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Volume 08/03 September 08

“The Courage to make a Difference”

District 71 Autumn Conference – Kilkenny Three Castles Conference 7th – 9th November 2008

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Contents Page

01 Cover Page 02 Contents Page 03 Its a new Toastmasters Year Gary Sander 04 Education and Training Joe Gibbs 05 A new World Champion Teresa Dukes

06 D71 Clubs, New and Old and Growing Teresa Dukes

07 A New Year Mary Murtagh

08 Toastmasters International Convention 2008 Gary Sander

09 Board of Director’s Briefing, Calgary 13/08/08 Joe Gibbs

10 Ireland North West + Northern Ireland West Ronnie Gillanders

11 Grosvenor Square and Achievements Alan Bywaters

12 Guardian Toastmasters Charters June 13th ’08 Helen Hourican

13 Area 4 Toastmasters at Bucks County Show Al Watson-Gandy

14 Bucks County Show continued Al Watson-Gandy

15 Autumn Conference in Kilkenny 7th – 9th Nov. Lucia Hughes

16 10 + 80= Riverside Communicators 90 years Dorothea Stuart

17 Watford Speakers go Shopping Sandra Lawes

18 East Midlands Roma Cox

19 Calendar of Events Reminder Teresa Dukes

20 Back Page

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It’s a new Toastmaster year

So what is your new challenge for this year? Have you told the members of your Club what you would like to achieve this year? I have always found it a great help if I tell my fellow Club members what I would like to achieve. The benefits of this are tenfold. First and foremost, once you have told them, you cannot just sit back, you have to get out there and make a start. Because they know what you want to do, the members will offer assistance and encouragement wherever needed.

Perhaps they may set you a challenge on a subject that never occurred to you. The point is you want a challenge that can make a difference to your life and maybe someone else’s. We tend to forget that what we do affects many of the friends and family around us. Even strangers can be affected, in a good way, by what we learn as Toastmasters. The challenges we take on could encourage others to step up and look for that next challenge in their life. My challenge for this year is to serve you as District Governor to the best of my abilities. Many of you have already set me challenges for this year and I shall do my best to complete them within the year but as many of us know, these things can take a while, so the challenge may be carried on into the next year so at least I can start the ball rolling. It takes courage to set out on a new challenge and even more courage to publicly announce what that challenge will be, but everything you do WILL make a difference to your life and many other peoples lives so take Courage and make that Difference. Gary Sander DTM District 71 Governor 2008-2009 “The Courage to make a Difference”

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Education and Training By now many of you will be several months into your Education and Training Plan. For others, particularly clubs in Ireland you will have less than a month of meetings behind you. Either way time is ticking away. Do you know who in your Club will complete their CC or CL this year? Do you have a plan to help them get there? Who is encouraging and supporting them through the year? A goal without a plan is merely an aspiration……….. Many thanks to all of you who turned out for Club Officer Training over the past few months. For many I’m sure it meant giving up time over the holiday period – particularly if you were one of the Area or Division Governors who put so much effort into the training. We had record turnouts with 7 Clubs sending their full committees for training. Well done to Midleton, Polish your Polish, Ridgeway Speakers, Athlone, London Athenians, Tube Talk and Chaseside Speakers. You have truly set an example for others. Of course now you need to take what you have learned from your training and put it into practice so you can better serve your members needs. Are they getting the opportunities they need from the club? Will they reach their personal goals this year? Will they achieve that coveted ATM or AL? Can you put your hand on your heart and say you as a club officer have done all you can to facilitate their needs and encouraged them to succeed? Its competition time again and by the time you read this many of you will have completed your Area Contests. Hopefully they have gone well and you as Club Presidents and EVP’s have ensured that your contestants are fully registered paid up members of Toastmasters and have gone along to support them in their endeavours. Take the opportunity to support, mix and learn of the other clubs in your Area or Division. After all Toastmasters is about so much more than just the club and it provides so much opportunity to challenge ourselves and grow within the larger organisation. Next a mention of the upcoming Conference in Kilkenny. I’m sure you will read of the details elsewhere but for now I would like to let you know of some of the Educational Workshops we have planned. Whether your interest is in Storytelling or improving your Evaluations, coming up with a Strategic Plan for Club Growth or keeping a Youth Leadership Course interesting and innovative we have something for you. We are fortunate in having presenters from Ireland, England Scotland and Australia and this promises to be one of the more varied Educational offerings! Finally many thanks to all of you for your valuable input on the recent Leadership Survey. We had well over 300 responses and hope to have a presentation on the preliminary findings at the upcoming Kilkenny Conference. I’m sure you are all interested in hearing how it went and for those of you that cant make it we will make the presentation available on the website after the conference. Do remember that the welcome you give to a guest at your meeting, the word of encouragement you give to a speaker, the support you give to a contestant can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Make the effort and you too can make a difference. Joe Gibbs – D71 Lieutenant Governor Education & Training

