D47 Sunshiner - June, 2009

June 2009

The Sunshiner www.toastmastersd47.org

On the Home Stretch As we approach the end of the 2008/2009 Toastmasters Year, what success would we be celebrating together? What days would we remember? The first day I thought about was yesterday, it holds our history and where we have come from.

We would not be who we are without the efforts of those who have gone before us, in this our first year as a new district, I take this opportunity to thank each leader at every level who has gone before and those serving now, your efforts have and will continue to make a difference.

This last year has been a special year, full of emotions, full of challenges and full of change, nevertheless it has been a year of tremendous progress and success stories.

We are not there yet. We have a few weeks of hard work ahead of us and we are asking each member to focus on where they are today, have you reached the goal that you have set out for this year, maybe you are 2 speeches away from achieving your competent communicator award or advanced communicator award, you can do it and help your club to achieve their Distinguished Club goal. We all

Publisher - Antionette Fox, DTM PR Officer - Pierre Taschereau, ACS/ALB Sunshiner Editor - Phil Stamatyades, DTM

have friends, family and coworkers. How many of them have you invited to join to be a part of this great program, let us share in our experiences and not become selfish by keep this awesome, inexpensive program from our loved ones. We have some awesome opportunities in this issue of the Sunshiner for you to work at winning. Help your club to have a chance at being Club of the Year for the District, where you can be celebrated at the Fall Conference in Naples on October 31.

It is time now for transitioning as we continually adjust to changes in the world, workplace, and technology and information. We must take some time and evaluate ourselves, what is it that we want to be the best in the world at? Where are we going? How do we ensure that we are on the right path? At the end of it all Toastmasters provides its members (Continued on page 3)

Antionette Fox, DTM, District 47 Governor

Paid New Members Clubs

CC‘s

AC‘s

(Continued from page 2)

with the opportunity to better equip themselves to take on challenges in their workplace and personal lives allowing you to approach them with confidence and effectively.

Toastmasters is a journey you do not take alone. This has been an exceptional year and I am humbled and honoured to have served you. I am grateful for the leaders and my fellow team members who have supported and encouraged me all along this journey.

Too often we believe we‘re only going to be happy when we arrive somewhere else. I want you to know that for me the joy has been in the journey. I am stronger and a better person for having known and worked with you. I look forward to District 47 being a

ARE YOU BEING SERVED? When I reviewed the reports that TI issued on Friday May 29, I decided to analyze the numbers that I saw in a different way. For you who know me really well, you are familiar with my love for the reports and its numbers.

What I read was not exactly what I expected….

To date, 31 days before the end of the Toastmaster year, I noticed that so far this year, 78 Clubs have achieved ZERO Competent Communicators. 78 with ZERO CCs! I had to count it again. This is 46% of the total amount of Clubs in District 47.

I was wondering what the members in those

Kristina Kihlberg, DTM District 47 LGET Clubs were doing during their meetings. Do we have that many social Clubs that just sit around and chat? Knowing that we can go through the Basic manual – the Competent Communicator manual – over and over again, I just found this to be quite surprising; actually, shocking would probably be a better word.

Are our new members being mentored,

great success at the end of this year because of all of your hard work. Let us continue to unite and learn with Toastmasters and make this first year as a new District, a year to remember, setting the pace for those that follow. Our success lies in the upcoming team‘s ability to succeed. Then and only then would we have set a sound foundation for them to lay their building blocks of success. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish you all the best as you strive to achieve your personal goals, your club goals, your area goals, your division goals and by extension the District‘s goals. ALL THE BEST FOR A GRAND FINISH TO 2008/2009.

DTM Antionette Fox District 47 Governor

▄

coached and added to the agenda properly so that they can go through the manual? Are they learning to develop the amazing skills this organization is here to provide? Are our VP Educations trained properly to make this happen?

So many questions flew through my head.

