My Life as a Lion

Inside the O2

As I continue to write this blog I have more and more admiration for people who are able to write daily blogs or even weekly ones. It’s now nearly two weeks since the end of International Convention and I’ve only just found time to write the third article I promised.

My final convention article is about the convention itself and some of the other events that surround it.
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Some Texans relaxing in the sun

This will be a short post to tell you a little about the parade at the Lions Clubs International Convention. It’s going to be mainly pictures but first a few details.

The Californian breakfast

The parade takes place on the first day of the convention proper and is a glorious celebration of the diverse organisation that is Lions Clubs International. But I’m getting ahead of myself as the day started for Christine and me with a Californian Breakfast hosted by the Lions of California with our host being the wonderful Margaret, one of my classmates.

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The main hall in the CCH

The venue for the DGE Banquet

Don’t collapse with shock but here’s my second post of the year which will shortly be followed by the third and fourth as I post three articles about Lions Clubs International Convention 2013 in Hamburg, Germany.

The convention experience can be divided into three sections, Training for District Governors Elect, The Parade and The convention itself. This article will consider the three days of training ending with our DGE Banquet on Friday 5th July.

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Lions Flags outside the convention centre

Arriving at the Radission Blu

Christine and I arrived in Hamburg yesterday after a simple one and a half hour flight from Birmingham. We were met at the airport by a well drilled team of local Lions who directed us to a coach which took us to the Radisson Blu Hotel.

View from Hotel

After checking into the hotel and meeting up with Liam and Ann on the way in we decided to go for a walk.

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What a scary thought. As I sit here writing this I suddenly realise that the next article I write will be as District Governor of district 105M.

I do promise to try harder to make my updates more frequent during the next year and have to apologise again for the gap since my last post.

To be honest a lot of time since the last post has been taken up by work, including a week’s training in London, and by personal activities such as Games Fest 2013, a week in Cornwall with friends playing board games and chilling. I also competed in the Great Midlands Fun Run on 2nd June and achieved a modest 1:14:59 for the eight and a half miles. I need to get better for my planned run in each of the nine zones in the district during my year.
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This will be a very short post as there seems to be so little time to do everything.

Since my last post I have attended my second Council of Governor’s meeting including the first meeting of next year’s council to select MD Officers. I have been introduced along with Christine, my fellow District Governors Elect and their partners at Multiple District Convention in Torquay. I have continued to search for cabinet officers for next year with most posts now filled except three of the nine zone chairmen. I have attended training for district officers and club officers to present my vision. I have acted as MC for my own club’s 15th Charity Ball. I have started to plan the 41 club visits that I have to do next year and to receive invitations to charter anniversaries from some clubs. Yesterday I attended a zone go-karting night with zone E. All of this alongside working full time so there has been little time to update the blog.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be a quiz being run by Sutton Coldfield and Erdington Lions Club, my own club’s Eurovision Night, the last cabinet meeting of this year including a brief first meeting of my cabinet, a well-deserved week’s holiday in Corwall for Games Fest 2013, the Great Midlands Fun Run on 2 June and then it’s only a short hop to Internatuional Convention in hamburg at the beginning of July. More to follow when I get the chance.

Lion Simon Moss

@simonhmoss @MarstonGnLions @lions105m @lionsclubsorg

1820 miles travelled as 2nd VDG

1400 miles travelled as 1st VDG

At least 950 hours since 1 July 2011 on Lions’ activities

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Well it’s finally happened. On 23rd March I was elected by the delegates at District 105M’s convention to be their District Governor for 2013-14. Congratulations must also go to my 1st and 2nd Vice District Governors for next year, Ian and Heather. Commiseration to the other 2nd VDG candidate, Anita, although I’m sure it’s only a postponement of her election.

I am now heavily involved in the forming of my cabinet and this is still proving difficult.

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This month or so has had the flavour of membership and leadership with meetings of both the district Global Leadership and Global Membership Teams and a Multiple District Membership and Leadership Summit in the middle.

I have also been finalising the district leadership and membership goal statements for the coming Lions year, editing our district officers’ job descriptions and trying to fill some of the posts on my cabinet.

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I‘m not sure what happened but suddenly it’s February and there’s only five more months until International Convention in Hamburg where I will start my year as District Governor.

January has been an interesting month in the journey to DG and it’s suddenly all very real.

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Happy New Year to everyone who reads this blog. I hope that it brings you everything you want. For me it will eventually bring me to the position of District Governor of district 105M within Lions Clubs International but there are several challenges that face me before then.

For one thing I have to be elected at convention in March and, although I am the only candidate, this can not be taken for granted. Nevertheless I have to work on the basis that I will be elected and start the job of putting together a district cabinet for my year.

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