A great start to our year

Just two months into our first year and it is pleasing to see the more than 100 education awards achieved by our members. More than 250 membership payments have been recorded representing many new members in our organisation and we have a new club chartered already for 2015-16… In Focus, the advanced Toastmasters club in Lismore.

We are certainly well on our way to President’s Distinguished in our first year which will mean our members are meeting their needs and we are growing as an organisation.

It is important for us all to know and understand why we have the Distinguished recognition program in Toastmasters. It is not purely so we can pat ourselves on the back and say what a great job we are doing. Certainly we should do that. But it is more a measure of how well clubs are meeting the needs of their members and how we as club, area, division and district leaders are doing our jobs. KPIs, if you like – Key Performance Indicators.

But there is another aspect to the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) and that is the Club Success Plan (CSP), which many of you will know of… the planning part of the process used by club executives. What the CSP does is give clubs one of the most effective tools available so it can plan for success… again, to be as effective as possible in meeting the needs of members.

When club members are achieving education awards, they are learning and growing; when clubs add new members, they broaden the depth of experiences for everyone; and when we establish new clubs, we offer the Toastmasters opportunity to many more people in our communities.

Congratulations to the sponsors and charter members of the first new clubs to be chartered this year in District 90... In Focus Toastmasters at Lismore (Oxley Division). In Focus has chartered with 21 members.

It shouldn't be long now before we can also congratulate Australian Catholic University (ACU), the new club in formation in North Sydney. ACU actually applied for charter in the last Toastmasters year but, as it is partly a "virtual" club, it did not fit the then requirements of Toastmasters International. At its Board meeting this month, the Board decided to allow virtual clubs and so the charter of ACU will soon be formalised.

It would be remiss of me not also to congratulate the sponsors and charter members of Fossickers Way Toastmasters. This new club in Northern Division chartered at the close of the last Toastmasters year so has not, up until now, been formally recognised. Fossickers Way meets alternate meetings between the towns of Barraba, Bingara and Manilla and chartered with a membership of 26.

As we are right in the middle of our first contest season now, I encourage all members to think about entering either Humorous Speech or Table Topics contests at club level (if you haven't already done so). I also encourage those not entering to support their winners at Area and Division levels as these competition days are held. Many more people in the audience at these events make for a much better experience for all involved.

With kind regards
Bob Kirchner DTM
dd@d90toastmasters.org.au

New clubs in formation

District 90 currently has three new clubs in formation and quite a few in the pipeline.

These are CBA Parramatta Toastmasters, Rouse Hill Toastmasters and Sun Up Speakers in Tamworth. CBA is a closed corporate club.

Rouse Hill Toastmasters meets at The Australian Brewery on Annangrove Road from 7 to 9pm on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Contact is Geri on 0447 794 021.

Sun Up Speakers meets on the first and third Tuesdays at Inspirations Cafe in Peel Street from 6:30am to 8pm. Email contact is sunuptm@yahoo.com.au

If you have an idea for a new club, contact our Club Growth Director Shirley Childs, cgd@d90toastmasters.org.au.

Clubs can be regular community clubs, corporate clubs or specialty clubs (like special interest and advanced).

Sign up to our facebook page

Yes! We're a new District!! And, yes! We have our own facebook page!!!

This members' page is a closed group so you will need to subscribe to the page to be able to gain access.

The page is designed to be a place where you can chat, brag, query and discuss any subject relating to Toastmasters and District 90 in particular.

A promotional page for Toastmasters in NSW is being established jointly by District 70 and District 90 and separately from our members pages. The promotional page is just that - a page that will promote our organisation, specifically to those who live in the state of NSW.

Click on the facebook logo to go to our page.

Club leaders trained

Club leadership training concludes at the end of August and so far, District 90 has seen more than 75 percent of clubs with more than four club leaders attending the numerous training sessions organised by Area and Division Directors.

And this excellent figure will grow as more attendance reports are submitted to Toastmasters International.

Complete the training evaluation

If you have attended Club Leadership Training in this round, don't forget to complete the evaluation form here...

www.surveymonkey.com/r/MLSTNJV
 

Giving us your feedback will not only allow you to make direct suggestions as to what could or should be included, it will allow us to plan better for future sessions.

Club promotion

Club VPPRs looking for ideas?? start at www.d70toastmasters.org.au/district-70/public-relations/resources/101-public-relations-pointers-for-toastmasters. As we develop them, there will be more ideas, tutorials etc posted under the publicity tab on the District 90 website.

