Rotary RJ - 90 Anos

FORÇA ROTÁRIA SE AMPLIA was also discussed at the 34th Rotary Institute, in Goiânia, positive to welcome them here. That is the reason behind with over 1,200 Rotarians, whose programming included a the efforts of the city of São Paulo and the commitment to speech by Kalyan Banerjee, from India, President of Rotary Rotary International to provide full support should the city International, and former President Bill Boyd and his wife be chosen. Now it will be up to the City Hall to give all the Lorna, representing the Rotary Foundation. The 35th Ro- support needed to hold a great event.” tary Institute in Vitória, also had a large audience, with over 1,500 Rotarians and the presence of Sakuji Tanaka, Presi- Today, the metropolis of São Paulo already ranks top in dent of Rotary International and former President Dong international events in the Americas, according to the Inter- Kurn Lee and his wife, representing the Rotary Foundation. national Congress & Convention Association (ICCA). “We have worked since 2005 to bring this convention to the city. Enthusiasm in Hawaii This is an achievement of a joint effort of the City Hall of São Paulo, all Rotarians and the São Paulo Convention In early 2013, during the Peace Forum held in Honolulu & Visitors Bureau, which settled the entire agreement with (Hawaii), José Antonio Figueiredo Antiório, RI Director hotels, showing that, more and more, the city of São Paulo 2011-13, had the opportunity to speak to many Rotarians. is the capital of major events”, said Marcelo Rehder at the In his message on peace, he highlighted his story, telling time the decision was announced. stories of his admission to Rotary and the letter he received with this news in his office. Victory In the explanation, he also addressed the various types of The victory is the result of a joint effort involving the wars faced by the world. “Our path is the search for peace work of Rotarians from the Pre-Convention Executive through service. United, men and women through Rotary, Committee of Rotary International in São Paulo, composed we can lead a massive march for peace”, said Antiório. “Pearl of José Antônio Figueiredo Antiório, Rotary International Harbor, Hiroshima, Berlin, slums, shacks and poverty – we Director and chairman of the Convention, José Alfredo Pre- hope to never witness them again because we, together, rep- toni, President of the Rotary International Committee for resent peace through service.” the Convention, and Themistocles Américo Caldas Pinho, Present of ABTRF and Rotary International Director 2007- Thousands of Rotarians in Brazil 2009, as well as the City Hall of São Paulo, Secretariat of International Relations, the São Paulo Convention & Visi- With the expectation of receiving between 40,000 and tors Bureau (SPCVB), and SPTuris (tourism and events 60,000 people, Brazil will be hosting the Rotary Interna- company of the city of São Paulo, which has the City Hall tional Convention in 2015. The official confirmation came of São Paulo as its majority shareholder), as well as the sup- in February 2012, with the announcement of the then May- port of several entities. or of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, following a referendum by the Board of Rotary International. The meeting held in February 2012 was historical, as Pre- toni comments. “We are counting down. For that to hap- Brazilian Rotarians are already counting down to a very pen, there was unconditional support of Mayor Kassab and special event: the Rotary International Convention. After his entire staff for São Paulo to be elected the final city, espe- a hard struggle, finally, in February 2012, Mayor Gilberto cially considering all the structure it provides”, he recalled. Kassab and the president of São Paulo Turismo, Marcelo Rehder, announced that the event will be held in São Paulo The action to realize the project had the participation in 2015. of the Forum of Hotel Operators of Brazil (FOHB), the Brazilian Association of the Hotel Industry (ABIH-SP), São Paulo competed in the final stage with major cities the Union of Tourism Charter Transportation Companies such as Houston and Phoenix, both in the United States, (Transfretur), and Embratur. and won unanimously with 17 votes. On the occasion, the Mayor said that the convention is an opportunity to give The last time the capital of São Paulo hosted the meeting more visibility not to the city but to the State and to Bra- was in 1981, when it welcomed no less than 17,000 atten- zil. “Few events in the world bring together such a large dants from 94 countries. After that, no other city in South number of qualified people with a public spirit, so it is very America hosted the Convention. “I believe this is one of the most important moments in the life of Brazilian Rotarian- 201

