My first Lions Convention
I joined Lions in the summer of 2009, having been previously involved with the Leos for 11 years. In 2003 I moved to Reading to go to university, and my involvement with Leos moved to an MD level culminating in the role of MD Leo President. After university, I moved to Bracknell for work and found that Mike and Brigid Hendy were local to the area. I knew them from my work with Leos back in 105A, and got in touch with them to see what the local Lions situation was. I joined Bracknell Lions soon after.
This year I am club president, but also involved in the District as Leo Co-ordinator. As a first timer, here's my impression of my first Lions district convention.
As PDG Mike is a member of Bracknell Lions, we got involved in the District Convention organisation. We ran the host night and volunteered for shifts on stalls during the weekend. As a club president and district officer, I also attended Saturday's business sessions to gain an idea of what happened at district conventions so it was a full weekend for me.
On Friday, our schedule was hectic. First we set up the main banquet hall for the host night to get it ready for the Irish themed evening. I had picked up some banners from London Irish Rugby club who kindly loaned them for the themed evening, and we set the tables ready for the evening. Friday night was a surprisingly fast paced event with a fantastic band, traditional Irish Dancers and Ceilidh dancing till midnight.
Saturday started bright and early for 9am, and DG Brigid had asked me to read the Lions Code of Ethics to start the convention off. I was interested to find that the majority of the meeting time on the Saturday was dedicated to thanking people for their hard work, listening to talks by different guest speakers and electing the incoming District Governor Team. During a Leo Conference (our version of a convention), the business sessions are dedicated mostly to business- updates from reports rather than reports en bloc with no updates and long discussions about resolutions to the constitution.
Saturday evening I was invited to the District Governor's Reception as a newcomer to Lions District Convention, which was great as I got to meet International Director Per and his partner plus all the other first timers to Convention. After this we went over to the Gala Banquet hall for an evening of great food and drink, entertainment from another great band, as well as some fantastic dancing from some talented youngsters.
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend despite it being quite different to what I'm used to!
Lion President Clare Dowling
