16. March 10
This is a short summary, for the full Bulletin in PDF, click the following link:
President John opened the meeting by extending a warm welcome to our guests and fellow members.
Four way test led by Gilbert in English & German
Sergeant at Arms Charles welcomed:
Visiting Rotarians:
- Rtn. Jacob Zilber, RC Indian Land, SC, USA
- Rtn. Elisabeth Villao, RC KØse Nord, Danmark
And visiting guests:
- Dr. Benno von Canstein, guest of Rtn. Marlis
- Ms. Fanny Chuck, guest of Rtn. Priscilla
- Mr. Richard Rheindf, guest of Rtn. Kevin
- Mr. Arics Lam, guest of Rtn. Ruby
- Ms. Shadmy M. B. Zwn, guest of Rtn. Kevin
Banners were exchanged with the following Rotary Clubs:
- No Banners where exchanged
Reports & Announcements:
Member Conduct
Sergeant at Arms Charles reminded all members that we as a club have an obligation to our guests. It was an embarrassing to have the Swiss Ambassador, who was our guest and speaker, complain about members talking during his speech. In future offending members will be fined and asked to leave the meeting.
Induction of Arics Lam
Rtn. Ruby introduced Mr. Arics Lam to be initiated into the Club. Arics is sponsored by Ruby, his classification is hotel management.
Arics is a Hong Kong citizen and has attended more than 12 of our meetings. He is the Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast General Manager and long time resident of Beijing. Over the last year and a half he has been kind enough to donate the club’s use his hotel to host our 2009 pre-ball VIP reception and Christmas bazaar.
Arics has spent 28 years in the hotel industry including 5 years in Hong Kong and 23 years in mainland China. He has worked his way up from a receptionist with the Regent in Hong Kong to the General Manager of a series of top hotels in China. Before taking over the new Beijing Northeast Marriott last February, Arics managed the Renaissance Hotel in Tianjin and the Landmark Towers in Beijing. His earlier hotel management assignments have included stints at the China Hotel in Guangzhou, the Yangtze New World Hotel in Shanghai, the Hyatt in Tianjin and the Hilton and Royal Garden hotels in Hong Kong. Before joining the hotel industry he spent several years in water tour business in Hong Kong.
Arics holds an Executive MBA from CEIBS (China Europe International Business School), a Professional Diploma in Real Estate Administration from Hong Kong University and a Diploma in Marketing and International Business from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Arics is married – his wife’s name is Miranda – and they have one son named Lincoln
Arics has already demonstrated a strong commitment to Rotary through very special contributions over the past year to our fundraising activities. He provided the venue free of charge for our VIP reception prior to our 2009 Ball. And on two Saturdays in December he also provided the venue – again free of charge – for our highly successful Christmas Bazaar – along with logistical and service support for that event. That particular event has raised more than RMB 160,000 – an all-time record in the history of one of our bazaars.
Arics past community activities include a number of CSR and community service projects. As part of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Tianjin, he led a volunteer project to help a school for the mentally retarded by getting his engineering staff to audit facilities for safety and security, they set up a mock hotel room and trained students in housekeeping and he sent some of his food and beverage staff to teach the students basic cooking. He is very keen to do similar things with our Beijing projects. Arics has expressed an interest in working with the fundraising committee, ball committee and on community service projects. His desire is to reach out and help those whose needs are not being met by the community.
We believe Arics is a man of good character committed to the aims, goals and principles of Rotary and we hope you will welcome him to join our club.
PETS Training in Shanghai on March 15th, 2010
Several members attended the PETS training in Shanghai last Sunday; further report will be given in due course.
Rtn. Carl participated in the Iron Man contest in Hai Nan Island
Rtn. Gilbert announced that his got a mobile message from Carl who set a personal best and came second in his age group at the Iron Man in Hai Nan Island on Monday, March 15th. He is now eligible for the world championships.
Membership Cards
It was announced that membership cards will be available from Nancy to members who have paid their dues starting next week.
Committee Meetings
In an effort to keep members up to date on club activities committee meetings have been scheduled for immediately before and after the regular Tuesday lunch meetings, starting at 12 noon and 2 PM respectively. Please see the calendar for details. Members are encouraged to attend and will be credited for an attendance make up for each meeting attended. Please note you do not need to be a member of the committee to attend as all are welcome. Also please remember that you can not bank meeting make ups which must be made either 14 days before or after the missed meeting to count. Please indicate any committee attendances in the sign-in book so we have a written record of your attendance.
2010 Ball updates
Club president John reported the Ball committee had a meeting on Monday night. 1) Wine menu has not been decided 2) ticket price is RMB1,000/each, each member is responsible for taking 4 tickets, please email Nancy for reservation 3) the committee is looking for auction items and someone to coordinate the auction.
Club banners guessing game
Rtn. David and Chris had taken the initiative to collect all the exchanged banners from the club office and will design a new banner blanket. David suggested a contest of guessing how many banners we have collected. Each member who wishes may put their guess on a 50 RMB note and put it into the collection box. The person has closest number will be the winner and will receive 100 RMB back. In the event there is a tie both will receive 100 RMB, the rest of the money will go to club projects.
Speakers Program:
No Speaker’s Program