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A New World Champion Speaker

WOW! That is how I felt at the end of the 2008 International Speech competition. Attending the Calgary World Champion Speaker competition was my first experience of hearing contestants speak at this level. It was truly amazing to hear their stories and the key messages they wanted to get across to us. The competition consisted of 10 contestants from across the world. Now you would think that after hearing 6 speeches you would get tired of it, but this was not the case. Every single contestant brought something new and individual to the stage with each speech. I shall never forget how moved I was listening to stories about overcoming obstacles such

as poverty, ill health and death. It became crystal clear that every single one of the 10 contestants deserved to be there. I did feel rather pleased with myself at the end of it all though because I actually picked the top three winners – maybe not in the exact order apart from the winner – Lashundra Rundles. When she took the stage I thought how small she looked but that thought did not last very long. As soon as she opened her mouth the most beautiful song flowed from her lips and you soon realised that this was going to be a powerful speech. She did not disappoint as she replayed her experiences of growing up with a very powerful mother who helped her find her voice to ‘Speak’ at the age of five in front of audiences. ‘Speak’ was the title of her speech and it gave Lashundra the opportunity to bring information about Lupus to her audience. You see, she is a Lupus survivor and it will be wonderful to see her educating even more people about this illness. Lashundra also is only the 4th woman in the world to win this title and District 71 are proud to have one of these 4 women amongst them. Marie Pyne from Ireland won this honour in 1985. I think 2008/09 will be the year of the female! Watch out world! Teresa Dukes DTM District 71 Lt Governor Marketing 2008-2009

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D71 Clubs - New and Old and Growing Toastmasters and Leaders of District 71 – We are having a brilliant start to the year as we find the Courage to Make a Difference within our existing clubs and with the birth of new clubs throughout the UK & Ireland. Last year we saw the growth of 17 new clubs and the loss of 1 club. This year I would like us to accomplish similar targets but would also like you to remember that it is important for all clubs – new and old – to start out and remain sustainable. This means that we will be fulfilling our Mission Statement of continually expanding the worldwide network of clubs, thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from our programs. CONGRATULATIONS: CAREERBUILDERS IN LONDON Area 33 – 1st club to Charter this year in D71 on September 2nd 2008. I’ve been reviewing the number of pre-charter clubs we have in the District who are actually meeting at the moment and it is a whopping 21 potential clubs! Remember that if you are a pre-charter club actually meeting you can ask for New Club Funding allowance of £150/220 Euros. Below is the split against our countries: England – 8 Scotland//Wales - 8 Ireland - 5 We have also had a great number of requests from people contacting WHQ for information on starting new clubs or asking where there is a club nearest to them and we are tracking these to see what potential there is or whether we can encourage individuals to support existing clubs nearby. These have numbered 19 so far with more coming in each day – so a lot of potential growth in membership all around. England – 11 Scotland//Wales – 6 Ireland - 2 Along with growth we also have to ensure that we assist any clubs going through difficult times. We continuously encourage revitalisation of struggling clubs through assignment of Coaches. If you feel that your club is struggling, has 12 or fewer members and needs some help – contact your Area Governor to highlight this to them and to ask for the assignment of a Coach for the club as well as the Struggling Club Funding of £150/220 Euros. Teresa Dukes DTM District 71 Lt Governor Marketing 2008-2009

