July 22nd we had the lovely Ginger Ly informing us about the practice of bartering.  Bartering is exchanging good’s without using cash. When I heard this I was definitely paying close attention! She has been doing this for the past 9 years and it all began with just 15 of her closest friends.  Now you can say there are 45,000 closest friends!!  Good job Ginger!!  Bartering has 3 different levels on which it works.  Level 1)  International – 2 or more countries trading.  Level 2)  Corporate Bartering – 2 or more companies.  Level 3)  Retail Bartering – 2 or more manufacturing and/or retail companies.  She also went on to explain the barter dollar…did anyone understand?  Is it real?  Can you touch it?  Can you take it to the bank?  But going on, she did explain it’s the same value as our currency when you sell a product.  In lieu of receiving cash you would receive credit which is a barter dollar.  Which still doesn’t answer the question, is it real? Can you touch it?  Do you keep it in your wallet?  She also brought in some of her bartering samples which included Serendipity Magazine explaining you could barter for ad space, as well as other samples of bartering including mouse pads, Nordstrom’s clothing and Obama watches.  What would you barter for an Obama watch?  Thank you Ginger for introducing Arcadia Rotary to the world of bartering.