There are 52 weeks in a year – all you need is 10 speeches…

As I continued to study the numbers, more ―interesting‖ results became clear. There are 112 Clubs with ZERO Advanced Communicators. (57%) I‘m not sure how to interpret that... Do the members leave after achieving their CC? Are the Advanced Manuals that difficult? More questions entered my head.

The District and Club Officers are here to serve the members. We have just about 4,000 members in District 47 right now. Our goal is to care for, teach, develop and educate all these members.

ARE YOU BEING SERVED? ▄

Your Toastmasters Experience

The strength of your club and the effectiveness of your experience as a Toastmaster is not the responsibility of a few club officers. It is entirely up to you.

Toastmasters … What‘s in it for YOU? The opportunity to grow in speaking skills … in leadership ability. To gain confidence ten-fold.

To make a difference in the world. Those are just a few.

But … how do you do that? Simple! - by assuming more responsibility. Sounds pretty heavy. But it is true. Those who take on more responsibility for their club, their fellow club members, for those not yet Toastmasters … those are the ones that really grow.

I have heard it said that a chain is as strong as it‘s weakest link. I believe that could be said about Organizations as well. An Organization is only as strong as it‘s weakest member.

As we finish up our Toastmaster year, June 30th we have standards we use to measure just how strong and effective each club is. Statistics, like how many members finished their CC or AC or earned their DTM; how many members left, stayed or joined. These are the yardsticks we measure our effectiveness by. They should be the yardsticks by which you measure your club with and your contribution.

With just a few weeks to go, you may find your club just needs a few members to be I have played on many winning teams in my life distinguished. What could you do about that? and they all had one thing in common. Each Are there some old club members you knew that member felt the whole was greater than the aren‘t there any more? Could you reach out to sum of its parts; or that they were a part of them and get them back. Or, could you bring in something bigger. To the degree that they put a friend to take advantage of the wonderful their heart and soul into it, was the degree that opportunities Toastmasters has to offer? the whole team won.

What makes a great Toastmasters club? Not the Herculean efforts of the few, but the teamwork of all. It all comes down to personal responsibility. That is what great leaders and great speakers are made of.

.

I encourage you to reach out and help your club increase it‘s membership and the participation of it‘s members. As your club grows and flourishes so will your Toastmasters experience.

Rick Furbush, DTM, LGM

. . .TO OUR NEWEST CLUBS AND MEMBERS since last issue!

Division Division Division Division

B I I I

Area Area Area Area

22 82 82 85

NSU Toastmasters, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Abaco Lighthouse Beamers, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas Club Ferdinandina, Long Island, Bahamas Legalites Toastmaster Club, Nassau, Bahamas

▄

Just the Tip of the Iceberg “Wow!!! It changed my life! I am so fired up about Toastmasters. I met so many great people at the District Conference and the speeches were absolutely breathtaking!

What a great group of people!” Robert Wilson, Toast of the Bay Club #4145 This was the reaction of just one of the 12 members from our club that attended the District 47 Spring Conference in Tampa.

Twice a year (spring and fall) District 47 comes together under one roof for: great food (three banquets), fun (hospitality suite at night), competition (International/Humorous Speech and Table Topics/Evaluation), learning (educational workshops and world champions) and business (voting for our new District Officers).

Parliamentary procedure proudly leads the way as we conduct business during the day, compete in the evening and party into the wee hours of the night!

It takes a village to create, prepare and run a great conference. The planning began 9 months earlier so you can imagine the planning and preparation for our Fall Conference, Oct 30 -31, in Naples has already begun. I invite you to participate in that conference. Would you like to present a workshop? Are you talented in choreographing a skit? Can you sing the National Anthem? Let us know what your talents are so we can put them to good use!

You will find a ―Volunteer‖ button on the District 47 website.

My home club‘s level of enthusiasm has begun to soar after so many of them attended the conference. Toastmaster meetings are how we are start in Toastmasters but to get the true value of Toastmasters, venture beyond the ―comfort‖ of your club. Your next opportunity is to attend Toastmaster Learning Institute ―TLI‖ in June, whether you are an officer or not, attend TLI! You will find the workshops, camaraderie and networking opportunities will start the new Toastmaster year out right!

