Kiwanis Public News

We’re excited to welcome The Hershey Company as a Key Club co-sponsor for 2012—with a focus on Hershey’s Track & Field Games. Now in its 35th year, HTFG serves children ages 9–14 by helping them get active and develop a healthy lifestyle. More than 10 million kids in the United States and Canada have participated in HTFG.

Be part of the fun
Key Clubs can help organize HTFG events in their communities. Work with a local organization, such as an elementary school, community park, Boys & Girls Club or others.

Get other Kiwanis-family members involved, too! Recruit Builders Club and K-Kids members as game participants. And invite Kiwanis club members to assist with game events—as timers, for example.

You could win a free ICON registration
There’s another great reason to help plan and execute a new HTFG: your Key Club will be eligible to win one complimentary registration for 2012 Key Club International Convention.

More information is available about the award and event application at www.KeyClub.org/hersheys. If you have any questions, contact Kiwanis International at memberservices@kiwanis.org.

As you plan for your district’s upcoming mid-year meetings, please consider taking a few moments to promote the 2012 Kiwanis International Convention in New Orleans, set for June 28–July 1.

Visit www.KiwanisOne.org/convention for more information about the convention. Then check out the downloads section of the site at www.kiwanisone.org/convention/downloads, where you’ll find approved photos, the convention logo and other marketing materials you can use in your newsletters and on your websites.

In the downloads section you'll also find a PowerPoint presentation that can be used during your mid-year meeting. Take advantage of the line notes at the bottom of the slides to help guide your presenter’s talking points. It’s that easy!

Or, if you’d rather create your own PowerPoint, use the template also provided in the downloads section.

If you have any questions, please contact member services at memberservices@kiwanis.org.

Between now and February 29, we are checking club websites that use the full version of the Club Management System for up-to-date content (news, events, club meetings) and great home pages. The best club sites may be featured in Kiwanis magazine, Kiwanis Update, the Club Resource newsletter, on Facebook and other spots illustrating best examples to other clubs. Winning clubs may also be asked to share some advice with their peers about maintaining a great club website.

See what an ideal club website looks like at www.KiwanisOne.org/idealsite. This live example is updated monthly (or more often) just like your site should be. Is your club website up to par? Stay tuned for showcase club website examples posted as an announcement here in March or get a sneak peek in the February issue of the Club Resource newsletter.

If you're planning your trip to New Orleans for the 2012 Kiwanis International Convention, chances are you'll want to know everything you can to make your visit the best it can be.

You'll want to know what to see and do, what you can get for free and quite possibly it'd help if you knew more about transportation and just where you're going and when.

All of this information and more is available on the convention website at www.KiwanisOne.org/convention. Click the “Planning Your Trip” tab to learn more about transportation, scooter rentals and more. Download tips on what to see and do from this page, as well.

Then head over to the registration page at www.KiwanisOne.org/convention/registration to sign up for all the fun.

Convention dates are June 28–July 1. We'll see you in New Orleans!

Serving others is your club’s top priority. Also near the top of the list is keeping members and activity participants safe. Help avoid accidents and reduce liability by knowing the ins and outs of risk management. We’ve made it easy by providing risk management and general liability tools to educate you and other club leadership on how to protect your club and participants. From a certificate of insurance form to risk management techniques, it’s all here.

Want a quick overview? Download the 2011 club insurance resource guide.

Congratulations to all who participated! See the list of winners and their artwork.

Kiwanis International once again will offer official tours around the host city during the international convention.

Explore New Orleans during the 2012 Kiwanis International Convention, which runs June 28–July 1, and discover its famous architecture, rich history, legendary music ... and more.

Food. Swamps. Mansions. Gardens. From the French Quarter to the Ninth Ward—you name it, we've got it covered in our 11 official Kiwanis tours. But don’t delay—deadline for online tour registration is June 13.

Not registered for the convention yet? Sign up today!

We’ve made it easy for you to create your own personal schedule for the 2012 Kiwanis International Convention in New Orleans.

“My Convention Schedule” offers a list of all convention events at www.KiwanisOne.org/convention/myschedule. Here you’ll find a list of sessions, ticketed events and workshops, along with descriptions for most events.

If you’ve already registered for convention, log in (using your KiwanisOne email and password) from the schedule dashboard and access additional features to customize your itinerary. First-time users will be given an option to register.

For registered attendees, once logged in, ticketed events you paid for will populate your personal schedule. You can then browse and add the sessions and workshops you plan to attend, note any guests attending with you and create additional events, such as district dinners or New Orleans tours.

Your schedule can be printed or exported to your personal calendar. 

The schedule is subject to change at any time, so please check back and update your itinerary close to the convention start date in order to capture any changes in time, presenter and location.

The early bird is extending its time! Now until March 20, you can receive a discounted price on the 2012 Kiwanis International Convention in New Orleans, which begins June 28 and run through July 1. The online registration process is easy to use at www.KiwanisOne.org/convention/registration.  

