A Multi-District Conference Can Save Money And Grow Fellowship

We test a big idea for Rotary district conferences by bringing together four district governors who combine four districts into one event to grow fellowship, strengthen networks, and raise the bar on programming. We share what worked, what cost more than expected, and why collaboration may be the future for district-level gatherings. 
• why four districts decide to merge one conference instead of running four separate weekends 
• how collaboration expands Rotary relationships for grants, projects, and local support 
• the budgeting approach: splitting expenses evenly across districts and what that changes 
• choosing a destination hotel in San Diego and how venue price affects attendance 
• attracting stronger speakers and the advantages of a larger combined audience 
• blending district traditions and managing committees without ego battles 
• building in hands-on service projects so the weekend is about action, not just meetings 
• what we would adjust next time and why some regions are scaling to even more districts 
So please feel free to tell a friend about the show or like the show on YouTube. It is away that that generosity keeps flowing. And please feel free to uh check out our uh Facebook page. There's a QR code there if you actually wish to sponsor the show altogether. And if you'd like to have the show come to your neck of the woods, perhaps your multiple district district conference, email me at RotarianPod at gmail.com. 

Transcript

Why Rethink District Conferences

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi everyone, I'm Gwen Jones, and welcome once again to the Action The Impact Show. That weekly show where I introduce you to amazing people from all over the world turning their actions into impact. Well, this week I got four. With me, five people to talk to you about something. And that something district conferences in Rotary. And what are we gonna talk about? Are they too small? Are they too expensive? Are they something we really need anymore? Well, I think the overall feeling is Rotarians love to go to their district conferences, but the idea of the price tag or how to get speakers sometimes that can be tough. Well, I'm gonna introduce you to a bunch of district governors from sunny Southern California here in the USA. Why four of them? Because they put their talent, their money, and their rotarians all together for one, that's right, one multi-district district conference. And it was amazing, and they had a better budget, and it was in a beautiful hotel, and it was quite successful, and well, it was a lot of change, a change that even Northern California has caught onto. So, district conferences, we're gonna talk about it. We're gonna go there with four, that's right, four district governors who are willing to talk to me on their last few days in their positions about something I think could be the future. As always, thanks for joining us. I have four guests today and myself on a screen. So it almost looks like a zone call, a Zoom call and podcast and a party on the screen for me this week. It's a lot of fun. And why do I have so many guests at one time? Not just because I'm masochistic. We're gonna talk about four, count the four district governors that decided to combined their districts together for their conference. Okay, wrap your head around that, you guys, especially incoming district governors who have to plan an entire weekend all by yourself. What are you gonna do? Who's gonna speak there? Wouldn't it be kind of great if you had multi-districts bringing more Rotarians together? That's we're gonna talk about because I found it to be an incredibly intriguing idea and could very well be the future of how we do conferences. Now, I'm not gonna butcher their names and they have a lot of information. So I'm gonna let them introduce themselves and we're gonna go around and then we're gonna talk uh, we're gonna talk rotary business.

Meet The Four District Governors

SPEAKER_01 3:10

So let's see, who should I start with? Let's start with the late with the lady of the hour. Go for it, ma'am. Introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

All right, Gwen, thank you so much for having us on the show this morning. My name is Gilda Moshier, and I'm the proud district governor for 2526. We have one more month left of District 5300, which spans Southern California, Southern Nevada. So we are in two states. That's right, two states. We we are uh from Pasadena down to Bartsdown and then over the hill in southern Nevada. We have 54 clubs, 54 rotary clubs, four rotoract clubs, and about 31 interact clubs. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Wow, okay. Pick somebody, pick, pick one of your colleagues to go next, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Craig. I'll pick Craig.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Okay. You're muted. You're still muted, Craig. Now it really sounds like a Zoom call. There you go. Go for it.

SPEAKER_06 4:12

Yeah, I spent a lot of time on Zoom. Uh good morning, everybody. My name is Craig Livingston. I'm the district governor for Rotary District 5320. And if we're looking at a map, my district covers all of Orange County, California, just south of LA, as well as a very small sliver of the southwest edge of Los Angeles, which is anywhere from Long Beach all the way up to Whittier. And so I've been in Rotary since 2014. I'm a proud member of the Rotary Club of Brea, a club that has more than 60, almost 64 years in existence. And I couldn't be more thrilled to have undertaken this role this year. And really from the perspective that I got to know so many extraordinary people in my district. And those are memories as well as relationships that I plan to carry on well into the future and wherever else Rotary chooses to take me.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Awesome. Pick your next guest, sir.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

All right, let's go, Lewis. You're up. Hi, my name is Luis Carranza. I am district governor of 5340, which covers all of San Diego, California, including the Imperial Valley. And it's been, it I mean, it covers quite a bit of a territory in regards to totally different dynamics. So I love that that you can stay in San Diego and then go an hour and a half, and then all of a sudden you're surrounded by ranches and farm and and just lovely people too. I originally started Rotary back in 2004. I was asked by somebody, I was working at Bank of America at the time, and the manager said, Hey, why don't you come and to a rotary meeting? I'm like, What's that?

