Dear Fellows of the Committee Rotaract Switzerland Liechtenstein,

This is your Country Representative sharing with you some new and relevant information. Please, read carefully the entire email. It will take 10 minutes, which are 1/42th of the 7 hours it took me to write this email.

First of all, this is my second year of Office. A board position is not only important for the functioning of the Organisation. It is also a growing and educative opportunity. Some of you will have the opportunity to take advantage of it during your journey in Rotaract. For some of you that moment is coming soon. The election for the new Country Representative and Head of International Affairs of the CRSL will take place in Spring 2023 at the next PM/IDK (tbd). If anyone is interested in this Office, please send an email to michele.serra@rotaract.ch. I will not recommend anyone and I will not advise anyone for this position. There are however some basic requirements: (1) previous board position in a Rotaract Club member of the CRSL; (2) past participation to at least one REM and one EUCO; (3) proficiency in English. An open position will be published soon. However, I want to be sure that my successor has enough time to think about the application and that will arrive at the beginning of the Office in July 2023 with enough knowledge to be independent. Due to work and other possible engagements in the Rotary family, I might not have the possibility to offer enough support to ensure a smooth transition after the end of my Office. Until then, I will provide guidance to anyone who is interested in taking over this demanding responsibility.

Secondly, a crucial international event is taking place in Basel this November, the Rotary Institute. The Rotary Institute includes the yearly Governor elect Training Seminar (GETS) and Governor nominee Training Seminar (GNTS). The GETS/GNTS is a regional meeting that prepares the incoming class of governors and future governors to successfully lead their districts. This is a great opportunity for us, Rotaractors, to have a closer look at the international structure of Rotary. This event is generally open to all Rotaract Members. This year's location represents an advantage for those members who cannot or who do not like to travel long distances. There is also the opportunity to help with the organisation and have a closer contact to elected and nominee Governors.  I attach here a document with more information about the event. More information about the event and the Rotaract Program on Friday, the 4th of November can be found here: https://rotaract.ch/de/agenda/show/148862. The official registration runs on the website of the event (https://www.rotary-institute-basel.com). However, as always, we need you also to register on Polaris for organisational reasons. The CRSL has no access to the participant lists of “external” events. CAVE: I am not involved in the organisation of this event. For any question or for confirming your availability as a helper, please contact Patric Howald, the District Rotaract Representative (DRR) of the D1980 (p.m.howald@outlook.com).

The strategic meeting of the Country Representatives of Rotaract Europe took place this past weekend in Budapest, Hungary. I was there in presence to represent your interests. This email is not the appropriate tool to share with you the contents of the whole meeting. Nevertheless, there are some important points that affect all of you and that I kindly ask you to observe. The presidents and secretaries of your clubs will receive soon more precise information from my side.

1. Do not send any form of communication (excluded private communication, e.g. friendship contents) to the board’s member of (European Rotaract Information Center (ERIC or Rotaract Europe), to any other Country Representative (CR), or to any member of a foreign Host Organisation Committee (HOC). The CRs are responsible for the communication flux between their own countries and the bodies of Rotaract Europe. Members of these bodies will from now on not respond to any direct request which has not been mediated by a CR. This is to reduce the huge workload of these bodies and to ensure that they can fulfil their functions for the sake of the whole Organisation.
2. When attending the Rotaract European Meetings (EUCO and REM), participation to Meetings, Seminars, and Workshops is highly encouraged. Participation rate has decreased dangerously in the last years. If the events keep seeing the same trend, ERIC will have to take action in this direction to ensure that the founding reason for the existence of these events does not go forgotten.
3. In case you are not able to procure a so-called “Package” for participation to one ERIC event, do not send any form of communication to hotels or venues whom a HOC already has deals with. This risks to compromise the whole event. Until now, the ERIC board did not enact any rules in this regard as this was considered common sense. However, recent happenings saw the necessity of this message. The CRs are here to support you also in these moments of despair where you have bought a flight ticket and you do not have a Package yet. For (almost) everything there is a solution. Send an email to michele.serra@rotaract.ch and we can find a solution together or I will try to find one for you.
4. Rotaract Europe will soon release a Project directory on the main website (https://rotaracteurope.eu). On this directory, you can register all your club’s or district’s projects. This will give visibility to your club or district at an international level and will facilitate an eventual search for collaboration partners. I also attach here the official form who standardise the presentation of projects. You can fill this form and upload it on your Polaris website or send it to the Social Officer of the CRSL (alessandra.cogoli@gmail.com) who will upload it on the main website of the CRSL.
5. Rotaract Europe released a shared calendar of the main European Events on the main website (https://rotaracteurope.eu/calendar/). If you would like to advertise one of your events, you can do so by submitting a request directly on this page by clicking on the link “Submit Event”.
6. Rotaract Europe is planning to release a “How To” section on the main website. Soon, your presidents will receive a Microsoft Form where they can report all the great challenges of your clubs, virtuous solutions, and unsolved problems. I will summarise the results of this form with the other CRs and the ERIC’s board in order to provide you with the best guidance that we can offer.

