Six Canberra Sundowners joined over 12,000 People of Action from over 200 countries (also known as Rotarians) meeting at the annual Rotary International Convention in Melbourne from 27-31 May. Each day of the convention includes plenary sessions from great motivating speakers, mainly from community service backgrounds speaking about plans and projects, and a myriad of breakout sessions. Breakout sessions cover a variety of subjects on Rotary trends, projects, challenges, fellowship groups and more.
The opening ceremony and session included many hilights, including hearing from Hugh Evans (Global Citizen) and Rotary International President Jennifer Jones, recognising some of Rotary's great achievements and encouraging more action to support those in need. We were also fortunate to be entertained by The Tenors, which had Rod Laver Arena rocking. Throughout the rest of the event we were spoiled with entertainment including the Greatest Showman show cast and songs and the Best of the Bee Gees, motivating guest speakers on Rotary subjects including embracing diversity, growing clubs and many project ideas and broader world issues such as support to the Ukraine, project Rozana peace building between Israel and Palestine and much more.
We also met many interesting Rotarians from all over the world and had the chance to catch up a few times as a Sundowners team. All in all a great and rewarding event for everyone who attended.
The next Rotary Convention is in Singapore between 27 and 31 May 2024. Information and registration is available at convention.rotary.org.
