Greetings Fabulous Toastmasters,
What a year so far! The Winter session of Club Officer Training is almost over — they have been amazing! These sessions have been amazing — focused on club leaders sharing their experiences and ideas to help others benefit from what they are learning about your roles, as well as very interactive sessions that concentrated on Developing Membership strategies and Increasing Membership Engagement in Pathways. A huge thanks to the training team that has worked diligently to provide focused and inviting sessions. Don’t miss the last Club Officer Training session on Monday, February 19th at 6pm and don’t hesitate to bring your club members to this event as well, we encourage it!
Area Contests results are announced and the winning contestants are moving on to the Division contests now taking place throughout the district. Watching the continued growth of the contestants, applying what they have learned as Toastmasters, stretching outside comfort zones is incredibly inspiring. It’s a thrill to be part of these exciting events in our District and we welcome all members to be part of it, not just as a contestant. Consider being a judge, ballot counter, timer or a Sargeant-at-Arms! You can volunteer by contacting your Division Directors (A – B – C – D – E) Winners of the Division Evaluation & International Speech Contests will move on to compete at the District level happening at our Annual District Conference on Friday, May 10th and Saturday May 11th!
Conference Co-Chairs Richard E. Peck, DTM, PIP and David Freedman, DTM have announced “BREAKING BARRIERS” as the theme for our 2024 Annual Conference celebrating 100 Years of Toastmasters, that will feature Accredited Speaker Sheryl Roush, DTM as our Keynote Speaker! The District Evaluation Speech Contest will be held on Friday evening, May 10th. The events on Saturday, May 11th will include breakfast and lunch in conjunction with our Keynote Speaker Sheryl Roush, DTM AS, a wide variety of Education Sessions and Workshops presented by members of District 53, The Hall of Fame, Inductions of newly elected District Officers, the presentation of the Communication and Leadership Award (nominations still being accepted) and of course the District International Speech Contest in the afternoon on Saturday, May 11th! Early Bird specials are still available for you to attend!
The District Leadership Training session I attended in January, along with District Director Patti Walter and Club Growth Director Mohan Padamati, along with District leaders from regions around the world was an amazing learning and development event. It was jam-packed with two days of intense workshops for the sole purpose of helping us, to help our members succeed in this second half of our Toastmasters year. What we learned and strategized over, reinforced the reasons we all choose to serve in our varied roles, and we are always just a phone call away!
Yours in Toastmasters Service,
Bettyann Peck, DTM
Program Quality Director 2023-2024