ROTARY BRASIL 90 ANOS ism. Since 2005, we have been pleading for a new Conven- In Pretoni’s opinion, the scenario could not be different. tion. To bring this event to São Paulo serves to diminish Both the country and the destination São Paulo represent a the many obstacles of the different views that the world has Rotarian force. “Brazil is the 5th power in the world and São regarding our country and to helps us show, in all the ways, Paulo has the largest number of Rotarians in Brazil and is that Brazil today is an economically and socially developed the 6th largest contributor to the Foundation in the world. country”, said the Director of Rotary International and Brazil has the 2nd largest number of Districts, the 2nd larg- chairman of the Convention. est number of clubs and the 3rd largest number of Rotarac- tians. In this sense, we are a Rotarian power”, he said. The idea to host again the Rotary International Conven- tion arose in fact in 2005, when Pretoni attended the Ro- São Paulo hotels tary Centennial. “Why not put Brazil to compete again? We with open arms to Rotarians held a meeting with the three boards of governors of the city of São Paulo to discuss São Paulo’s bidding – the same three With the support of several trade associations, such as districts that will be financially responsible for the event – ABIH and FOHB, Pretoni believes that the hosting all Ro- and we unanimously decided to take on this challenge. We tarians is guaranteed. “ABIH was spectacular, through the started on the occasion the preparations to compete, not for support of its president, Bruno Omori, as well as FOHB. 2015, but 2013.” They were very important during the negotiation with the undertakings”, highlighted Pretoni. Pretoni explained that this fight had two levels. On the first, the destination São Paulo competed for 2013. “We “Obviously, we made agreements for rates with all ho- started working and prepared the bidding book, a type of tels, encompassing hotel chains and independent hotels. application dossier for the destination. Unfortunately, al- That was the hardest part because addressing prices two though we had made all the contacts and gathered all the years in advance is very complicated. However, with the necessary items, we failed in some points. At the time of the stabilization of the real, that negotiation was possible. The final call, Lisbon, capital of Portugal, won.” requirement of the bidding book was to find at least 7,500 housing units (HUs). With the negotiation, we achieved This experience allowed the team to be more prepared 14,500 HUs – twice the request by the international and familiar with the issue of this dossier. “For 2015, we board”, he explained. were safer and supported by City Hall, the São Paulo Con- vention & Visitors Bureau, and São Paulo Turismo (SPTu- In 2013, on the second day of the year, the RI President ris). We have already made arrangements with the hotels, Gary Wong met with the Mayor of São Paulo, Fernando including rates established.” Haddad, who welcomed it with due attention. In Pretoni’s view, the new city manager knows of the importance of this Even more prepared to bring the event to São Paulo, event. I am quite confident of the success of the event even Rotary faced several challenges. According to Pretoni, São though, of course, there is a concern. “We set up an execu- Paulo competed with 14 cities. “The committee asks for a tive committee where everyone will have very well-defined dossier and then chooses three cities. Based on this book of tasks. In addition, all contractors – organizer, security, ca- charges, they make the selection. In the end, they decided tering service, reception, and transportation, among others, on Phoenix, Houston, and São Paulo. The cities were vis- Rotarians or not, will be treated with the utmost profession- ited and evaluated by professionals appointed by the inter- alism. We must not be careless.” national board, who made reports on their technical visits. It was a tough dispute”, described Pretoni. Pretoni’s expectation is that, during the event, everything will work like an orchestra, with a completely corporate The support of the City Hall of São Paulo was crucial. “At the management. The seriousness and synergy of the com- meeting in Dublin, it was decided that São Paulo would host mittee will be key points for the execution of the Rotary the event. After all, we entered the competition with every- International Convention. “We have a CNPJ registration thing settled. Mayor Kassab provided, at zero cost, Anhembi under the name Associação da Organização da Convenção Park (involving the entire infrastructure, such as the Conven- Rotary (AOC). This company will be closed on September tion Center, Teatro Elis Regina, and the Sambadrome) from 31, 2015, three months after the event. May 29 to June 15, 2015. During the week of the event, the City Hall will also provide subway tickets for the attendants.” 202

