New Rotary Website

Each of you plays a key leadership role in your club and with its members. We want to highlight the many positive aspects of the new website and ease any initial concerns that may arise as you and the members of your club familiarize yourselves with the new site.                                                                 

I’ve had the opportunity to speak directly with RI President Ron D. Burton about the upcoming launch and he has expressed his enthusiasm and support for the many improvements being made. We hope to make the transition to the new online experience as smooth as possible.                                                  

We want to draw attention to a few key features of the new website that we think you will find most helpful as you field questions from Rotarians in the coming weeks.                                                                             

 Two distinct versions of the website                                               

 My Rotary (for members)                                                            

       ·      All members will be encouraged to register and sign in when visiting  

       the site. Members will be able to better engage through their own customized 

       experience based on their interests, and conduct their Rotary business more  

       easily than ever before.                                                      

       ·      The new website will eliminate the need for the Member Access Portal  

       (MAP). Those currently registered in MAP will simply be prompted to          

       re-register when first visiting the site and will then be able to access     

       tools previously located in MAP, such as the ability to edit club data, use  

       Rotary Club Central, etc.                                                     

 Rotary.org (for the general public)                                                

       ·      The public site tells our story to external audiences in a fresh,     

       streamlined way, encouraging people to get to know Rotary and learn about all

       the great work Rotarians are doing all over the world.                       

 Find what you need!                                                                 

       ·      The website has been entirely rebuilt, grouping items more logically. 

       Testing has confirmed that user experience is cleaner and more streamlined   

       than what is offered today. For example, tools that help you manage your     

       Rotary business—such as running reports—are now conveniently located under a 

       tab called “Manage.”                                                         

       ·      The website’s “search” engine is now powered by Google, making        

       locating documents, articles and tools much easier.                          

 Important changes                                                                   

       ·      “Contact this Club” – Visitors to the site can submit a request online

       to learn more about a specific club and membership. The RI Board has         

       requested that an email be automatically sent to the District Governor and   

       Membership Chair to notify you of this request, they will then follow up as  

       appropriate with the club.                                                   

       ·      Rotary Foundation Grants – Many of you have already visited the Rotary

       Grants microsite and all it has to offer. That functionality will now be     

       merged into the new site so everything you need will be in one place.        

       ·      Security – As part of the new launch, we are also adopting industry   

       leading security measures to manage your IDs and passwords. To facilitate    

       this transition, any MAP user who logged in within the last year will go     

       through an abbreviated re-registration process.                              

       ·      Browsers – The new website uses some of the latest browser            

       capabilities and because of that, visitors to the site will need to be on     

       modern browsers. Whatever browser you prefer to use, we recommend you upgrade

       to the latest version to have the best experience possible.                  

 As we head into the final days before the new website launches, I want to remind us  all that with any major launch, we can anticipate a few minor issues early on as we

 make the transition, so I kindly ask for your patience and request that you         

 encourage the same from those who may experience some technical setbacks in the    

 first few days after launch. Explore the new site and provide us with your feedback

 on your experience.  Encourage your fellow members to do the same. The more         

 feedback you can give us, the more we can do to ensure your online experience is a  positive one. We hope you enjoy your experience on the new website and look forward

 to hearing your thoughts.                                                           

 Please send your questions to website@rotary.org.                                  

 Sincerely,                                                                         

 Peter Markos