Hamburg - Rotary International Convention
Alex Riley, Rotary Club of La Crosse East, live at Rotary International Convention In Hamburg, Germany ... he's in the foreground ... not the guy with the camera :) All the District 6250 Facebook reporting coming out of Hamburg was done by Alex. Disappointed that you missed it? Just follow the District 6250 Facebook page ... no time like the present! Some thoughts from Alex if you Read More below and here a Link to RI President Mark Maloney's talk at the International Convention. https://vimeopro.com/rotary/hamburg-international-convention/video/340514005
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I’m a very firm believer in the idea that for every action, there’s a reaction. Our choices reflect the journey that we lay out for ourselves moving forward… what happens if we go left instead of right, and vice-versa?
Recently I had the opportunity to represent my Rotary Club (La Crosse East) at the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany. When our President advocated the experience of attending a convention of this size, and how attendees from all walks of life were united under one banner, my thoughts immediately went to the Erasmus program that I attended in 2010 (in Germany, oddly enough). So when our President-elect was unable to attend the convention and the opportunity for any club member to take her place at the convention arose, I jumped at the opportunity. Admittedly, most of the reason that I signed up to attend the convention was because it would be in Germany, a country where I had spent a cumulative total of roughly two years of my life in, but this opened my eyes to the magic that is Rotary. Once again, I had chosen my path and would soon see the results of my decision.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is that I’m very fortunate how things worked out this year for the Convention. What if our President-elect would’ve been able to attend and represent our club? What if this year’s convention wasn’t held in Germany? If the path had been laid out differently based on those two important questions, I wouldn’t have experienced the true power of Rotary. I experienced so much from the short time that I spent at the convention and am excited to share that energy with my club, district, and that’s just for starters!