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A New Year

As we set out on a new Toastmasters year, let us reflect on the foundation from which we start. Last year D71 was a Select Distinguished District and was placed 7th in the world rankings, and 1st in the Select Distinguished Category. The District earned the Excellence in Marketing Award, Excellence in Education and Training Award, and Excellence

in Leadership Award. To add to its accolades it was placed 1st in the world in the President’s 20+ Award. This award is presented to Districts “for successfully motivating clubs to achieve and maintain charter strength”. The Excellence in Leadership Award is bestowed on districts achieving Distinguished or better for 3 or more consecutive years. The previous 3 years are 06/07: Select Distinguished, 05/06: President’s Distinguished and 04/05, Select Distinguished. It is obvious from this record that D71 has a consistency of which we can be justifiably proud. The tradition and ethos of the district is such that we can set out on this year’s programme with confidence. These results were achieved by clubs setting goals and following through on their plans. Each committee sets out to meet the Membership, new and retention of existing members, PR, Marketing, and Education and Leadership targets. The outcome is much more than the sum of the parts! In following these simple steps, each club is furthering the Toastmasters International Mission of “making effective oral communication a worldwide reality” As People Building People you will Have the Courage to Make a Difference! Mary Murtagh, DTM., IPDG.

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The 2008 Toastmasters International Convention

After a fairly good flight to Calgary, I wondered what to expect. Cowboys and cattle everywhere! Perhaps a huge City of tower blocks! Well I was wrong on both counts. Yes there are cowboys walking around the city, but I didn’t see one single cow. The City is spread out over a fairly large area and is mostly made up two story buildings until you get to the approx two square mile city centre, where there are tower blocks including the Calgary Tower itself.

The Convention itself was a fully packed event where it would be impossible to sample everything on offer. Education sessions in multitudes on every day covering almost anything you could think of to do with public speaking and leadership. With over three thousand Toastmasters in attendance, believe it or not, Calgary opened their shops and restaurants for us. It would seem this was their end of season for tourists and most places closed early. I was asked on my return “did you manage to get out and do some sight seeing”? With Education session, contests, luncheon meetings etc, there was no spare time to go out. I did see the Rockies… from the top of the Calgary tower, which was the only tourist place I managed to visit (well, it was right outside the front door of my hotel). I also had time to meet lots of friends I had made at past Conventions and of course managed to meet up with a lot of District 71 members. The week was extremely busy and worthwhile, but trying to put into words the experience is very difficult. This is just a brief glimpse into the Conventions events. My challenge to all of you who went to Calgary is to use what we learn as Toastmaster, and to communicate to our friends and club members the experience of a Toastmasters International Convention. I look forward to reading about your experiences in the next newsletter. Gary Sander DTM District 71 Governor 2008-2009. “The Courage to make a Difference”

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Board of Director’s Briefing – Calgary Aug 13th 2008 For many within Toastmasters there is little interest in the workings of the organisation outside of their club or area. For others their interest ends at District with only a vague idea of what lies beyond. However as leaders within Toastmasters we all have some obligation to know a little of what makes this global organisation work and what some of the priorities, issues and challenges are within the leadership of TI. The following are some brief notes from the Board of Directors Briefing attended by myself and fellow member of the Executive DG Gary Sander and LGM Teresa Dukes in Calgary in August.

1) Report of the Executive Committee: Chaired by Snr Vice President Jana Barnhill:. A request for an upgrade to the software and systems used to run much of the administration (Web, Member Registration, Awards registration, fees etc) was approved up to $1.2m. In addition it was reported that improved credit card/ data protection systems would be implemented in the coming year.

2) Strategic Planning Committee: Chaired by Immediate Past President Johnny Uy: This group has faced the challenge of creating a leadership structure which better serves the members needs, attracts the calibre of leaders necessary to make TI successful and rolling it out to the organisation as a whole. The proposal to introduce a system of President and President Elect (at Board level) and dispense with the current system of President & 3 Senior VP’s looks set to go ahead thus reducing the overall time commitment from 4 years to 2 years on the Board. However the proposal to mirror this arrangement at District level was met with significant opposition from around the other TM Districts and any changes to the current DG, LGET, LGM structure are currently on hold and not expected to be presented before Autumn 2009 or implemented before 2010.

