hitting deadlines.