SPEAKER_02 6:06

And that alone that I've heard that a few times, Luis.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

And that alone started my career in Rotary. But and I've been fortunate to be with the Rancho Santa Fe Rotary Club, which is just east of Del Mar. For those who maybe know the racetracks down in San Diego, it's just east of Del Mar. And it's been an incredible experience. I can share a lot of my stories about Rotary and how life just kind of filled me for this opportunity. But overall, it's been an incredible, an incredible journey that I've had since I first started.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Wow. Love it. All right. Well, you know, that means that that's our one picture on the screen. And that's because he is tootling down what? The I-5 as we speak. I don't know where you're at. But the I-10. The I-10. Okay. Please introduce yourself, you traveling Rotarian you.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

Good morning. My name is Nyron McLean, and I am district governor of District 5330, which comes covers the area all the way from past Indio, California, which is past the Coutella Valley, up into 29 Palms Marine Base, up to Lake Arahead and Big Bear in the mountains, through the cities of San Bernardino out to Fontana and Rialto, down through Corona, and down to the wine country of Jamaica, all of Riverside County and some of uh San Bernardino County. That Gilda doesn't already have.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

That Gilda shares with you. Okay, good to know.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

And I was introduced to Rotary coming up on 13 years ago because of the work that I was doing in Haiti after the earthquake of 2010. And I really found Rotary and basically found my kind of people and I've been rotarian ever since. And I agree with Craig. It's really been probably one of the most challenging but one of the most rewarding years. Because you really get a chance to see the power of Rotary and the impact that we have all over our communities and all over the world. It's pretty, pretty remarkable thing. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Thank you. Well, and and I'm sure there's going to be people all over the world going, okay, Gwen, all these guys are from all these Rotarians are from California. And the reason, one, not only do you guys have this incredible idea of combining all these things together, but for all of my international listeners right now, that population chunk that these folks have just explained to you from Los Angeles to San Diego could probably be the same population size as several countries. California is a unique state. It is a state that has, I believe at one time, the seventh largest income in the world. That means not of countries, not uh so if if California was its own thing, if it was its own governing body separated in its own country, it would have the seventh largest economic base anywhere in the world. That's what we're talking about when we talk about California. And I will throw myself under the bus to say that I was born in the small town of La Jolla, California. And I say the small town of La Jolla, California, because it is not a small town anymore. But the house that my parents bought for $14,000 still stands in La Jolla, California. And you cannot buy it today for $14,000.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

It's probably worth what, like three, four, five million dollars.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Yeah, but probably, but it's still just a few blocks from the cove and it is still standing. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 9:57

You can read that price. That's $70 million list.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah. So that's why we brought these, that's why we brought these folks together.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

So if you're listening to me in like India or Great Britain and you're sitting there saying, Well, we're only going to learn about California, but we're going to learn about California because of that indep the dense population and that dense amount of diversity. Because if you're looking at the screen as opposed to listening to us, you're going to see people of color, you're going to see different landscapes, you're going to see different. Well, there is two women on the screen. That's pretty cool too. So, you know, there's a whole bunch of diversity in just this little compact. So that's why we chose you all and you had this great idea. So thank you for this in. We all got about a month to go. So we're gonna about to talk about the conference because that already happened, but with a month to go. You guys ready to have it done? Are you ready to tap out and let someone else do it?

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Yes, yes, I'm ready. We were ready about two months ago.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

You were ready about two months ago. I see everybody kind of talks about that. They hit that high in Orlando. They like that. That's a lot of fun. And then they just kind of kind of kind of start slowing down, and then convention hits, and then they're like, tapping out. Peace. Bye.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

You know what it is? It's not, it's not, it's not that we get tired just for anything. It's that it's it's you know, it is a year, but it's the mileage that we that we put on that by the time we get to April, we're like, okay, I need a break. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 11:40

And it's approaching with intensity, and I think all of us very type A and intense. And I can tell you at the end of this year, we will have left it all on the field. There's no reserve. We've powered through to the very end. So I think I think we're a little tired.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

That's a great and that's a great leeway because you decided to combined instead of having four different district conferences, you guys decided to have one.

How The Joint Conference Idea Started

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Who thought of this idea?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

It was it was me and Luis, Luis and I.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Okay, Luis and I. It's okay. We won't judge you on your English here. It's all good. Luis and I.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Why? So, so it's interesting. I'm trying to think of the year. So, Luis, you you may remember the year. We were at a pets when it was still called Pets. Now it's called PELS. Now it's called PELS. And we were in the hospitality suites, and one of the members in Luisa's district, who's also Persian, I'm Persian, I'm of Persian descent. So we connected in a hospitality suite and we started talking about this idea. Wouldn't it be neat for our con for our districts to collaborate? And we we got it. Luis and I got introduced, and we were we were babies in our training for district governor at the time. And so we kind of started talking about it, and you know, and it was kind of joking. And then, you know, whenever Luis, you you you may have better detail memory. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

So we had just hospitality tweets tweets can cause you to lose certain memories. I just want to say, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yeah, we were normally these get-togethers for training, which they used to be called pets, now it's called Pells.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Pells, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Back in early 2023, we I was roaming around because I had just previously gone to the Zone Institute, but I didn't meet any of my classmates at all. And so I was complaining like, when am I going to see somebody from from my classmates? So by the time we got to Southern California, one of my members, which Gilda had mentioned, Roshenack, called me and she goes, I found a classmate of yours. So then I rushed over, I don't know which floor it was. I just know that I had to go through several hospitality rooms until I found them. And she introduced me to Gilda. But what was great was that um Roshanek, I had told Roshanak, hey, I'd love to do a joint conference if that's possible down the road. And so when she saw Gilda, Gilda said the same thing. And so she just connected us. And that's what started at least that that initial thought of doing it years before we actually did it.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

So the basis for that was you were just scared to do it by yourself, or you thought more money and resources? Like, why didn't you want to do it yourself?

SPEAKER_03 14:38

For me, it was I didn't have a problem doing it myself. For me, it was why not connect together because of stronger fellowship and and getting to know other districts because my district used to do one years years ago, and then it just stopped. And there was this hunger left for our members to come together. So that was my initial thought process. I'd love to bring that back and and together. Because the last time we did it before, we did this year, was with Orange County, Craig's district, and we did it up in uh Knott's Berry Farm, and I attended that, and it was really a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

So, Craig, you've done have have you've done collaborations before with at least another district. Is that is that true?

SPEAKER_06 15:22

Our district has, yeah. Luis was referring to 2016, I believe. 2016, 2017 here.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

Yeah, 2017, 2018.

