What a truly inspirational day we had in Birmingham last month at the Action Summit – such a great way to round off a fantastic weekend all round, with Volunteer Expo on the opening two days.
To have three major leaders of our great organisation in one room was a truly unique event in these islands or anywhere in the Rotary world come to that! Rotary International President-Elect, Jennifer Jones, Immediate Past President, Holger Knaack, and our very own President-Nominee, Gordon McInally, all took a very active part.
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The positivity in the room at the Action Summit on Sunday was palpable. Each table was buzzing with fresh ideas and open to new ways of promoting and growing our organisation at club, district and national level.
What took place was far beyond anything any of us imagined and one thing is for certain, Institutes are now confined to history.
Our Director Nicki Scott had wanted to create something completely different to a traditional institute experience.
One which would complement the inaugural, live, outward facing event of Volunteer Expo, engaging Rotarians from all districts to drive inspiration and fresh thinking towards tangible actions.
All too often we enjoy participating in a conference, meeting up with our friends and fellow Rotarians, listening to great speakers, but we don’t really return to our clubs to do anything differently.
Rotary International President-Elect Jennifer Jones speaking at the 2022 Action Summit.
With the hard-earned lessons of the pandemic under our belts: learning to adapt, embracing technology, engaging in experiences beyond the walls of our own clubs; we now have extra tools in our toolbox to #BuildForwardBetter. After all: we are People of Action!
Before Volunteer Expo we also held a fantastic Foundation event recognising contributors to OUR Foundation – the engine which fuels and amplifies so much of the work we do. Huge thanks to our great Foundation Team, led by John Dehnel, for hosting an outstanding event and to Immediate Past President Holger Knaack for his wise words as our Trustee representative.
At the end of the day, what matters most is our ability to lift up and support the great work of our grass roots Rotarians and be perceived as relevant enough for others to want to join us, helping grow Rotary to have even greater impact.
The positivity in the room at the Action Summit on Sunday was palpable. Each table was buzzing with fresh ideas and open to new ways of promoting and growing our organisation at club, district and national level.”
In the words of Phil Dyer, who has served in many roles in Rotary, soon to include being an at large member of our Regional Board: “The four strategic priorities of Our Rotary International and GB&I Action Plan are a blueprint for the future of our organisation.
“But the real success of the Action Summit was the ability for Rotarians to turn those into a roadmap for action right here right now in a way that is truly relevant to us.
“Being able to discuss this in real time with senior Rotary leaders was incredibly rewarding and reinforcing because, at the end of the day, we are all Rotarians united in our collective passion to do good in the world, irrespective of our position.”
How do we capture the positive vibe that purveyed the room and get our message out to as many Rotarians as possible?
There is no doubt that this is the way forward and the perfect platform to build on, every person there must ensure they bring others along to the next summit to widen our scope for positivity.
Click here to read the Rotary GB&I Action Plan in full.
