The F63 Crown Courant – Oct 2014

F63 Area Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

From the desk of the Area Governor District Club Performance Inspirational Vitamin Upcoming Events Interview with President of Room to Speak

Division F Governor Hissie Johnson, ACG, ALB

F63 Area Governor

Rex Arul, ACS, ALB F63 Assistant Area Governor

Briana Baynham

Upcoming Events

District 44 Fall Conference 2014

In honor of Toastmasters International’s

90th Anniversary this month, celebrate our

pride at your clubs.

Fall Conference will be held at the Marriott

Alpharetta from October 31st – November

1st. This year the focus is “The Power of

Change.” Investment: $129.

For more information:

http://www.d44toastmasters.org and

http://d44conference.org/

October Jewels’ Spotlight: Room to Speak

This month we would like to recognize the newest Jewel to the Area F63 family -- “Room to Speak Toastmasters” -- for becoming the first club to be chartered this year for District 44. With this latest entrant, our F63 area has become the largest Area in the entire District 44. Room to Speak brings a cache of energy,

enthusiasm, and dedication that within a month, it has emerged as the largest club within our Area with 40 members! Under the leadership of Yolonda Johnson (Chartering President) and her team of committed officers, Room to Speak has already completed 2 DCP goals and added 5 new members.

Announcements

Home Depot Gift Basket

It is traditional for each Area to contribute a themed gift basket to the Division Governor for the raffle prize to be given at the District Conference. This is a great way to promote our spirit and camaraderie. For the Fall Conference, Division Governor Hissie Johnson has chosen the theme of “Home Depot.” We ask each club in the area to contribute towards the gift basket by donating inexpensive household Items such as:

Books, Cleaning Supplies, Duster, Paint Brushes, Candy, Gift Cards, Popcorn, Coffee Mugs/Cups, Etc.

Please note we are not accepting used items. Deadline: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Who do you contact with questions: Hissie Johnson (Division Governor)

at hissievj@hotmail.com Thank you for your participation and cooperation in assisting the division to provide a positive gift basket experience for the Fall 2014 Conference, “The Power of Change.”

Inspirational Vitamin

“Study the unusually successful people you

know and you will find them imbued with

enthusiasm for their work which is

contagious. Not only are they themselves

excited about what they are doing but they

also get you excited.”

- Paul W. Ivey

From the desk of your Area Governor

Greetings from your Area Governor (AG) Rex Arul. Did you checkout the redesigned Toastmasters International (beta) website? It is awesome. Since I wrote to you last month, we already have a new club added to our F63 Area: Room to Speak Toastmasters. And when I write to you next month, we would have added yet another new club to our F63 Area: South

Terraces Advocates. Isn’t that exciting for all of us? We are growing steadily, but, rapidly. We at Area F63 are the largest area in the entire District 44, in terms of membership base. Kudos to all of you for adding and retaining members at your clubs. I request those clubs that have a reduction in their ranks to continue working on a strategy to increase membership as that is one of vital importance to our Area, Division, and District. This is an exciting month as Toastmasters International is celebrating its 90th year. Those of you, who will be earning their awards this month, will get a special decal in addition to your award citation. Please use this opportunity to celebrate this anniversary at your clubs and send us your pictures for our newsletter. We have achieved quite a lot within the past 3 months.

I have completed First Area Governor Visit to 100% of the clubs, including the newest Room To Speak, which was chartered on September 15th, 2014.

I have completed Second Area Governor Visit to 2 of the 6 clubs (33.3%).

All the 6 clubs in our Area have progressed in their DCP goals, by earning at least 1 DCP goal more last month.

My sincere thanks to Cox Toastmasters President Charlene Sanders and Wildwood Toastmasters President Marline Santiago-Cook for representing our Area at the Division F Contests. Kudos to Charlene for emerging 2nd place at the Evaluation Contests.

District 44 also awarded me, your servant-leader, the "Shining Star" award for a second time at its DEC meeting last month. This was in recognition of chartering one of the first two clubs for District 44.

