Rotarian, and President Elect of the Rotary Club of Port Fairy is gearing up for when he takes over as Club President in July.  Last weekend he attended PETS (President Elects Training Scheme) in Ballarat.  Attached his his report.
 
REPORT ON PRESIDENT ELECT TRAINING
 
I attended a training seminar for the Presidents Elect for 2017/18 at Federation University, Ballarat on March 4th and 5th.
 
The focus of the training was to prepare the Presidents Elect by outlining the requirements and expectations of their role and the committee’s for their office year. It also provided an opportunity to meet and enjoy the company of other incoming Presidents from our district, 9780.
 
The International President for 2017/2018 is an Australian, Ian Riseley from the Sandringham club and we were introduced to his theme and strategic priorities for 2017/18;
 
The theme for his year is ‘Making A Difference’ with three strategic priorities:
• Support and strengthen clubs
• Focus and increase humanitarian service
• Rotary’s public image and awareness
 
Each club is encouraged to set 4 goals in each of these areas so I will be working with our members to identify which ones best reflect our culture and community needs.
 
Two messages impressed me from the seminar :
 
• From the incoming President International the following:
“ It is more important than ever to allow our clubs to define Rotary service for themselves. As Rotarians we have more flexibility than ever to decide how we want our clubs to meet, work , and grow. We’re focused more than ever on making sure that Rotary reflects the people it serves, with more women and a more diverse membership”
 
• Also I noted the increasing importance of up to date data management through on-line applications such as Club Runner, My Rotary, Facebook etc to communicate not just with our club members and Rotary worldwide but as a platform for communicating with our wider communities, locally and internationally so that Rotary is recognised for the work we do and receive the support we need from the wider community to continue “making a difference” through our service.
 
Another training meeting for the incoming President and committee will be held in Ararat on May 7th
 
Bill Moore