3) Marketing and Education Committee: Chaired by Second VP Gary Schmidt: Region Advisors to act as Mentors, Coaches, and Training advisors to Districts will be appointed for 1-2 year terms with the appointments to be made by the board. The first implementation of this is likely to be in the area of Marketing.

4) District Admin Committee: Chaired by Senior VP Jana Barnhill. Currently overseas Districts and US based Districts are trained separately. From 2009 its intended that ALL District Executive Officers will receive training together at the International Convention. WHQ has also committed to provide pre-training electronically in June/July of each year.

5) Governance and Policy Committee: Chaired by 3rd VP Pat Johnson: US Districts are currently grouped into Regions while non-US Districts are grouped under the heading of “DNAR’s” or “Districts NOT Assigned to Regions”. Going forward the intention is to assign all districts to Regions each with their own International Director and Regional Advisor. This will provide better representation on the Board, additional focus on non-US regions, and as well as additional leadership opportunities a greater pool of leaders to draw from.

Finally the Board announced the official appointment of Daniel Rex to the position of Executive Director, Toastmasters International as a replacement for Donna Groh who has left the organisation. Joe Gibbs – LG Education and Training

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Ireland North West and Northern Ireland West We have made an excellent start to the new Toastmaster’s season in Ireland North West and in Northern Ireland West. The original Sligo club met on Monday 8th under the presidency of Robert McDaid. This is a very well established club, this being its 11th year. The club has a very strong membership, currently at 35, and continues to attract new members. The club had over 60 members in the recent past and it was decided to divide the club into two separate clubs, namely, the original Sligo club and the new Inisfree/Sligo club. Sligo town is unique in having two toastmasters clubs in a medium sized town in the west of Ireland The Tuam Pre-Charter Club in Co Galway [Area 12], which was launched in the last toastmaster year, met on Tuesday 16th. It was a lively and encouraging Open Night. Members from the three supporting clubs were in attendance on the night. These experienced toastmasters came from the Corrib Club (Co Galway), the Galway City Club and from the Innisfree/Sligo club (my own base club). Two of the guests joined the club on the night and two other guests expressed an interest in joining. The speeches and topics were of a very high standard and this added greatly to the enthusiasm and excitement on the night. On Wed. 17th of September we had another exciting Open Night in the Innisfree/Sligo club Area 38. The speakers were in excellent form and the contributions at the Topics Session were of great quality and were full of humour and fun. The icing on the cake came, when some guests joined the club, and when others said that they would visit again. We were delighted to welcome a few lapsed members back into the fold. Three visitors from the town of Letterkenny, in North Donegal, attended this meeting in the Innisfree/Sligo club. They are planning to set a new club in their own town with the support of the two Sligo clubs and the Enniskillen Club [Area 38] in Northern Ireland, which is some 60 miles away. The Enniskillen club Chartered just last year, yet has more than 25 members and is ready and willing to support the establishment of a new club. The visitors from Letterkenny wanted to experience the richness of the agenda/ activities in a well-established club. These visitors attended on the invitation of Angela Farrell [Area 38 Area Governor] and it appeared that they were suitably impressed and were fired up for their own inaugural night in Letterkenny, which will place on Tues. 23rdSept. They are keeping in close contact with Angela and great ground work has been done and is being done. A large crowd is expected in Letterkenny for their inaugural meeting. We are hopeful that this new club will Charter before the end of the year and that we will be celebrating and partying before the season is out. Ronnie Gillanders (former Div F Governor)

