Humorous Contest Winners

2017 Spring Conference

Triple Crown Award

Take part in District 39’s TRIPLE CROWN Promotion!  Attain three or more Educational Achievements before the end of the current Toastmaster year, and you will be recognized as a Toastmasters Triple Crown Achiever. It promises to be challenging – you need to attain any three of the following: CC, ACB, ACS, ACG, CL, ALB, ALS and DTM. But with goal setting and commitment, it’s definitely doable! And consider the benefits: Recognition on the District 39 website. Recognition on the District 39 Facebook. Special achievement recognition, to be presented at the next District Conference. Most importantly: maximized personal growth through the Toastmasters educational program. Remember: Track completed speech and leadership projects with zeal, and be a District 39 TRIPLE CROWN achiever!

Speak like a 5 Course Meal!

Toastmaster International Policy Changes

September 22, 2016 Dear District Leader, In August 2015, the Board of Directors amended Policy 2.0: Club and Membership Eligibility, to more clearly define a member or club that is in “good standing,” effective July 1, 2016. Since that time, there have been many questions regarding the impact on individual members and clubs who do not pay their renewals on time. Impact on the member: If a member does not pay their renewal dues by April 1 or October 1, the member will not be in good standing and will remain in this status until their dues are paid. Any members who do not pay October renewal dues by October 1 will remain on the club’s online roster for up to two months. During this time a club officer may pay the delinquent renewal order, returning the member’s status to good standing. (This is considered a late payment and not a reinstatement.) Reinstatement only occurs when there is a break in membership between renewal periods. Impact on the club: Renewal requirements (paying dues for eight members, three of whom are renewing) must be met by April 1 or October 1 by the club. If the club does not meet the requirements then the club will no longer be in good standing and will remain in this status until the requirements are met. Reinstatement of the club will only occur if the renewal requirements are not met within six months of the last due date. To ensure a smooth transition, club officers will continue to have access to Club Central to conduct club business for up to two months past April 1 and October 1, even if they do not pay their renewal dues on time. If you have any questions about the renewal process, please contact renewals@toastmasters.org. Sincerely, Toastmasters International www.toastmasters.org This message has been sent to district directors, program quality directors, club growth directors, region advisors and Board of Directors.  

2016 September District Newsletter

Important Message from the District Director

D39 Toastmaster Spotlight: Donny Crandell

In this interview, we learn insights from Donny Crandell after his experience at the 2016 Toastmasters International Conference in Washington DC. He won first place in his semifinal speech contest and then competed in the final 10 in the World Championship! Can you recommend an extraordinary Toastmaster for our next spotlight? Email the roving reporter at davidgoadspeaks@gmail.com Q: Donny, which club do you belong to and how long have you been in Toastmasters? A: I’m the current President of Washoe Express in Reno, NV. I’ve been a member of Toastmasters for 5 years. Q: Let’s start with the most important question, how is the new baby? A: I love having a baby! He’s already learned an incredible talent: before I can even get a new diaper buttoned up on him he poops again, making me hurry to put a second diaper on. Then, he grins and gives me a little laugh. Q: Congratulations on winning the semifinal. That’s an achievement that very few speakers accomplish. What did you do differently this year that helped propel you to the win? A: This year’s contest was a little different than last year. This year I used two call-backs from contestants who spoke before me. I also knew what to expect from being on the semifinal stage and about how many people would be in the audience. It helped to have a year of experience. I appealed to the international audience by talking about different geographical areas in my speech. But the main difference was that I was more comfortable with myself and the contest this year. Q: What did you share in your contestant interviews on stage? A: In my first interview, I gave a shout out to District 39 and thanked the Toastmasters who gathered at UNR at 5:00 A.M. to eat donuts and watch me speak. But, my best line was sharing how “I joined Toastmasters to learn how to preach shorter sermons”. Everyone clapped! In my second interview, I shared how one of my rituals before giving a speech is taking a minute to pray. I gave a list of four things I pray about, but the last one got the biggest laugh: “I pray that God helps me not go over time. Sometimes He answers my prayer and sometimes He leaves me to my own devices.” Of course, I already knew that I disqualified myself by going over time to 7:34. I also cut it close in the semifinals at 7:28! Q: What are some of the comments you received from audience members after your speech that really stuck with you? A: After winning the semi’s, I felt like a celebrity as I walked through the Marriot Marquis lobby. For a day, I thought I was Donald Trump instead of Donald Crandell. I was stopped by dozens of people who congratulated me and wanted to take selfies. After the championship, I had to remind those who stopped me that I didn’t win or even place and their response was….” that doesn’t matter, YOU WON! You made it to the World Championship.” Very few people had a critique, maybe because they knew I disqualified myself. Overall they liked both my speeches and they made them feel good and inspired. There were a couple folks who asked permission to give constructive criticism and they shared valuable insights with me about being more conversational and not pacing as much. Q: Which of the other finalists were you most impressed with and why? A: There were 5 men and 5 women, which I think had never happened before on the championship stage. It also seemed there was a divide between older folks (like me) and millennials. The last contestant, Katina was very nice and we whispered our evaluations to each other after every speech. I was number 9 speaker and she was number 10. I would say the final 10 were a pleasant, diverse, international group of contestants. But, like the Olympics, we had more from the United States than any other country. As far as my favorite speech, I liked Aaron’s message, “You can say a lot without saying a lot of words.” Darren’s championship speech about “bullying” was well-done, but in my opinion not as original as the first one I mentioned. Okay, the underwear was original! Q: What did you learn from the experience competing at this level that you most want to share with your fellow District 39 Toastmasters? A: My take-aways? If I ever make the championship stage again, I will use a winning speech I’ve already done, instead of writing a new one. I challenged myself this year to write a new semi and championship speech. I had only given my championship 1 time before giving it on the championship stage. If I had used my semifinal speech from last year, I’m convinced I would have at least placed. Secondly, make sure you get some sleep the night before the contest. My wife couldn’t go (because of our pooping baby), so I had a buddy join me for the conference. He snored so loud, I didn’t sleep 10 minutes the night before the championship contest. And finally, pray harder about God helping you not go over time, and help God answer your prayer by shutting up sooner. Q: Anything else you want to add that I did not ask you about? A: It was awesome to have our district members support me. They sat together, cheered together and made me feel like a winner. I was especially impressed with those who got up at 5:00 A.M. to watch the contest live stream. I wish every competitive Toastmaster could experience the Big Stage. It’s a natural-high like no other. Now that I know what to expect, I leave you with the words of Arnold Swartznegger, “I’ll be Back.” I also want to thank the clubs who offered and allowed me to practice with them. District 39, I tried my best to get us on the map again and make you

