I didn’t knew wha
t to expect ahead of my first Convention and District Leader Training in Vancouver and all I can say is “Awesome!” to paraphrase our North American friends.
What will really stay with me beyond the excitement of taking part in the opening ceremony, or the brilliance of speakers competing in the semi-finals and final of the World Championship of Public Speaking. Is the shared passion and enthusiasm that fellow members from all over the world share about our organisation. I’m excited to have built an international network with fellow Club Growth Directors, leaders and members from all over. Plenty of ideas, best practices and encouragement will be exchanged over the coming months.
Of course, my congratulations go out to Simon Bucknall, who did utterly amazing coming second in the World Championship of Public Speaking. It was a tough contest and Simon was pipped to the post by Manoj Vasudevan. Also well done to our outgoing DLT for receiving the Excellence in Leadership Award for three years as a Distinguished District.
The presence of so many international leaders also highlights how big and world spanning our organisation really is. What’s more, everywhere we are we are doing good deeds and changing lives for the better by empowering others. Vancouver itself is an amazing city full of character and history. Canada also happens to be a country quite close to my heart. A land where French and British blended together to build a nation from shining sea to shining sea.
I write this post with one more day to go, the business meeting to attend and the gala diner to attend. I can’t believe how fast the days just seem to have flown by. I better the make the most of my final days and make some more friends, contacts and future mentors from all over the globe!