2011 Rotary International Convention

New Orleans was the site of the 2011 RI Convention, May 21-25, 2011.  The Rotary Club of New Orleans was the host club.  Participating districts were 6840, 6800, 6820, 6190 and 6200. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a keynote speaker. The Rotary International Convention for 2012 will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.

A DVD can be purchased online from shop.rotary.org for $5.00 that tells three stories of Rotarians In Action following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The DVD was produced by RI's Broadcast Media Dept.

One story is the restoration of Warren East High School, New Orleans, by the Rotary Clubs of New Orleans and Berkeley (CA). The second story is the personal journey of D. H. Short, member of the Rotary Club of Pass Christian (MS), to bring his hometown back to life. The third story features the Rotary Clubs of Slidell Northshore and Slidell (LA) together with the assistance of Rotarians worldwide as they bring 13 local non-profit agencies back into service after the storm's devastation.

Rotarians representing every continent on earth were ferried from the Morial Convention Center to Gretna. A New Orleans Brass Band met the party and led them in a parade to the Gretna Open Air Market.