Step 1:  Have at hand your:

• district name
• club key number
• member ID
• credit card

Step 2:  Decide which—if not all—ticketed events you want to attend.

Step 3:  Review and book tour packages, then make travel arrangements and hotel accommodations.

Step 4:  Encourage your Kiwanis friends to join you!

Did you know? Gant Travel and Kiwanis International have worked together to provide special fares for travel to the 2012 convention. While you’re at it, get trip planning tips to make your time in New Orleans special.

Need some fresh, new ideas for fundraising? Join us on February 7 at 8 p.m. ET for a webinar all about fundraising. We’ll reveal the top 25 fundraising ideas from around the Kiwanis family. From mini to mighty, your club will be on its way to raising money, sharing your story, and putting the FUN back in FUNdraising!

Register now, or see our entire listing of webinars offered at www.kiwanisone.org/webinars. If you miss a webinar or need to watch them again, visit the webinar archives at www.KiwanisOne.org/webinararchives.

Webmasters go on vacation. Club secretaries retire from duties. It happens. No worries. Transferring responsibility for your club website and club administrative tasks in the online Club Management System (full version) is easy. The subscription belongs to the club so all you have to do is share or transfer responsibility using Members Admin > Assign Roles. As long as the subscription is kept current, your member records and website content will be retained. Even club content from a lapsed subscription might be recoverable.

Please contact support@clubresource.com for help transferring system access to a new club leader or for links to the system tutorials to help the new person get up to speed. Also be sure the new person subscribes to the KiwanisOne Club Management newsletter! www.KiwanisOne.org/subscribe

Not using the full version yet? Upgrading is quick and easy: www.KiwanisOne.org/upgradeCMS. 

Kiwanis International Foundation grants help clubs meet the needs of children. Sometimes those children are in your same Kiwanis district and sometimes in the opposite hemisphere. These grants help clubs reach their service-project goals that may otherwise be beyond their financial ability.

Does your club have a project that could use additional funding? Consider applying for a Kiwanis International Foundation grant.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Grant applications are accepted year-round.
• Applications postmarked by November 15, 2011 are reviewed at the January Board meeting, and applications postmarked by April 15, 2012 are reviewed at the June Board meeting each year.
• Applicants are notified of the Board’s decision by letter within 30 days of the meeting.

In order to be considered for a grant, your project should follow certain guidelines. Learn more about these grants and the amazing work that’s been funded on the Foundation website.

If you’re looking to recruit new members, don’t forget a group with rich recruiting potential: the Key Club and Circle K International alumni associations. Alumni association members are service-minded people. They’re familiar with Kiwanis. They’re looking to do more. Privacy policies prevent Kiwanis and its alumni associations from distributing contact lists—but you can still reach members.

Here’s an idea: Write about your club or district for the alumni associations’ blogs. The blogs are a combination of news articles and alumni stories, updated several times a week. They’re perfect for telling alumni about your club’s service projects, social events and recruiting drives.

It’s easy to get your stories posted—just send them to Sherri McKeen at smckeen@kiwanis.org. She’ll put them up on the associations’ blogs.

But how can you make sure your posts get read? Here are six tips:

1. Stick to the point. The more concise your post, the better you’ll retain interest in your message.
2. Ask alumni to write. Does your club have Key Club or CKI alumni? Have one write the posts and share an alumnus perspective.
3. Emphasize your impact. Key Club and CKI alumni join the associations to extend their service and fellowship. Show how club membership can also help them achieve that goal.
4. Post pictures. Add visual interest, and give readers an idea what service and membership look like in your club.
5. Respond quickly. Keep an eye on your post for responses. Follow up with anyone who comments. Responsiveness is a good sign for the reader of how efficiently your club operates.
6. Keep sending stories. You can’t control when people see (or don’t see) your posts. The more you share, the more likely the right people will find you. Remember, both alumni associations are in the early stages, with 3,500 members worldwide. If you don’t get a response, your community might not have alumni association members—yet.

Again, submit your blog posts to Sherri McKeen at smckeen@kiwanis.org. Once you send them in, we’ll schedule the post and link to it on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The odor of fuel and a loud whirring noise, and Michael Nerandzic knew instantly that his airship was only moments away from disaster. What the blimp pilot did in those few moments earned him the Kiwanis International Foundation's Robert P. Connelly Medal for Heroism.

Nerandzic, from Balgownie, Australia, was flying three journalist from a music festival in Germany, when he made the heroic decision that would save the passengers but end his life. Realizing the ship had caught fire during a descent over an airfield in Reichelsheim, Germany, the pilot hovered near the ground and told the passengers to jump from the gondola.

As they did, the ship shot up into the air and exploded, killing Nerandzic.

He was nominated for the medal by the Kiwanis Club of Glenelg, South Australia.

The foundation medal honors individuals who, like Nerandzic, risk physical harm or death to save another person.

Nominate a hero for the Connelly Medal of Heroism.