Dear Toastmasters of District 82,

Our first DTM of the year- Ajitha Goonewardene of Millenium Club,Colombo and District Secretary, District 82!

It’s so wonderful to have a District leaders showing the way –one of our District Officer resolutions at the District training was to show the way by District leaders working for additional educational awards, not just exhorting members to do so. That was another learning for me, reinforced by the convention at Las Vegas.

The TM International Convention is over, and what a learning experience it has been for the Trio –the extensive exercises with other Trio’s, the coming together of different nationalities under the Toastmaster banner, and experiencing the convention with all it’s different facets, each as important as the next.

The convention was, to me, the epitome of TM organizational skills: every single minute of the Trio training saw us in separate rooms, as a Trio, as DG/LGET/LGM, in groups with others from the Region 13 or otherwise, a careful mixing and mingling that helped us understand so many aspects of TM at so many different levels. The best part was realizing the common problems all of us face- lack of transparency and holding back of information impacting the working of current officers.

The contests were beautifully organized – imagine 82 semi-finalists (with Judges’ briefings) in nine separate halls, SAA’s, contest documents for each… And then of course, the World Championship Speech Contest – truly, the big one. The convention saw a record 1900 registrations and the beauty of Toastmasters was the pin-drop silence during every speech, with the thunderous applause only before and after, or at punchlines.

Not yet back home, but accessing the mails, I see lots of club contests are well and truly underway –and this is where the Toastmaster journey begins for a lot of the contestants, for each of whom, the WCPS is the final stop. Each year, the goal is a little farther, and the journey a little tougher, but that is why the prize is also sweeter. I hope members have been following Dananjaya’s tips on Facebook – true motivation for those who want to scale these peaks, and I truly commend his determination and dedication to his craft.

On the organizational front, the leadership track is so evident in the contest organization at every level. I would request every Club President and VPE to ensure individual members have roles to play at every contest. I hope Area Governors are sending role players to different clubs to ensure a higher standard.

·         Contest Chairs and Chief Judges should be members with experience, and judges should be a mix of the old and the new to ensure fairness.

·         Contest masters can be new, members from clubs who have done good TMoD roles or, at Area level, contestants who did not make it to the top this time.

·         Members should take the opportunity to attend other club/Area contests to cheer all participants, not only their own teams.

All contests also offer an opportunity for recognition- recognizing the SAA’s who stand outside to ensure the hall is not disturbed, the ones who have designed and written the names on the certificates, the ones who have bought the trophies…

A point of protocol I would like to stress here is the recognition of District Officers –please recognize and acknowledge all Club presidents, Area and Division Governors and senior Officers who are present at your contests. [In the case of a Club President who is a contestant, do the acknowledgment after the contest, not before. The same applies for any educational or other presentations scheduled at contest time.]

Here’s wishing all the contestant and role players all the best! Raise the bar so that you can confidently conduct an international-level contest with all the skills you have acquired now.