The Important Role Of The Undervalued Name Tag

Ruritan nametag

Ruritan name tag

From the desk of the Lt. Governor:

Walking into a Ruritan Club Meeting House, my eyes quickly sweep across the room, looking for someone, anyone, wearing a name tag. Why? Because that name tag is a welcoming beacon that says “I’m friendly. I am approachable. Come talk to me!”

When I don’t see anyone in the room wearing a name tag, my heart sinks. I’m one of “those people” that has a really hard time remembering other people’s names. I know how important it is to remember everyone’s names, and I struggle with that issue. People that can meet someone one time for just a moment or two, and remember their name forever simply amaze me! I simply don’t have that gift! Hopefully that doesn’t make me a bad Ruritan – I’d like to think that I still have a lot to offer Ruritan!

embarrased woman (free clip art)

Embarrassed woman (free clip art)

All of those memory enhancement techniques that are taught by memory experts help, but when meeting several people at once, the names go in one ear and fall out the other. Hope springs eternal, and I keep on trying, but I love to see other people wearing name tags because then I don’t spend precious time apologizing for the fact that I will probably forget their name shortly after meeting them.

But enough about me.

When a potential new member, or a scheduled speaker, walks through that same Ruritan Club Meeting House door at a meeting, they are immediately at a social disadvantage. One that could make them very uncomfortable.  (Maybe they have issues with remembering names, just like I do!)

When a person is in a group of people where everyone else knows everyone’s name, he or she may  feel vulnerable. Very few people are comfortable in a crowd when they are the only “stranger.”

In some cases, the visitor may get the impression that the other people in the group don’t even care enough to make newcomers comfortable in the group. That is one of those “first impressions” that our clubs may not want to be making.

Martha Stewart (free clip art)

Martha Stewart (free clip art)

Wearing a name tag increases the potential for better fellowship experiences for visitors. If everyone in the club were to wear their Ruritan name badges, the visitor (whether it is a potential new member, a speaker, or a visiting officer from District or National) will feel more comfortable being in the group. This level of comfort may help the potential new member decide to join the club, and it also may help improve the quality of the time of the speaker, or visiting officer. Quoting Martha Stewart, “and that’s a good thing.”

Our membership and fellowship committees can help ease the initial level of discomfort of being “the stranger in a crowd” by ensuring that the visitor gets a name tag, and that everyone in the room has a name tag. Even if it is just a temporary, sticky-backed paper name tag that says “Hello, my name is ____________.”

Hello my name is (free clip art)

Hello my name is (free clip art)

That name tag helps to level out the playing field, so everyone can see, at a glance, the name of everyone else. A member of the Fellowship Committee should greet everyone as they come through the door, and provide a name tag to anyone that does not have one.

If the person walking through the door is a new visitor, then the member that greeted the visitor should also ensure that the visitor is introduced to another member, who then becomes the visitor’s companion through-out the entire meeting. This is standard procedure for all clubs that are looking to recruit new members, and is pretty well documented in the Ruritan Handbooks and Guides.

If the club is fortunate enough to have a supply cabinet in the meeting location, the sticky-back name tags and assorted markers could be stored on-site, and brought out as people arrive to the meeting. If the club does not have that storage option, then the membership and fellowship chairs could bring them to the meetings. Alternately, each club officer could keep them in their briefcases/totes that they bring to the meetings.

These items are some of the least expensive tools a club can use to welcome visitors that have taken the time and made the effort to step through that door to see for themselves what that Ruritan club is all about. Making that visitor feel comfortable, by providing name tags is a good first step towards recruiting new members.

Not convinced? Recently I was reading a great blog article about good reasons to wear name tags. I’d like to encourage you to consider reading it as well. The article just might help convince you to start wearing your name tag more often – and not just to Ruritan functions!

I’d like to encourage ALL Ruritan Club members to wear their name badges to all Ruritan Club functions. You’ve got nothing to lose, and a lot to gain by wearing them.


PSA Video Promoting Ruritan Clubs Airing On CVTV In Spotsylvania County VA

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBt3bZ6iE_c&w=853&h=480]

From the Desk of the Lt. Governor:

CVTV (a local television station) in Spotsylvania County, VA, responded quickly to our request for a free PSA promoting Ruritan awareness by designing this video, and they will be airing it immediately. They have also offered to run free PSAs promoting our local Ruritan events in the future. This video directs viewers that are interested in more information to contact the National Ruritan office, and supplies their phone number and website address.

Hopefully this will help to increase membership rolls in our local Ruritan Clubs in their viewing area!

The video has also been posted on YouTube. You should be able to view it from this post, by clicking on the video at the top of this post.

Our heartfelt thanks to CVTV, for your help in our publicity campaign and getting the word out to our local communities about the Ruritan organization!


Need new members? Consider recruiting your local businesses!

Recruitment image

Recruit!

From the desk of Lt. Governor:

Does your club have any business members? If not, your club may be missing out on some great opportunities to improve their membership, publicity, and community service!

There is an informative post about the benefits of business members that makes some worthwhile points to consider. The article can be read on this page. If you want to read the articles, you can click on the hyperlink in the previous sentence to be taken to the appropriate page.

I’d like to encourage all of the Ruritan Clubs to consider the benefits of inviting local businesses to join their Ruritan club. Business members can be a valuable resource to Ruritan clubs.


Youth are our future

Ruritan Youth Brochure

Ruritan Youth Brochure

Ruritan Youth Brochure-page-1

Ruritan Youth Brochure-page-1

From the desk of the Lt. Governor:

As we look to the future of Ruritan, there can be no doubt, if the Ruritan clubs are to survive, we would be wise to look to our youths.