The mission of a Toastmasters
Club is to provide a mutually sup-
portive and positive learning envi-
ronment in which every member
has the opportunity to develop
communication and leadership
skills, which in turn foster self-
confidence and personal growth.
DIABLO TOASTMASTERS CLUB 598 NEWSLETTER
“WHAT’S GREAT IN 598”
The Diablo Toastmasters Club
is a community Toastmasters
Club that meets every Thurs-
day at 7 PM at Denny’s Res-
taurant, 1313 Willow Pass Rd.,
Concord, CA.
Volume 21, Number 1 February, 2018
Publisher: Irving Joe, President Editor: John Peterson
New Club Officers Take Charge at Diablo 598 At an installation ceremony conducted by Area B-
7 Governor (and long-time Diablo 598 member)
Destinee Cooper during the January 11th meet-
ing, our club’s leadership team was sworn in to
their offices — some new, some old — to guide
club activities for the first half of the year through
June 30th.
Shown in the photo below, from left to right, are
Kyoko Ii, ongoing in her role as club secretary;
Cindy Johnson, new
VP Education, Irving
Joe, ongoing Presi-
dent; Destinee
Cooper, ongoing Ser-
geant-at-Arms, and
Jose Cobangbang,
incoming Treasurer.
Unfortunately absent for the ceremony were Rose
Falgout, ongoing VP Public Relations, and Janice
Sanchez, incoming VP Membership.
Now it’s up to the club membership to support our
leadership team in every way they can, by attend-
ing meetings regularly, helping build membership
by bringing friends to visit meetings, and talking
up the benefits of Toastmasters within their social
groups. This is how strong clubs are formed and
maintained!
And let’s not forget to form a team that will focus
on the Chamber of Commerce’s “Yo-Pro’s” —
their group of Young Professionals. Contacts
made there can be extremely helpful to our mem-
bers as well as to growing club membership!
SAVE THE DATE!
Did you know that Diablo 598 will be 70 years
old on April 1st? It’s true! We were one of
three clubs to split off from District 4 and form
the new District 57 on that date. We’ll be cele-
brating at our meeting on Thursday, April 5th, at
a location to be announced. See the flyer on
page 3 — and SAVE THAT DATE!!
CLUB SPEECH CONTEST
It’s that time again! The club’s Table Topics
and International Speech contests will be held
by the middle of this month, probably on the
14th, and we always send good contestants on
to the Area-level event. So dig into your
memory bank or your files and come up with
something you can bring to the contest! P.S.
Even if you decide not to compete, there are
lots of openings for timers, judges, ballot coun-
ters and other high offices such as Chief Judge,
Toastmaster, and Contest Chair. Contact Cin-
dy Johnson regarding your interest in filling one
of these vital roles!
YO-PRO’S EVENT
On February 28th, the Concord Chamber of
Commerce’s “Young Professionals” group is
having a panel discussion on “Entrepreneur-
ship.” See page 4 for details. This should be
an event of interest to all our members interest-
ed in business and job opportunities in the ar-
ea, and remember — as members of Diablo
598 you’re automatically Chamber members of
the Yo-Pro’s and can attend for free!
“What’s Great in 598” is the publication of
Diablo Toastmasters Club 598, Concord, CA.
Publisher: Irving Joe, President
Editor: John Peterson
IRVING’S COLUMN
By Irving Joe
Would you believe the first 31 days of 2018
have already vanished before us or behind us
now? I hope that we spent time working on
our goals for this year. Before you know it, the
Holiday Season will be back again and if we
don’t do some planning we’ll be looking back
over the past year only to see all the things
we didn’t do. Remember, a goal without a
plan is just a wish!
As we enter February, the shortest month of
the year, we see it’s filled with many holidays:
Groundhog day, President’s day, and the Lu-
nar New Year which will be the Year of the
Dog this year. And don’t forget Valentine’s
Day, or you might end up in
the dog house or in your man
cave all by yourself!
Diablo Toastmasters has a number of upcom-
ing events you’ll need to know about:
The club’s International Speech and Table
Topics contests, to be held by mid-
February.
The Area B-6 Contest before March 25th.
The club’s 70th Anniversary celebration on
April 5th (save this date on your calendar!!)
The Division B Contest before April 14th.
The District 57 Spring Conference May 5th.
Try to be part of these events, and invite your friends as well, to help grow our club!
Janice was born and raised in the Philip-
pines. She describes herself as a quiet and
shy person, which led her to earn a B.S. de-
gree in computer science from the University
of the East because she wanted a job where
she would have less interaction with people.
After graduation, she landed a job as a soft-
ware engineer at a software company in Ma-
nila. It was there that she met her husband-
to-be, Rolando, who was based in the U.S.
but was helping his company to set up an off-
shore office in the Philippines. Janice and
their three-month old son moved to the Bay
Area in 2005 with Rolando, and now they live
in Pittsburg with their three children aged 12,
10 and a one-year-old baby!
Janice has been working as a Data Analyst
at Optum, a health services and innovation
company, for the past ten years, and is now
a full-time telecommuter. Her daily schedule
revolves around her work, household duties,
and her kids’ activities, but she looks forward
to having a little more free time in the future
as she would like to learn how to play the pi-
ano, to draw and paint, and to sew.
Janice’s long-term goals are to become a
confident speaker and to overcome her shy-
ness, and so she worked up the courage to
join the Diablo 598 Toastmasters club in Oc-
tober 2017. She hopes that Toastmasters
will really help her to overcome her fear of
public speaking, as well as to improve her
communication and social skills.
Welcome Janice! We’re here to help!
Janice Sanchez