SPEAKER_06 15:30

Yeah, and the twenty sorry, 2017, 2018. And the district governor at the time, I believe Kevin here had had connected with this the district governor of San Diego to put on a a joint conference to bring people together. And I think coming into this, because they reached out to me and this this year they reached out to me with interest. And part of my goal this year was to was to help clubs and Rotarians build a wider network of connections, not just within our district, which was which was really was a primary goal, but because we're in a a very population-dense area in Southern California, with Orange County, you know, connect, you know, having a touching San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, as well as Los Angeles County, which were is part of where Gildas District starts in the San Gabriel Valley, it it it started to make sense that with Rotarians and clubs that, especially when they're looking for support with their global grants or projects, that that they have an opportunity this year to start to build those connections, or at least I provide opportunities for them, excuse me, to build those connections within those other districts around us because they are so close. And you don't have to, you don't have to connect via email all the time or Zoom all the time. You could physically go to a club meeting and meet with them and and socialize with them and start to think more broadly, or how much more impact can my club, or how can how much more impact can I as a Rotarian have? And while while the power of one person is quite substantial, it really only goes so far. So if you're going to invest any time and energy, why not connect with other Rotarians and other clubs to help amplify the impact that that you intend to have with whatever it is, even if it's just a community grant or it's a community project or or or some other venture. Having that, having the opportunities throughout the year to kind of expand that rotary network, I think is one of the most valuable things a Rotarian can do, not only, not only on a personal level for your, you know, any kind of service component that you're that you know that you're trying to fulfill, but even for your professional network or your social network. It really does, it does go a long way to connect with other people that share the same values, the same characteristics, and and more or less the same goals and and and desires that that you may have. And so to that, that's when I decided that, yeah, let's go ahead and move forward with a joint conference.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

So then that brings me to our our man, our man in the field, Nyron. Like so, and you I think have been in Rotary the least amount of time. So if I'm correct, because I think you said about 11, 12 years. So what brought you in?

Bigger Networks For Bigger Impact

SPEAKER_04 18:26

Well, I think it was Gilda and Luis and and Craig that brought me in, and I was looking at doing we've always done, I think, with the exception of a couple of years, a long time ago, we'd all in our district, we'd always done district conferences on our own. Right. But if you start looking at number one, the economics of a conference, particularly in today's world, the the costs are somewhat ridiculous just for location and food and A V, etc. But the what Craig said I think was really one of the driving points for me was even here in Southern California. People act like going to the next county is you're you're driving to Oklahoma. And they so they never get a chance to take that long with traffic.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

So you gotta give them a break.

SPEAKER_04 19:23

Well, that's true. It could take that long with traffic. I uh so I thought it'd be a wonderful opportunity to collaborate and for Voltirians in my district, which is probably all of Riverside County and some of San Mardino County, to get a chance to meet the Voltirans from their surrounding districts, Orange County, San Diego, and and the rest of San Mardino and LA County that Gilda uh is responsible for in Vegas. So I just thought it'd be a wonderful opportunity almost to do it like a mini RI convention or a mini zone. And to me, that's just a powerful thing. And I think we honestly, I think we achieved that with putting together this multidistrict conference. And I think that's one of the things that people have commented to me about that they really did appreciate was the opportunity to meet fellow Rotarians that they ordinarily would never have met, even though we're just a few miles away.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

So and so there's a couple great things that you you have, and that is a population density that LA to San Diego on a good day is about a three to four hour drive. So let's say within five hours, the majority of everyone on my screen can be in each other's district, and that districts are that close is because you guys have a fantastic amount of people.

SPEAKER_06 20:43

A lot of people. I could be within any, any, I could be with any, I could be in Gilda's district within five minutes. I could be within Naira's district within a half an hour. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:54

And when Luisa's district at the edge of it with in less than an hour. And so that's the that's the geographic advantage though that we that we have here. And they don't have in every state or every area of the country or the world. It it really does, it does lend itself to opportunities to to stay connected or to build those connections or or what have you with regard to connecting other Rotarians with other clubs, other Rotarians, et cetera.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

And I and I love that. Absolutely. But let's get to some nitty-gritty of the benefits of what this does, because you guys have the population already. And so, and five minutes into another district, boy, I bet your visits were pretty easy at times. Um because I know I have a I have a district that a third of it's in Alaska that we've talked to, and they have to go up all the way up to Alaska and then come all the way back down to Canada. And exactly. So that's great. So you've got this amount of people, you're talking about this connection that you guys have. You can Talk about projects, you can talk about Polio Plus, you can talk about day of service, you've got it all in front of you. But one of you, and I think it was Nehran mentioned, because they're just so expensive. So let's get to some of that nitty-gritty, because I'm sure there's some people who are interested. Did all of a sudden did everybody pool all their monies together and say, now we went from a budget of these are made up numbers, people, 5,000 to 50,000? Or we went, did you guys pool all your monies together? Like how does that part work? And most importantly, where'd y'all meet? Like who's district one? That kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

I'll let Gilbs answer that question.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

So we're still not complete with the accounting. We're still waiting for some people to submit receipts,

Budget Split And Choosing San Diego

SPEAKER_00 22:55

but we basically decided to split everything in, you know, between the four of us, right? Okay. So all of us uh expenses split and uh whatever what goes in, what goes out, it's it's everything.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

So a very team effort. So even if let's say Craig's district had more people than Louise's district, you still split it the same way, no matter what.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah, we did. And and I I I want to just reiterate, you know, so my district is Southern California, Southern Nevada. And even though there is less clubs in Southern Nevada, and I was I was really concerned, shoot, am I gonna how am I gonna get my Nevada people to come? And like you said earlier, it it is five hours from Nevada to get to California. So so I I did lead. I am proud to say that our district did lead. Yay! It was quite unbelievable, honestly. As I was watching, I was like, shoot, how did that happen? You know, so I don't even know how it happened, honestly, but I'm proud of that.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

