Rdu SuRvey
36
Issue 539. May 2012
Our recent survey on the Sergeant's Session
attracted 352 responses, 94.6 per cent
of whom came from clubs with regular
sessions, 84.1 per cent who believed their
Sergeant was right for the job and 85.1 per
cent of whom thought the session was good
for a laugh.
Is your current Sergeant the
right person for the job?
· Have seen many rude and crude
Sergeants over the years who have
offended members, potential members
and guests. Young people do not like
Sergeant's Sessions. Attending a club
with a Sergeant last week reminded me
of how delighted I am that our club does
not have a fines Session.
· I hope so I am it! However, I didn't
notice anyone knocking me over to
nominate for the position when I agreed
to do it again this year.... I have only
been in Rotary 18 months, so have only
seen two other people in the Sergeant's
role within our club, and two people
at clubs I have visited. Even so, it is
interesting how every person puts their
own special "stamp" on the Sergeant's
spot and despite the "stress" of coming
up with appropriate/funny/inoffensive
fines each week, it ends the meeting on
a light-hearted note and is a good little
money earner within the club and
every bit helps!
· Club members are reluctant to be named
the Sergeant because of the weekly
commitment, but when others fill in
for the regular Sergeant it works just as
well. Perhaps it should be on a rotational
basis, rather than a club officer role.
· We rotate the job of Sergeant on a
weekly basis. This gives everyone the
opportunity to have a go and if they
falter there are always plenty of cross
fines to fill out the Session, especially
after a club project day.
· This year our club has rotated the
Sergeant's role with someone different
each week, which has had varying
results. Some are clearly too nervous and
are visibly stressed, which has resulted
in highly inappropriate racist, sexist
and offensive jokes. I would have been
embarrassed if I'd had a guest there.
Next year four people are nominated
to rotate through the Sergeant's role, so
that shall be interesting.
· Tries hard fatal flaw is a lack of any
sense of humour.
· Picking the right Sergeant is the
MOST important job for any incoming
President. A good Sergeant can make
or break a year's "enjoyment factor" and
so either turn members off attending or
ensure they attend so they don't "miss
out" on things. It also allows a newer
member to show another side of their
personality.
· Like all of our club's roles, the position
should be rotated annually. I emphasise
ALL positions within a club! There's
nothing worse than a boring/predictable
Sergeant (for the fine session). In a
past life I was a Jaycee where we had a
`Jaycee Jester' session, which required
humour (often lacking with Rotary
Sergeants), and variety by way of a
yearly replacement.
· In our club the role is always shared
with a minimum of two and maximum
of four sergeants. Sometimes they work
individually, sometimes in tandem and
occasionally they hunt in a ruthless pack.
· Wonderful person, but I believe the
Sergeant's Session is a relic of a bygone
era. We are moving away from formal
meetings in order to reduce cost. Being
fined for ridiculous things just to bring
in more money is not my idea of fun.
· I think the question that should be
included in this survey is, `How should
the role of the Sergeant be structured?
What model can we use?' Rotary
Down Under needs to develop several
ways of how the Sergeant could make
the job fun and useful. For example,
conducting fines is one approach, what
other approaches are there? And what
is the role of the Sergeant? Could we
have a Sergeant Session where a brief
history of Rotary is presented? Or a
brief discussion/presentation of current
social issues?
· We have a separate Fines Master,
which I assume is the equivalent of
what you're talking about. The job
of Fines Master is shared by several
members. Some are natural comedians,
(good timing, respectful, topical, self-
deprecating) and therefore good Fines
Masters. Most are in poor taste, with
clumsy jokes, lacklustre effort and not
comfortable in the role. Those meetings
are excruciating, especially if there are
guests present.
Is the Sergeant's Session
good for a laugh or good
for nothing?
· Our fine sessions have always been a
highlight of our meeting our Sergeants
are ruthless, but hilarious and we all love
the sessions. It helps that fines are 50
cents, so not formidable, and we raise
between $30 and $50 a meeting. Group
fines help too big earners!
· Although it is meant to be good for
a laugh and that is the intention of
all Sergeants, I'm sure it is true that
some people can be easily offended or
embarrassed, and that can make the
Sergeant's job more difficult.
· This session should be light-hearted so
as members go home feeling happy after
a good laugh. It does not have to be a fine
session every time, you could do a trivial
pursuit type of quiz that gets everyone
involved and have a small prize for the
clever one, or a round the table `question
of the night' that everyone participates
in. For a small donation of a gold coin,
your say
on sergeants
Some love `em, some hate `em, some think we should catapult them all the way back
to WWI. Here are some of your thoughts on the contentious Sergeant's Session.