By Rotary Staff

The 108th annual Rotary International Convention officially opens Sunday, 11 June, but Rotary members from across the globe have already begun pouring into Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to attend preconvention events, catch up with friends, and enjoy America’s Southern hospitality.

More than 40,000 members from 174 countries are expected to attend this year’s event, which runs 10-14 June. During those five days, attendees will hear from world-class speakers, watch Rotary’s new virtual reality film, and party like it’s 1917.

By Emily Wood, Rotaract Club of South-West Brisbane, Australia

I’ve been a member of Rotaract — Rotary’s community service and professional development program for young leaders age 18-30 — for ten years. As I age out or “graduate,” I’ve started thinking about what Rotaract has done for me and how it’s shaped who I am today. A decade is a long time to stick with something. So, why have I?

By Ryan Hyland, Rotary editorial staff

RI President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley urged incoming district leaders to seek gender and age parity and protect the environment in announcing the 2017-18 presidential theme Rotary: Making a Difference. “We know that we can do more together than we could ever do alone. I ask you to keep that spirit of teamwork and cooperation always in your minds and to take it back with you to your districts.”

We caught up with incoming district governors after the theme was announced to get their thoughts, and see how they planned to make a difference in their leadership year.

Volunteers from Capitol Hill Group Ministry assist the homeless. Photo courtesy Capitol Hill Group Ministry

By Quentin Wodon, Rotary Club of Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., USA

Sometimes the best way to gain a little attention for your club is to not talk about your club, but about other worthy groups and volunteers you are working with.

Rotary members are becoming more aware of the need to tell their Rotary story. But here’s the catch. It may be better to use local blogs or magazines in your community rather than your club or district’s own channels. This is because typically, these external sources will have a much larger readership.

By Evan Burrell, a member of the Rotary Club of Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia

Every single time you publish your online club bulletin or newsletter and email it to your subscribers, you should be asking yourself, “Have I made it informative AND engaging?”

Basically, your club bulletin could be the best piece of writing ever, but if no one reads it, what is the point? And if they do happen to read it but get absolutely no value out of it, what have you accomplished?

A notice about the Live Event on the World Bank website.

By Quentin Wodon

On 8 March, I helped organize an event at the World Bank in celebration of International Women’s Day designed to illustrate the power of women to change the world. The main speakers for the event, sponsored by the World Bank Group Staff Association, were Marion Bunch and Deepa Willingham, both dynamic Rotary members.

We learned a few valuable lessons from our efforts to promote the event online through social media. First, with about 250 people attending at the World Bank, the event was a success. But more importantly, 3,341 unique visitors viewed the event through the World Bank Live platform. That means 13 times more people watched the event online as did in person. We expect even more people to watch the recording of the event when it is made available on the event’s webpage.