A note to new Toastmasters... Welcome to the new and returning Toastmasters who have joined or rejoined a Toastmasters club in District 90 recently. "Ninety News" is a newsletter of District activities and important Toastmasters matters sent regularly to members.
 

Congratulations to District 90's newest DTMs

Congratulations to all four District 90 Toastmasters, the most recent achievers of the Distinguished Toastmaster award.

Stephanie Dunn of MGSM Speaking & Debating, Brian Jones of Parrachievers Westmead Toastmasters (and also Area 14 Director), Elizabeth Lloyd of Sapphire City Toastmasters (and also Northern Division Director) and Linda Said of Parramatta Toastmasters (also current D70 Club Growth Director).

From left – Stephanie, Brian, Elizabeth, Linda
 

From the District Director

August is a hive of activity. The first round of Club Officer Training is in its final weeks. Our Winning Sunday was very successful, with the audience asking for more.

There were workshops including Contest Judging and Sponsor, Mentor and Coach (SMaC). Amidst all these events, clubs are holding their Humorous Speech and Table Topic contests, Area and Division Contests are being organised.

Pathways is definitely rolling out in December.  Our Program Quality Director Phil Reed is currently recruiting Pathway Guides to help with the rollout. You would have received correspondence from him and if you are interested in becoming a guide, you may contact him for further details at pqd@d90toastmasters.org.au.

To our newest DTMS... well done for achieving the highest award in Toastmasters. This is a very rewarding journey.  Your learning and growth would have reached another level.

TRIO - Vancouver
This month, your Trio travels to Vancouver for the 2017 Toastmasters International Convention. At the weekend, we will be conducting in-depth interviews on your behalf of all candidates for international office. This is a very serious task as it is important we vote for the right candidates to represent us. As well as International officers, we will be voting for seven International Director candidates, from Regions 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 who will serve two years on the board. Next year, directors from the even numbered regions will be up for election. Although the directors come from different regions, they represent the worldwide community of Toastmasters.

Since last year and over the past few months we have conducted preliminary interviews with candidates through phone calls and researched their websites so that we will be better equipped with knowledge of their capabilities to represent us and also for us to conduct the face-to-face interviews.

Trio Training
This takes place Monday/Tuesday next week. Like Club Leaders, Area and Division Directors, the Trio also requires training so that we can better perform our roles. This round involves the Trios from all Toastmasters Districts in the world.  With everyone together, we should have very dynamic discussions and gather new ideas. I am very proud to say that our District has been able to contribute to new ideas, like the change in mentoring for new clubs clubs to be a minimum of 12 months and for corporate clubs, to allow the two mentors to be members of their closed club. This was accepted widely and the Second VP was most impressed.

Proxy Votes 
Proxy prowler Michael Said has been busily prowling for proxies not just for our District but also for District 70.  What would we do without this persistent prowler!  To-date it looks like we will have 100 percent of District 90 clubs being represented at the International Business Session.

Convention
The Convention runs from Wednesday to Saturday next week (August 23 to 26),.  It will be a very busy time with the Business Meeting, Candidates Showcase, Education Sessions and an additional session on Pathways.  

The highlight, of course, will be the International Speech Contest semi-finals. Dale Rees-Bevan, our District Champion, will be there to win her way through to the finals. She has been very busy practicing her winning speech at every opportunity.

If you are not going to the Convention and want to see Dale speak, or any of the other semi finals or sessions, you can do so via this link www.toastmasters.org/Events/2017-International-Convention/on-demand.  You may want to have a social event with your club members and host a party at your home to watch the contest.

We wish Dale the best of luck!

Important Notification: Past District Governor John Inglis is Acting District Director while I am away from August 17 until September 12.  If you have any urgent matter please contact John. His email address is john@amron.com.au

– Shirley Childs DTM

Club Anniversaries

Yamba Yabbies is celebrating the club's 10th anniversary on Saturday September 23.

Ten years is a huge milestone to achieve. Congratulations and well done!

Special guest at the celebration will be (by then) Immediate Past International President Mike Storkey. More information, including a flyer for download, can be obtained from the District 90 What's On page.

Leaders In Action (LIA)

In July, Leaders In Action hosted a District workshop on Winning Strategies conducted by District champions Dale Rees-Bevan, Alan Rees-Bevan and Chris Davitt.

The session was highly interactive, the audience was entertained and given valuable tips on how to win in Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluation. Our thanks to the three champions for their generosity.

Pictured, from left, Allan, Dale and Chris with Eunice Zhao, Sgt At Arms of Leaders in Action.

Authentic Leadership

At 9am on October 14, LIA is hosting our International Director David Fisher (pictured) for an interactive workshop on Authentic Leadership.

A brief on his topic:  "An authentic leader is respected for who they are and not what kind of leader they are. People watch leaders and are constantly forming opinions.

"We trust authentic character. It is powerful and inspirational. Connecting as an authentic leader means engaging with our community. This session delves into the qualities of presence recognisable in authentic leaders.”

David is currently serving in the first of two years as a Director on the Toastmasters International Board of Directors. Prior to that, he was District Governor of District 70 in its reformation year (prior to reforming into District 70 and District 90).

Rewards for membership building

A reminder that Toastmasters International is currently running the "Smedley Award" membership drive from 1st August to 30th September.

Can your club add five new, dual or re-instated members before the end of September?

Why not have a go?

What's in it for your club?

• More members can fill meeting and officer roles
• Meetings are more fun, because more people are involved
• More members mean more people benefitting from Toastmasters!
• A Smedley Award ribbon for your club banner (from Toastmasters International)
• 10% discount coupon (from District 90 Toastmasters) on any stores order from Toastmasters Supplies Australia (must be used within 60 days of issue, first order placed, no limit on amount spent).

Save the date! New club demonstration meeting

A demonstration meeting to establish a specialty "trainers" club in the Hunter will be held on Wednesday, September 27.

Venue is Merewether Golf Club at 40 King Street, Adamstown, and the contact for further information is John Quinn... john_quinn2@bigpond.com

Click this link to view educational achievements
in District 90 so far this Toastmasters year

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

Toastmasters Supplies Australia will only be providing a limited service from 4th to 23rd September due to holidays. Please order your requirements in August if possible. After that, if your orders are not urgent please hold and submit them in the last week of September.