Rotary International is a global network of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian services and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are more than 1.2 million Rotary members in 33,000 clubs across 200 countries and regions. In Germany, Rotary has nearly 1,000 clubs with more than 46,000 members. Fourteen district Internet communication officers care for all Internet-related issues and needs, including the Web site, administration and email communication to regional, functional and hierarchical target groups.

The challenge: moving collaboration, training and fundraising to the Web

Rotary International wanted to offer its clubs and members new tools to meet, collaborate, raise funds and communicate via the Web. Rotary in Germany, recognizing the need for a better approach, welcomed this initiative by the head office.

Herwig Niggemann, spokesperson for the Rotary district Internet communication officers in Germany, said, “In the past, all trainings, inductions and meetings for our individual groups were conducted face to face, demanding a huge amount of time, expense and logistical effort from all participants. Also, regular regional events took a full day, with travel times of up to three hours, making full attendance almost impossible.”

Implementing GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar

Looking for simple, easy-to-use and cost-effective Web conferencing tools, Rotary International turned to Citrix Online. The organization now recommends Citrix® GoToMeeting® for online meetings and Citrix® GoToWebinar® for online training and events to all local Rotary organizations.  

GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar offer Rotary organizations many opportunities to complement or replace on-site meetings and events with online activities, enabling participation from anywhere. Project management and other business activities can be done via the Web to keep all team members up to speed. Larger audiences can be engaged by holding a virtual press conference, launching a new service project or conducting a Web-based fundraiser.

Rotary in Germany saw the potential of GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar for online training of members and volunteers, as well as for public education and advocacy regarding Rotary’s areas of service. Rotary Germany can now extend its reach to new members, volunteers and donors, and its members can collaborate more easily with colleagues to simplify project management, education and fundraising activities.

“Today, regional meetings for all 14 German Rotary districts are conducted via Webinars,” explained Niggemann. “Also, smaller groups meet on a regular and ad-hoc basis using GoToMeeting. For example, the Internet officers meet every month to discuss program development, organization of Web-based training and strategic approaches.”

Online training and meetings boost attendance and cut costs

The Citrix Online services make it possible to provide an ongoing and time-efficient training program for all Rotary members. In addition, Web-based club administration simplifies the work of the management board and aids in public advocacy.

“Rotary in Germany has been using the Citrix Online tools for more than a year,” said Niggemann. “Individual Webinars have attracted up to 200 participants, and we have also conducted several Webinar series. The easy-to-use GoToWebinar technology promotes user adoption and enables our presenters to quickly concentrate on the actual content and the audience.”

He noted, “The setup and management of meetings and Webinars are easy and efficient. We value the ability to keep track of participants and send reminders. The icing on the cake is certainly the ability to record Webinars.”

Rotary in Germany has received positive feedback from Webinar and online meeting participants. Attendees praise online learning, especially the fact that complex issues can be explained and grasped in phases, as compared to a day-long meeting. Travel time and cost savings are major benefits as well. Also, 20 to 30 percent of the seminar participants attend Webinars and online meetings not only for the Rotary content but also because they are curious to explore a new technology and way of learning for use in their private lives, extending the benefits of GoToWebinar and GoToMeeting.

Niggeman concluded, “Web-based technologies such as online meetings and Webinars help us to meet the evolving needs of our members and the people we serve. GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar enable us to step into a new era of knowledge transfer, learning and training with less stress, time and cost.”

Future plans

Rotary in Germany welcomed the Mac version of GoToMeeting and added it to its recommendations, as the Mac is an operating platform frequently used by its members.

About Citrix Online
Citrix Online provides secure, easy-to-use online solutions that enable people to work from anywhere with anyone. Whether using GoToMyPC® to access and work on a remote PC, GoToAssist® to support customers, GoToMeeting® to hold online meetings or GoToWebinar® for larger online events, our customers – more than 35,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of individuals – are increasing productivity, decreasing travel costs and improving sales, training and service on a global basis. A division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), Citrix Online is based in Santa Barbara, California. For more information, visit www.citrixonline.com or call +1 805 690 6400.

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