Convention Tips
A GUIDE TO LIONS 105CW DISTRICT CONVENTION
Friday
Arrive in good time to settle in and look around the public areas – or even enjoy the spa and gym. There will often be people around to chat with and meet in the lounges of the hotel.
- TIP. When you register, your pack will include tickets for the social events. Make sure you bring them with you to events as we cannot guarantee entry without tickets.
Friday evening sees the "District Celebration Dinner". The dinner commences at 7:30pm, there will be an invitation to a pre-dinner drink reception, hosted by the District Governor, in your pack.
Dress for the evening is smart elegant. Many people see this as the time to dress up in formal evening wear, so long or cocktail style dresses or dinner suits with bow ties are what many will choose. However, it's more important that you come and enjoy the evening. So please just make it smart and elegant. You might see people in evening dress with white jackets – that shows that they are or have been a District Governor.
- TIP. The seating plan will be on display before the room opens; again it's a good idea to find out where you are sitting before going inside for the evening.
- TIP. There will be a table for you to order and pay for wine which will be brought to your table, so see above tip about knowing your table number first!
- TIP. Please only buy your drinks from the function room bar and leave the main bar for other hotel guests.
The evening officially ends no later than 11pm so the people organising and running the Convention Day can get some sleep!
Saturday
This is the main day as we hold the Convention today, the District's Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Breakfast will be served from 7:00 am; it tends to get busy around 8am so that everyone is ready for the Convention.
- TIP. If you're not an early riser, set your alarm!
- TIP: An area will be set up with exhibitions for you to browse around. You could do this before the Convention starts or during the Lunch break. Please try to take a look, the representatives on these stands have given up their time to prepare, so deserve as many visitors as possible.
Once the Convention starts, the doors to the room will be closed for the opening ceremony and will not re-open until that is finished. Dress code for Convention is to wear whatever you might normally wear when you are at a Lions Club meeting. Most people these days will wear club polo shirts or jumpers.
- TIP: Chains of Office may be worn, but are not necessary and most Lions chose not to wear them.
Please remember the Convention welcomes all Lions and their Partners. Once the formal ceremonies are complete, some may chose to go out but all are welcome to stay.
There is an area of the Convention room with a hearing loop in place, please use this area if you need to otherwise please sit elsewhere and leave it clear for those who need it.
First time attendees at Convention will have this marked on their badges with a yellow border that is not to mark you out, it is aimed to make you feel more welcome! All experienced Lions are encouraged to say hello to new attendees, to chat to them and make them very welcome.
- TIP. Make sure you bring your pre‑booked lunch ticket with you for entry to the dining room, one per person.
During the Convention, please stay and listen to the debates, the discussions and the presentations. We understand that some people need to stretch their legs or go out to use the toilets, BUT please consider and respect others and try to move around quietly between sessions or speakers.
Please respect the presenters and give them your support - some have come a long way to make these presentations. Do feel free to contribute to discussions at the appropriate time, remember it is your AGM and the way to join in will be explained at the start.
The business session will be timed to end at 4:00pm.
Saturday Night is 'Party Night' and the theme is "SKOOL DAYSZ" Feel free to indulge in some school-based fancy dress if you wish – if not just some casual smart clothes are fine. Its all meant to be a bit of fun!
There is no pre-planned drinks reception, so meet up in the function room bar before being called in to dinner. Again, please try to buy drinks in this reserved bar and leave the main hotel bar to the other guests.
- TIP. Timings may change so check the Convention Programme a few days beforehand.
Sunday
Take your own time to have breakfast, check out and travel home.
Hopefully you will have really enjoyed your weekend, everything will have run smoothly and we can look forward to seeing you again at next year's Convention!
Please enjoy the Convention, if you have any problems over the weekend, ask any member of the convention team for help.