FORÇA ROTÁRIA SE AMPLIA Public music with different rhythms, different cuisines and dishes that only Brazil has. In gastronomy, we will be able to show It is important to mention, in Pretoni’s opinion, that ap- vatapá, baião de dois, and feijoada. All this represents Bra- proximately 40,000 people will be involved in this process zilian diversity and can be enjoyed both in São Paulo and in of Rotary. “This figure is rather conservative, since we have other regions.” 20,000 Rotarians in the State of São Paulo alone and, if we count on only 30% of them, accompanied by their spouses, Convention to take over Anhembi we will already have a significant number”, predicted Pre- toni. The organization estimates that 25,000 foreign Rotar- Administered by SPTuris, the Anhembi Park is one of the ians will be attending the event, coming from around the largest conference centers in Latin America. The venue was world, in particular Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Aus- inaugurated in 1970, during the performance of the São tralia, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and European, Paulo International Motor Show, and is the result of the African and South American countries entrepreneurship of Caio de Alcantara Machado, who took the concept of trade shows very seriously. “We will use all kinds of resources from Rotary. This convention belongs to Brazil, not only São Paulo. I hope The Rotary International Convention will be using the that all Brazilians will cooperate with us and envisage the entire infrastructure of the Anhembi Park. “We will be clos- scale of this event. We will engage young exchange students ing a portion to put 18,000 seats for the opening, in the and Brazilian Rotarians from several locations, in addition shape of an auditorium. If we really have a public of 40,000 to Embratur, the Federal Police and security agencies, as people, the opening will be held twice. We will also have the we have many people who will be required a visa to enter House of Friendship, booths, registration area and spaces the country. We will undoubtedly assemble a task force for with workshops and other activities, such as meetings and appropriate reception at various destinations such as São specific events”, anticipated Pretoni. Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Foz do Iguaçu, Manaus, and Campi- nas”, said Pretoni. Anhembi Park has over 400,000m² in total area and hosts 30% of the main events that take place in Brazil and 55% According to Pretoni, pre- and post-event tours are to of the events in the Southeast region of the country. The be provided for all international attendants, who, besides complex annually receives over 12 million people at nearly checking the programming of the Convention, will be able 1,000 events of all sizes and genres held in their premises. to get to know a Brazilian destination. “Undoubtedly, visi- Their exhibition areas already had presentations by the Da- tors will consume many products in Brazil, from gastrono- lai Lama, Bolshoi Ballet, Amy Winehouse, Pope John Paul my to tours to different regions and cultures spread across II, and the entourage of Fidel Castro, among others. the country.” Anhembi Park also hosts major concerts by national and Meeting another Brazil international superstars, as well as sports presentations, such as the Brazilian edition of IndyCar Raicing, broadcast to In São Paulo alone, Rotary International Convention at- over 150 countries. Not coincidentally, one of the most im- tendants can explore the tourism potential and meet dif- portant festivals of the culture of São Paulo – Carnival – is ferent cultures without leaving the city. That is because the held at the Anhembi Sambadrome, whose architectural de- capital of São Paulo is estimated to be the world’s third larg- sign is signed by Oscar Niemeyer. est Italian city, the largest Japanese city outside Japan, the third largest Lebanese city outside Lebanon, the largest Por- Situated in a privileged location, the exhibition center is tuguese city outside Portugal, and the largest Spanish city located near hotels and major highways, besides having a outside Spain. parking lot with capacity for up to 8,500 vehicles. The An- hembi structure includes the Exhibition Pavilion, the Palace To Pretoni, the concept adopted will be to show Brazil. of Conventions and the Sambadrome – which has two are- “While in Lisbon, for example, visitors will get to know nas for concerts, besides the track where the samba schools other countries, such as Spain, England, and Belgium, parade – and Space Anhembi - which can also be used along those in in Brazil will get to know a diverse folklore, dances, with the track structure and the Sambadrome stands. 203

ROTARY BRASIL 90 ANOS ÍNDICE DE ANUNCIANTES CONCREMAT 27 FLASH IDIOMAS 23 FUNDAÇÃO DE ROTARIANOS DE SÃO PAULO 25 GAROTA IPANEMA 47 GUARACAMP 41 IBDN 49 LUSO-BRASILEIRA 87 MURTA ASSOCIADOS 29 PAINEIRA ENGENHARIA 115 PUBLIC 14 PUBLIC DIGITAL 101 RAS BRINDES 163 RC CANTAREIRA 99 RC COPACABANA 91 RC GLÓRIA 35 RC RIO DE JANEIRO 33 INSTITUTO MARQUÊS DE SALAMANCA 95 SOL IPANEMA HOTEL 43 UNIGRANRIO 89 UNISUAN 45 VOKO 31 Referências Sites * Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Principais publicações consultadas www.gatesfoundation.org * Contribuição à História do Rotary no Brasil * End Polio Now Autor Alberto Amarante www.endpolio.org * Edições impressas da Brasil Rotário * Rotary International (Números 1074, 1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1082, 1089) www.rotary.org * Marketing Social – Relevância e Resultados * Rotary Club de São Paulo Autor Waldenir de Bragança www.rotarysp.org.br * Boletim Semanal Rotary Club do Rio de Janeiro (Nº * Rotary Club do Rio de Janeiro 31) www.rotaryrj.org.br * Carta Mensal Distrito 4570 * Rotary Global History Fellowship (Nº 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08) www.rotaryfirst100.org * Brasil Rotário www.brasilrotario.com.br 204