There are a series of five radio ads that you can access to give to your local radio station and suggest that they might like to play them as part of their community service obligations. If you would like more information email prm@d90toastmasters.org.au

Digital promotions team

Needless to say there is a lot of work being done on our new website and our presence is beginning to be felt on the other social media outlets.

A digital communications strategy has been adopted that will see both District 90 and District 70 working jointly to ensure we get even and consistent coverage.

We're looking for people to help introduce and run these initiatives. Does that sound something like you might be interested in? Do you want to help lead the district in this new way?

Purpose: Use online presence to promote Toastmasters in NSW...

• Bloggers with website management capability (2 people)

• Social Media Team (2-3 people)

Sound interesting? Give me a ring on 0412 288 320 or an email on my address above.

Justyn Phillips
Public Relations Manager
District 90

International Convention report

The Toastmasters International Convention was held in Las Vegas earlier this month and quite a few District 90 members attended, together with many from District 70... around 40 in total.

A good number along to enjoy the activities, be inspired by the educationals and support our local World Championship of Public Speaking Semi-finalist David Griffiths of Parramatta Club (Area 13, Western Division... pictured right, at right with the winner and third placegetter in the semi final).

David's speech and presentation was brilliant but he was pipped by the judges at the post gaining second place in his semi final.

The ultimate winner of the World Championship on the Saturday of the Convention was Mohammed Qahtani from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (District 79) with his speech "The Power of Words".

Aditya Maheswaran of Mumbai, India (District 41), came second with "Scratch". And Manoj Vasudevan of Singapore, District 80, was third with "We Can Fix It”.

More than 2,000 Toastmasters from throughout the world attended this year's convention and saw many highlights including the induction of 2015-16 International President Jim Kococki from Canada by outgoing President, Mohammad Murad.

Of strong local interest was the election, unopposed, of our own Queensland-based Mike Storkey to the position of International President-elect (which means he will be our International President  in the 2016-17 Toastmasters year).

In official business, Proposal A (a bundled proposition of four separate proposals) was put to the meeting and passed by the required two thirds majority of votes after it was first challenged on the basis that it was not the right thing to bundle proposals in that manner. The proposals were to

• De-restrict the number of candidates who may be nominated by the International Leadership Committee (ILC) for Second Vice President and international director.
• And a number of housekeeping proposals including formalisation of the change of District leader titles.

Among the excellent educational sessions and presentations was a presentation by Australia’s Alex Malley, Chief Executive of CPA Australia. And another top session from our recent Conference special guest Dana LaMon.

This year’s Golden Gavel Award was presented to Muhammad Yunus in recognition for his efforts to end poverty through micro-lending and cause-driven businesses in his home country of Bangladesh and throughout the world.

In it's annual Board of Directors briefing, the 2015 strategic Plan for Toastmasters International was launched. It makes very interesting reading and can be accessed here… www.toastmasters.org/~/media/BC35DE17AA044405860761FDB85E66C5.ashx

Club Anniversaries

Congratulations to the following clubs for reaching significant anniversaries...

BLUE GUM FLAT TOASTMASTERS ... 25 in August!
GLENBROOK TOASTMASTERS ... 25 in September!
INVERELL BREAKFAST ... 15 in September!
ST IVES TOASTMASTERS ... 25 in September!
TRANSPORT TOASTMASTERS CHATSWOOD ... 5 in September!

Semi Annual Conference registrations now open

Registrations are NOW OPEN for the first ever major District 90 event, the 2015 Semi An

nual Conference, to be held in Tamworth Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 27, 28 and 29.

The Conference website has all the information attendees need to know with additional information being added as appropriate.

The website can be found here and includes a direct link to the registration page.

Come to Tamworth in November and help us "Shine a Light on our new District"!!
 

Distinguished Toastmasters

Kamal Arora, Kings Langley Toastmasters
Cheryl Brown, Harbord Diggers Daytime Toastmasters
Lynne Harris, Western Lectern
Judy Mason, Summerland Toastmasters
Marianne Moore, Elouera Toastmasters
Sally Morton, Manly Multilingual Club
Mark Renton, Blue Tongue Club
Bruce Ronan, Gosford City Council Toastmasters
Carol South, Inverell Breakfast Club

For a full listing of achievements, click here.



Need supplies for your club? Or for yourself? Visit Toastmasters Supplies Australia website here.