On October 31st and November 1st, we will be at our District Fall Conference in Alpharetta. Please sign-up for the banner parade to promote your club at the Conference. Every Toastmaster, who has attended the District Conference will tell you how it has been a life-changing experience. I strongly recommend that you encourage your members and officers to register for the conference and utilize the opportunities to learn, network, and grow. I hope to see you and your officers and members at the Fall Conference. Go F63! Even Sky is NOT our limit!

Rex Arul, ACB, ALB

Area Governor (F63) October 14, 2014

My Personal Kudos….

Room To Speak for having the largest membership base in F63: 40 members! They achieved this milestone in less than 25 days of chartering.

Wildwood Toastmasters for emerging as the top DCP Goal winner in Area F63 with 6 DCP goals: Distinguished Club. 1 more goal to reach Select Distinguished Club status.

Cox Toastmasters Club for emerging second with 4 DCP goals. They need 1 more goal to reach Distinguished Club status.

Cox Toastmasters Club and Wildwood Toastmasters for being the Co-Sponsors of Room To Speak!

Speakers Extraordinaire for celebrating its 1st year Anniversary this month and besting its last year record by achieving 3 DCP goals already. Last year, they managed to reach 2 DCP goals!

Wildwood Toastmasters for sponsoring 2 new clubs in our Area!

Room To Speak for adding 5 new members towards earning their Smedley Award!

League of Extraordinary Speakers for adding 5 new members towards earning their Smedley Award!

An Interview with President Yolonda Johnson (Room to Speak Toastmasters)

Crown Courant: Tell us about your experience with Toastmasters. Why did you join and what keeps you here?

Yolonda: I joined Toastmasters in 2006 with The Carter Center. I originally joined because I wanted to develop my

presentation skills. I took on a leadership role and served as a club officer during my membership term.

Crown Courant: Tell us about the early stages of “Room to Speak.” What made you take the leap to charter this

club?

Yolonda: I have been with International Hotel Group since 2013. During this time period, I attempted to continue

attending meetings at The Carter Center, until eventually it became difficult to attend the meetings due to the distance

between both locations. I always wanted to start a club at IHG and there were many colleagues who were interested in

forming a club. Almost taking a year to settle, Former District Governor Cindy Cannon, DTM, inspired me to make that

vision a reality. During our demo meeting we had 51 guests, and 35 of these guests became the chartering members of

Room to Speak.

Crown Courant: Wow! That’s very inspiring. Please tell us about the inspiration behind your club name?

Yolonda: A colleague of mine, charter member #30, Sean Wood, was the individual who inspired our club name. IHG is

a key player in the hospitality industry through its management of multiple hotel brands. Throughout the corporate

office we use rooms as a reference to hotel rooms. Room to Speak fits right in with the culture here at IHG.

Crown Courant: What are your club’s immediate goals for 2014, and what steps are you taking to ensure that your

group will reach each of these goals?

Yolonda: One of our immediate goals is to get our new members deliver their Ice Breaker speeches. One of our biggest

challenges is in inspiring members to sign up for their first speech. With the direction of our current Area Governor, Rex

Arul, we can get our members excited about speaking. A long term goal of ours is to become a President’s

Distinguished Club.

Crown Courant: That is very inspiring to hear and we wish you the very best in achieving that goal. What are some

of the immediate challenges you have noticed how are you planning to overcome them?

Yolonda: I would not say we are having any major challenges. One area of concern would be in continuing to develop

our own culture within the club. Many individuals have held memberships at other clubs and when they come to a new

club they want it to be exactly the same. My goal is to keep up the positive energy and make Room To Speak one of a

kind.

Crown Courant: What advice can you give someone who is otherwise interested in becoming a Toastmaster but

wouldn’t just because they simply “don’t have the time?”

Yolonda: I would advise them to assess if this is something they truly want. If the reply is yes, then I would encourage

them to simply create the time they need to focus on achieving their speaking goals along with a mentor. Anything

worth having, will take adequate effort and desire.

Crown Courant: As an experienced Toastmaster, what advice can you give to someone looking to pursue their

certifications?

Yolonda: I would suggest always look ahead. What I mean is, research the multiple certifications you can obtain

simultaneously, such as the Triple Crown. Think about your goals and how a certification can align with that goal.

There are many advance manuals available that will help hone your speaking and leadership skills.

