Two and a half days of inspirational training and support for Presidents-Elect took place from Friday to Sunday, 2-4 March 2018, at the South Pacific Presidents-Elect Training Seminar in Auckland. Donna Reed, our President-Elect, and Adrienne Murray, incoming Assistant Governor for our cluster, have come home with lots of inspiring information and ideas. They spoke to us about the things that most struck a chord with them over the weekend.
In no particular order,
Our incoming District Governor Marion Johnston is very impressive, she spoke very well on the stage at plenary sessions and was enthusiastic in our breakout sessions with our District. She said:
• We should work within the umbrella of the Rotary International plan but make it local
• Rotary International is already planning the next major International project once we have eradicated Polio. We will be working with UNICEF in a ground-breaking partnership with an immunisation programme
• Child trafficking is identified as a major international issue. Look back at the August 2017 issue of RDU. Much of the article was copied to major Australian media and helped influence changes to a parliamentary bill going through the Australian parliament.
• Our service to Youth could do with a rethink, she is not sure we are getting it right
• Does our membership reflect our community?
• A key message was that we should be building partnerships in our communities. We don’t want to be seen just as a charity, we should be working with others
• How do we measure our value - is it just in money raised or donated? It should be in increased membership, partnerships and
• Do we evaluate our projects? Did we meet our objectives? In fact, did we set any and how can we improve?
• Huge questions. When I joined Rotary – what was the reason? Why am I in Rotary now? Compare the two responses.
• We should honour our families who support us
• Work with other Rotary clubs; remember you don’t have to do it all on your own
And lastly but very importantly:
• The Rotary Foundation is there to help us, use it for both District and Global Grants