Aloha my fellow Toastmasters ohana!
February is upon us, and I feel so much gratitude and love for our District 49 members. Thank you everyone for your continued support not only to me, but to our entire district! It’s members like you who have days full of family and church obligations, yet always attend club meetings and training with such positive energy. We are more than halfway through the 2020-2021 year, and it’s this positive energy that will continue to motivate us to seek self-improvement for our family, friends, and Toastmasters.
Respectfully,
Sepiuta Holakeituai, DTM, District Director 2020 - 2021
d49s.holak2y@gmail.com
Paid Clubs: Currently 62, the goal is 66 (Increase of 1 since January)
Membership Payments: Currently 1,107, the goal is 2,551 (Increase of 70 since January)
Distinguished Clubs: Currently 0, the goal is 26 (No change since November)**
As of January 3, 2020. **Clubs do not earn Distinguished status until March 2021, when dues are paid for the required number of members - 20 or an increase of 5 over the previous year.
Last month, we called for members to support our new clubs. We are proud to say, Congratulations to the Hawaii Comedy Central Toastmasters Club! As of January 14, they are the first new chartered club for District 49, 2020-2021.
We have a few more new clubs on the horizon to charter; please see Gerald Toyomura’s Club Growth Director’s message for more information.
Do your club members need motivation? If yes, here is an article from Toastmasters magazine that can help see different perspectives of what might motivate people. They even suggested the book written by Daniel Pink - Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
On January 31, we were made aware of the very sad news of our former District Governor Frank Vargo's passing. Frank was an intricate part of District 49’s aloha spirit of fostering personal development and club growth throughout the district.
Please visit our Facebook group to read remembrances about Frank by Sepi Holakeituai, and Rose Kirland. As stated in a comment by Kevin Doyle, also a past District Governor and Past International Director, Frank was a charter member of Ward Transformers and Na Hoku Kai, and a member of Hawaiian Electric Toastmasters. Frank worked with Hawaiian Electric for 37 years. As busy as Frank was, he never turned down a time to mentor others. Please share your memories with us also. We express love to his clubs, to those who knew him, and to his family. We are truly saddened.
Aloha my Fellow Toastmasters,
It’s that time when we get to showcase our speaking skills and learn by watching those more experienced Toastmasters in the upcoming Table Topics and International Speech contests. It is also the time to start renewals. On or before April 1, clubs need a minimum of 8 paid members, 3 of which are renewing, to maintain good standing. Remember that Toastmasters International is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, so all online transactions are recorded in Mountain Time zone. Keep pushing to sign up new members. To qualify for Distinguished Club status, the club must have a minimum of 20 paid members or a net growth of 5 (whichever is less) on or before June 30.
We have completed our District club officer training, and the last session included a segment for members not yet enrolled in Pathways. We are developing a new member orientation and Pathways enrollment program to help clubs get their new members started.
Our Annual District Conference is coming up in the first week of May. Be on the lookout for more information about special events.
Sincerely,
Kory Ikeda, ACB, ALB, Program Quality Director,
d49kory@gmail.com
The 2021 District 49 Annual Conference will take place between Saturday, May 1 and Saturday, May 8. Events including educational sessions, member recognition, and the District Council Meeting to be scheduled throughout the week. BIG news coming soon!
Areas 2, 7, 9, 16 – Saturday, February 20, 9:00am - register here
Areas 4, 8, 12, 14 – Saturday, February 20, 1:00pm - register here
Areas 1, 6, 10, 15 – Saturday, February 27, 9:00am - register here
Areas 3, 5, 11, 13 – Saturday, February 27, 1:00pm - register here
Division B – Saturday, March 20, 9:00 am
Division C – Saturday, March 20, 1:00 pm
Division D – Saturday, March 27, 9:00 am
Division A – Saturday, March 27, 1:00 pm
District 49 – to be announced.
Have your new members been orientated? Have they enrolled in Pathways and selected a path? District 49 recently conducted a trial run of a District-wide new member orientation and Pathways enrollment session. The recording, Power Point presentation, and other resources can be found here.