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GSS and Achievements Grosvenor Square Speakers (GSS), the first Toastmasters club in London, celebrates its 27th birthday this year. Originally set up by the U.S. Naval Officers based at the U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square, the club was forced to relocate due to security issues. Luckily GSS found refuge in the New Cavendish Club. Grosvenor Square Club (GSS) Achievements Like many clubs GSS has had members standing on the podium receiving awards at Division or District level. We are proud that in 2007/08 we were the first club in the whole of London to achieve Presidents Distinguished Club Award for the 2nd year in a row. We’re particularly proud to have had two members whose Toastmaster achievements have massively impacted their personal careers. Let me introduce them: Hilary Briggs: Joined in 2001, Hilary has achieved the AC Silver and CL awards. She’s been Club President and gone on to be founding President of Early Birds Speakers Club. Hilary’s most recent triumph was winning the 2008 District 71 Speech Evaluation Contest. She is now Area 33 Governor. How does Hilary think a club can build excellence? “By ensuring high standards of speaking and evaluating within the club – it has to start at home. Get members involved in contests and District conferences. I’ve personally learned so much from both and brought what I’ve learned back to GSS.” When asked what every Toastmaster can do to be successful, she said: “As individuals it’s important to be clear why we’ve joined Toastmasters and what benefits we’re seeking. The stronger our motivation the more likely we are to attend meetings, to put effort in to our speeches, and to build our knowledge. I personally wanted to be excellent in giving seminars. I was creating my own management consulting and training company. Speaking skills were essential to growing my business. If I didn’t get any business, I didn’t eat. That was a big motivator for me!” For more about Hilary visit: www.r2p.co.uk Another individual of note is Phillip Khan-Panni Phillip joined Toastmasters in 1993. As a speaker, he is one of the most successful in the history of District 71. He is the UK’s first and only Silver Medallist in the World Championship of Public Speaking after competing in the US on two previous occasions. He is one of the founders of the Professional Speakers Association; published books on communication; and founded his own successful presentation skills training company. Phillip says “Clubs should treat their better speakers as role models and encourage other members to support them in speech contests. Individuals will learn from the style and performance of the better speakers, it will provide vital recognition of their skills and achievements, and enhance the group spirit in the club.” He added “If you want to be successful as a speaker – practise! I video and play back my speeches. It’s the reason I’ve been successful. Seeing yourself deliver a speech is a powerful guide to better performance.” For more about Phillip visit www.phillipkhan-panni.com Alan Bywaters, President Grosvenor Square Speakers

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Demonstration Meeting On Tuesday April 1st 2008 a demonstration meeting was held at Anglesea Street Garda Station in Cork City with a view to forming a Toastmasters club for members of An Garda Síochána. On Friday June 13th the all new Guardian Toastmasters Club chartered. With dates like these how can it be anything but a resounding success! The club was sponsored by Helen Hourican, (Glanmire Toastmasters) Pat Duggan (Speakeasy Toastmasters) and Paula Kelleher (Glanmire Toastmasters). In my work in H-TRAINING - the Management Development and Career/Interview coaching company, which I founded 20 years ago - I became aware of the great benefits a Toastmasters club could bring to members of An Garda Síochána. Their current roles, at all levels, present many and varied speaking and leadership challenges. We had a number of very successful meetings and lively topic sessions in the pre-charter period. Now we are settling back and our first meeting was as good as ever. The only people ‘breaking the rules’ on time were the Gardaí, but we are all learning in the mutually supportive learning environment of Toastmasters. The club sponsors acknowledge the great encouragement received from senior members of An Garda Siochana in the formation of the Guardian Club. In particular we thank Assistant Commissioner Ray McAndrew, already a Toastmaster, Chief Superintendent Michael Finn and Superintendent Con Cadogan as well as local Inspectors, Sergeants and Gardaí. Guardian Toastmasters Cork: Charterered June 13th 2008 For the moment the club is open to members of An Garda Síochána, civilian staff in Garda stations and the sponsors. Helen Hourican

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Area 4 Toastmasters at the Bucks County Show Some clubs are lucky enough to gain their members without really trying. The majority of us need to actively campaign to get members. After trying a number of ideas, we hit on the idea of taking part in the Bucks County Show. The impromptu test run in Berkhamsted Lion Club’s Summer fete gave us some practice before the Bucks show 2 days later. All the Clubs prepared their Club leaflets. Khai Eng Tyler made some amazing screen designs for a full length stand, borrowed from a local Charity. However, we were not prepared for the elements, most damaging was the wind, which scattered our leaflets, so most of our leaflets had to be battened down. The final result was encouraging. We were much fitter (chasing errant leaflets) and we had definite interest from about 20 people.

