2024-25 – District 53 Toastmasters

DLC ’24-’25 Announced

Posted on November 30, 2024 | by Andrew Watt, DTM

District 53 is pleased to announce the formation of the District Leadership Committee (DLC), seeking candidates for the offices of District Director, Program Quality Director, Club Growth Director, and the five Division Directors.

Jeff Sobel, DTM PID will lead the DLC as its chair.

Representing the divisions are:

Division A: Janice Dimock, DTM
Division B: Jennifer Cimilluca, DTM
Division C: Bette McIntire, DTM, PDD
Division D: Akihiro Ishii, DTM, PDD
Division E: Jim Parsons, DTM

Interested members, and members wishing to nominate another member to candidacy, should send inquiries to nominations@d53tm.org, which will be forwarded to Jeff Sobel and distributed to the committee. Please review the necessary steps at the District Leadership Committee page.

Club Coaches are Crucial

Posted on November 23, 2024 | by Andrew Watt, DTM

District 53 is seeking 12 members to serve as club coaches. If you’re looking to tackle a High-Performance Leadership (HPL) project as a Level 5 requirement/elective, a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) project as a capstone for your Pathways goals, or other leadership elective projects for Levels 3–5, sign up today!

What is a club coach? What do they do?

Individuals in this crucial role are experienced Toastmasters members who assist clubs in rebuilding club membership and restoring club quality. If you’re working in the Pathways paths of Dynamic Leadership, Motivational Strategies, Persuasive Influence, or Visionary Communication, you could be a great fit as a club coach!

Your job is…

Build rapport with club officers and members
Instill enthusiasm, camaraderie, and structure within the club
Assess the club environment and recommend best practices for success
Work with club officers to develop a Club Success Plan
Motivate the club to strive for Distinguished Club Program (DCP) recognition

Who can be a club coach?

If you are a paid member in good standing, have been a member for one year or longer, have served as a club officer for one annual term (or two semiannual terms), and have completed at least Levels 1 and 2 in any path, you can be a club coach!

Why be a club coach?

Serving as a club coach is a great way to gain experience, grow your knowledge, and feel a sense of fulfilment. Benefits include:

Personal Growth: Refine your speaking and leadership skills
Leadership Development: Build such skills as facilitation, active listening, critical thinking, and motivation
Networking Opportunities: Connect with club members from a wide variety of backgrounds
Community Impact: Make a positive impact on the community by helping members develop their public speaking, communication, and leadership skills

Learn more Today!

Contact Club Retention Chair Sharon Mercado by December 8, 2024: ClubRetentionChair@d53tm.org

Contest Rules: Areas

Posted on November 16, 2024 | by Andrew Watt, DTM

Rule 3 in the Speech Contest Rulebook for 2024-2025, on page 9, gives Districts permission to make slight adjustments to which contestants advance at the Area and Division levels, based on how many clubs are in each Area, or based on how many Areas are in each Division. This has been true for many years.

District 53’s District Executive Committee (DEC) makes this determination annually at its August meeting. These rules interpretations should be applied consistently across all Divisions and Areas throughout the 2024-2025 contest season.

Here are this year’s interpretations.

Area Contests (Rule 3.B, page 9)

If an Area has four or fewer clubs, each club in that Area can send two (2) contestants for each contest to the Area Contest.

As of this writing, this rule applies to:
- In Division A
  - Area 11
  - Area 12
  - Area 13
  - Area 15
- In Division B
  - Area 21
  - Area 22
  - Area 23
  - Area 24
- In Division C
  - Area 31
  - Area 34
- In Division D
  - Area 41
  - Area 42
  - Area 43
- In Division E
  - Area 55

If a new club charters in an Area with only four clubs in it prior to the Area Contest, the clubs in that Area are still allowed to send two contestants to the Area Contest.

Division Contests (Rule 3.B.2, p. 9)

If a Division has four or fewer Areas, each Area in that Division can send two (2) contestants for each contest to the Division Contest.

As of this writing this rule applies to
- Division C
- Division D

In any case, only one (1) contestant in each contest will advance from each Division Contest to the District Contest.

Basecamp Outage, 9-26 October 2024

Posted on October 8, 2024 | by Andrew Watt, DTM

The Pathways BaseCamp system will be down beginning Wednesday 9 October 2024, and is expected to return to operations on 26 October 2024.

Members have been asking for a number of updates to the Basecamp system, and we’re all excited to see what rolls out at the end of October!

You can visit Basecamp today and download the printable/PDF forms of your current projects and goals, and keep working in your Path all through this month. Ask your VPE for assistance with this task if you need to.

District 53 will also update this message with a link to new information as it becomes available to us.

In the meantime, please access the following resources to help you continue to work toward your goals:

Ice Breaker – Get started with the first Pathways project.
Evaluations – Download evaluation resources for most Pathways projects.
Moments of Truth – Need something to do during a meeting? This guide will help the overall health of your club while providing a speaking opportunity and learning experience.
Toastmaster magazine – More meeting inspiration.