Aloha Talk-Up Toastmasters!
Talk Up Toastmasters is here!
Gain new members for your club! The Talk Up Toastmasters membership program is the chance to encourage your members to invite guests to a special meeting where prospective members can learn about Toastmasters' many benefits.
Sincerely,
Gerald Toyomura, DTM, Club Growth Director 2020-2021
d49gerald@gmail.com
The Toastmasters Board of Directors has extended the waiver of $125 off for new Club Charter fee and $20 off per new member to June 30, 2021!
Specialty clubs are in the making: Environmental Clubs, Church Clubs, Military Clubs, On-line Clubs, English as a Second Language Club, Parliamentarian Club, and more. Clubs can be on-line and have members from around the world! What would you like to do?
Find out more about starting a new club.
Take advantage of the Extended waiver on New Club fee and New Membership fees! Start or join a new club! Clubs provide their members with the confidence and communication skills to flourish in their jobs; as members are able to deliver stronger presentations at work, lead more productive staff meetings and relate better with clients and colleagues.
Here are the new Hawaii clubs in the making and their contact persons:
Start and/or join a new club now with the Club and New member fees waived! See what you can do! Develop your skills!
District 49 Membership Leader Awards –
To recognize and encourage people to be leaders in Toastmasters.
Awarded at the end of the year. Clubs submit applications for each award.
Contact D49 CGD Gerald Toyomura, DTM for more information at D49Gerald@gmail.com
Interested in being the next District Leader? Check the article Calling All Leaders in our Bulletin for all important documents, forms and contact information.
Dear Hawaii Toastmasters Ohana,
It is my pleasure to introduce our new newsletter format that is based on the district website. Toastmasters International inspired us. As club and district officers could notice, in the fall, TI A/B tested delivering the Leader Letter in the email and on their website. In November, they completely switched to the web only issues that are announced by a brief email and on social media. We are following the suit. You will keep receiving one or two email notifications, and all future newsletters will be published here. We are keeping the newsletter format introduced in July - with four distinct sections for the district business, education, club building and membership retention, and public relations.
Positively,
Slava Slavik, CC, PM5, PI4, Public Relations Manager
d49@11clicks.net
office: 808-600-3833, cell: 404-313-1731
Laura Reid from Waimea Toastmaster has a secret recipe for winning speech contests in a virtual setting. With the excitement of the 2021 contest season behind the door, Aaron Robbie, our writer, reached out to Laura and asked for her advice to contestants. Read the article here.
Congratulations, Laura, on your achievements, and thank you for being an inspiration for other members and for your participation in our Member Spotlight.
Last month, we introduced a new section of the newsletter District 49 Throwback with Greg Ching’s speech “Beauty is Skin Deep.” This month, we are going to reach into the same archive.
Please enjoy supper funny speech by Robert Cravalho called The Prom Queen from the 2013 District 49 round of Tall Tale Speech Contest. Robert Cravalho, DTM, served as a District Governor in 2013 – 2014, and in 2019, he became Hawaii’s first Accredited Speaker, one of the (only) 80+ accredited speakers in the World.
To promote the new newsletter medium, we are announcing a fun incentive. Leave a comment below to get a chance to win this book. Your comment can be an idea you have for us, district leaders, or just one word - “book.” As simple as that.
Adam Grant’s Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know is currently a hot bestseller in several categories of business, self-help, and social psychology books. It just came out on Tuesday, 2/2. Bill and Melinda Gates: "Think Again is a must-read for anyone who wants to create a culture of learning and exploration, whether at home, at work, or at school... In an increasingly divided world, the lessons in this book are more important than ever." Please google more about Adam Grant and this book.
We can’t wait to mail it to one lucky, randomly selected winner!
Please note, the comments are done by a Facebook plugin that might be filtered out on corporate networks. If that's the case or you prefer not to connect with your Facebook on this website, you can leave a comment in our Facebook Group here.
Do have an important club story you'd like to share in the District 49 Newsletter? Please send an email to pr@district49.org. We are here to support you!
Ron Cahoon, DTM
Newsletter Editor
pr@district49.org
