What is PETS?

Carolinas' PETS is a thirty-five year-old training seminar that prepares upcoming Rotary club and district leaders for their terms in office. What began in 1986 has become a premier Rotary training event and used as a model for many others.

In-depth seminars that emphasize participation in conjunction with fun and fellowship make for a powerful learning experience for Rotary's leaders. Learn more about Carolinas' PETS by visiting our Registration Tips page. It's packed with answers to popular FAQs.

The next seminar is March 5-7, 2020 at the Sheraton in Greensboro, NC with a registration deadline of January 20, 2020. On-line registration will be available beginning October 15th.

Dates of Nearby PETS [2020 Event Dates available by December 2019]

Check with your Governor-Elect to be able to attend these nearby events:

• February 20-23, 2019 at the Valley Forge Radisson (PA). Contact Gary Fedorcha.
• February 23-24, 2019 at the Charleston Marriott in Charleston, SC. Contact Rod Funderburk.
• March 1-3, 2019 in Renaissance Concourse Hotel - Airport (GA). Contact Rich Panyik.
• February 28 - March 2, 2019 at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly (VA). Contact Eric Grubb.
• TBD 2019 at Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke (VA). Contact George Karnes.
• Other Multi-District PETS Events

Learning

Using inspiring speakers and experienced discussion leaders, Carolinas' PETS is structured to enable the participants to extract maximum benefits from the materials presented as well as from each other. For selected topics, we utilize group sessions based on club size whenever possible. Typically, these are organized into smaller groups of twenty to thirty participants.

Also, there are opportunities for the individual districts to meet as groups. These are times when the district leadership is presenting district specific goals and objectives for the upcoming Rotary year. This setting is a great opportunity to enhance the relationships among the district and club leaders.

Who Should Attend?

Per the RI Manual of Procedure, every club president must attend PETS immediately prior to their year of service as club president. In most clubs, that officer is the President-Elect. More and more, we see clubs and districts promoting the attendance of the President-Nominee (or Vice-President).

Generally all Assistant Governors attend whether they are in their first, second or third year of service. The District Governors Nominee (DGN) and the District Governors Nominee Designate (DGND) attend PETS for orientation to the event that they will help plan and execute the following year as well as to have time together to learn about Zone Institutes and International Assembly training.

Networking

Throughout the event, from Thursday at 2:00pm until Saturday at 2:30pm, you will have an extraordinary opportunity to experience what Rotary is outside the confines of your own club. Many of us feel that our club "hangs the moon" until we have experienced a multi-district event like Carolinas' PETS. We cannot really imagine how many different approaches there might be to common club or district issues or ways to have fund raising funds for projects.

Here, you will experience the common threads and the diversity of more than 360 clubs from seven districts. To some degree, all club and district leaders seek similar objectives. But every person at this event has something special to offer from a fresh approach on a weekly event to a best practice on running a club.

Fellowship

At some some point, each of us has the opportunity to not feel as engaged in our Rotary club as we once did. Yet, we continue to attend the meetings. Why? The answer is fellowship. We join Rotary for different reasons. We stay for two reasons: fellowship ... and the sense of satisfaction from our deeds of service that benefit those in our communities who need us. Like a District Governor say recently during a club visit, "Stand up for Rotary!"

Inspiration

Many times during our involvement in various organizations, our enthusiam wanes. Seizing the opportunity to reach out beyond the comfort zone of our club or district can yield a renewed energy toward the objective of service to others. Every participant and staff person at Carolinas' PETS brings something different to the meeting. When they share it, each of us has the opportunity to experience someone else's enthusiasm. When you hear this in their voice, you can feel it in yourself. It will be contagious!