This morning I watched the live recording of a spanish speaking show called Tele Mundo. It's a morning show that is televised in California and they taped kids at the base of the reading pyramid of books at the atrium of the centre. Rotary press has been doing a stirling job publicising projects and the convention so I did a card swap with the guy running the show whose job title is Media Specialist North America for Rotary. He wanted my contact details as they keep a database of people with PR skills that they can draw upon anywhere around the world.
The first plenary session was Wilf talking about how out of 33094 clubs around the world, there are 3319 clubs represented this year. He also said that the annual report is online if anyone is interested in reading it.
Dr Yamata from the Global Health Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation talked about the importance of polio eradication from Nigeria, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan and that when he was growing up, there was a constant fear of the polio virus but thanks to the efforts of Rotarians, 99% of the disease has been eradicated and that "your work has inspired us!"
David C. Forward then asked us if we would help others to survive, learn, love and leave a legacy - important things in life.
Wilf then recognised the first 16 Rotary clbs and their representatives were congratulated. This was followed by Past DGs coming onto the stage and being applauded for their efforts and contributions.
The President of Inner Wheel Kamala Ramakrishnan talked about the work her organisation is doing; the differences to Rotary and how Rotary is an inspiration but they remain a more personalised community service rather than focussing on large scale projects. It was interesting to find out that their organisation has over 100, 000 members in 102 countries.
Michael Josephson gave an inspiring spech on Ethics - A Core Value. He said that the 4 Way Test that Rotary applies is an excellent standard that should be applied to all facets of our personal and business lives. "Do the right thing as a way to live. Live an ethical life. As role models, don't focus on intelligence as a measure, focus on conscience - on the moral compass. Give the gift of attention and example to be true citizens of the world. Understand the diference between success and significance. If we develop character, we make more of an impact as a meaningful life is our choice." He also gave a website: www.charactercounts.org
Clifford Dochterman talked about Rotary's transition into worldwide service and the major projects that have impacted people's lives: polio eradication; Gift of Life; Hunger Plus; Jaidphur Feet and the Shelterbox projects.
Philip Lader a former US Ambassador to the Court of St James in UK talked about how he came from a hardworking poor family of immigrant parents and Rotary gave him the opportunity to study for a year as a Peace Scholar at Oxford University - something he never thought possible. He represented the 39 000 people who had previously participated in these programs and said, "none of us have a monopoly in truth. We had much to study but there was stil more to learn. We walked outside our skins. We met contemproraries who didn't think like us, we argued but we saw different points of view. Careers alone are not the measure of life. Rotary has commissioned us to be the stewards of the vison of what the world can be."
The session was a success and al the speakers were professional and inspiring. I dashed off to attend a smaller workshop on attraction of younger people and women into clubs and met a small group of 8 discussing ad debating the topic. It was disappointing to seethat I was only one of two women and the youngest member there! I thought that this breakout session would have generated much more interest however, they held 3 more at different times so they would have got more information.
In the afternoon I attended another breakout sesion on How to Use Rotary's Resources to Improve Club ad District Communications and you'd be happy to note that we have had interest in our blogsite and how othr clubs can follow. While there, I sat next to a lady from Queensland who happened to be the wife of the guy who introduced PRLS to Queensland; who happened to be a good friend of my ex-GSE Team Leader when I went to the Netherlands and who happened to be a long time member of the same Rotary Club my husband's father was a member of....and who were friends with his parents. "So you married innto the Blunden family?" and so it went. It is a very small world - wht do they say of seven degrees of separation? Naturally we excanged details and I caled up Andrew to tel him the news.He hadn't heard from them in years and was just as surprised.
Late afternoon we piled into the buses for the Home Hosting Event which was SUPERB. They took us to the beautiful Simi Valley to the Reagan Museum and Library. The place is serene and his memorial overlooks the hilly valley. You can spend an entire day there and I took my time going through the exhibits of his life, the display of Nancy's dresses, Air Force One and outside the grounds. If anyone is considering a trip to LA, this place is worth the visit. District 5240 hosted the buffet dinner there and had entertainment. I sat next to Chuck from RC Calabria who was one of the first teams to bring PRLS to the distict and I told him about what we are doing in our district. He had heard that Australia was rolling it out so he called his other mates to introduce me s now they want me to say something at the breakout session tomorrow on Developing Club Leaders.
Again, it's been a wonderful day but I did feel bad at one point when I mistakenly misunderstood what a woman was telling me due to background noise and and ased her, "when are you expecting?" She now thinks that I think her fat and I am mortified that I made this mistake.
Rotarians may be interested to knowthat wile talking to the lovely ladies at the BIrmingham 2009 booth, they tell me that they have cracked the most registrations for the event. Yesterday they had 683 registrations for the event; but today they think it will be over 1000. They have already booked out the hotels closest to the Birmingham Convention Centre and are expecting 40 000 to the event so my advice is to book and register early!
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