So, you know, yeah, absolutely. Self-patting on the back is always encouraged on the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And do you think it was because they were excited? If you had the people that had the farthest to come, were they excited? Like I'm willing to travel five hours because I get to meet people from San Diego to not Los Angeles and everywhere in between.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yeah. I, you know, it's interesting because I think for most of us and our and just conferences, when we compared what past conferences would bring in terms of numbers, I think we were all about the same, you know, numbers between 100 and 150, maybe 200, right? And so our goal was to get 500 to 600. We didn't reach our goal. We didn't reach it. Okay. So I I just want to put it out there. We didn't reach that goal, but you know, we sure tried, and that was the vision. And, you know, so the the people Do you mind telling?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

I'm sorry to interrupt you. Do you mind telling us what the numbers were? Does anybody know what the numbers were?

SPEAKER_00 25:02

415.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

415. Okay. So basically about a hundred, uh, about a hundred. We'll just separate since we're all since we're all separating it in fours, about a hundred people per district.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Correct. Correct. Okay. So so those for for those that did come, I feel like those that did come, they're just gonna be those that always support, no matter what, you know. The ones that I I heard afterwards that, you know, why they didn't come. You know, there were those who were like, well, I just want to do something within our own district. Really? Okay. So, you know, so those are some of the things that people tell you afterwards. They don't tell you beforehand. Right. They're gonna tell you afterwards, you know, this is what I wanted. But yeah, I think those that did come, they had a good time. They we had an amazing RI rep. We had past RI president Gordon McCannally. And many of us do mental health within our districts. So I think that was really important for us to have him there and to highlight what we're doing in the mental health. And he he was just incredible. And I I think, you know, the people who missed out, like they realized afterwards, after we and talked about, you know, what kind of happened, they they realized they had missed out.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

That was so so there's there's two ways. And I'm gonna I'm gonna go with my two separate brains because my brain is going 400 people. Now, I spoke at a district conference that had about 65. So that alone, those 65 people said they got a lot out of it. But all of those conference, I think this is what Craig and also you brought up, that but that district conference only had the income from those 65 people and they flew me out and they stayed at a hotel and they still had all those expenses. And you guys had all those expenses with the backup of 400 people. And so that's why you could instead of Gordon literally calling in, he was there in person. So bringing these districts together, does that make it, Louise? I'll throw this one to you, bringing these clubs together, does that give you guys not only more people and voices and togetherness, but does it give you more clout that you can have a Gordon McNally that shows up for your district conference? Because I know there's a lot of people that would have loved their district conference to have a past president at it.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

Yes, I think that it definitely does. We know that for a fact. When districts come together, it does give you an advantage. And actually, for a past RA president or even a current RA president, it's it's if you're covering more territory than normal district conference would be, it's an advantage because the more they can get out there and inspire us, the the better.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

So, Nyron, where did they have the club? I know where did they have the district? Who's who's who's district one who had the best hotel?

SPEAKER_04 28:13

Luis is district one because he had a he had a branch banking new hotel, a beautiful hotel that was being built. So Gilbert and Luis wisely, I think, procured that hotel. One of the things we were trying to do, I think, and and feel free to disagree with me, you all, but I think one of the things that we were trying to do was to give people something that had not been given before, to make the the destination in itself attractive to draw the most people and people for people uh tearing to say, hey, let's make it a weekend for the family, etc. So it was in San Diego, on the water, you were close to Coronado, you were close to downtown, you were close to old town, and the the hotel itself was was beautiful, it was brand new. Now, having said all of that, it was an expensive proposition.

SPEAKER_05 29:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

And that was one of the challenges that we ran into even though we had committed to them basically not pre-construction, but certainly mid-construction trying to negotiate better rates. Now that that cost which is something that we knew we were going to have to deal with, did impact our attendance. There's no question. So we had the the the 400 person figure that Gilda gave you was a mixture of of people who stayed for one day or stayed for the full weekend, or maybe came for the lunch only or the dinner only type of thing. So it was not a full 400 people staying for the full weekend. And so we did that. We started to make those changes as we saw the impact that the economy was having on people's decision making. And it w I will tell you that I think as far as content, I think we knocked it out of the park. I think the content was superb on multiple levels. And I think that was great. I think the one drawback that we that we all faced was the cost. I mean, for somebody to enjoy the weekend at that hotel was a yeah, it was a buying decision. But it was a fantastic location if you made that decision.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

And I think one of the things that we did not anticipate is that when we actually decided on that location, that was that was two years ago.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Two years ago.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

We we actually Right, when you guys were all district governor nominees, right? Isn't that when you start doing this? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

Yes, and we got a great deal to to sign up and and be there. But then if you recall, 2024 to 2026, a lot has happened.

SPEAKER_05 31:07

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Inflation has continued to stay high, still climbing a little bit higher. You know, uh cost of living, cost of everything just has been higher. So back in 2024, everything looked, oh yeah, this is this is great from a lot perspective. And even though we knew it was gonna be a little bit more costly, but but in times today, you know, with gas prices higher and stuff, I mean, it just we didn't see that part of it come in. Um so so we were caught off guard on a little bit on that.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

But instead of like being on your own, because I'm sure there's district governors that are gonna listen to the show or watch this show and go, yeah, well, I remember the year when the guy or the gal before me stunk us in the tank for like such and such thousands of dollars. So because you guys are all working together, is it, you know, more hands make light work on all

Traditions, Teamwork, And Managing Egos

SPEAKER_01 32:05

avenues of it?

