Past District Governor Dennis Shore: RICON23 – Counting down to the Melbourne Convention
Conventions have been part of the Rotary calendar since 1921 and each one of them is literally years in the planning. These are big events so there are realistically only a limited number of countries in the world with suitable facilities to host a convention. Australia has done well with two previous conventions in Sydney, one in Brisbane and one in Melbourne 30 years ago.
Program elements are managed by Rotary International and from this convention also the House of Friendship. There is a Host Organising Committee (HOC), which for this convention has representatives from the five Victorian districts whose main jobs are to organise and manage the welcome event and other hospitality events, recruit a volunteer team to support all of the events and promote Melbourne as destination. The HOC assists in finding sponsors and manages the entertainment program at the House of Friendship as well as providing tours and experiences via a commercial tour company.
This presentation will bring you up to date with what is happening as we enter the home straight to staging the 2023 Rotary International Convention from 27-31 May.
Dennis is a Chemical Engineer and has spent his working career in the pulp, paper & packaging industry. He joined the Rotary Club of Aspley in Queensland in 1980 and subsequently has been a member of the Traralgon and Hawthorn clubs. He has served in numerous positions at club level and was President in 2002-03.
Dennis will be a Trustee of The Rotary Foundation from 2023 to 2027. Currently he is District 9800 Governance Director and also Vice Chair of the RI Convention Host Organising Committee and Promotions Director. He is also Vice Chair of the Rotary Foundation Australia and a recipient of The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award.
He was District Governor in 2012-13, GSE Team Leader to D5520 (New Mexico) in 2005 and was District GSE Chairman for 4 exchanges. Dennis has also served as District Secretary, District Finance Committee Chair (twice), Global Grant Scholar Committee Chair, Club Vision Chair and District Chair for Leader Training. Dennis was Endowment and Major Gifts Adviser for Zone 8 from 2019 to 2022.
Outside Rotary, Dennis has been involved in a number of community activities, including the Australian Shareholders’ Association of which he was a director for some years. He served in a number of community and industry roles associated with Monash University for more than 25 years and was honoured to receive the University’s Sir John Monash Medal for distinguished service to engineering education. He has also been involved with Scope and a community retirement village.
Dennis is married to Lynda and they are proud parents to 2 adult daughters and grandparents to four perfect grandchildren – well they think so. Other activities include golf, walking, photography and travelling.