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It is a great privilege for me as chair of the Host Organization Committee to invite all Rotarians to Malmö and Copenhagen for Rotary International's 97th annual convention, which will take place 11-14 June. I promise a fantastic experience for all.
The week leading up to the convention will indeed be a busy one with the Rotaract and Youth Exchange Officers meeting in Malmö, and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards training and group discussions taking place in Helsingborg, just north of Malmö. Before and after the convention, visiting Rotarians will have the great opportunity to stay in the homes of Rotarians in Northern Europe through the HOC's Homestay Program. Others may want to take part in the Convention World Cup Golf 2006 from 8-9 June at the Barsebäck Golf & Country Club near Malmö. The greens are beautiful but also provide major challenges, as I know from my own painful experience.
On 10 June, sailing enthusiasts will want to attend the Convention Match Race 2006, which will take place in the picturesque Øresund sound separating Malmö and Copenhagen. Professional skippers will be onboard, so Rotarians don't have to have sailing experience to participate.
The afternoon and evening of 10 June, I hope all convention goers will gather at Copenhagen's Tivoli for good food, entertainment, and fellowship. Founded in 1843, Tivoli features a beautiful park, first-class restaurants, international entertainment, and thrilling amusement rides.
On 8-10 and 12 June, Rotarians are invited to the Nobel Dinners, dining in Malmö's regal City Hall and using the same menu and tableware that is used at Stockholm's Nobel Banquet.
On 12 June, Rotarians from Sweden and Denmark will share an evening at their homes or at restaurants with visiting Rotarians during Host Hospitality Night.
The next day in Malmö, an indoor audiovisual show will tell Rotarians about Sweden's geography, big-name businesses, festivals, and music, all while the audience samples local delicacies.
The House of Friendship will be the heart of the actual convention, which will take place at Copenhagen's Bella Center. Complete with a maypole, the House of Friendship will be a marvelous place to learn about Swedish and Danish culture, history, and business. Here Rotarians will be able to meet up with their friends from all over the world, and the HOC will facilitate luncheons where Rotarians at tables of 8 to 10 can exchange business cards and enjoy fellowship. Rotarians will also learn about the Vikings and personally experience what a friendly lot they are.
Let me end by telling you that my own best memories of the last three conventions have been of the fantastic opportunity to enjoy friendship and fellowship with many new Rotarian acquaintances. To that end, I am convinced that Malmö and Copenhagen will present a relaxed, secure, and stimulating atmosphere for Rotarians from all over the world to create their own rewarding memories of the 2006 convention.
Carsten Dencker Nielsen
2006 HOC Chair
Want to reserve a hotel room and register online for the convention? Then go to:www.rotary.org/events. Rotarians who register on or before 31 March receive US$50 off the on-site fee. To buy tickets for HOC events and tours, visit the committee's web site: RI conventie 2006
Copenhagen's Bella Center will be the site of workshops and discussion groups. The 2006 RI convention-related activities will take place in Malmö and Copenhagen, but the convention program itself will take place in one spot, Copenhagen's Bella Center.
Heralded as Scandinavia's largest exhibition and meeting facility, it is located about 10 minutes by car from Copenhagen's airport and the city center. A nearby Metro train station also makes for a quick ride into the Danish capital. The Bella Center features 115,000 square meters of floor area and 5,400 parking spaces and can accommodate 10,000 simultaneous conference participants. In the past, companies including Oracle, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Nokia have booked events at the center, which stages the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair and the biannual Copenhagen International Fashion Fair. In 2004, nearly 660,000 people visited the Bella Center.
At the Bella Center, the RI convention will feature a series of daily discussion groups in which Rotarians can talk about topics such as the RI president's project emphases, The Rotary Foundation, youth activities, Rotary's public image, and membership. Facilitators in each group of 50-100 participants will involve attendees in the discussion. Discussions on each topic will be offered three times a day. The goal is to encourage Rotarians to exchange ideas, forge lasting friendships, and work together on future service projects.
Workshops, a convention staple, will also be part of the program. As in previous years, they will include a moderator and panel of experts discussing Rotary issues such as membership recruitment and retention, club leadership, and Foundation programs, including PolioPlus.
To learn more about the Bella Center, visit:www.bellacenter.dk
Rotarians with similar interests plan activities for the convention. One great aspect of RI conventions is that they provide an opportunity for members of the Global Networking Groups (formerly known as Rotary Fellowships) to meet and share their common interests. The more than 90 groups are made up of Rotarians with specific recreational, professional, or service-oriented interests such as accounting, birdwatching, or fighting AIDS.
Here are few of their plans for the 2006 convention:
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While most Rotarians will stay at charming Swedish and Danish hotels during this year's convention, members of the International Caravanning Fellowship of Rotarians will park their vehicles near the convention site. Hundreds of Rotarians and their families from across Europe - and possibly farther afield - are expected to arrive at the convention in their caravans. En route, many will travel together, sightseeing along the way. |
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The Rotarians' Wine Appreciation Fellowship will hold its annual meeting during the convention, over dinner on a boat cruise. "We'll ask everyone to bring a bottle of wine from their part of the world," says Conrad Heede, fellowship chair and a member of the Rotary Club of Grapevine, Texas, USA. He expects a wide variety of wines because the roughly 310 members of the fellowship come from about 35 countries. |
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The International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians will hold its annual meeting at the Royal Dutch Yacht Club and offer a post-convention cruise during which participants will explore part of the Swedish coast aboard vessels owned by Rotarians. The five-day itinerary includes a visit to the Nordic Watercolor Museum, a nature walk through a typical fishing village, and social outings. At night, members will stay with other Rotarians on land. |
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The International Travel and Hosting Fellowship will offer tours before and after the convention. Prior to the convention, participants will begin their trip in Helsinki, Finland, and visit St. Petersburg, Russia, and several places in Norway before ending in Copenhagen. The postconvention tour will take the reverse route. In addition, some members from Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden will open their homes to other members of the fellowship. |
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The fellowship also plans to hold its annual general meeting during the convention. At the meetings, members of the fellowship stand up and light-heartedly banter and kid each other, says Jim Andrews, the fellowship's administrator and a member of the Rotary Club of Cookeville Breakfast, Tenn., USA. |
"The funniest occurrence in recent times occurred this past June in Chicago when our incoming president was asked to get up and make a brief statement as to what his plans might be for his upcoming two years as president of ITHF," Andrews says. "He is an Australian and had taken quite a lot of kidding up to that point about his yellow coat. Being a tall man he found he had to bend over to speak into the microphone because the microphone's flexible metal support wouldn't stand up straight. In the course of his presentation he continued to try to get the microphone to stand up where he wouldn't have to lean over so much, when in his confident Australian manner with a sly smile over his face, he asked, 'Does anyone in the audience have their Viagra with them?'" - Lesley Messer
To learn more about the Global Networking Groups, go to: http://www.rotary.org/