Damian Slevin with the Mayor of Aylesbury The Day of the Bucks Show came and we were out early to set out our stand. We had been busily printing leaflets for all the clubs in the area. We had a specially designed district display unit, plus the full length stand borrowed from a local Charity. We realized that we could not be continuously on the stand all day, so we ran a Rota, with people from all clubs turning up at different times. This allowed us to leave the stand to recuperate, refresh and resuscitate, but also to talk to other stall holders. The local radio stations, Council and other business proved useful sources. The Bucks Show is big show and is only on for one day. Visitors tended to hurry through the stands, so we only had a short time in which to capture their interest. We developed different methods. Those potentially negative opening statements, like “ Are you scared of speaking in Public?” had them fleeing in different directions whereas “would you like to improve your confidence through speaking” seemed more productive.

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We had the honour of Division Governor, Sandra Lawes, who came to help us start the day off. She is in the middle pictured above with the division’s stand. We were joined by two previous area 4 governors. It was a very successful day with interests, not only in the Area 4 Clubs, there were also two enquiries for Milton Keynes and one for London. There were thirty six enquiries for area 4 Clubs. Officers and members of the 4 Clubs worked closely together and we all had a great time. There is no doubt that the profile of Toastmasters was raised. I would like to thank the efforts of Khai Eng Tyler, Sandra Lawes, Jim Robinson, Damien Slevin, Bev Fowlston. Jean Gamster, Gill Hale and those in District 71, who made it possible. Alastair Watson-Gandy Area 4 Governor 2008/9

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Autumn Conference in Kilkenny 7th – 9th of November ‘08 It’s that time again Come to the conference in Kilkenny and watch yourself dance, sing, talk, laugh, enjoy, and meet old friends, make new friends and collapse into your bed each night. You will start again the next day and do the same all over again. When it comes to an end I guarantee you, you will want to make your next conference booking before leaving the hotel! That is just a brief outline of the sequence of happenings at a district 71 conference, and I did not even get to tell you about the contests and workshops yet. We have a wide range of topics being covered in the educational sessions. “Kiss and Make Up,” is the title of Nick Theato’s session on Friday evening. What can he have in mind for us? There is only one way to find out. Be there at Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel at 5.pm. Friday 7th November. There are four other workshops to choose from on Saturday Saturday morning there is a Medieval Meander through some of the streets and lanes of Kilkenny. Tea and cake will be served midway through the event to keep up the energy for the afternoon and the humorous speech contest. A quick nap, and on with the best frock and bling (for the ladies). I’m sure the men will also look resplendent for the black tie banquet. Bookings for Three Castles Conference are brisk. Some of the many packages are already sold out. The early bird has got the worm!!! To avoid disappointment contact our bookings coordinator Noel O’Farrell by phone he will assist you in making your bookings. 0035385 1741506 or chrisjof@gmail.com What about the Friday theme I hear you asking. Its a 60’s night and the disco music will be from that great time (in some of our lives) Dress to impress! For those travelling from U.K. airports we will post the pick up time at the airports on the D71 web site in the very near future. Make sure you send us your travel times. Lucia Hughes NOTE FOR CONFERENCE ATTENDEES: For your comfort and to assist our organisation of seating at the black-tie banquet we are asking all delegates to pre-register their seating/table preference at conference registration on arrival at the hotel. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter. NO seating will be possible without pre-registration. Lucia Hughes Announcement: There will be an Education Workshop on Friday at 17.15. The title of the Workshop is “The Art of Story Telling”. The Presenter is Liam Cunningham. Lucia Hughes Conference Program: You can see the ‘ Full Conference Program’ on www.d71.org

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10 + 80 = Riverside Communicators 90 year celebration

