Students from the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications Jacht Agency got an up close and personal feel for Rotary when they attended a meeting of Lincoln South Rotary on October 27.
Their participation in one of the organization’s meetings was part of a project to help the nearly 40 clubs in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa share what modern-day Rotary is all about.
“People still think that Rotary is only about meeting for lunch once a week and maybe ringing bells for the Salvation Army around Christmas,” noted Randy Bretz, Chairman of Rotary District 5650’s Public Image efforts. “They have no idea that we’re part of an international organization that is promoting peace, fighting disease, helping women and children in impoverished situations and even protecting the environment.” The District Board agreed to a plan to engage the UNL students to help with an image campaign.
The UNL Jacht Agency is a full-service advertising agency made up of students at UNL who are supervised by faculty in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Their services include research, strategic branding and public relations. “I proposed working with the UNL students to our District Board,” said Bretz, “to look into what Rotary does in the District and around the world and discern the general public image of the organization. Once we know these two things, we can work to do a more focused job of telling our story.”
The Jacht Agency spent the Spring Semester doing surveys of the nearly 3,000 members in the District and during the Fall Semester, they’re doing a survey of the general public. “Throughout our work for the Rotary Club District 5650 we have aimed to understand and change the perception of the club,” said Trend Fechtmeister, student Account Manager. “We thought it would be crucial to attend a Rotary Club meeting in order to understand and gain insight from current members. Our visit with the Lincoln South Rotary Club was incredibly helpful to our work and we are so excited to continue spreading awareness of the Rotary organization's greatness. Fechtmeister was joined by Brianna Hopping, Jeannine Akamba, Sophia Berglund, and Lexi Worden.
“I’d heard the stereotypes of Rotary being a ‘lunch club’ prior to attending the session. The meeting greatly exceeded my expectations and also broke this stereotype,” Hopping added. “I chatted with numerous members, and you can tell all of them have a deep passion for bettering the Lincoln community and beyond.The conversations we had went past surface-level small talk. The members were eager to discuss their mission as Rotarians and the various initiatives they engage in throughout the community.” Berglund added, “The Rotarians are so friendly! Every person I spoke to greeted me with a smile and a handshake and they were so excited to share what Rotary Club meant to them.” Then Woreden noted, “I was impressed with Rotary's overall goals and mission and how the group actively seeks to make an impact not only in Nebraska, or in the county, but around the globe.”
(Other photos at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GOo2a-irIVs6ulv9SCP7tGDQEl73JFM3?usp=sharing )
“We’re asking members of the public to take the brief survey that the Jacht Agency has prepared,” added Bretz. “We hope that non-Rotarians from across the district will complete the survey.” Anyone can access the survey at https://forms.gle/VG3z2CXLYgH1DjT57