Registration Opens for 2011 District Conference
You can now register online for District 6440’s 2011 conference, to be held April 28 – May 1 at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, conveniently located in the middle of the district, according to Charles Bartling (Evanston Lighthouse) and Nancy Keppel (Wheeling), conference co-chairs.
The conference is designed to appeal to three segments of the district’s Rotarians:
--New members who have never before attended a district conference;
--Long-time members who are eager to renew networking contacts with Rotarians from clubs other than their own; and
--Present and future club leaders who are seeking bigger, better, and bolder ideas for enhancing the programs of their clubs.
The conference kicks off Thursday evening, April 28, with a performance of the former Broadway smash musical, 42d Street, at Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre. It concludes with a brunch Sunday morning. In between are sessions devoted to such areas of Rotary as community and international service, ambassadorial scholars, group study exchanges, youth exchange, and the New Generations avenue of service.
Among the speakers are Ron Burton of Norman, OK, who is the official representative at the conference of Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith; Paul Decker, governor of Rotary’s District 6270 in Wisconsin; Harry Kraemer, Jr., retired CEO of Baxter International, Inc. who is now a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management; and polio survivor Ina Pinkney, chef/owner of Ina's Kitchen.
There will be breakfasts for club presidents and presidents-elect, a Paul Harris luncheon, a House of Friendship with club and vendor exhibits, and hospitality suites Friday and Saturday nights that are hosted by individual clubs in the district. A special hands-on event, Food for Haiti, involving packaging food for the Kids Against Hunger program, will be a Saturday afternoon feature.
There is no registration fee to attend the conference; you pay only for meal events that you attend, so be sure to register, even if you can come for only a part of the action. A special room rate for conference attendees of $104 per night will be in effect at the Marriott. Online registration is available by clicking here. For your convenience, you may pay by credit card.
The annual conference is the major function of the year for District 6440 Rotarians. As the man on the radio used to say, “Don’t miss it if you possibly can!”