Organizations spend time, energy and money on conferences because they believe these events cause the organization to gain focus and traction. They believe that highly dedicated members will work even harder for the organization and others will become more dedicated because of the motivation gained at the event. Those of us who worked on the conference were happy to bring our best efforts to Cheyenne Mountain for Bill Downes and for all District 5450 Rotarians.
 
I truly wish every single Rotarian in our District could have been there, but the reality is that these events are expensive in both time and money, so they don't work for all of us. So for those who could not attend, I want to try to convey one of the most striking things that happened. Saturday morning nine of our clubs were given just eight minutes each to present to the group the project of which they are the most proud. The list of clubs who presented varied from small to very large. The projects varied from a pie throwing event to programs to feed kids. All nine projects were successful both in terms of serving communities, but also in building pride and support for Rotary and their club. In my mind, these clubs were the stars of the event as they conveyed the real power of Rotary.....individual clubs who take action to serve communities local or global. So thank you Grand Lake, Denver Southeast, Longmont Twin Peaks, Mountain Foothills, Boulder, Aurora Fitzsimons, Cherry Creek Valley of Parker, Highlands Ranch, and Littleton. You showed us how to make positive things happen by sharing your project success. You demonstrated the power of Rotary.
 
So now we are back home and the success of the conference will be determined by what we do as Rotarians. I wrote down three things which Chad Hymas told us. I wrote them inside the front of his book so I will not lose the ideas:
  1. Focus on others and the contributions they make. Thank them often
  2. People remember how you make them feel, not necessarily what you say
  3. You have to be willing to change yourself and what you do
Thanks Chad, for changing us.....we will do better.