Dear fellow Rotarians,
When I planned for my travels during my year as Rotary International president, I decided that intercity meetings would be the most effective way to meet Rotarians.

I urged clubs in a city or a region to merge their weekly meetings into one evening meeting. I offered to be the main speaker and to mingle with Rotarians before and after the event.

I also planned to visit areas where a president had never been or had not been for a long time.

I had great expectations for these meetings. Now that I have experienced a large number of them, I must say that they have far exceeded my expectations.

Rotarians and their spouses have been extremely kind and appreciative. They have greeted me with open arms, talked to me, laughed with me, embraced me, and just made me feel at home from the very first minute.

I went to these intercity meetings hoping to encourage Rotarians to continue their excellent work for our organisation and to encourage less active members to take part more extensively in the future.

I have mostly talked on Rotary topics that provide an international perspective.

And I have listened. I have listened and learned what Rotarians want from Rotary leadership.

This is of great value to all of us, because if the board members are to do good work in the boardroom, it is essential that we all know what the Rotarians want from us. They want a lot of things, but public image is one concern that stands out.

There is tremendous frustration among Rotarians that Rotary is often forgotten in the media.

Rotary International seems to be forgotten almost on a regular basis when the polio eradication initiative is mentioned in the media. Not always, but often.

And Rotary is not just PolioPlus. It is so much more. It is Rotarians serving daily meals to children who otherwise would go hungry. It is Rotarians helping blind people tap into the digital world.

It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. It is Rotarians helping out in national disasters. It is Rotarians drilling water wells. It is Rotarians educating people to provide a foundation for a better life. The list can go on.
But we could do a better job in letting the world know what we are doing.

That is why I have appointed a Public Image Resource Group, under the leadership of Rotarian Mary Margaret Fleming (District 5230, California, U.S.A.).

This group has been very well received by Rotarians all over the world in helping us to tell the Rotary story.

I have seen an improvement on the local level in our public image.

Let us capitalise on this effort for years to come and let us together through Service Above Self continue to show the world the great leadership of Rotary International.

Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar
President, Rotary International

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL WORLD HEADQUARTERS
One Rotary Centre, 1560 Sherman Ave, Evanston, Illinois, 60201, U.S.
Telephone: 847 866 3000. Fax: 847 328 8554.
General officers of R.I. for 2005-06
President, Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, Göteborg, Sweden; President-elect, William B. Boyd, Pakuranga, N.Z.; Vice-president, Serge Gouteyron, Denain-Bouchain, France; Treasurer, Jocelyn I. Bolante, Parañaque South, Philippines; Anthony F. de St. Dalmas, Southgate, England; Frank N. Goldberg, Omaha-Suburban, Neb., U.S.A.; Jerry L. Hall, Reno, Nev., U.S.A.; Horst Heiner Hellge, Hamburg-Blankenese, Germany; Sölve Kernell, Kalmar, Sweden; Kwang Tae Kim, Seoul Gwanag, Korea; David Linett, Somerville and Bridgewater, N.J., U.S.A.; Yoshikazu Minamisono, Hofu, Japan; G. Kenneth Morgan, Chapel Hill, N.C., U.S.A.; Noraseth Pathmanand, Bangrak, Thailand; José Antonio Salazar Cruz, Bogotá Occidente, Colombia; Masanobu Shigeta, Takasaki North, Japan; Carlos Enrique Speroni, Temperly, Argentina; Robert A. Stuart Jr., Springfield, Ill., U.S.A.; Rodger W. Wagner, Scottsdale, Ariz., U.S.A. The death on May 29, 2005, of Rodger W. Wagner, who was elected to the board, is noted with sorrow. His replacement is David J. Hossler, Yuma Sunrise, Ariz., U.S.A.
General Secretary: Edwin H. Futa, East Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

Rotary International South Pacific and Philippines
McNamara Centre, Level 2, 100-108 George Street, Parramatta, N.S.W., 2150 or P.O. Box 1415, Parramatta, N.S.W. 2124. Telephone: (02) 9635 3537. Fax (02)9689 3169. Office hours: Monday to Friday 8.30a.m. to 5.00p.m. (Closed public holidays). International Office Manager, John Tucker (email: tuckerj@rotaryintl.org); Administration Supervisor, Leanne MacKenzie; Literature Clerk, Michelle Fuller. Financial Services: Supervisor, Sean Kehoe (email: kehoes@rotaryintl.org); Finance Co-ordinators, John Jiang and Wendy Tran; Finance Clerk, Gaye Small. The Rotary Foundation: Supervisor, Terry Davies (email: daviest@rotaryintl.org); TRF Co-ordinator, Katherine Dabich. Club and District Administration: Supervisor, Tony Quinn (email: quinna@rotaryintl.org); CDA Co-ordinator, Dele Riley; CDA Correspondent, Sherrine de Silva. Rotary International’s Internet address: www.rotary.org.
Rotary Down Under – The Council
R.I. Past Director John Thorne, District Governors Bill Benbow (D9450), Peter Brown (D9460), Phil Cordery (D9470), Colin Thorn (D9500), Arthur Manser (D9520), Peter Kaye (D9550), Kevin Hickey (D9570), Charles Guesdon (D9600), Ailsa Hay (D9630), John Tregurtha (D9640), Jane Bradford (D9650), Donald Whatham (D9670), Greg Muldoon (D9680), Bill Little (D9690), David Roberts (D9700), Noel Trevaskis (D9710), Patrick Roberts (D9750), Wayne Barrett (D9780), David Yap (D9790), John Wigley (D9800), Philip Hedley (D9810), Ray Stewart (D9820), Paul Grubb (D9830), Graeme Bellingham (D9910), Colin Nicholas (D9920), Brian Revell (D9930), Rodney Wong (D9940), Kelvin Cordes (D9970), Martyn Jensen (D9980).
The Committee
Past District Governor Peter Williams (chairman), R.I. PastDirector John Thorne, R.I. Director Jocelyn Bolante (co-opted), PastDistrictGovernors Paul Gillett, Vance Hilton, Colin Thorniley, Terry Edwards, Stuart Heal and Bob Aitken (secretary) and Rotarian Barry Antees (general manager).
The New Zealand Rotary Down Under Promotion Committee
Past District Governor Stuart Heal (chairman), R.I. Past Director Grattan O’Connell, Past District Governors Charles Wilson, John Rennie, Fergus Cumming and Barbara Williams and District Governor NomineeRex Morris.