District Council Meeting 2nd Notice

by

Dear District Council Member,

Notice: District Council Meeting

You are invited to attend the District Council Meeting on Saturday 7 May at 11:00 the Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ.

Members of the District 91 District Council are Club Presidents, Club Vice Presidents Education, Area Directors, Division Directors and District Leadership Team members.

Proxy voting: In order for our District Council to conduct business, there needs to be a quorum of a third of all Club Presidents and Vice Presidents Education (VPEs). Therefore, it is really important that each President or VPE either attends or looks for a member in good standing from their club to carry their vote (a proxy). If you are sending a proxy, and send/give it to the person you want to carry your vote. Note that other District Council members cannot send a proxy, just club Presidents and VPEs. Proxy-Form-May-2016

If you cannot make the meeting, please send in any apologies, by close of Wednesday 4 May 2016.

Registration: All voters for the District Council Meeting must register with the Parliamentarian at the Conference in advance of the District Council Meeting in order to get credit for their vote. Registration will close at 10:30 sharp on the morning of the District Council Meeting.

Let club members know that if they want to attend the District Council Meeting, there is no fee and they can do so without purchasing a conference package.

At the District Council Meeting we remember those members that have passed away, please email Helena Brewer with their names by Thursday 5 May.

District Realignment Proposals 2016/2017: The information relating to the District Realignment is available on the District 91 website.

District Council Meeting supporting information:-

Agenda

Finance Report

District Realignment Summary and District Realignment Proposals 2016/2017

The Conference: The Londinium Conference is being held at The Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ, on 7 – 8 May. The conference has workshops for delegates to attend, key note speakers; David Taylor author of ‘The Naked Leader’ and Mohammad Qahtani current Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking, plus the District finals of the International Speech and the Evaluation contests. Secure your place at the Conference by booking.

Look forward to seeing you all in London.

Helena Brewer

District 91 Administration Manager

Imagine a Toastmasters meeting in a language you don’t speak

by

From Steve Brewer, Area 61 Director

PYP Watford April 2016

A Polish Your Polish Watford meeting

On Sunday 3 April 2016 I had the privilege, and I don’t use that word lightly, to see Polish Your Polish come to Watford and present a Toastmasters session. This was to help Piotr Janik market interest in a new Polish speaking club that we hope will be based in Watford.

I was under the illusion that I would purely go, in my role as Area Director,  to support my friend Piotr, help set up the room and  say a few words about how wonderful Toastmasters is.

My illusion was quickly shattered as I became immersed in a Toastmasters session in a foreign language …which I don’t speak. The speakers and facilitators were truly engaging and the true nature of the best toastmasters clubs, providing a mutually supportive learning environment,  wasn’t lost in my failure to understand the words.

In fact it heightened my pleasure to see first hand how people fully engaged the audience, with eye contact, body language and the timing of the delivery of their messages. I was even able to evaluate two of the prepared speeches.

Even though I was totally immersed in the session the group included me further by a table topics challenge. The scenario was given in English. This was my cue that it was my turn. I was given a thoughtful English evaluation sandwiched in between the Polish ones.

Ralph Smedley said “We learn best in moments of enjoyment”. Very appropriately the word of the day was radość which means joy.  I would like to publically thank everyone who attended for providing me with an exceptional experience that I will remember for a very long time.

Wole Ososami – Candidate for Division Director

by

Wole Ososami – Candidate for Division Director

To All District Council members

wole

Thank you for the opportunity to present myself as your candidate for the Division Director (Division K).

What makes me the ideal candidate for Division Director

There are three things that make me the ideal and promising candidate:

The first is my passion for Toastmasters International as evidenced by my dedication, full engagement and service in various roles since joining my local Toastmaster club, The Speakers of Croydon in April 2011. I have served my club as VPPR, VPE and President for full terms of 12 months in each office.

Read more

Andy Hammond DTM – Candidate for Club Growth Director

by

Andy Hammond DTM – Candidate for Club Growth Director

FirstlyAndy Hammond web pic1 small, a little bit about me.

I joined Toastmasters in January 2001 as a member of Arun Speakers in West Sussex. I had done a multitude of training sessions and presentations in my career to date, and not to be too hard on myself, I was okay. I wanted to be so much better than just okay. There were two specific areas I felt I needed to work on: keeping to a script – I do tend to ad lib and get side-tracked very easily; and dealing with questions in meetings, sometimes in public – I found it difficult to give considered and structured answers.

Read more

PR and Marketing for Toastmasters’ Clubs Workshop

by
PR and Marketing for Toastmasters’ Clubs: A hands-on workshop for officers and members.

Have you ever wanted to plan marketing or PR for your club but didn’t know where to start?  Or thought you had a good news story but didn’t know how to pitch it to the press?  Or wanted to know how to produce a Facebook page?  (Or just wondered what it is?)

If you have ever wanted to know about the basics of marketing your club, this is the workshop for you.

This workshop will cover how to:
•  Understand the best marketing and PR methods for small organisations and what works at a local level
•  How to write a press release, talk to and contact journalists and media organisations.
•  The basics of producing a leaflet and a Facebook page
•  How to organise, run and market an event promoting your club – and look at what events work best!
•  How to write for your audience and how to make the most of your copy

At the end of the workshop, you will take away:
•  A draft marketing plan for your club
•  An overview of different types of marketing and how to create them and make them work
•  How journalists work, what makes a good story and how to pitch to the press.Kate Wood 1

The workshop will be delivered by Kate Wood and Chris Nye from Lewes Speakers Club on behalf of Area 55 and will be followed by the Area 55 International Speech and Evaluation Contest.

Further Information:

Date:  Saturday 2nd April
Time:  10.00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location:  Lansdown Hotel, King Edward’s Parade, Eastbourne, BN21 4EE

For further information and to book, contact Sue Pellow, Area 55 Director on 07803 234 894 or via email.

Area 55 International Speech and Evaluation Contest

The Area 55 Area International Speech and Evaluation Contest will take place at the Lansdowne Hotel, King Edward’s Parade, Eastbourne from 2pm on Saturday 2nd April followed by the election of the Area Director for A55.

Contest Chair is Barnaby Davies and Chief Judge is Meg Heyworth.