Last weekend’s 2024 Rotary District 9930 Conference in Cambridge has been hailed as a triumph.
Bill Robinson
Comments received by District Governor Bill Robinson and his team praised the conference’s organisation and structure, while international visitors signalled support for the way it delivered on its sustainability theme and suggested that should be a focus adopted by Rotary on a global scale.
Robinson, who lives in Cambridge and ends his tenure as District Governor at the end of June, said feedback from around 250 delegates who attended was satisfying validation for three hard years of work that went into the event. Not since 2007 has a local Rotary club hosted the club of a sitting District Governor.
The event was addressed by Waipā District deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk.
Liz Stolwyk
Conference emcee, Masterton’s John Prendergast, who has more than 50 such conferences under his belt, said this was the most organised and structured he had seen.
The conference theme “Good new stories for an optimistic future” tied into Robinson’s theme for his District Governor year of “Let’s be Sustainable”.
Visiting from the Philippines was Rotary International President representative, Johnny Yu and his wife Veronica. Yu was impressed by the way the conference went beyond the standard ‘lecture’ style event, with speakers here tying their talk to the conference theme. His suggestion to Robinson afterwards was that “Rotary International should be doing this”.
Throughout his tenure, Robinson has been keen to demonstrate a Rotary direction for the future that aligns more with project action than to the long-established brand of meetings that are essentially talkfests. He is eager to establish ‘satellite’ clubs that affiliate with existing clubs, enabling members to centre on project-based activities, but with room for senior members to continue to host their business and social meetings.
Speakers at the conference included Nicola Turner (Mainstream Green), Linda Roil (Kids in Need Waikato), Katie Beith on sustainability in business, Grant Spackman (Eye Care for Africa), Professor Jacqueline Rowarth on food sustainability, Miriama Kamo (Zerowaste Movement) and Adam Thompson (Restore Native).
In keeping with his theme, Robinson worked with Adam Thompson of Restore Native last Thursday to organise the planting of hundreds of native trees on the banks of Lake Karāpiro ̶ done by Rotarians and members of the Waipā District Council ̶ while an evening dinner adopted the theme ‘Op Shop Glam’.
Cambridge Rotary president David Partis took a group of delegates on a guided walk of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari before last Friday’s welcome at the Cambridge Town Hall.
Rotary International President representative Johnny Yu addressing delegates at the conference. On the left is his wife Veronica Yu, Bill Robinson and his wife Deb Robinson. Photo: Bruce Hancock
