In many ways Vocational Service is in my opinion the forgotten Avenue of Service, notwithstanding it was the lynchpin on which Rotary was founded, that of representing your vocation to the wider community through service above self.

It impacts significantly on every other Avenue of Service.

We decided to take a step back and view the world of today and tomorrow and not surprisingly discovered there will be many challenges for society to face, but none bigger than work itself, as vocations disappear, and new ones emerge.

We cannot underestimate the effects these challenges will impact on our children, education, job security, family life, our personal security and general well being of our local, regional and global communities.

We are committed to highlighting this theme through our weekly Bulletin Vocational Service “Thought of the Week” to stimulate thought and debate.

Members will be invited to participate in our program by commenting on their own vocational experience, the changes they have seen and how the future changes will impact on the community in general both in a local and global sense.

Many of us are now retired but still can reflect and use our knowledge and experience and I believe we have that responsibility.

I thank Vincent Chen, Rashi Kapoor who contributed articles on the challenges they have confronted in their professional life and Kim D’Arcy’s thought-provoking piece on Artificial Intelligence all of which stimulated thought among our members. 

Simon O’Donoghue's recent contribution concerning changes in the Real Estate was an example of what we are trying to achieve through our members

Vocational Visits

Unfortunately, Covid wreaked havoc on our program of visits but we look forward to our forthcoming Port of Melbourne Tour next week which will be most interesting and informative.

The Brickworks Development visit has been deferred until early next year but that too will provide a fascinating view of how housing development, retail services and responsible environmental management can be achieved.

Additional Monthly Meeting

Plans are in place for an additional meeting to be held each month most likely on a Wednesday evening at the Glenferrie Hotel.

These meetings will have a strong vocational theme and it is planned to invite local entrepreneurs and businesses involved in new and emerging industries from the Hawthorn area to make presentations on their industry/profession to members and guests.

We would hope to introduce them to Rotary membership in the process.

I close by reminding members once again that we all have a responsibility to represent our vocation for the benefit of the communities both local and global in which we all live and work.