19-04-2005
Barry McConville speaks about the Super Grocery Grab
Barry McConville speaks about the current status of the Super Grocery Grab.
Sharon Bond, Barry McConville, and Barry Thompson have met with the Manager of Woolworths Revesby, and are due to do so again tomorrow. Everything is going according to plan.
- the posters have been designed, and will be produced through Kwik Kopy.
- the Grab will take place on the 4th of June.
- a First Aid certificated person will be needed on the day (Melinda Heywood volunteered).
- the Manager will be away on the day, but hopes to return to see the Grab.
- need to get a roster done for ticket selling.
President Barry Thompson spoke about his experience of the working of Rotary International.
- He was voted in from Australia and NZ whereas today he would only have to be voted in from Australia.
- The largest size RI Board briefing notes he had to deal with was 900 pages long.
- The Board met 4 times per year, in various parts of the world. (Now it meets in Chicago, which Barry lauded as far more sensible as that is where the administration / support staff are located.)
- On the first day of a Board meeting, the Board splits into committees:
- to try to reduce the paperwork.
- to split items into those requiring debate and those which should be placed onto a "consent list" (that is, not requiring debate).
- One of the Board's main tasks is to get a world view, not a regional view, of Rotary, as some actions which might seem necessary and vital from the perspective of one region, might seem impossible to live with from another region's perspective.
- As a Board member, Barry represented the RI President on occasions, including in Korea, Mozambique, India, and New Zealand amongst others.
- Barry attended the Council on Legislation when it was voted to make Hindi an official Rotary language, though this decision was quickly overturned by the Board.
- The largest crowd that Barry addressed in his time on the Board was about 18,000 strong when he reported on RI finances to the annual conference.
- Barry's contacts with RI Presidents means that the last 5 have met the members of Padstow.
- To be the RI President, the prerequisites are that a person must be a Rotarian in good standing (that is, financial at least), and they must have served a full year as a District Governor.
Last changed: 03:13:21 04-10-2008