Adventures of Pinky at DTC Luncheon

Yesterday, I braved the snowy weather and ventured down to Maggiano’s DTC for the last CWCC DTC Luncheon of the year.  That Italian food really hit the spot on such a cold day!  Plus, the sponsors of the lunch, Capital Bookkeeping, brought delicious chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies for all of the attendees.  I was a very full flamingo after the lunch!

Speaker Stephanie Ursini talked about her history including her experience in Rotary.  But, what really struck me was when she talked about the importance of refining your message.  Stephanie was telling a story about when she joined Rotary, and how she could name any facts or statistics about the organization when talking to prospective Rotarians.  As she was giving examples, something she said really stood out—that she was not able to see the forest through the trees and how her daughter helped her refine her message. This got my attention. Stephanie was at Rotary function and talking to someone about how she was preparing to go to South America to see her daughter in a small village in Peru.  A man overheard her and said that she needed to take a C.U.R.E kit with her on her trip. She had no idea what a C.U.R.E kit was, but she picked one up from his office anyway.  It turned out that it is a rather large medical kit that Rotary sends to villages in need of medical supplies.  So, Stephanie and delivered the medical care kit to a clinic in Peru, and the doctor asked her she was giving them much needed medical supplies that they could not pay for.  She said that they were free, and that is when she realized the impact her organization has on the world.

Because she got to see the impact first-hand, she realized that she was conveying the wrong message.  Statistics don’t really get people motivated.  Stephanie said in order to have a powerful message that really sinks in, you need to disturb and inspire.  This is now the message that she delivers to people about Rotary.  She said if people are not a little disturbed and then inspired, then the message will not stick.  What a great luncheon!