Changes to “Member in Good Standing”

Changes to the Definition of Member in Good Standing To be a member in good standing under the new policy, you must have your dues paid for the current period. This means that your dues must be paid on or before October 1st in the fall and April 1st in the spring. If your dues are not paid by the 1st, you IMMEDIATELY become a member not in good standing, and remain not in good standing until your dues are received by World Headquarters. This is a change from prior years where member dues were due on the 10th AND where the member had a grace period that allowed them to remain a member in good standing until November 30th in the fall and May 30th in the spring. There is no longer a grace period.

2016 Division Director Conference Call Meeting Minutes

  District 39 Memorandum Member and Club Dues Payments Update Effective July 1, 2016 District 39 Toastmasters, The following information was provided by Past District Governor, Russ Steele, DTM. At the August 10th and 11th, 2015 Toastmasters International Board of Directors meeting, the Board voted to make several changes to club and membership eligibility policy effective July 1, 2016. It is critical that the clubs and members understand the effects these changes will have on them. Effects on the Distinguished Club Program The actual due dates for on-time payment of dues in the Distinguished Club Program are now October 1st in the fall and April 1st in the spring. This is a change from previous years when the on-time due date has actually been the 10th.  These changes are detailed in the Distinguished Club Program Manual. Changes to the Definition of a Club in Good Standing To be a club in good standing under the new policy, a club must have dues for 8 members or more paid by October 1st in the fall and by April 1st in the spring. If they do not have at least 8 paid members, they IMMEDIATELY become a club that is not in good standing on the 1st and are not in good standing until dues for 8 members have been received at World Headquarters. This is a change from prior years where the due dates were on the 10th AND where the club had a grace period that allowed them to remain a club in good standing until November 30th in the fall and May 30th in the spring. There is no longer a grace period. Changes to the Definition of Member in Good Standing To be a member in good standing under the new policy, you must have your dues paid for the current period. This means that your dues must be paid on or before October 1st in the fall and April 1st in the spring. If your dues are not paid by the 1st, you IMMEDIATELY become a member not in good standing, and remain not in good standing until your dues are received by World Headquarters. This is a change from prior years where member dues were due on the 10th AND where the member had a grace period that allowed them to remain a member in good standing until November 30th in the fall and May 30th in the spring. There is no longer a grace period.  Changes to the District Business Meeting To be eligible to be represented and counted in the quorum for the District Business Meeting, a club must be in good standing. If, by the date of the business meeting, dues for 8 members of a club have not been paid to World Headquarters, as discussed above, the club is not in good standing. Their officers may not vote at the business meeting and their club is not counted in the calculation of a quorum. This is a change from prior policy, when every club that had paid dues in the previous dues period was considered to be in good standing because the grace period kept them in good standing until November 30th and May 30th. There is no longer a grace period. Changes to Toastmasters Speech Contests In order to be eligible to compete in a speech contest, a speaker needs to be a member in good standing and the club they are representing needs to be a club in good standing. As detailed above, this means the club must have dues paid for 8 members, the member must have paid dues for the current period and World Headquarters must have both the club and member dues on file. In addition, the member must continue to be eligible at every level and if it is discovered they were ever ineligible when they competed, they are disqualified. In District 39, this means at every Area, Division and District contest held on or after October 1st in the fall and April 1st in the spring, the contest chair needs to look at the club and membership lists from World Headquarters and determine if both the contestant and the club he/she represents are in good standing and, if they are not, or if they were ineligible at any previous level, they will need to disqualify them. This is a change from prior policy where every club and member which had paid dues in the previous dues period were considered to be in good standing because the grace period kept them in good standing until November 30th and May 30th. There is no longer a grace period. Please direct questions to Sondra.Nunez@District39.org or call 916-599-5975   Sondra Nunez, DTM District 39 Director