I was honoured to represent the President of Rotary International, Ron Burton – at a Rotary District Conference in California. There are 532 districts in the world, every one has a conference annually. The standing R.I. President can’t attend them all so a rep is sent. Jan and I were chosen! The event was at Temecula, CA. The rep (commonly called RIP REP) is to give inspiring addresses to the delegates and update them on news from Rotary International. The conference is to inform, inspire and have fun! We did it all.
We did a tour of the Los Angeles port, we got to meet the past and future governors of District 5320, we even did a hot air balloon ride. Temecula is wine country! We did some great power walking, we cycled and boated even. We were invited to local Rotarians home. They sure made us feel special. The conference seemed a smashing hit.
I gave 4 talks. A greeting, a talk on media and PR, a keynote and a farewell.
It was an honour and a thrill. We were treated like gold by our aide PDG Bret Gerdes. We made some great friends for sure. We learned a lot and wow we listened a lot. I hope we made a positive impact on the attendees. I would say being chosen to be a RIP REP was areal highlight of my Rotary “career”. So far! Something I learned, too is – around the world Rotarians seem much the same. Passionate, proud, fun, willing to share. They sure did!.
Kevin Hilgers 