What is better than a celebration party? A double celebration party! At the end of June 2008 Riverside Communicators shared its tenth birthday bash with Jean Cooper. Jean, one of our Past Presidents, known to many of you, has been a member for the whole ten years, and is 80 years young. If you’ve attended recent District 71 conferences you’ll

have seen Jean in action on the dance floor or heard her singing one of her conference numbers such as “Jenny made her mind up…” It will be easy for you to imagine that a joint celebration with Jean is something that will live long in the memory. What can I tell you to give you a flavour of the evening? Andrew Klimaytys, Past President, was resplendent as our red coated Toastmaster for the evening. Many of our Past Presidents came along as well as Toastmasters who had been instrumental in setting up the club all those years ago. We also had distinguished guests including Freddie Daniells Division B Governor, Dick Dixon, Immediate Past Division B Governor and Samantha Babister Division H Governor. Sonia Aste our glamorous 2007/08 President welcomed the guests and introduced us to the Riverside Oscar Night. Three of our “Best Speaker” ribbon winners gave their speeches again, showcasing the standard that typifies a Riverside meeting. Our Oscar nominees were Zahid Bashir one of our most active members, Bertie Ekperigin, VP Education and Gray Standen, our current President. Duncan Hyde, Past President and charter member, read out a message from Margaret Worthy our first President and took us on a trip down memory lane. Ian Harrison, Past President, presented Jean and the Club with the new annual Cooper Cup for Storytelling. Ben Tickle, Past President, made use of his Special Occasion Speeches and gave the toasts. And I had the honour of presenting the club and Jean with their birthday cakes! Many club members made a specific contribution to the evening. Our resident artist Jim McCluskey made Jean a wonderful birthday card. Trevor Stokes and Jim decorated the room. Sue Kennedy used all her party organising skills to make the event happen. Jeremy Nicholas was our paparazzo and John Craddock’s PR activities meant that the local press were present. Thank you to all our members, family, and friends from other clubs who came along and made our double birthday celebration a night to remember. Dorothea Stuart, Assistant Division B Governor – Marketing

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Watford Speakers Go Shopping

Pre-charter club Watford Speakers was on parade in the Harlequin Shopping Centre in central Watford on 20 September. This major retail mall is only a stone’s throw from the club’s meeting venue, so it was the ideal place to have a promotional stand to raise awareness of the club and increase membership. The stand was manned all day by a rota of stalwarts from Watford Speakers, Hertfordshire Speakers and West Herts Speakers. Despite

the temptations of the first sunny day for weeks, they stuck to the task through thick and thin. Their support was much appreciated. Permission for the promotion was given after lengthy negotiations with the Marketing team at the Harlequin, who themselves showed interest in visiting the club. We had to provide £5million of Public Liability Insurance for the day (which was expensive) and a fire specification for all the material used in the display, as well as carrying out a full risk assessment. [Ed: I had no idea that handing out leaflets posed such a danger to the public!] The team successfully captured contact details from 16 people who spent time with us on the stand, talking about the benefits of the club. These have been followed up with personal invitations to the next meeting. We also distributed some 300 leaflets to interested passers-by. So now it is fingers crossed to see how many people come along to our next few meetings. “It was good fun but very hard on the feet and legs! I would advise anyone doing this type of promotion to wear their most comfortable shoes,” said Sandra Lawes, Division G Governor and co-founder of Watford Speakers. “We had a lot of interest from the general public and even more from the staff and managers in the retail outlets in the shopping mall. The Toastmasters who manned the stand did a terrific job and I was very proud to work alongside them.” The club currently has 13 members and is determined to charter during this Toastmasters year. Picture shows the stand used for the promotion and Sandra Lawes, a very tired Division G Governor, at the end of a long day on her feet!

