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RM Towill #1093107 Charters as District 49's Newest Club
On October 16, Toastmasters International granted a charter to District 49's newest club - R.M.Towill Toastmasters Club. Contact information can be found on the Our Clubs page.
District 49 Achieves Distinguished Status for 2006-2007
Becoming a Distinguished District is never easy, but District 49 met their goals in fine fashion, making the third time in six years the District has achieved this mark. The final membership numbers aren't in, but the District met it's Competent Communicator goals and Advanced Communicator goals before the District Conference May 12 and the membership goal was surpassed prior to the Region Conference June 1. The District finally me the CLub goal of 59 active clubs on June 25 - with 5 days to spare. (Two more clubs are in the works - Windward Winners in Kailua and Leeward Leaders in Ewa.) Hats off to District Governor Gloria Shishido and her leadership team for their great support of the clubs and making sure everything got done!
Kona Toastmasters' David Adams takes Second at the Region II International Speech Contest
Kona Toastmasters' David Adams represented District 49 in the Region II international Speech contest and placed second out of eight contestants. David becomes the Region II alternate for the World Championship of Public Speaking to be held in Phoenix Arizona in mid-August. David says he had a wonderful experience at the Region II conference and shared this account:
"I arrived in San Diego late Wednesday night. I took a taxi to the local Motel 6. I knew exactly where the hotel was, from the instructions I was given by the security guard. Instead of making the two-mile drive directly to the motel, my lovely taxi driver decided to make a voyage of the trip.
I told him, "thank you so much for bringing me directly to the hotel...most others would have taken me on a wild goose chase." He knew he'd been caught.
Greg Ching had an ice cold pizza waiting for me when I arrived at the hotel. After practicing in front of Greg for an hour he called Willy Jones on the phone and I delivered it for him too.
Hay, you should never ask a Toastmaster to share their experience...or this is what you get.
Thursday morning we went to the Marriott Hotel about 15 miles away. Not too bad...we got to ride the Red line to the Green line to the walking path that led us to the Marriott. Once there I practiced on what we thought was the stage for about 2 hours. Then like all good boys do...we went to Mexico. I bought two soccer jerseys, a ring and some bracelets for my four daughters. Oh, did I mention that Greg and I were the only tourists in the entire town. I have to tell you, if I ever train a sales force again…I will take them all to Mexico, for lessons on how not to accept no for an answer. I told several guys no at least 9 times each and they kept coming back with a better deal. I told the silver chain sellers that if I bought all they were trying to get me to buy, I would have to start selling just to get rid of the product. We did get out alive…only I saw a sign for massage and asked a guy how much it costs…he gave me a funny look and said about $30. Then Greg told me it’s not like the kind you get in Hawaii…silly me…I had no idea.
We made it out alive…just in time too because as of the first of the year, one must have a passport to get in and out of Mexico.
We went back to the Marriott and found out the contest was going to be in a different room. Therefore we went to practice in that room. It wasn’t set up yet, so I went in and practiced anyway. The structure was a permanent dome tent separated from the main building. We cleaned up at our hotel and went back to the Marriott for a social. These conferences are such a great place to meet really neat people.
I practice in my motel 6 and went to bed.
Do any of you know who Helen Blanchard is? She is the first woman to ever join Toastmasters…she joined as Homer Blanchard. She had to join as a man because TI was an all male organization. Her club took a vote and decided to have her sign up as a man. She spoke at the first training session. Great story! You should have been there for the details!
Bonny Kamen spoke to all of us about resolving conflict in Toastmasters. I tried to do my part but came in second place…sorry Cheryl…the conflict continues. : )
Brian Adams…not my brother before the presentation but he is now. He and his good friend Victor C. Broski, presented on “Mental Martial Arts”.
According to him…we must control the six inches between your ears because that is the only thing you have control of. It is also the only thing you have to have control of in order to get what you want.
The next presentation was all about Toastmasters corporate stuff…sleepy time…I left and went to practice on my stage that was set up for the humorous showcase.
I have never laughed so hard in my life…except when I was tickled under a blanket by my dad as a child. This was really good. Hopefully they will send me a copy of it. They said they would…so I am sure they shall.
After the showcase I saw Randy Harvey the 2004 World Champion of Public Speaking get on the elevator to go to his room. So…I slipped into the elevator with him to ask a quick question. He asked me if I would like to get a bite to eat with him…so we went back down to the restaurant. This man is one smart muchacho! He just graduated with another Doctorate. This time in Business Law. I would love to tell you what he said…but unfortunately I lost the contest and will have to show you in my next speech all that he talked about instead. I went back to motel 6 around midnight.
Friday night…sleepy time…the eyes are closed… the brain continued to race…and race…and race! I’ll tell you what, if I was running a marathon I would have won. I am sure all of you have been in a situation where you laid there all night long…never actually falling asleep. That was me. I woke up at 5:30 to practice…get ready, and leave for the hotel. Then I climbed back into bed thinking I might actually sleep this time. No luck. I arrived at the Marriott from the trolley again…just in time to hear Randy Harvey speak. He told the whole group what he had told me the night before…only I got to hear it twice. Plus I made a new friend. Basically he told me and everyone else that the speech I had written and all the ones they had written could be greatly improved with better writing skills. Now I just have to figure out how to implement what he was talking about. You know, this writing and delivering speeches is a lot of work.
I skipped the next two sessions to practice on my stage.
The next presentation I attended was by Sheryl Roush…she is one classy lady. If you ever have a chance to hear her speak…you must! She talked about the pathway from speaking for free to speaking for fee. Not just that but we had a great experience in her presentation.
The drawing for speaking order took place at 3:00pm. I drew speaker 5 and the guy who won drew speaker 8. He had seen the numbers and knew where number one and 6 were located. He asked the toastmaster to reshuffle the numbers. Then we drew.
The contest was very good. The speech I gave was the first speech I have given in a very long time where I didn’t leave out an important line or two. I felt really good about it when I left the stage. I knew I had done my best with the exception of the new knowledge I had gained from Dr. Harvey. I was disappointed in the result of second place…only because of the overall investment of time and effort. Any given day, any given speaker can win. Based on the feedback I received from members of the audience…they told me the speech had a huge impact on their lives. This is the only thing a speaker can hope for. This is why we speak. We have something to say…we have an important message to share…and the platform is a great place to share it.
I walked up on stage accepted the trophy and smiled like a good little boy…I shook the hand of the winner before his name was called…he will represent our region well and I think he has a good chance to win it all.
Oh and then I went to the airport and slept at Starbucks because I didn’t know the airport in San Diego shuts down completely every night.
District 49 and Guests, thank you for allowing me to share a portion of my experience!"
