Rotary International Convention Report
Arie, Janice, Lois, Deryn and Liz all attended the Rotary International Convention in Hamburg at the beginning of June.
We were treated to a presentation on 11 July where Liz began by giving an overview of the Convention where 27,000 Rotarians gathered from all around the world in the Hamburg Messe.
Each huge hall held 12,000 people at each plenary session. The message was clear that we need to record our volunteer hours for greater impact. We need to reinvent Rotary to continue to be relevant in this fast moving world.We need to reinvent Rotary to continue to be relevant in this fast moving world. Our goals for the next year should be to increase public awareness, grow Rotary and focus on women joining Rotary and foster Rotaract and young people.
Rotary International has a goal for membership to have Rotary at 30% women by 2023.
Rotary will be partnering with Toastmasters International to share their training with Rotaractors to help with confidence building and speaking techniques. This is something we can offer to our younger members to provide a good learning experience unique to our organisations.
Liz also took a Breakout Session on “ Getting Your Story Told” 5 effective and practical ways to tell our Rotary stories. This was well received by an enthusiastic audience from around the world.
Janice and Aire talked about re connecting with their Rotary and Exchange students in both Germany and Holland. Being with young people and talking about Rotary and what it does around the world is of great importance in spreading the Rotary story. They also gave us a great trip around the Avalon Boat trip which was full of Rotarians as it sailed from Basil.
They made friends with plenty of Rotarians from around the world and caught up with old ones !
Lois talked about a Breakout Session on Conflict Resolution within Clubs and gave us an exercise to complete about Listening.
Lois went to 7 Breakout sessions including one on Women in Rotary- Strategies for Leadership.
Rotary International has a goal for membership to have Rotary at 30% women by 2023.
Deryn spoke about the House of Friendship and the Home Hosting Fellowship Bus tour which both she and Lois went on for two weeks with 35 other Rotarians from around the world. She gave us many great photos of the places they had visited.
Both Lois and Deryn were first time attendees at a Rotary World Convention and were keen to encourage others to go at least once in their lifetime. For Liz, Arie and Janice this was the third Convention for them. The benefits of attending one of these Conventions is that you get to see another country, hear world leaders speak, mix with many Rotary leaders, experience different cultures and hear about exciting projects being done by Rotary. There were so many really wonderful speakers to motivate and inspire you. It gives you a glimpse of the bigger picture of Rotary on the world stage.