I invite you to look below the surface and become a mentor, visit other clubs, start a new club, assist and attend Area and Division “We have so much talent in our District! The Contests, and attend the District and workshops and competitions were International Conferences. The networking international quality! I can’t say enough opportunities have no bounds especially with about the Tampa Team (40 in total) who such a myriad of passionate Toastmasters. You assisted the Division Governors and District see, Toastmaster meetings are just the tip of Team in creating and executing such a the iceberg.

FANTASTIC conference. Where else can you cull from such a talented, driven and diverse Rick Furbush, DTM, LGM ▄ group of people?” Kathy Furbush, DTM, 2009 Spring Conference Chair

intriguing. Our District champion goes up against 7 other District champions from District 84, in North Florida, west to If you believe in learning by observation and participation, then you must attend the Mississippi and north to Maryland. The Region champion then advances to the Region VIII Conference in Greensboro, International Speech Contest where he or North Carolina this June. More info will be available at the District website and at she could win the title of World Champion of Public Speaking. Will you be there? the conference.

What happens there is particularly

Conferences Are GREAT!

A BIG CONFERENCE WITH VERY SPECIAL GUESTS Reported by Pierre Taschereau, ACS/ALB The latest District 47 Conference, in Tampa,

was a huge success with many high profile guests in attendance. District 47 honored Four Star General David H. Petraeus with the Leadership and Communication Award.

At the last minute, General Petraeus was called into a meeting with President Obama and Rear Admiral Franken came to receive the honor. The Communication & Leadership Award Luncheon was packed with 320 guests and after the marching of the military guards, Sergeant Kristine Keyser sang the national anthem while guests waved the star-spangled banner from their tables.

Admiral Franken delivered a memorable PowerPoint presentation explaining, in detail, multiple military actions taking place in the Middle East, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and the history behind the conflicts. After receiving the Communication and Leadership Award from District Governor Antionette Fox, Admiral Franken relocated to a private room for a radio interview. Many Toastmasters attended the public relation interview to ask specific questions to the Admiral. â–„

COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP AWARD LUNCHEON

after the 4 minute video tribute to General Petraeus as the Toastmaster community and dignitaries were in awe and proud of the U.S. Air Force.

After lunch Rear Admiral Franken graciously It was May 2 at 11:30 a.m. as the Color Guard accepted the Communication and Leadership arrived at the hotel from MacDill Air Force Base Award on behalf of General David Petraeus and to prepare for our opening ceremony while each then took us on a journey of the middle east conflict with a frank discussion about what we table was being crowned with the finishing are facing. touches: a Bahamian and American flag, and each place setting adorned with a blank card to write a message to our service men and women THANK YOU DTM, Jeff Thomas, for the energy and enthusiasm you devoted to this event! This in Iraq. event touched so many, especially those men and women who will receive and hold dear, a The Communication & Leadership Luncheon note of thanks from home. honoring General David Petraeus was truly a nd

memorable event. Chaplain Captain Anthony Wiggins delivered the invocation, your Honor Guard presented the colors, and the National Anthem was sung by TSgt. Kristine Keyer. There was not a dry eye in the room

Rick Furbush, DTM District 47 Lt. Governor Marketing (727) 643-8664

â–„

The 2005 WORLD CHAMPION OF PUBLIC SPEAKING WAS THERE! Lance Miller, the 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking, was a guest of honor and delivered several trainings throughout the weekend of our District 47 Spring Conference.

Lance has achieved great things in the years he has been a Toastmaster, and he shared many of his tips in his workshops. One point of interest he shared was that it took him 12 years of trying before he won the championship. Other tips he shared were how he built his club from 6 members to 95.

