As a Rotary Convention attendee, it is important that you make yourself aware, in advance, of any "Alerts" for the areas you will be visiting which have been issued by the U.S. State Department and various embassies worldwide.  Unless an alert is a "major" concern you should not be worried about your safety while attending a Rotary convention, but you still need to take some precautions during your stay to insure that you will not be come a "target" for theft or any other type of unwanted activity.

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Convention Safety "Do's" and "Dont's"

1. PASSPORTS:  Do not carry your passport with you once you arrive at the convention destination.  Make a copy of the passport if you so desire and carry it with you but leave your passport at the hotel.  If the room you are staying in has a safe, lock it in the safe.  If it doesn't, consider leaving it in the hotel safe.  Most important, do NOT carry it with you.  If it is stolen or you lose it, obtaining a new one in order to get home will be difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming and will delay your return home.

2. CASH:  Do not carry all of your cash with you.  Always leave enough cash in your hotel room safe or in the hotel safe to get you through the convention should you lose your money or be robbed.  Otherwise, you could easily end up at the convention with no money at all and have difficulty getting home.

3. CREDIT CARDS:  Keep one credit card in your hotel room or in the hotel safe.  As almost all airlines require that you scan a credit card with your name in order to get your boarding pass, you will need to have a credit card in your possession at the airport when you depart for home or obtaining a boarding pass will be very time-consuming and you could miss a flight.

4. CONVENTION BADGES:  Upon departing the convention center make very sure that you DO NOT WEAR YOUR CONVENTION BADGE!  When you do, you become an instant target.  Take it off and put it somewhere out of sight.  If you are taking advantage of Rotary international transportation to and from your hotel, you can leave it on until after you board the bus / train / etc. but then remove it and leave it in your hotel room.  Under no circumstances should you wear your badge if you plan go out during the day or evening when shopping, dining or attending a non-Rotary event.

5. CONVENTION COMMEMORATIVE BAGS:  Do not carry your commemorative convention bag around with you as you walk around the city.  Convention bags are just like convention badges.  They are highly visible and quickly identify you as a tourist target.  Leave them in your hotel room, and bring another plain tote bag with you to the convention that you can carry things in.  Save your convention bag for your return home where you know you’ll be safe.

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES BEFORE YOU DEPART:  Prior to leaving for the convention, purchase special handbags (for the ladies) and security wallets (for the man) from websites such as Travel Smith to protect your credit cards and cash while you are walking around the city.  These travel clothing and accessory websites offer valuable tips for travelers and outstanding products that can help you be safe and thwart the attempts of thieves to steal your bags and wallets.  http://www.travelsmith.com  Be safe . . . not sorry.