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East Midlands Speakers’ Club As some of you may know, East Midlands Speakers’ Club was set up in July ’07 by John Cox. John had knowledge of Toastmasters International through his trips to the States on business but when he decided he would like to join a club here he discovered that his nearest was either Birmingham or Leeds! And less than a year after its launch, aided by the guidance and amazing support we have received from our mentors Judi Malan and Brian Crockett, the Club was able to Charter. At the time of writing our 24 members and their husbands/wives/partners/guests are looking forward to tarting themselves up in their finery to celebrate this momentous milestone at The Grand Charter Dinner (Dress to Impress!) on 26th September. I presume the setting up of the Club has been no different from the setting up of any other Toastmasters’ Club – certainly no different from any other club that John and I have been involved in the inauguration stage. Attendance at the launch was around 37; by the second meeting that had probably halved, and although there were many promises of intended membership, by the third or fourth meeting we could have clustered comfortably around a not over-large dining table! However, promises were kept and people did come to subsequent meetings and they did join. Another challenge was the establishing of a committee. Inspired and enthused members took on roles only to discover that more time was required than the day job allowed or their circumstances changed and their attendance at the Club was going to be at best no more than sporadic. So after one or two initial hiccoughs we now have a well-organised and efficient committee who keep the Club running on well-oiled wheels. We have a separate committee of three members who are arranging the Charter Dinner. We have recently held our Club Humorous Speech Contest, are looking forward to supporting our two members Stuart Webb and Judy Dyer who are going forward to the Area Contest on 5th October that I am proud to say East Midlands Speakers are hosting! We are still looking to expand our membership and looking for opportunities to “spread the word.” We have recently had two prospective members from the East Midlands website, and only this week I got quite a lot of interest as a result of doing a two-minute slot at a gathering of business women. Our current members are an enthusiastic and committed bunch and we have a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. The Club owes its existence, its formula and its procedures to Toastmasters International; it owes its culture and special identity to its like-minded and vibrant members.I know there are at least two very new clubs around – we have been trying to give our near neighbours Chesterfield as much support as possible – and I hope our experiences of the last 12 months or so will help them to get through the sticking patches and celebrate each success, however small. Roma Cox VP Public Relations

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AREA GOVERNORS DIVISION GOVERNORS OCTOBER MONITOR WHQ site for semi-annuals - DO NOT WAIT FOR LATE PAYERS

SEND winners from AREA contests to DIVISION Governor HOLD Division Humorous & Topics contests Submit Area Governor Report to Division Governor by 10th OCT

COLLATE Council report, submit to District Secretary by 20th OCT

ALL 1st Round Club visits must be completed by 31st OCT

SEND winners from DIVISION contests to District Executive

REMEMBER - all contest winners have to be fully paid up & a member in a club that is fully paid up and in good standing AT ALL LEVELS OF THE COMPETITIONS

NOVEMBER Attend Executive & Council Mtgs at District Conference 7/8/9 NOV

Attend Executive & Council Mtgs at District Conference 7/8/9 NOV Give 2 minute report at District Council mtg

Submit Club Visit reports to WHQ by 30th NOV

Enter your Second COT date into the D71 on-line calendar ASAP

DECEMBER APPRAISE DCP situation at halfway point and report to Division Governor

APPRAISE DCP situation at halfway point and report to LGET

START organising your Club Officer Training - find a date that works for all clubs

START organising your Division Council committee mtgs for 2nd half of year

JANUARY January District Officer Training dates are: UK - 11th Jan. - Stanstead Holiday Inn Express; Ireland 18th Jan. - Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise. HOLD 2nd COT training - motivate clubs to have at least 4 officers in attendance - think about a prize for the clubs who have all 7 officers in attendance

MONITOR DCP situation and highlight any issues early

START looking for successor

START planning your 2nd Club Visits ARRANGE/collate dates for Division and Area contests

SEND in your Club Visit reports to WHQ when completed

REMIND Area Governors of their Club Visit reports

NOMINATING COMMITTEE APPOINTED FOR DISTRICT ELECTIONS

By 25th January enter your Area & Divisional International Speech & Evaluation contest dates into the D71 on-line calendar

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www.d71.org

NEWSLETTER: Articles for inclusion in the next Newsletter can be e-mailed to the Editor, Jim Hegarty at hegartyjames@eircom.net and will be gratefully received. Don’t forget that further copies of the Newsletter (and the latest D71 News) can be downloaded easily from www.d71.org by all members. This Newsletter is being circulated in hard-copy format. Future D71 Newsletters will only be available on the D71 website, as agreed at the May ’08 D71 Council Meeting. If any recipient would prefer to continue receiving hard-copy format of the D71 Newsletter please contact the Editor, Jim Hegarty at hergartyjames@eircom.net.