Rotary International Convention 2012 Bangkok

Lest some of you think that having the opportunity to attend conference/convention in a far away and desirable place is just an excuse to enjoy a holiday, let me say that there is quite a bit of work involved and exhaustion through the heart of it.  There are sessions to attend, booths to visit, meetings with colleagues, partnerships and networks to be formed.  One must have their game face on when attending a large international conference like this one because you never know who you will run into or what opportunities can be had.  I have only had the chance to attend a few large conferences such as the Geological Society of America Annual Conference and HydroVision.  I had no idea what to expect from an international conference with more than 32,000 people registered to attend.  In addition, I was wearing two hats as you could say;  I was attending both as an Ambassadorial Scholar and Rotaract member. 

As a disclaimer, I apologize in advance for all of the Rotary lingo that I’m sure I’ll use in this post.  It will seem vague to many people reading, and I would love to explain more, it’s hard to go into detail about all the different projects and programs that “make” Rotary as it is such a large international organization that it takes on a culture of its own.  I feel like it’s one of those topics that the more you learn, the there more there is to know!  If anyone wants more information please contact me via e-mail or Facebook or whatever, I’ve heard for some reasons it’s difficult to leave comments on the blog so just feel free to contact me directly. 

I started out by arriving a few days early to take part in the Rotaract RI Preconvention Meeting.  It was so great to interact with Rotaractors from around the world, with especially large turn outs from Australia, Malaysia, India, and Nepal!.  The Rotaract community in Alaska is fairly small with only a handful of clubs in the whole state, which makes sense based on the small population.  So it was a wonderful eye-opener for me to see and learn how strong and engaging Rotaract is in other parts of the world and what is possible, plus gain great ideas of possible future community service projects and how to work closely with Rotary Clubs.  I attended workshops on Doing Good in the World: The Rotary Foundation’s Areas of Focus and Connecting with Rotaract’s Global Network, as well as participating in some great fellowship activities (social outings) that were organized. 

After two days of Rotaract, I was already exhausted and the formal convention hadn’t even begun!  I attended a bit of the World Peace Symposium and next came the highly anticipated Opening Plenary Session which featured a great display of Thai culture through music and dance performances and a flag ceremony featuring all the countries Rotary is active in (200+) including a few new ones such as Bhutan.  There were probably 20,000 people in a huge convention room for the first ceremony and you could really feel the energy and refreshing diversity of volunteers coming together from literally every corner of the world! 

The next few days were full of breakout sessions, networking, and visiting with new and old friends from around the globe.  I attended sessions focused on clean drinking water such as Planning for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Projects, and Rotary International/USAID H20 Collaboration.  Rotary has recently formed a Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group which is a global leadership initiative for safe water (http://www.startwithwater.org/).  I made sure to visit all the booths that featured clean drinking water projects and new technologies.  I’m hoping to perhaps keep my options open for doing more work in the humanitarian side of international water resources.  This convention was a great chance to meet with other Ambassadorial Scholars from the SE Asia region, as we have all been in touch online but mostly never met in person! 

I want to say a special thank you to a new/old friend Bangkok scholar Ashley (from California) who hosted me in her apartment for my first three nights in Bangkok amidst all the craziness.  It was fantastic to compare experiences with someone who speaks the same language, Rotary language that is, haha, it really does suck you in. 

Ashley and I after the World Peace Symposium.

Ashley and I and the guy who helped make it happen, Jorge...our host counselor
through Rotary International who coordinated between our home and host districts.

Something else that anyone else who has been to large conventions might be able to relate to is what I call badge blig.  Here, we started out with a simple name badge and added on from there.  Mine in no way represented that I was an Ambassadorial Scholar, so I had to add that on myself, then you got pins and stickers and tags based on whatever other groups and activities you were associated with.  By the end, it was quite the assortment to carry around and I had to be sure to remember to remove my garland before navigating the public transit of Bangkok each night or I would have looked pretty silly/important(?).   

There were many great less serious activities to participate in during the conference as well.  One night I was invited on a river cruise with the sister club of my Malaysian host club (Rotary Club of Titiwangsa) and another evening we attended the Host Hospitality Night which featured speciality food from the many different regions of Thailand and also around the world.  It was truly and extravagant experience that included a cultural parade with what I call “food fairies” prancing around with platters of amazing food goodies J  Another activity, that I didn’t participate in unfortunately, included creating the so called “biggest smiling face in Thailand,” since this is the country of a thousand smiles. 

My dear Malaysian host counselor Kiren and I on a dinner cruise.

Over 2,000+ Rotarians coming together to creat a vibrant smiling face :)

Sorry so blurry, hard to capture prancing food fairies!

I think Bangkok did a swell job of hosting such a HUGE event considering all of the logistics and planning that go into bringing 30,000+ Rotarians together in one place.  They did a great job of branding as we were greeted with welcome signs and other Rotary project symbols almost everywhere we went in Bangkok from the airport to billboards to our coffee cups! 

Overall, I left the convention feeling very inspired and even more grateful for the amazing opportunities Rotary has provided me.  I know we (as Rotaractors/young people) will have some big shoes to fill based on the accomplished and prominent Rotarians I had the chance to engage with.