Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton - Issue No.: 782 Issue Date: 29 Apr, 2024

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Rotary was first formed when Paul P. Harris, an attorney, wanted to create a professional group with the same friendly spirit he felt in the small towns of his youth so on 23rd February 1905, Harris and 4 others met in an office in the Unity Building in downtown Chicago.  This was the first Rotary club meeting.  They decided to call the new club “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.

Within 5 years clubs had formed across the country, from San Francisco to New york.

FACTS ABOUT RI CONVENTIONS

The first RI Convention was held in 1910 in Chicago, Illinios, USA with a total attendance of 60.  There were 16 clubs at that time.

The most highly attended RI Convention was Osaka, Japan in 2004 with a grand total of 43,381 officially checked in.

Japan also hosted Tokyo in 1978 when 39,834 people attended.

Australia has hosted the RI Convention 4 times, the latest in Sydney in 2014 when 19,563 people attended.

Brisbane hosted in 2003 when 14,147 people attended, Melbourne in 1993 when 22083 attended and Sydney in 1971 when 16646 attended.

RI Convention sites are selected at least 5 years in advance.

The next 3 years hosts are:

Atlanta, USA in 2017

Toronto, Canada in 2018

Hamburg, Germany in 2019.

RI Conventions have only ever been in the months of May, June, July and August with a majority of them held in May or June.

The RI Convention has been held every year since 1910 including throughout the war years.

June 1921 the first RI Convention was held outside of the USA when 2523 people met in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Attending the annual convention is a perfect way to experience Rotary’s internationality, exchange ideas with the fellow members and discover new avenues- and potential partners- for service.

The 2016 RI Convention will be held in Korea from the 28th May until the 1st of June.

Seoul also hosted in 1989 when 38,878 people attended the convention.  This year it is anticipated that around 50,000 people will be attending.

This year’s convention will fully reflect Korea’s recent success and growth as a highly developed IT industrial nation with cultural and historical abundance.  The 2016 RI Convention will offer Rotarians from over 200 nations a perfect opportunity to celebrate their achievements in service within their own local communities and abroad.  It will also be a chance for everyone to enjoy Korea’s culture and life filled with modern technology, thus fully showing the contemporary life in Korea.

12 representatives from our club, plus a member of the Rotary Club of Batavia coast will be attending the RI Convention in Seoul and as long as we all survive the tour of the Demilitarised Zone I look forward to sharing with you some of our experiences on our return (ably supported by 20,000+ photos from our tour photographer The Doc)