AUGUST 2015

Inaugural Issue

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Messages from District

Director, Program Quality and

Club Growth Directorspp1-2

Public Relations

Happenings...p3

Best Practices from One

Clubs Point of View...p3

Hail & Farewell Highlights..p4

District Highlights

District Director Lovely Lall, DTM

Talk of the District

This Toastmasters year every flutter with Purpose will be the Talk of the District! Celebrate the accomplish-ments of your club and fellow members on this new initiative featured on our website.

District Director Club

Award

A Message from the Desk of the District Director

In our hands..... ours to make

District 29 Family,

Individual commitment to a group effort that is what makes a team work, a

company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~Vince Lombardi

Being in Toastmasters is no different. Collectively, each commitment made and kept by each of us as

members and as officers is what will make us successful as a family and as a Team -Together Every-

one Accomplishes More.

District 29 is off to a great start in this metamorphic year. Excitement is in the Air! I can feel it with each

purposeful flutter as our club officers are being trained. Success Plans are being written at each level,

starting from the Club to the Area to the Division and the District. Goals are being defined and set for

the year.

Area Directors have been appointed and trained and our Executive Team is in place and functioning

passionately. Area Directors are contacting and visiting clubs. Clubs are setting contest dates and

scheduling Open Houses. Our website is up and receiving high marks from many, and we are prepar-

ing for a fabulous conference that will feature Daniel Rex, Chief Executive Officer of Toastmasters Inter-

national as our keynote speaker.

You will hear details about the Smedley membership campaign, incentives and more from our outstand-

ing Club Growth Director Amy Brener. You will hear about contests and the conference from our excel-

lent Program Quality Director Lynn Wylde. Our Public Relations Manager, Angela Davis is doing a won-

derful job in establishing and advancing our public relations programming for the year.

I hope you are one of the many clubs who is planning to conduct regular Executive Club meetings on a

monthly basis. Working on Club Success plans in the beginning of the Toastmasters year is a good

start, helps bring the club officers/members on the same page and is very instrumental for taking the

club to the next level of success. I also want all clubs to start thinking about timely dues payments.

Getting ahead of required processes and requirements is always a good thing.

I wish to thank last year's team, led by Immediate Past District Governor Mahesh Patil, for dedicated

service and success in preparing a path for our 2015-2016 team. I would also like to acknowledge all

servant leaders who came before this year. As I said at the beautiful Hail and Farewell ceremony, we

are here with the opportunity for a metamorphic year because we stand on the shoulders of giants.

I love this quote by Tony Robbins, Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.

If you have not yet identified and set your personal goals for this year, I encourage you to do so. Our

Success is in our hands and it is ours to make.

Let's Fly Together....in this Metamorphic year!

District Highlights,

Continued

Program Quality Director Lynn Wylde, DTM

Toastmasters Leader-ship Institute (TLI) Summer 2015

46% of Officers Trained!

TLI Stats

Club Growth Director Amy Brener, DTM

Smedley Award

Program August 1st September 30th

Receive a "Smedley Award" Ribbon to display on your club's banner. Qualifying clubs will also receive a spe-cial discount for 10% off their next club order from the TI Store. (The discount code expires six months from the date of issue and is not valid with any other offer.) The District will reimburse clubs up to $40 for an open house (maximum two per year). Visit the Open House infor-mation page for reimburse-ment details.

Welcome Newly Chartered Club to the

District 29 Family!

Geico

From the Desk of the Program Quality Director

This Is Your Year to S T R E T CH!

The District 29 contest season has just begun and this is your year to sign-up! Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition. Each year, more than 30,000 members compete. What are the benefits of speech contests? They are fun; you learn; you grow; and you S T R E T C H on your Toastmasters journey.

The Fall season features two contests:

1. Table Topics A 1-2 minute impromptu speech where all contestants speak to the same topic.

2. Humorous Speech A thematic speech (opening, body, and close), that highlights the humorous side of life.

Competition begins at the club level, and winners advance to the area and division levels. The contest season culminates in the crowning of the District champions at the Fall Conference on November 7th at the Capital One Conference Center, McLean, VA.

Contest Schedule: Club Level Contests: now through August Area Level Contests: September Division Level Contests: October District Conference: November 7th

General contest information and specific contest dates are available on the District 29 website at www.tmd29.org.

From the Desk of the Club Growth Director

Happy August!

August 1st marked the start of the Smedley Membership Campaign. Add 5 new members between the dates of August 1st and September 30th and receive recognition from Toastmasters International as well as the District. Why do we need to add new members? The practical reason is that clubs lose members due to attrition. People retire and move from the area, they change jobs and so no longer can attend their original corporate club meetings, they achieve their Toastmasters goals, etc. If we dont add new members, we dont make up for these losses. Members who sponsor other members earn individ-ual recognition from Toastmasters International; if you bring in a new member, make sure the new mem-ber indicates that at the top of the second page of the Membership Application.

