For the first time in 13 years, the annual Rotary District 9780 Conference will be held in Ballarat to celebrate the service organisation's achievements.
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The three-day March conference is expected to attract more than 300 rotarians from across western Victoria and southeast South Australia.
Tennis legend, author and domestic abuse survivor Jelena Dokic and bestselling author and educator John Marsden will headline the guest speakers at the event.
The conference is being held in Ballarat because it is the hometown of the Rotary District 9780 governor, Kathy Rivett, who has been a rotarian for 22 years.
She said it was exciting to be able to host the district conference because it would showcase Ballarat, increase visitation to the city and show the community how rotary had evolved.
"The message is 'imagine what rotary is doing to change the world' because we are doing so much for our local, national and international communities. Everyday there is a new project helping somebody somewhere," Ms Rivett said.
"Rotary is changing over the years. It is a lot different to what it was like in the past. This is the new face of rotary; more relaxed meetings, a lot more opportunities with hands-on projects and different opportunities to help our own communities."
Other guest speakers include plastic and reconstructive surgeon Anthony Holmes who separated Bangladeshi conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna in 2009 and one of Lismore's flood heroes Mark O'Toole.
There will be a dinner and dance at Mercure Ballarat, a Ballarat bus tour and three different activities at the Ballarat Airport, including making sandwiches for the Eat Up program.
"It's a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new friends, look at the projects that are available, look at the programs that rotary uses to make changes in the world," Ms Rivett said.
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She encouraged Ballarat businesses to display 'welcome' signs in their front windows.
Ms Rivett said rotary was about people working together to help solve some of society's most pressing and complex problems.
"We encourage the general public to get involved in our projects or if they see something that we could be involved in to invite us to get involved. We're not a closed shop, we're open to ideas, we're open to working with community groups," Ms Rivett said.
"Most Rotarians are community minded and they want to give back in any opportunity they can."
The Rotary District 9780 Conference will be held from March 24 to 26. Ms Rivett thanked the City of Ballarat for supporting the event.
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