RIBI Conference in Edinburgh 24-26TH April 2009

The RIBI conference in Edinburgh started on 24th April with a civic reception at the city Chambers where Rotarians and their spouses were welcomed by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, The Rt Hon George Grubb. It was great meeting many Rotarians from all over the 29 districts of RIBI.I also had the pleasure of meeting the Rotary International President D K Lee whom I took a photograph with. After the civic reception, many Rotarians who have booked for bus tour of Edinburgh left for the tour. I was one of those who booked for this tour but had to forfeit the journey because the meeting of the Sergeant at arms which involved induction of new SAA’s by the RI and RIBI Presidents was scheduled to be held at the same time. However, I felt honoured to be part of this great moment. The credentials office also opened for the voting delegates . The first activity of the day started by 8am for those of us who were sergeant at arms. We were divided into about 5 teams and I was under the team A headed by PDG Mike Wilson. This involved working directly in the conference hall, allocating seating arrangements for all VIPs and sorting out all arrangements relating to voting delegates. The mini showcase also opened for Rotarians to see activities going on and also buy rotary related items which were all in display at the venue. The RIBI President Ian Thomson of RC of Cheltenham Sunrise introduced the plenary session. The speakers for the day included: The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Rotary International President DK Lee, Inner wheel President Myrtle Buchanan, Interact club of Woodmill School, Rotaract officials, Leonard Cheshire Disability by John Craven, Rotary Young citizens Awards were presented by Konnie Huq and this was broad casted LIVE on BBC News 24 between 11.30 and 12.10pm on 25Th April. You can download this from BBC iplayer. I also have a copy of the video on my laptop if you would be interested in seeing it. Homeless World cup presentation was done by Mel Young Presentation of ordinary Rotarians doing extraordinary things awards, volunteering and interact, Rotaract awards and life changing award. After this, majority of the Rotarians and their spouses went for the foundation lunch which was pre booked. The RIBI marketing officer David Bryant made a presentation to RIBI about the need to campaign for recruitment of young Rotarians so as to see that RIBI continues to live beyond 2015 as right now, greater percentage of members are aged above 65-70years old. The business meeting saw a lot of interesting issues being discussed.Most of these can be found in the official magazine of RIBI called Rotarytoday . The fact that I was one of the SAA gave me opportunity of counting votes from the delegates. At the end of the business meeting, all Rotarians went home to rest and get ready for the evening event. Dance night was held at Murrafield stadium. Many of us registered to attend dance night at Murrafield and it was a great time to wind down and relax. I met many Rotarians too during the event from many districts. We all enjoyed the dance night. The last day of the conference was another great day to behold. Mini showcase carried on. Final plenary session began about 9am Speakers for the day were: Joan Thomson who gave a thought for the day Presentation of trophies to outstanding Rotarians and Rotary clubs. RI president D K Lee gave a speech, Life education centre presentation was done by Stephen Burgess. Ordinary Rotarians doing extraordinary things presentation which included awards on innovative projects and working with other organisations. Update on Birmingham convention presented by Brian Fuller, Peter Offer and Tom Crier who are coordinating the events for RIBI. Presentation on RIBI 85Th conference in Bournemouth April 16-18th 2010 was done by Mike Rose and the Vice President of RIBI David Fowler. The event was rounded off by a speech by Rt Hon Michael Portillo which was very interesting political discussion. I have enjoyed attending RIBI conference in Edinburgh. Now that I am officially one of their sergeant At Arms. Most importantly, I have made so many Rotarian friends from lots of districts. I have lots of pictures from the event.