What about your personal Toastmasters journey? On the Communication side, are you ready to stretch yourself by joining an Advanced Club? A list of those clubs can be found at http://tmd29.org/Advanced_and_Speciality_Clubs.html. What about your Leadership goals? Are you ready to step out-side your club? There are many opportunities for you to help other Toastmasters and Toastmasters clubs. Read on for details!

Part of my role as Club Growth Director is to start new clubs and help existing clubs become stronger. We are always looking for new leads locations or companies our current members think might bene-fit from a Toastmasters club. If you have such a lead, please contact me at CGD@tmd29.org. If you want to help form a new club, you can be a Club Sponsor. If you can commit to helping a new club out for its first six months to a year, you can become a Club Mentor. And if you want to help out an existing club that needs assistance, you can become a Club Coach.

Sometimes clubs with more than 12 members could use a helping hand. This year I am introducing a program whereby clubs can partner with other clubs to provide that assistance. This program, which I am calling Triple C (Club-Club Collaboration), requires a commitment on the part of the helper club to have members attend each meeting of the helpee club. If your club is interested in either helping or being assisted, please let me know.

This past week, Lovely, Lynn and I were at the International Convention, where we interviewed candi-dates for Toastmasters International Directors positions as well as attended three days of intensive training so that we are better able to serve the District in our new roles. It is our job to serve you, the member. Please do not hesitate to let me know what I can do to better serve you.

By working together, we can fulfill the District Mission: We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence. I look forward to flying with you all.

Public Relations

Happenings

Visit our Social Media sites

Become fully engaged during your

Toastmasters journey. Visit one of

District 29s social media sites and

find resources and networking oppor-

tunities to help you learn and grow.

Visit our website at www.tmd29.org to

connect to our social media sites!

The PRM Award

This award, developed by your Public

Relations Manager, will be given to

following recipients:

Best Club Website

Best Club Newsletter

Best Public Service Announce-ment (PSA) - Video & Audio

Successful Toastmasters Inter-national Video Brand Contest Entry (JulyDecember 2015)

Successful Toastmasters Inter-national Magazine Submission

Complete details will be featured in

the next issue of Metamorphosis.

Awards will be given during the

Spring 2016 Conference.

Did You Know?

When you visit our website, there is a

beautiful graphic symbol representing

our District Directors 2015-2016

theme it is a butterfly that circles

many flowers that are marked by

events that occur on a Toastmasters

journey. Did you know each flower

can take you to a page on the website

that speaks to each of those events?

Take a few minutes to journey

through the graphic and learn more

about everything from contests to

TLIs to Conferences. Enjoy your trav-

els on your metamorphic journey this

year in Toastmasters!

Angela Davis, ACS, CL

Public Relations Manager

prm@tmd29.org

Best Practices: One Clubs Point of View

At the July 18 Toastmasters Leadership Insti-

tute in Fairfax, VA, one of the elective sessions

featured members of the PMIWDC#01 Toast-

masters Club. Area 34 Director and

PMIWDC#01 member Paula Green served as

the Panel Master. Six of the seven club offic-

ers represented members of PMIWDC#01 in

the panel. Also in the audience was one of

PMIWDC#01s newest club member who

joined Toastmasters 2 months ago.

This Toastmaster year is a significant year for

the club. Chartered 9 years ago, this club

achieved Presidents Distinguished with 10 for

10 Distinguished Club Program (DCP) goals

for the each of the 9 years. Out of 15,000

clubs in all of Toastmasters International, only

45 clubs are Presidents Distinguished with 10

DCP goals for 10 or more consecutive years.

District 29 currently has 2 of those clubs

among this elite list of 45 clubs: Lake Ridge

Toastmasters Club and Bennie Bough Toast-

masters Club. PMIWDC#01 plans to be a

member of that very exclusive group.

Asked what the club believes are best practic-

es, the club members created this list in no

particular order of importance. Hopefully you

will find these ideas useful for your club.

1. All 7 officers (not just the minimum of

4) are committed and expected to

attend TLI twice a year.

2. Have a pre-printed agenda with a

consistent format even if roles are

TBD.

3. State the purpose of each roles at

each meeting. This reinforces the

purpose of these roles to the club

members and informs the guests.

4. Communicate and coordinate days

before each meeting to ensure the

meeting runs smoothly.

5. Encourage club members to be

known outside of the club.

6. Sustain an active mentoring program

of both new and experienced mem-

bers.

7. Create Table Topics questions that

follow the theme of the club meeting.

8. Guests Actively greet and welcome

guests; encourage Table Topics par-

ticipation; follow up via email after the

meeting.

9. Evaluations State the purpose of

the speech before it begins, keep

evaluator format consistent and con-

structive, and have the person receiv-

ing the evaluation stand up during the

evaluation of the speech.

10. Hold special events throughout the

year including:

a. An end-of-calendar year party;

club officers election.

b. Special club officer elections

when needed following standard

elections proceedings.

c. Club level Hail and Farewell

event.

d. Club guest speaker program.

Quarterly new member orienta-

tion of Toastmasters program.

Edmond Joe, DTM

President

PMIWDC#01 Toastmasters Club

Meet Our District 29 Division Directors!

