District 21 Toastmasters

The winners of the International Speech Competition were:

1. 2. Gene Vickers - Golden Opportunities               Club 992549 Top Story
2. 3. Alan Warburton – My New Hero                      Club 1703259 Just Pros

The Winners of the Evaluation Contest were:

1. 1. Samantha Pattridge Club 9453 Rise and Shine Toastmasters
2. 2. Leigh Heppner Club 5818 Speakeasy Club
3. 3. Matt Redshaw Club 8742 Good News Toastmasters

By Isabelle Southcott

Do you remember attending your very first Toastmasters conference? Were you nervous? Excited? Overwhelmed? Did you meet new friends and come away feeling re-energized and inspired?

There’s something special about the first time you do something. First kiss, first speech, even the first time you drive a car. Memories of those exciting firsts remain etched firmly in our minds long after the event itself has passed. Memories of the first time you attend a District 21 Toastmasters conference will too.

First timer’s reception

Toastmasters know just how special your first conference is, that’s why we roll out the red carpet for first timers. There’s the special first timer’s reception so that everyone attending a conference for the first time has the opportunity to meet other Toastmasters from all across the province.

Gerry Joly, a former area and division governor, was a member of Pacific Rim Toastmasters when he attended his first conference in 2003. Gerry says he was given a white first timers ribbon and treated royally. “People who were a lot more important than I was would stop and talk to me. They didn’t make me feel intimidated. They made me feel welcome, that I was part of the whole Toastmasters family. There’s nothing like that first conference.”

By Valerie Fletcher Adolph

Burnaby Mountain’s Secret Weapon

Burnaby Mountain Toastmasters is a student-based club that meets at Simon Fraser University. Besides the normal attrition of members, this club faces the loss of members at the end of each semester as students move on, change courses and schedules, or graduate. You might think that maintaining a decent membership base would be difficult.

But Justin Cho, club President describes a healthy club that frequently welcomes new members and has more new members waiting in the wings for the upcoming new semester. Members come from a variety of different disciplines as students realize their university work and their future careers will be greatly enhanced by improving their presentation skills.

By Darren Frew

Membership-building and member retention are topics which frequently top the "to-do" list for Toastmasters clubs around the world; this is certainly true for the clubs in District 21. Many of us have had the dismaying experience of seeing our club's once-healthy membership drop by as much as 50% after the spring or fall renewals. However, some clubs have seen this turn of fortune as a golden opportunity.

One such club is IABC Headliners, based in downtown Vancouver. Their President, Simon Venhuizen, recently shared some valuable insights he has gained since he took office July 1, 2011. IABC Headliners is a high energy, supportive group comprised of fun members and high quality professionals. To attract and inspire the members, the club has consistently promoted the opportunities that Toastmasters offers to gain meaningful, relevant experience.

• ~ There are additional aspects of IABC Headliners that are attractive to guests and prospective members:
• ~ Downtown location near Skytrain and transit
• ~ Bi-weekly meetings with a 6:15pm start time are very convenient for after work crowd
• ~ A subsidy from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), British Columbia Chapter means the members pay ultra-low rates
• ~ Top 3 listing on Google Maps—not all clubs are doing this, and the majority of guests admit to using Google to search for clubs
• ~ On their website, they have a “what you missed section” so that prospects can get a sense of what the club is like
• ~ The website lists the date of the club’s next scheduled meeting, so that people can tell it’s an active club
• ~ Meetings are always fast paced and follow the agenda
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By Valerie Fletcher Adolf

The day I phoned Brenda she had just become a grandma for the first time—her grandson Brady had been born that morning in Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations, Brenda!

Brenda Molnar is heading full speed towards her DTM. She joined the Messengers Toastmaster Club in Abbotsford in November 2008 and with any luck, fingers crossed, she might achieve her DTM by July. She has fulfilled most of the qualifications—she will complete one year as Area 92 Governor by the end of June. All that remains is to succeed as Club Coach for the Snow Peaks Club in Chilliwack—to bring them up to that magic number of 20 members.

Her High Performance Leadership project was ambitious—she organized and presented a one-hour children’s concert. She took individual children and small groups, had them write their own parts, and then coached them to perform, with musical direction, before an audience of parents and church members.

“It was way out of my comfort zone,” she said. “That’s why I chose it.”

Recently she organized a Toastmaster dinner meeting for Area 92 and 93 with a top-quality one hour meeting after the meal. This has the dual purpose of attracting new members plus getting members in the two areas to know each other better. With possible amalgamation ahead, this is important.

By Karen Knight, DTM

From 8 to 18 Members (or better) by year-end! Sound good? The notes and suggestions from the District Officer Training on membership building as well as the presentation slides from our Regional Advisor’s training session have been put up on the District website under “Resources”. (Check them out at the following link: http://d21toastmasters.ca/resources/membership-building)

Do you want to reach charter strength by June 30^th? There are several tips for each of the five main categories in membership building:

• ~ Find out what’s really holding your club back;
• ~ What makes a meeting one that involves and challenges current members and intrigues and entertains guests enough to get them to join;
• ~ What a club needs to have prepared ahead of time to take the best advantage of new member opportunities;
• ~ How to get guests in the door;
  
• ~ How to get guests to join.
  
  

These tips are not just from one or two people, but are suggestions from every attendee at the training. We have an amazing group of people in this District with an incredible amount of experience and expertise to share.