Last weekend, seven members of our Club made their way, expenses paid to the District 9820 Conference.
The conference was held in a brand new world-class theatre in Traralgon. The venue was so new that the Certificate of Occupancy was still wet from signing when we arrived. The building was superb, and the sound and lighting first rate. Rotary was the first show to test the running of the venue.
The conference's theme was the environment, but there was a strong undertow of leadership thrown in. Past Rotary President Ian Risely presented to the Rotarians at the Leadership Breakfast.
Still, the real show-stealer was our Ripper RIPPR (Rotary International President's Personal Representative), Jennifer Scott. Jennifer's job was to deliver a message from our current Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta, add some inspiration from her own experiences and summarise the conference at the end. Jennifer was certainly a live wire in da house and engaged with everyone she met.
The speaker list was impressive, and the messages delivered contained many calls to action opportunities for the audience to take back to their clubs. My personal favourites were Dr Fiona Wood and Vic Grosjean.
Dr Fiona Wood is Australian of the Year for 2005; Western Australia's only female plastic surgeon; head of the Royal Perth Hospital's Burns Unit; Director of the Western Australia Burns Service, and co-founder of Clinical Cell Culture, a private company recognised in medical circles for its world-leading research in the treatment of burns. In addition, Dr Wood is a Clinical Professor with the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia and Director of the McComb Research Foundation. Fiona delivered a wide-ranging talk beamed in via Zoom from WA, which focused on leadership, what it was and how you handle it when you haven't realised you are doing it. She was a person from a whole different tribe!
Vic, on the other hand, was French. I was fortunate enough to talk to him at a dinner the night before and experienced his quirky sense of humour personally. Vic had a "different" style to presenting his message, which was a little unsettling at first, but he did have an important subject to discuss: plastics in the ocean. You can find out more about Vic here: https://ludovicgrosjean.com/about-vic-grosjean/
The District Conference brings out a wide range of Rotarians into a good-sized group. It is one of the best places to learn about Rotary, learn about your Club and learn about yourself. All while you are enjoying yourself in a relaxed environment.
While I was excited to meet fellow Rotarians, I also thought that this District Conference was one of the best I have been to ever. For me, it hit the nail on the head for entertainment, content, inspiration and connection.
My only regret is that only 16.6% of my Club was there to experience it with me. Well, there is always next year!