He went out of his way to personally help Toastmasters members gain additional speaking skills. The workshops he led were incredible! You can follow Lance‘s activities by visiting his website at: www.lancemillerspeaks.com

Thank You Division B Members!

By Division B Governor, David Jess, ACS/CL

Governor.

When Toastmasters volunteer not only do they As the Toastmaster year comes to a close, we are grow in their leadership and communication President Distinguished Division! This is because skills, but they serve their fellow Toastmasters. I of our hard work. thank my Division Contest chairs Jeanine Kinsey I thank our Area Governors David Young (Area (Fall) and Kim Clark (Spring) who did a great job 20), Karen Kelly (Area 21), Horacio Rodriquez with the contest. Eric Schlossberg was the Chair (Area 22), Tony Vivaldi (Area 23), and Elizabeth of the Spring Officer Make Up training. Nate Taschereau (Area 24) who worked tirelessly to Horowitz and Kim Clark served as Club Coaches. assist their clubs. Our Area Governors are George Danz and Glenn Park received an recognized when they achieve the Distinguished outstanding Toastmaster award at the Spring Area status.

Division Contest.

Area 20 Governor David Young is on target to I commend Rob Adler who volunteered as the become a Distinguished Area Governor. Area 21 Division B Bartender for the Spring Conference Governor Karen Kelly is working on starting a Hospitality Suite. Congratulations to Sheila new club at the Seminole Casino. Area 22 Vitiello, Past Area 39 Governor, who earned her Governor Horacio Rodriguez welcomes the new DTM award.

Nova Southeastern University Club to his area.

Finally, I thank all the members of Division B who Area 23 Governor Tony Vivaldi had a fantastic lived and breathed Toastmasters by attending year and is on target to be a President‘s their club meetings, earning their education and Distinguished Area. Tony brought the Tall Tales leadership awards, and volunteering to help at Contest to Area 23. the various events. When you succeed we all Area 24 Governor Elizabeth Taschereau will be a succeed.

President‘s Distinguished Area Governor and also It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as started a new club. She has been an excellent your Division Governor. ▄ Area Governor and she will be the next Division B

Protect Your Points!

No More Grace Period!

Watch Those Deadline Dates!

Remember, there is no longer a grace period for distinguished programs. In the past, submissions were considered on time for credit in the distinguished programs if they were postmarked by June 30, and received at WHQ by July 7. Now, all materials for the distinguished programs must be received by WHQ no later than June 30 -- with NO grace period. This concerns only those distinguished program deadlines that fall on June 30.

The reason for this was fairness. A club located close to World Headquarters could hand-carry in some paperwork on June 30th, while a club located farther away had to take mailing delays into account. Now, technology allows any club in the world to send in forms in a variety of ways that allows any club or district from around the world to submit items on time.

So, there is no longer a need for a grace period for on time credit. Toastmasters has changed policy to keep up with the times - and it affects your club or district. While we must all be more mindful of the calendar, every Toastmaster can also be happy about the fact that these new, solid deadlines will result in speedier recognition results at year-end.

REFLECTIONS FROM DIVISION E

By Division E Governor, Jason Smith, CC Division E has had some great performances.

Division E Area Governor Achievements Kathy Dyke's Area 54 achieved President's Distinguished status; she has two newly chartered clubs--Ocean Reef Resort & Homestead TM.

supporting Toastmasters meetings for 6th graders! Volunteers include...Frank Koziol, Kathy Dyke, Alan Stein, Brandon Aday PhD & David Nemitz DTM. Lillian was very busy as New Club Chair for Division E. She has been working closely with Rick Furbush and has many new clubs in the pipeline.

Other notable Division E accomplishments...

