São Paulo Convention & Visitors Bureau (SPCVB) has been providing support to the Brazilian representatives of Rotary International since 2005, the year when Brazils bid to host the entitys 2015 Convention began. In 2009 São Paulo was declared the winner over Houston and Phoenix, the rival bidders, by an absolute majority, thus earning the right to host this event, expected to attract over 30,000 participants to the destination.
To choose the spaces that will stage parallel events during the International Convention (itself to be held in the Anhembi Exhibition Center), the city of São Paulo welcomed a delegation from Rotary International from August 23 to 29.
Members of the Organizing Committee, along with president-elect Gary Huang (2014-2015) and his wife Corinna, visited the citys major tourist attractions, such as the Monumento às Bandeiras in Ibirapuera Park (photo), the Mercado Municipal, and the Liberdade neighborhood, and took in a rehearsal at samba school Mocidade Alegre.
A video promoting São Paulo was produced during this visit and will shortly be made available to Rotary members in over 180 countries, inviting them to take part in the 2015 convention.
Rotary International was founded in Chicago in 1905 by business leaders and professionals who provide humanitarian services. Its commitment to helping others remains constant. One of its chief campaigns is the struggle against polio, which it took up in 1979 through a project to immunize six million children in the Philippines. Only three countries remain endemic in 2012. There are presently some 1,200,000 Rotarians taking part in 34,000 Rotary Clubs around the world.
Stephen Guenther, Juliana Pestana, Andrew Chudzinski, Magnólia & Alfredo Pretoni, Corinna & Gary Huang, Toni Sando & Elisabete Sorrentino, G. Kenneth Morgan
