February Newsletter Now Available

The February, 2010 edition of the District 54 Dispatch is now available at this link (Google docs). Enjoy!

Rock On!

by Karl Herbst

The Toastmasters Leaders and Speakers Forum has announced that Rock On! has been voted the best website of Toastmasters clubs in Illinois and Indiana. See http://www.rockontoastmasters.org

This took teamwork and is a great milestone for the club and the start of many good things to come. Thanks to all who helped make it possible.

Educational Goals

by Martie Ogborn, Lt. Governor, Education and Training

Where will you be at the end of this year's Toastmaster season, June 30, 2010? Stay focused on your goals to finish your Toastmaster year strong. Go to http://www.finishstrongmovie.com to watch a 3 minute movie and be inspired. The message turned the switch "on" for the New Orleans Saints at the beginning of their season. The rest, as you probably know, is history! As of February 7, the New Orleans Saints are first-time Super Bowl WINNERS!

Not only do you and your club have goals, so does the district. Please review the table below and keep in mind each one of the numbers represents a life that has been changed. Work with your fellow club officers and Toastmasters, strive for 9 or 10 of your Distinguished Club Program goals, and see your club reach “President’s Distinguished” status no later than June 30, 2010.

District Goal	Actual to date	Year's goal	Needs more	Percent complete
Paid clubs	76	77	1	98.7%
Mem payments	1583	3082	1499	51.4%
CC awards	48	105	57	45.7%
AC awards	20	30	10	66.7%
Leadership awards	43	75	32	57.3%
Member retention rate	78.5%

Elections at Spring Conference

The District's election for 2010-2011 district officers will take place at the spring conference, April 17, at the Par-a-Dice Hotel/Casino in East Peoria, Illinois. For more information about the spring conference, see the spring conference website.

All voting members of the District Executive Council have the opportunity to vote in the annual district elections at the spring conference. Voting members include club presidents, vice presidents education, division governors, area governors, and the district-level officers.

If you are eligible to vote, but cannot attend the election, please make sure that you send your proxy with someone who will be present and able to vote in your place. The proxy is here (42K PDF).

This proxy is only necessary if a voting member of the District Executive Council is not able to vote but wants to assign a proxy.

Nominations for District Officers

Nominations for District Officers are now open! Please see the following documents (Google docs) for details:

• 2010 Call for District 54 Nominations
• District 54 Officer Nominating Form
• Officer Agreement and Release Form
• District 54 Job Descriptions

Club Officer Training - Feb 20, 2010

The last opportunity for club officer training at a Winter Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) is scheduled for Feb 20th in St. Charles, IL at 2 E. Main Street, the St. Charles Municipal Bldg. (link to map on Google)

Registration begins at 8:30 AM

Opening Ceremony 9:00 AM

Required and Optional Training at:
9:30, 10:30, and 11:30

Closing Comments 12:30 pm

For More Information:
Contact TLI Dean: Chuck Stickney
Chuck_Stickney@Toyota.com

C (630) 240-1145
W (630) 353-4747
H (630) 377-6462

Leadership Training Jan 30 and Feb 20

Upcoming Winter Toastmasters Leadership Institutes (TLIs) are scheduled for Jan 30th in Moline, and Feb 20th in St. Charles.

Moline
Date: January 30, 2010
Location: Butterworth Center
Street: 1105 8th Street (link to map on Google)
City/Town: Moline, IL

St. Charles
Date: February 20, 2010
Location: St. Charles Municipal Bldg. (link to map on Google)
Street: 2 E. Main St.
City/Town: St. Charles, IL

District 54 Website Temporarily Down

The District 54 website is temporarily out-of-order, so we have redirected traffic here, where we will be posting announcements and critical documents that are needed for district business. We will have the website back up as soon as we are able.

Toastmasters Scarecrow: Stop Freaking about Public Speaking

Fox Valley Toastmasters had a very creative entry in the St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, which takes place every October. Pat Reisdorf, president of the club, gives the following report:

From Toastmasters District 54

Attached is a color picture of “Stop Freaking about Public Speaking”, a whimsical display created & sponsored by Fox Valley Toastmasters 3399 for the community in the 25th Annual St. Charles Scarecrow Festival, October 9-11, 2009. The Scarecrow Festival typically attracts 60,000+ visitors every year, so members thought it would be a great way to publicize Fox Valley Toastmasters 3399, as well as support and promote Toastmasters clubs in the surrounding area.

Agenda (guarded by a Crow)
7:30 Welcome
7:35 TMOE: Jack O’Lantern
7:40 Motivator: Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
7:45
Speech #1 Don’t Get Stuck with a Pumpkin by Cinderella
Speech #2 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Crow by Ida Raven
Speech #3 How to Get A Head in Business by the Headless Horseman
8:15 Break
8:20 Table Topic Theme: Which Came First: The Pumpkin or the Pumpkin Seed?
8:25 General Evaluator: The Great Pumpkin
8:45 Awards
8:55 Concluding Remarks
Listening, Confidence, Communication and Leadership

Treasurer JoAnn Cassell and her husband, Tom, came up with the design concept, and shared it with club members, who then contributed ideas for a general theme. The decision was made to use “Stop Freaking about Public Speaking”. JoAnn, Tom and family took the leadership on assembling the display and were assisted by long time members, Jim Enockson and Glen Heller, who contributed overall expertise and woodworking savvy to build the podium and the wooden/tin gavel from scratch.

Although the club did not win a cash prize, based on Festival votes from the crowd, it was a display that won the hearts of many passersby. Comments from the crowd included, “Gee, I was always going to try Toastmasters out sometime” and “I wonder if we should both visit a meeting” and “I think there’s a Toastmasters that meets near where we live - we’ll have to check it out!”

As a member commented on the rainy Thursday evening prior to the official start of the Festival, “I stood in front of the display for a long time so I got to hear a lot of comments from people stopping to take a look. The feedback was great and the exposure for Fox Valley Toastmasters and Toastmasters in general will be awesome. With the potential lift in membership from this project, we may have to move our meetings to the United Center!”

Congratulations to Fox Valley Toastmasters for taking such a creative and enjoyable approach to publicity!

Peoria Times-Observer Human Interest Story

The Peoria Times-Observer has a nice human interest story on one of our fellow Toastmasters in Peoria, Illinois.

http://www.peoriatimesobserver.com/lifestyle/x1128400152/No-fear-of-public-speaking-here