It could have been boring.
 
But it wasn’t, thanks to the presentation by our very own Dennis Shore – with
  • pictures as well as words;
  • anecdotes as well as facts; and
  • insights into our club and District, rather than just generalities.
 
Dennis was telling us about the Rotary International Council on Legislation
  • Every 3 years
  • Held in Chicago
  • 10 – 15 April 2016
  • 700 attendees from 535 Rotary Districts around the world
  • RI top brass present, but not allowed to vote!
  • 15 months in preparation
  • 117 enactments (constitutional changes) and Resolutions (recommendations) submitted for consideration
With terabytes of electronics, huge screens, coloured cards to show, and tons of paper (the paperwork – on top of the electronic stuff - was a fat lever arch file!), there was still a role for lots of old fashioned speaking. 
 
Indeed, Dennis (on behalf of our District 9800) proposed a seemingly minor proposal to adjust the punctuation to render a current rule intelligible.  That passed (even though 40 voted against it – but why?) and – along the way – sparked useful discussion on a wider topic.
 
Dennis highlighted two major changes that could affect any Club directly:
  • Can now meet fortnightly
  • Can now have rules to allow exotic types of membership.
 
Here was the huge backroom of Rotary at work. Thanks, Dennis, for showing us something of the process.