As the sun was setting (literally) on another successful convention, we caught up with a few attendees as they left Sydney Olympic Park for the last time to get their final thoughts on the 2014 Rotary Convention.
Here’s what they had to say:
This is my third convention and by far the most inspired. I enjoyed the New Generation plenary the best. There was so much respect in the crowd for their energy and what they were promoting. I also related to Tommy Spaulding. I suffered from dyslexia just like he did. So to hear how he overcame that through Rotary was wonderful. And I have to say, this convention was incredibly organized. Very well done. — Les Allen Dennis, Rotary Club of Regency Park, Australia
I couldn’t pick one speaker as my favorite because they all brought something different to the table. We learned a lot here. – Bello Ibrahim, Rotary Club of Apo, Nigeria
The part that I liked the most was 2014-15 RI President Gary C.K. Huang’s speech during the closing plenary session. I thought he put a lot of thought into it. It was very inspiring. I like the idea that he’s from a new culture, as the first Chinese Rotary president. I’m the president-elect for my club, so the breakout session for our class was particularly good. There were several speakers there with really good ideas to help us hit the ground running. – Lynn Sinnott, president-elect for the Rotary Club of Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
I liked the exhibitors’ booths [at the House of Friendship]. There was so much to enjoy. President Ron (Burton) really did a great job tonight at showing us how engaging Rotary changes lives. His speech left us, hopefully, wanting to do more for humanity. – Swapan Basu, Rotary Club of Calcutta Laban, India
The convention was very well run, very well organized. The Australian people were hospitable and welcoming. I think the leadership in Rotary is approaching the problems head on. They aren’t running away and doing a good job at getting people to become part of the solution. — Bill David, Rotary Club of Providence, Rhode Island, USA