Electronic Communications
21 October 2002

RI President's Personal Representative to our District Conference last weekend Past RI Director Paing Hechanover reminded his audience at a plenary session that we had a very successful and almost pioneering video conference two years ago during our District Conference with then RI President Frank Delvyn who was in Manila chairing his Presidential Conference organized by none other than Paing himself. Yes, that was the Presidential Conference many Rotarians in the District including myself would have liked to attend but which had to miss because of my District Conference. The video conference was subsequently reported by The Rotarian magazine and given a rather positive spin.

Paing is of course a very good friend of the District. He recalled fondly of the occasion and cited it as an innovative idea made possible by technology on the one hand and the industry and enthusiasm of the Rotarians involved on the other. He urged his audience to continue to do more such things in the future.

Rather good and sound advice, I must say, meted out in a carefree but very sincere manner by a very experienced and dedicated Rotarian who is Rotary from top to bottom and sideways. If only more in the District could share more of him or of the like of him more often.

Technology certainly has changed the face of our communication modes, our way of life and as Paing pointed out, our vocabulary. Words such as mouse, widows or the web have taken on new meanings. In Rotary, it was only two years ago, under the leadership of Frank Devlyn when the use of the Internet and the Rotary Website bcame popularized. In the same year, RI posted a real-time website on the San Antonio International Convention, billed as the virtual convention, so that people who could not be physically there could share the essential information and happenings at the Convention.

There are many more examples. Closer to home, our District is blessed with having a first class and hard working Webmaster in the name of Bill Benter who has more or less single handedly built up and maintained the District Website and has been painstakingly going round clubs showing club officials and members how easy it can be to build and maintain a club website and a club mail box system. The special Preserve Planet Earth award Bill received is therefore thoroughly merited. As we congratulate Bill and thank him for what he has done for the District, we would also urge clubs and the membership to fully exploit technology and the benefits thus derived, to benfit more people who need our service, for the greater good of humanity.