SPEAKER_03 32:06

I'll just say something quickly and I'll let everyone else chime in. I just think that we all learned a little bit about our district and what we do differently. And it's not that it's drastically different, it's just that it opens up our minds to say, oh my gosh, I never thought of this. Uh-huh. Nyron can explain a little bit about what his district brought as one of many ideas of how to recognize those that have passed away. I thought that was brilliant and beautiful. Um and for example, everyone, that's just one example of many, but I think that we all learn to one, work together, two, suffer together, too.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Suffer together. Security together and suffer together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

But here's the here's the nice part, because I feel the smaller stories about doing multidistrict conference in the past, is that the chairs don't get along. You know, don't get along.

SPEAKER_05 32:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

That was never the case with us. It was always about questions about operational cost or stuff like that. But we as governors were the leaders and we set the we set the expectations to everyone. And and that, uh, I mean, I'm I'm so glad that we had such an incredible team overall to come together.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

So uh Nyron, he he did introduce you. So it sounds to me like you guys all honored each other's traditions in the district. So we said we tried to. Yeah. So so tell us, you said you said you guys do something special in your district for rotarians that had passed.

SPEAKER_04 33:35

We do. We have what's called a sand ceremony. And as we uh what we do is get a big glass vase, and as we mention the name of the Rotarian who's passed away, and we're showing their their picture and their name and their club and information on the screen, then at least at this multi-district conference, each one of us up there poured a different colored bag of sand into this vase. So as its name gets color and gets called, different colors are coming together to make this beautiful collection of sand, multicolored sand, representing all of the Rotarians, in this case in all of our districts. But as we did it, we did it just actually this past Saturday again for our district. And it's a beautiful way of representing those that have passed on. You know, Gilda in her district had another tradition called tarnish brass, which all of us go, hmm, that's a kind of a good idea. So we all learn from each other. I think that you know, I think the one great thing that that happened out of all of this is that we even though we're all type A and even though we're all intense, we all respected each other and and allowed each other the opportunity to contribute, to breathe, to reflect on ideas that others presented. So I think we because of the friendship, it worked better, at least in my opinion, than than other multi-districts might have. And I think that tone permeated down through the the the chairs that we had, although the chairs were all pretty amiable as well. So that that wasn't an issue, but I can see where it could it could definitely have the opportunity to go off the rails because you have type A governors, you have type A chairs, and no, you could have eight different directions, people are going there pretty intensely. But excuse me, from my perspective, I think I think it worked very well under those circumstances.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

So you you brought the gathering, you brought the traditions. Craig, you know you brought those egos. And especially egos that have maybe been in Rotary 20, 30 years. And like how how did you, I know Hilda, you said you just we just told everybody leave your ego at the door, but how do you get those egos when all of a sudden each district had their own board to put their now now? How do Craig, how do you take all those boards? And now we have a collective, a collective of ideas, a collective of egos, a collective of people that last year were in charge of the of the conference, and now all of a sudden I'm on a board with another district. How did how did you guys handle that, Craig?

SPEAKER_06 36:27

Uh I've got him thinking. Well, well, no small threats and no. I think that this probably goes back to our when we all when we all first met each other as a as a district governor class for zones 26 and 27. I I I don't know about the other classes prior to us. I'm sure there's been opportunities for people to become very close and very aligned and very tight, but we did very early on. And that we've never feared away from that in our interactions with staying connected, with seeing each other at Pets and Zone and everything else in the training, of course, that goes on for district governor. So there's that. We we we have a we had we just didn't walk in cold and you know, meeting each other for the first time. That would have been a different dynamic. This was more this there was a long, there was a long ramp to this. And I think as district governors, you know, we we have to deal with egos every day, not just between each other, but within our district, you know, ruptarians, past district governors, et cetera, and and trying to be diplomatic and and and positive. But I think when we came into this, we had the long ramp, we had a a unified vision, and collectively we we made the decision to let's carry forward, stay connected, continue to talk, provide feedback, allow each other the space to be able to speak and to provide input. And when you put all of that together, it it worked out for us. And not to say it couldn't have gone south or gone another way, sure. But with all of those factors involved.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

I'm sure a few toes got stepped on, I'm sure a few people, but you just kind of hug it out and keep going.

SPEAKER_06 38:17

But and and ultimately, if you keep if we if you keep the same vision, right, the same goal in mind, aside from the money, is the experience, right? Bringing in a past district or yeah, I'm sorry, past a past international president, bringing in powerful speaker, bringing in, you know, music, bringing in service projects for them to work on. And and you stay focused on the experience because you're we're never I mean, if you look at the international convention, they get what, 2% of the Rotary population, even at 30,000 people, it's 2% of the world. It's it's we did better than that. When you look at zone institutes, you're it's even less. You look at you look at zone institutes, you you you see, you see even less. I mean, it's you know, over 26, you know, 26 and 27, there's 30 districts, X amount of Rotarians, and you get a few hundred at a zone at a zone institute. So the writing's on the wall about these things, that there is, we have challenges as an organization to get people to come together like that. But the people that are there and the people that choose to do that, that say, yes, I want to do this, and there are those people out there, I believe, go through a more enriching experience than if you didn't. And that's okay. It's up your it's your decision to make. And in our in this case, for the people that came to our event, right, that took on the expense, that took on the travel, that came down, we think they had a very, and they've and they voiced their they voiced their opinion, they had a very enriching experience. It was a very well-run, well-executed, and very, as I meant, well, I guess as I'll say it again, but an enriching and fulfilling experience for that weekend of fellowship, getting down to some business with the service projects, and getting inspired by people that you may not have heard speak before. You know, we had a speaker that all four of us have heard her before, which is a powerful story, but there was an entire room of people that haven't heard her before. And so what impact did that have? And this is again about impact. And so in my mind, as long as we were all aligned on that, that was okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Soapbox. No, it's a good soapbox. It's it's a good height for you. I I I will tell you though, I've gonna have a couple more questions for you, but this is something that came to my mind. Now, who's got Pasadena in their district? Who is that? Okay, that's that's Gilda. So for those of us listening to us around the world, Pasadena over the last five years has had two, well, almost a hundred years in one major event that goes on in it, and one a couple of years ago that devastated, one would argue, a good chunk of the town. And I'm talking about two separate things the Tournament of Roses Parade, yeah, which is something that as a kid I used to stand on Colorado Boulevard and watch. And we have proudly had a float rotary has for several, several years.