Toastmasters Making History

Members of SunTrust Perimeter Club.

Thank you Marline Santiago-Cook (Wildwood Toastmasters President) and Charlene Sanders (Cox Toastmasters President) for representing Area F63 at the Division F contests.

Area Governor Rex Arul delivers the Founders Award Ribbon to Marline Santiago-Cook of Wildwood Toastmasters. Congratulations and thank you for supporting the charter of “Room to Speak.”

District 44 Governor Parren Shannon

recognizing our Area Governor Rex Arul

at the September 2014 DEC meeting at

Smyrna, Georgia.

F63 Area Governor Rex Arul, F63 Assistant Area Governor Briana Baynham, Cox Toastmasters Treasurer Rachel Ramsey, President Charlene Sanders, VP&E Tasha Tolbert and Immediate Past President Darrel Allers.

Guests and members from “Room to Speak”

Newly chartered “Room to Speak” has its members in rapt

attention as the Area Governor Rex Arul, delivers a message

from the Successful Club Series.

Noteworthy Accomplishments Kudos to the following members for successfully completing their Icebreaker speeches:

Cox Toastmasters Club

Bianca Rochester, Christopher Perry, Fred Mbena, Patricia Montgomery, and Paul Zorilla.

League of Extraordinary Speakers

Eric Bailey and Terry Lennard.

Room To Speak Toastmasters Club

Robert Stuckey and Kris Bravo.

Speakers Extraordinaire

Ulonda Flourney and Sha’Ray Byrd

Sun-Trust Perimeter

Dale Lockhart, Rosalie Mukendi, Zareah Thomas and Grace Scott.

Wildwood Toastmasters

Rex Arul, Donna Gallaher, Pradeep Nagalla, Roger Maness.

Area Club Performance SunTrust Perimeter

Successfully met 2 goals: Obtaining a Competent

Leader (CL) award, Advance Leadership Silver (ALS)

award.

Kudos to first-timer award winner: Robert Landau

obtained his Competent Communicator award.

Wildwood Toastmasters

Successfully met 6 goals: Enrollment of 4 new

members in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP),

achievement of Advanced Leadership Bronze (ALB),

Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB), Advanced

Communication Silver (ACS) and achievement of 2

Competent Leadership (CL) awards.

Kudos to first-timer award winner: Bala

Alagarsamy obtained his Competent Leader

award.

Congratulations to all the clubs who are following their goals

and staying on target.

Each club has access to reports for tracking performance and

obtaining reports by accessing the Toastmasters International

Dashboard. Please utilize these reports along with your club

success plan accessible at:

http://dashboards.toastmasters.org/Division.aspx?id=44

Managing Editor :Briana Baynham

Co-Editor & Reviewer:Rex Arul

Area F63 DCP Chart (as of Oct 12, 2014)

Did you know Wildwood Toastmasters successfully

met their Distinguished Club Status (6 Goals Met)

precisely 1 day earlier than the past year? They obtained

5 goals by September 12, 2013 and they reached this

milestone on September 11, 2014 this year.

Cox Toastmasters has so far met 4 DCP Goals.

Speakers Extraordinaire has so far met 3 DCP Goals.

League of Extraordinary Speakers has so far met 3

DCP Goals.

Room To Speak has so far met 2 DCP Goals.

Suntrust Perimeter has so far met 2 DCP Goals.

Cox Toastmasters Club

Successfully met 4 goals: Enrollment of 4 new

members for the Distinguished Club Program (DCP),

achievement of the Advance Leadership Bronze

(ALB) award, submission of club officer list and

membership-renewal dues on time.

League of Extraordinary Speakers

Successfully met 3 goals: Enrollment of 4 new

members for the Distinguished Club Program (DCP),

successful submission of officer list and membership-

renewal dues on time.

Room to Speak Toastmasters Club

Successfully met 2 goals: Enrollment of 4 new

members for the Distinguished Club Program (DCP),

successful submission of officer list and membership-

renewal dues on time.

Speakers Extraordinaire

Successfully met 3 goals: Enrollment of 4 new

members for the Distinguished Club Program (DCP),

successful submission of officer list and membership-

renewal dues on time.

President, Wildwood Toastmasters

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