Category Archives: Convention

First-time convention goers share their excitement

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By Etelka Lehoczky

As a newcomer to Rotary navigating the 2023 Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Australia, I feel a special affinity for other first-time attendees. I was excited to see that there would be a whole session just for first-timers the day before the convention kicked off. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I got quite a surprise when I entered the huge auditorium where the session was held. The place was packed! I was surrounded by hundreds of fellow newbies.

After the session, I talked to a few of the attendees about their countries, their clubs, and why they’ve decided to make Melbourne their first-ever Rotary convention.

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Club experience – the key to member satisfaction

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Jessie Harman

By Jessie Harman, 2021-23 Rotary International Director

The results of the 2022 Rotary International All-Member Survey are clear – the number one driver of member satisfaction is club experience.  Just over 78,000 members responded to the online survey conducted by RI’s Research and Evaluation team.

A recently published report on the survey also spelled out the aspects of club experience that mattered most to members – “meeting enjoyment” and “confidence in club leadership,” followed closely by “satisfaction with club service,” “satisfaction with finding friends,” and “comfort with other club members.”

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Tour Melbourne’s world-renowned street art

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Catch the street art while you are in Melbourne, Australia, for the 2023 Rotary International Convention.

By Etelka Lehoczky, RI staff

When I found out I’d be going to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to cover the 2023 Rotary International Convention, my mind raced. I thought of exhibition halls, Ayers Rock, packed auditoriums, and kangaroos. Even briefly an auditorium packed with kangaroos. I also thought of one word: laneways. For a street-art fan, Melbourne’s graffiti-filled alleyways are at the top of the bucket list. The city’s graffiti has been world-renowned since Keith Haring painted several murals there in 1984. Even the king of modern street art, Banksy, said Melbourne’s graffiti is “more diverse and original than any other city in the world.”

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Learning about storytelling at the 2022 Convention

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Breakout session in Houston
Participants at the 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston, Texas, listen to tips on storytelling at one of many informative breakout sessions.

By Randy Bretz, Rotary Club of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

I was seated in a breakout session at the 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston, Texas, USA, with about 200 other attendees ready to learn about story telling. I had come to the convention along with about 11,000 other members from around the world to learn and be inspired. And merely looking around the room gave we inspiration to see the diversity of nations represented.

A few minutes in, we were informed that the speaker would be unable to present. But that did not hinder this room full of creative and innovative People of Action. After taking a few seconds to confer with their neighbors, three people near the front of the room volunteered to lead the session. A round of applause broke out as they stepped up to the presentation table.

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Why I am a peacebuilder and how you can be one too

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Kiran Singh Sirah, Rotary Peace Fellow,
Kiran Singh Sirah, Rotary Peace Fellow, speaks at the Rotary Presidential Conference Houston: Serve to Bring Peace 3 June in Houston, Texas, USA.

by Kiran Singh Sirah, president of the International Storytelling Center and a Rotary Peace Fellow alum

In early June, I was a keynote speaker at the Rotary Presidential Conference Houston: Serve to Bring Peace. We were a group of about 1,500 people, many who are leaders in their communities, and all interested in peacebuilding. They were from all over the world. And every day, I was asked the question: what led me to become a peacebuilder?

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