Posted by Tania Lowery
What an awesome Rotary experience this was!  To all those Rotarians who have never been to an International Convention, go if you possibly can.  It is the best way to truly appreciate the “International” in Rotary International.  To be surrounded by 24,000 like-minded people passionate about making a difference in the world is very inspiring and recharges your Rotary batteries, ready to face the coming year (and in my case, the District Governor Elect role).
Convention in bullet point form (so you don’t get bored reading):
  • Opening ceremony – great entertainment, all the Rotary ra-ra, thousands of people, inspirational speeches.
  • House of Friendship – hundreds of displays, all the Rotary bling, clothing and accessories you could ever wish for!  A great way to get new ideas for projects and to see what other projects are going on around the world.  This is where you can find out more about the Rotary Action Groups that you are interested in.
  • Breakout sessions – you have to be quick for these, it’s ‘first in, first served” for seating, and when you are competing with 24,000 other keen Rotarians it can be pretty tough going.  I missed out on some of the things I really wanted to see, but did get into the Social Media and the E-Learning sessions, both areas that I am keen to know more about.
  • District Governor Elect breakout session with Mark Maloney – met a few of my fellow classmates from the 2019-20 year, and Mark Maloney introduced his family and told us a bit about himself.
Best thing about Convention – the people you meet!  This is where you can make contacts that help you and your club get involved with international projects.  There are people from all around the world, and its so good to talk to Rotarians who are doing different things in different parts of the world.  And everything is so huge!  The scale of international events is hard to imagine without attending one.
 
Thanks to my great Rotary travel companions – Ewan and Ailsa McKenzie (Waimate) and Fergus McKenzie (Balclutha). 
 
  My DG classmates
 Meeting Bruce Donald Lindsay, President of the E-club of Washington
 
  My Rotary Social Media hero, Evan Burrell
  With Fergus outside the Convention venue
More DG classmates