The REM Autumn 2022 in Dublin is approaching. Packages are sold out! More than 400 Rotaractors will attend this Meeting. A record for a REM. For all of you who got a package, I would like to remind you about my last email. Especially, in consideration of the current position of Rotaract Europe as explained above. The link for the registration on Polaris is here: https://rotaract.ch/de/agenda/show/149727. Considering that only three people registered (including me) on Polaris, some of you are going to have a very long conversation with me in Dublin. You all will make time in your agenda if you want to attend the Gala Dinner on the 22nd of October. I am very serious about this. If you have a problem with or a motion against the registration system, send an email to michele.serra@rotaract.ch. Through Polaris, I can see who received this email and who did not because the email has been blocked by the system. Therefore, I will not accept any excuse. To this regard, I also expect that the Members of the Committee for International Affairs (https://rotaract.ch/de/committee/) keep the members of their own clubs informed on these relevant communications.

The German Rotaract Conference (DEUtschland KOnferenz, DEUKO) will take place from the 10th to the 12th of March in Constance. Basically, in our neighbourhood. Exactly like our PM/IDK, this conference is meant to bring together Rotaractors from the whole country (Germany). The difference is that instead of 50 participants, the DEUKO is visited yearly by 1000 Rotaractors. This makes the events longer and with a richer program. The DEUKO offers some packages also for international guests. More information about the event can be found here: https://deuko.rotaract.de. As mentioned above, please if you have any question send an email to michele.serra@rotaract.ch. I will organise all your requests and send them to the HOC. I highly encourage to profit from this opportunity, learn from the German know-how, and bring your experience back to Switzerland to inspire the development of a greater and more sustainable PM/IDK. In the next years, we might even be able to see a “SUIKO”. Who knows. If you have any suggestions, do not hesitate to send an email to our CRSL president (j.frieg@enevista.com) or to our CRSL secretary (adnan.mujanovic5@gmail.com). Any suggestion is very appreciated.

The Early-Bird Wave for the REM Winter 2023 in Gent has been postponed for internal issues. The President of the HOC has been overwhelmed by the organisational burden of such a big event and felt the need to take distance from it. The remaining HOC did an incredible job in dealing with the sudden situation and bringing the Rotarians on board. Thanks to their help, the event will take place as planned but the website is not online yet. I share this internal information because I want all of you to be aware that when you are exposed for the first time to this kind of responsibility it can be tough. Nevertheless, do not be hard on yourself, do not lie to your friends, do not hide. I know well what does it mean to feel the pressure of responsibilities. I know what does it mean to feel the disappointment that your work does not turn out as you expect it to be. I know what does it mean to look for relief by giving up. If you ever feel in need for help, talk with your friends or reach out to me. We are not alone in this. Together we are stronger.

The Rotaract Club of Stockholm candidates as the next host of the Rotaract European Meeting Autumn 2023. I attach here the presentation of their application which I will vote for on the 22nd of October in Dublin at the REM Autumn 2022. If you have any question or any motion against this application, please send an email to michele.serra@rotaract.ch or to your respective DRR. The DRRs are responsible for the a vote in favour, against, or abstention. In absence of any opposition, I will vote in favour of this application with three votes (one for D1980, one for D1990, one for D2000).

Finally, I would like to call for a standing ovation for the Rotaract Club of Luzern (D1980) and for the HOC of its 25th anniversary party. They did an amazing job with the organisation of an event which was not only the celebration of the life of their club, but also a precious moment of reunion for old friends and encounter of new friends. Keep in mind all the new faces you have seen and hands you have held. I have been in Rotaract long enough to tell you that those will be part of some of the best memories of your lives. Thank you Lucerne!

This was again a very long email, but a necessary one. For the rest of the year, I will keep summarising all important information in one single email per month. I hope that all of you will reach every time the last lines of these emails. For a sustainable Rotarian work within our borders and beyond, it is important that everyone is aware of the happenings of the organisation we belong to.

Best regards,

Michele Serra