SPEAKER_06 41:15

So did you see us this year? We were rocking. I did.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Well, that's gonna be my next question. So because you have this camaraderie, is it are you able now to share the highest highs? And then, of course, for people who are familiar to this show, we talked to one of your presidents who's lost almost every single person in this man's club lost their house in the Pasadena fires. So that's the same in that whole El Tadena, that whole area. We talked to a president who basically was there on the ground helping others, and his club was helping others literally while their homes were burning. So as a group with those with the extreme high and the extreme low, because you've had this district conference, because you have this family in a family, is it are you able to then help in those lows and rejoice in those highs together? Does it breathe into all those districts?

SPEAKER_04 42:19

Absolutely, without question. And I think I don't know if it was Craig or Luis who said it goes back to when we were uh in training in in whether it was in Utah zone or down in San Diego. But I mean, honestly, I from my perspective, you know, if Craig or Gilda or Luis called me at three in the morning and said, Niron, I need you, I'm in the car and I'm heading to their house.

SPEAKER_01 42:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 42:43

I mean, that's that's that's and that's before the multidistrict conference. I think there's a special bonding that our district

Beyond The Weekend: Ongoing Collaboration

SPEAKER_04 42:50

governor class has. And we call ourselves the F and Gs because of the rooms we're in. There you go. But there's a there's a certain bonding that we have, I think that there's a strong, it's family. It's it really is family. And particularly with Luis and Gilda and I, and Craig being so close together in this part of Southern California. So, for instance, Craig had a leadership forum that Luis and I both drove up to that he had just to just to be with him and support him. Gilda couldn't go because she was in some other part of the world, Monaco or south of France or something. I'm not sure where she was.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Um, living hard there, girl, living hard.

SPEAKER_04 43:27

Yeah, yeah, she was toughen it out somewhere fast. But you know, we we do that. And Gilda went down to to uh San Diego and supported Luis and his function. So, and then we all we all drove up to Gilda's function and did a a uh a a leadership form entrepreneurship camp that she was having. So yeah, th this is family. So I think that above all, you know, blood is thicker than water, as my mother used to say. And now these four are all part of my blood. Right. And that's just from my perspective, that's the way I think.

unknown 43:59

All right.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

I was I was going to comment on that. That's that's really it this it this collaboration, it wasn't just the event of the multi-district conference. It was all the things that we did this year and all the things we're gonna continue to do together. You know, the the enterprise academy that Luisa's district does. It opened a lot of eyes for me. And it's gonna it and I've had conversations with my district, something for us to look for and look into collaborations that we can do on other levels. My district, Craig's Luisa's district, Nyron's district, we're collaborating on environment, protecting the environment. I know we're gonna do more collaborations, and there are people within our districts, each of our districts that are open to learning what else is outside of our walls, right? And that's that's the that's really the experience that we wanted our members to have is you know, what goes on in your club, and your club could be 10 people, it could be a hundred people. What goes on in your club, what goes on in your district, and then what goes on outside of our district, and to really be open to that. And and we know we're not gonna accomplish it in just one year. It's just it's this, it, it, it, it has to have this domino effect. And it's and and we hope that you know, future governors, my my future, my incoming governor is going to have a joint.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

So well, and that was literally my next question. Good, you should you should do a podcast. You got good questions. Seriously, because I have I had the honor of being part of the delinquents here in New England, which is there, all these district governors got together and worked together as a very tight team. And yet now that they're leaving, I could already see cracks where the next group of people would not carry on those same things starting. It is it is a rotary thing. We take like three or four steps forward and then we're notorious at taking two back. So was this a one-off? Am I looking at all you beautiful people and thinking, well, next year though, they're all gonna go back to what they did. So was this just a one-off there in Southern California?

SPEAKER_00 46:16

For me, like I mentioned, uh so we we also did a joint the previous year, and then this was the first four district. So this is the first for our district to do four districts. Next year it will be a joint with just two districts.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

Um, so yeah, but but we this is what we'll tell you. There's there's another five districts that came together in Northern California, and we're gonna refer you to them because they they were I I what I heard prior to the event is they got to 800. So it's five districts.

SPEAKER_05 46:52

Wow, okay.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

Is that what you heard, Luis?

SPEAKER_03 46:55

That's correct. I heard that's what I heard, yeah. Yeah, and sometimes sometimes you have those those. I think that it's a learning process of this. You know, for some of us, this was our first attempt. But also I think that we evaluate how what we did this year, and if we were to stay another year, I think that we would be more selective in taking everything into consideration. But I think that because the program was such a huge hit, that we would find ways of from an operational cost to be more effective, because the actual event was a big hit.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

People and it was better than you did it by yourself?

SPEAKER_03 47:35

It it came out. It just came out. I mean, we knew what we had, but to actually live it from having incredible speakers one session after another, then we had then we had breakup group where there were presenters from our directors, then we had somebody from people talking about foundation. But then by the afternoon, it was also a live project where people can go and put a wapi do a WAPI project where they put water purification kits that they send off to Africa or Mexico that help that help boil the water at a point where it will kill with any kind of bacteria or anything on the water that's on there. But then we also had food packaging and then we had a mental health kit, mental mental health kits for people. I mean, people were inspired that they were like, wow, we've never really done this.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

So you were actions, it wasn't just a weekend of saying goodbye to some old friends with sand or having cocktail hours, but you guys were actually doing projects and stuff the whole week.