2015-2016

Hail and Farewell 2014/2105: Highlights and Awards

The annual Hail and Farewell Celebration is a long standing Toastmasters tradition at the District level where the accomplish-ments of the outgoing District executive team is celebrated, and the incoming team is provided a proper induction and hearty welcome to district leadership for the new Toastmasters year. During this celebration many awards were given to deserving Toastmasters in the pursuit of the Districts mission We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence. The full list of awardees and photos from the event can be found by clicking here.

Division B Director Karen Jacobs, ACB, ALS

Division A Director Marie Barnes, DTM

Division C Director Dwight Yamada, DTM

Division D Director Dana Richards, DTM

Division E Director Harminder Lall, DTM

Division F Director Elke Tucker, ACB, ALB

Distinguished Toastmaster Glenn Stafford, a long standing member of District 29 Toastmaster Clubs was surprised, humbled and feels blessed to receive this well-deserved acknowl-edgment of his remarkable achieve-ment of earning 19 educational awards during the 2014-2015 Toast-masters year! Thirteen of those edu-cational awards were given to District 29, with three given to both Districts 36 and 58. He deservingly earned Triple Crown designations in all three districts! Distinguished Toastmaster Stafford states jokingly that you can call him a Triple-Triple Crown winner!

As Division Governor of Division A during the 2014/2015 Toastmasters year, Distinguished Toastmaster Ransom led her Division with the theme of empowerment to others. Her division, led in TLI attendance, TLI Golden Toaster Clubs, Education Awards, Distinguished clubs and still chartered two new clubs with no loss of clubs during the year. The most special part of this journey for Distin-guished Toastmaster Ransom is a testament of her leadership style to watch others growth, and knowing that I had a direct impact. She recommends to fellow Toastmasters Dive in! Do something before you have a chance to develop a fear of trying, or of failing! After observing Distinguished Toastmaster Ransoms success, we are all encouraged to take that leap into success!

Area Governor of the Year Ae-Kyong Morrell, ACB, ALB

Educational Star Award Glenn Stafford, DTM

Division Governor of the Year Award Katherine Ransom, DTM

During her tenure as Area Governor of Area 11, she accomplished all of her requirements but also provided support to clubs by advising them on strong points and areas of improvement. She went further to reach out to each mem-ber individually, listen to their goals and offer insights from her own experience in how to become successful in their Toastmasters journey. She turned feedback into the action by soliciting support from leadership for clubs. It is no wonder that she led a Presidents Distinguished Area!

Toastmaster Calvin considers the Toastmaster of the Year award a tribute to her mentors who have pro-vided encouragement, support and recognition. I owe all of them a big thank you for their support along the way. This award was special be-cause of the support and encourage-ment of Toastmasters that she both admires and by whom she feels nur-tured. She humorously relates when Distinguished Toastmaster Immediate Past District Governor Mahesh Patil began to list the accomplishments she herself had earnedshe all of a sudden realized he was describing her! As Toastmaster Calvin begins her current Toastmasters year as the Area Director of Area 64 in Division F she will surely continue to support, encourage and positively influence other Toastmasters along her journey.

Toastmaster of the Year Award Catherine Calvin, ACB, ALB

Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI): The Benefits of Attending TLI

Don't miss the opportunity: TLI season ends August 31st.

Learn the principles of club leadership, broaden your horizons through engaging electives and network with fellow Toastmasters by attending the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI). Strong and successful clubs have fully trained officers so sign up today! There are still more opportunities for your clubs officers to become trained. For more information, click here.

Not convinced? Here are more benefits of attending TLI:

Club officer training provides the knowledge and tools for club officers to do their roles successfully.

Club officers trained at TLI help fulfil a requirement for officers to receive Advanced Leadership Bronze ( ALB) credit.

Trained club officers contribute to member satisfaction and club success. Clubs with trained officers are more exciting, more new members join, more education awards are earned, and those clubs are more successful.

Clubs with 4 officers trained during each TLI season (summer and winter) results in half DCP credit for DCP Goal # 9.

Clubs with 7 officers trained during each TLI season results in the club receiving the "Golden Toaster Award" (a ribbon for the club banner) at the Fall or Spring District Conferences.

The "Beyond the Club Experience" is priceless.

Kudos to the Area Directors Who Have Completed 100% Club Visits!

Tanya White-Deyo, ACB, ALB

Area 53, Division E

David Lang, CTM

Area 56, Division E

Paula Green, ACS, ALB Area 34, Division C

Chiharu Bullock, ACB, ALB

Area 52, Division E

It is with sadness that we share this disheartening news-one of our District 29 family members, Mark Goldberg, CC, CL, Hunter Mill Toastmasters club, very recently passed away after a very short battle with cancer. He was a dedicated and exemplary Toastmaster, always eager to assist at the club, Area, Division and District levels. He is already being missed. Our prayers are with his wife Sara and the family. In lieu of flowers, contribu-tions in Marks memory may be made to University of Michigan Mens Glee Club (https://ummgc.org), Arena Stage (www.arenastage.org/donate), or to a charity of ones choice.

Special Tribute to One of Our Own

District #29

www.tmd29.org www.toastmasters.org