Delegates elected Daniel Vigneron as vice president at the 102nd Annual Kiwanis International Convention in Paris, France. Vigneron, from the Belgium-Luxembourg District, begins his role on October 1, 2017. Four members sought election to the vice president post, including Arthur "Art" Riley from the Capital District, Dewey Smith from the Georgia District, and Barbara "Barb" Thompson from the Missouri-Arkansas District.

Delegates also confirmed the elections of James "Jim" Rochford of the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District as 2017–18 Kiwanis International president and the Philippine Luzon District's Florencio "Poly" Lat as president-elect. Per Kiwanis procedure, election to those positions were unchallenged. 

Several new members of the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees also have been elected to the trustee position. They include:  

• Greg Beard from the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District; Charles "Chuck" Gugliuzza from the Florida District; Richard "Dick" Olmstead from the California-Nevada-Hawaii District, representing the US and Pacific Canada region 
• Ernest Schmid from the Austria District, in the at-large seat 
• Paul Inge Paulsen of the Norden District, who was elected to represent the Europe region by delegates attending the Kiwanis International-European Federation in Paris this week  

Peter Kimberley from the Australia District, who was elected in March to represent the Asia-Pacific region, passed away while traveling home from the convention in Paris. The Kiwanis International Board will fill the vacancy left by Peter's absence in accordance with the Kiwanis International Bylaws.

The board appointed Marcel Kreienbül to a one-year term to fill the seat created with the election of Vigneron as vice president.

Also during the business session, delegates passed two amendments to the Kiwanis International Bylaws and rejected four others. 

Approved: 

• Amendment 1: District Equivalency for Background Checks
  To remove the provision that allows criminal history background checks conducted by districts to be considered equivalent to those conducted by Kiwanis International. (Submitted by the Kiwanis International Board.)
• Amendment 2: Resolving Tie Votes for Kiwanis International Elections
  To provide a way for tie votes on elections to be resolved in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order. (Submitted by the Kiwanis International Board.)  

Failed: 

• Amendment 3: Dues for Members Who Belong to More Than One Club
  To provide that members who belong to more than one club shall pay Kiwanis International and district dues only to their primary club but not their secondary club(s). (Submitted by the Kiwanis Club of Rijn en Gouwe, the Netherlands, and the Kiwanis Club of Rheden “de Veluwezoom,” the Netherlands.) 
• Amendment 4: District Limitation on the Kiwanis International Board
  To remove the limitation that only one person from a district may serve on the Kiwanis International Board at the same time. (Submitted by the Kiwanis Club of Springfield-Downtown, Illinois, USA.)
• Amendment 5: District ‘Dark Year’ Restriction on the Kiwanis International Board
  To remove the restriction that a person may not serve on the Kiwanis International Board for one full year after someone else from the same district has left service on the Board (the ‘dark year’ provision). (Submitted by the Kiwanis Club of Springfield-Downtown, Illinois, USA.)
• Amendment 6: Secure Web-Based Voting for Kiwanis International Business
  To provide for candidate nominations and initial review of proposed amendments and resolutions at the Kiwanis International convention, with final voting permitted to take place online.  (Submitted by the Capital District Board.) 

To learn more about the amendment proposals, consult the proposed amendments booklet.