SPEAKER_04 48:42

Three three different service project opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 48:46

Yeah. And so this concept uh really did come well together. I give it an A only because we knew it was going to be good, but then to see it go live, it's great. So I think in the future people should think about it. But I think that knowing what we've gone through, we could definitely give ideas on how to you know even make it even better from an operational cost situation.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

So you guys would all encourage it.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

But if you want at least a team, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 49:28

And I mean it even makes us look back at ideas that we had when we first started talking about the idea. I remember Gilda had an idea of like, why don't we do like an open park, open picnic situation? You know, you look back at things now and you go, wow, they that probably would have been also a great idea. And so I think that this experience, we may not be governors to run this before, to run this again, I mean.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

And unless they get you to do it again, you never know. This is rotary.

SPEAKER_03 49:56

But this experience will help us as we move forward and help others and guide others in our districts.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

So all right. Last question, because I think we've we've gotten the camaraderie, we've gotten the the family, we've gotten the new ideas, we've gotten a peek at what Northern California is doing, and you know, wow, 800, that sounds fantastic.

Favorite Moments And Key Lessons

SPEAKER_01 50:21

So, but let's let's let's end the show with a little bit of intimate. I'm gonna go around like we did before, and I think we started with Gilda and then went to Louise and then Craig. As we end the show, what was your favorite moment? So if we used to, and when the show first started, we used to do a thing called the smile question. And that was when as a Rotarian, can you think of something that just as you're thinking of it brings a smile to your face? And what I actually love about asking the question is that people's brains start to go, and people will now look at this screen, except for Nyron's photo, because he's always smiling in his photo. But you guys have all started to smile, except for Craig. I don't know, Craig, Craig might be depressing. I don't know. But when people start thinking about it, the smile question, they bring a smile. So starting with you, Gilda, and then we'll go to the to our other three guests. What's the moment that you think about this and go, you know what? That's why I got up early. That's why I didn't sleep. That's why I wear this pin proudly and my blood is blue. You know, what what was that moment in this in this conference for you?

SPEAKER_00 51:35

So gosh, it's so hard to pick because really there were so many moments, but I'll I'll just share. Craig referenced the speaker that we had all heard, Mikette McMahon. Uh, she is from Haiti, she's written a book, she's opened two schools, but she came from nothing. She came from nothing. And so she shares her story growing up in Haiti when uh she lost her sibling to malnutrition. It died, you know, to malnutrition. And and and why she was able to change the trajectory of her life was a Rotarian who had invited her to be part of the Rotary Youth Exchange. So she came across to Minnesota and and spent a year here. And and that experience of being having her own bedroom and and having a fridge and having food in the fridge. You know, things that we take for granted, right? And how that changed the trajectory of her life. So we we had decided to invite her, and we we had a couple of speakers that we wanted to invite, and we all decided, okay, we have but this is it. We're gonna invite McKette. We had heard her at zone, and she the entire room was crying. And the entire room, so so you say what brings me is smile. I mean, we all cried, but the the source is is the impact, right? Of what rotary does and how powerful it is across wherever, you know, there's no borders, right? And this is how we unite for good. So that's what brings me that smile that we made that impact with our families.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

That's a good one, Luis. Okay, top that. No pressure. Go ahead. What was what was yours?

SPEAKER_03 53:23

Well, to me, were I I mean, I always remember I've there everything I remembered, but the one that I think was impactful to me right away was the setting that setting that energy in the morning. So the first session Saturday morning was so important because then that sets the mood for the rest of the day. And we had Captain Kyle Caldwell from Seal Beach based, Navy base uh up in Orange County. And he happens to also be a rotarian in my my district.

SPEAKER_01 53:55

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 53:56

And so he came in and he his introduction was just spectacular. His his I mean his his his presentation was spectacular. He did an incredible job, and he really reminded us of what it is to be a leader and what it is to really step forward and and take chances. And also that same that same session, we had an incredible violinist who played the rendition a rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance. And then we had interactors come in and try to get that energy vibe going just to open the doors right away. So it already, that vision of coming together, of the things that we had thought of of connecting people through fellowship, through interaction of many many ideas was great. And then finally, I thought after the speaker, after all this stuff going on, at the very end of that session, we had the opportunity to honor all of our Rotarians who are veterans or active military. And I think that that really, again, it set the tr it set the mood of what the rest of the day was going to be like because I saw veterans that even in my district that I had no idea they were veterans.

SPEAKER_01 55:08

They were vets, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

So I think we gave them what was it, uh, a star, right? Gilbert?

SPEAKER_04 55:15

A star that from the flag that had flown over the Capitol.

SPEAKER_03 55:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 55:19

Um, so we gave that and a special commemorative coin to each one of them. And we celebrated every branch of of the of the of service, including the space, whatever it is, Space Force. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 55:32

Um we are we are not upset with the Space Force people. We love them very much.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

It's coming, it's coming. But that was the that was the thing. It was that to me, like I'm I'll let Craig and Iron fill in the gaps on that. But to me, that was like the the one that set the tone. It was inspirational. I think everyone was so like just touched that here we are with Rotarians, and on top of that, look, we have veterans, and I think when they all lined up and started coming up, people were just so I think pleasantly surprised to see so many come up and and be honored. So to me, that was one of the biggest highlights that I had. And it was it's a proud moment.

SPEAKER_01 56:11

All right, Craig. I don't know, that's pretty good too. This is get back on your soapbox, sir.

SPEAKER_06 56:18

I would I think probably the moment for me was leading up to and coming into dinner on Saturday night. Traditionally, at least in my district, when you have a a solo event like that, a district conference, you see a much smaller population at dinner than you did at breakfast or maybe hospitality the night before or something. It dwindles, right?

SPEAKER_05 56:41

Right.

SPEAKER_06 56:41

But when we came into dinner that night, the room was just as big as it was in the morning. And I think there was a there was an energy running through the room because there was a band and we had turned it into a kind of a really a fun party atmosphere. Bar was open, of course, that always helps, but he it wasn't open, but it was the bar was available to you if you wanted to. Yeah, it wasn't open.

SPEAKER_02 57:06

Yeah, because there's a lot of people going, well, I'm buying tickets next year. There was an open bar on Saturday.

SPEAKER_06 57:10

Well, that'd be a big draw. Yeah. It was got a lot of people out there, but but that energy and I think the the messaging that night, the fun we had with Gordon and everything else was really kind of a uh just a phenomenal capstone to what was going on that day and the night before, right? When we were just getting to know each other, I guess. And then by then, and then at the end, of course, there was dancing and and everybody was kind of releasing a lot of energy that I think had been pent up during the day with the work that was being done and you know, and and getting to know each other and and just having a really a celebration, right? Of of coming together. And so for me, that would be that would be, I think, my my highlight for for the weekend. It really was a feel-good moment. And and not just for me, but for many, many, many people, including our chairs who got to enjoy themselves, and and we were we were having a good time, and it was it was really it was really great.

SPEAKER_00 58:05

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

All right, Nyron. That means that's you. You get to you get to tell us what what is your what was your smile moment.

SPEAKER_04 58:13

Well, I tell you, they they they've stolen all my thunder, but the maquette maquette certainly was as powerful as the first time we we heard her. And to me, she just reminded us of the power of rotary, of the ability of one Rotarian or one club to change the arc of the life of a person or set of persons. In this case, it's her whole family, because it changed her life, they touched her life as a teenager, they changed the entire arc of her whole family. And that is that's a power that I think we grossly underestimate in rotary and don't truly understand what what we have at our fingertips with our collective 1.2 million votarians. It it almost is like the finger of God being able to reach out and touch and change somebody's life. So that to me was powerful as Captain Caldwell, I think, just reminded us how lucky we are to live in America, first of all. And the price of freedom. But he exhibited everything about leadership. And and then as they said, we celebrated the the veterans, and I think they truly appreciated that. I can tell you the screen said the end when in that Saturday evening, and I will admit I was the one that probably fought this the hardest, but we was right, and having that band, and I think the key to the whole thing was having the band start before the event actually kicked off. So people were in there dancing before the Saturday night dinner started. So by that time everybody was excited, they were engaged, they were having fun, they were seeing their friends, and it made for I think the whole the whole event was really quite stupendous. I I don't honestly, I don't think any zone was any better than what we put on, quite frankly. I think we did a great job and we able to bring people up and down with momentous talks and speeches and then a hands-on service project. So the whole thing made me smile, but I think my small moment is really thinking about how we wrestled with each other, but amiably worked it out and and came to an agreement on a successful event and still and still maintain the friendships out of that. So I was gonna say, you still you still said in the middle of the night that you're willing to go to any of these labels. And that's important because we're all we're all very driven, we're all very intense, and we're all, you know, we're all district governors, so we're used to we're used to you know pushing our agenda you know ahead. And we all took the time to listen and said, okay, let's include that from Gilda and that from Craig and that from Luis and that from Naira. And I think it we I think we ended up with an excellent, excellent product. An expensive product with an excellent product.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

So and I could tell you're the money man. I could tell Nyron you're the you're the money man. Well, the expensive product, but a good product. Because there's somebody listening to the show going, yeah, I can

You Are Not Alone: Closing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

okay, expensive product. That's what he's saying.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:32

So if I was going on a trip, I take Nairon with me because I know we are going to really budget.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

So wow, all right. As we are recording this, everybody, it is whenever you listen to it, today when we recorded this, is June 2nd, which means everybody on this screen right now have just about 30 S days.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:00

28 no one's 28, but who's counting?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:04

Right, 28 days. Uh, so on behalf of the other uh 1.998, whatever uh Rotarians, thank you so much for your service. Thank you for hopefully encouraging some people to give this a try. And um knowing that when it comes to a district conference, you don't have to be alone. I think is that a very safe statement?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:30

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:31

Yeah, you don't have to be alone, and you guys can work together in multiple districts. And so far, my my leader is eight up there in Northern California. Um, give it a try if you're listening to my voices, because I think I think these guys may be onto something. I think so. Thank you so much for being on the show, each and every one of you guys. This was really fun. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:57

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

You're not alone. You're not alone. You don't have to. There is not some Rotary International law that says that you have to have a district conference by yourself. Ask for help. Ask for new ideas. Ask for new ways of thinking. Ask for collaboration instead of frustration. I I tell ya, I I said in the interview that I think this is the way of the future. I have been rebellious before. I'm the one who doesn't think we should do the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm the one who doesn't think we should do some of these things. I'm not a big fan of meals during rotary. But you know what I am a fan of? Collaboration. Friendship. The knowledge that we are not alone. Thanks you guys. Thank you to all my district governors who joined me today for the interview and this last year, or I should say two to three years of service. And hey, to all the new district governors that are hearing my voice right now. First of all, congratulations. It's gonna be an amazing year. And most importantly, I'll say it again. You are not alone. Maybe give something like this a try. You know, it doesn't hurt. Why not give it a try? And thank you out there for giving this show a try. As you well know, we are a podcast, we are a blog, and we are a YouTube channel. All that are made possible of fabulous listeners and watchers and readers like you. So please feel free to tell a friend about the show or like the show on YouTube. It is away that that generosity keeps flowing. And please feel free to uh check out our uh Facebook page. There's a QR code there if you actually wish to sponsor the show altogether. And if you'd like to have the show come to your neck of the woods, perhaps your multiple district district conference, email me at RotarianPod at gmail.com. I can travel and love a good district conference. All right then, until next time, take care of yourself and the world around you, and we'll hear you next time right here on the Action Impact Show. Have a wonderful week, everyone. We will talk to you soon.