-Ray Sardina (completed 5 CC speeches in 8 days!), -Brandon Aday (participated in Division Speakathon, currently organizing a Speakathon, Area Governors Roxanne Jorge led Youth Leadership and Gabriel Silva are on the Training Sessions brink of President's Distinguished -David Nemitz DTM has been a as well. Roxanne Jorge's area great source of guidance and has boasts hi-profile, new club, been heavily involved in many Burger King Corporation HQ. areas (new clubs, Youth Leadership, saving clubs) Area Governor Jackie Jones boasts Brickell -Burger King Toastmasters (high participation Toastmasters led by President Willasue in Division E Contest) Susskind. This club has the highest net gain of -Ocean Reef Toastmasters (had big turnout at membership of any club in Division E near 30 District Conference in Tampa as a newly members in 12 months! chartered club) -Alan Stein (spearheading Division E Area Governor Marsha Sims managed a busy Speakathon to generate CC's before June schedule for work in her Area Governor 30th) duties.

-Phil Stamatyades and Alan Sokol (Division E's District Conference Competitors Youth Leadership Program is on the move! in Tampa made Division E proud!)

Past Division E Governor of the Year, DTM Lillian Koziol has done an amazing job

It's been a great year! Thank you for your heart and passion Division E! â–„

Division I Toastmasters

As a result of this event, Division I received a high level of interest from the corporate community to form corporate clubs. To date

By Pamela Rolle, DTM, Division I Governor one corporate club was chartered at the Thank you for a fulfilling year! 2008-2009 was Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Legends).

Additionally, Division I is on target to charter a year of success, learning and growth. The three to four more corporate clubs before challenges seemed overwhelming but with June 30. teamwork, we were able to overcome.

This year, our focus was two-fold: (1) to keep members informed; and (2) to promote Toastmasters in our community thereby attracting new members and creating opportunities for new Club formation.

Our theme this year was "Embracing the Possibilities". Many Division I Clubs took advantage of the opportunities to display their creativity. Clubs kept their members interested by introducing new ways to inform them.

This year, Division I held its first Professional Development and Leadership Symposium.

This was a public relations exercise to promote Toastmasters in the business community. The event catered to the professional market and attracted close to 100 persons from the public and private sectors. The purpose of the event was to educate participants about Toastmasters and participants were informed of the benefits of becoming a member.

Presenters shared valuable information on communication and leadership skills; tools that helped to foster enhanced productivity in the work environment. Presenters were drawn from both the Toastmasters and the business community.

This year, Division I made history in The Bahamas. Apart from planning and executing the first Professional Development and Leadership Symposium, there were several other firsts. The first Toastmasters Club was chartered on the islands of Abaco and Long Island.

Kudos to the Abaco Lighthouse Beamers and Club Ferdinandina! This year, Division I team took bold steps to recruit new members.

To date, Division I achieved 65 CCs, 37 ACs, 40 CLs, 30 ALs, 4 DTMs and 9 Leadership Excellence awards. With every goal fulfilled, we were able to realize the importance of fulfilling the mission of the District.

I extend a special thank you to my entire team for their phenomenal efforts during the year!

I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of the Club Presidents their Officers and members, Area Council, and Division Council Officers for their role in making it a successful year. I would also like to thank the District Executive Committee for all the support they have given to the Division Council during the year.

Thank you for supporting us in ―Embracing the Possibilities‖. ▄

NEWS FROM AREA 54

Toastmasters is Select Distinguished. There is still time for more clubs in the Area to become

By Area 54 Governor, Kathy Dyke, ACS, ALB Distinguished and to make Area 54 a Distinguished area. Let‘s get those basic manuals completed and if necessary sign up new It is hard to believe that the year is members so that every club has at least 20 almost over. I have enjoyed the leadership members. experience of being the Area 54 Governor, but I was particularly proud of Area 54 for more enjoyable has been the opportunity to having the most attendees from our Division at meet so many Toastmasters over the course of the recent District 47 Conference, held in this year.

Tampa May 1-3. Three members came all the Area 54 has expanded by two clubs – way from Key West, and four members came Homestead Toastmasters chartered in November from Key Largo, our newest club. Homestead 2008 and Ocean Reef Toastmasters chartered in March 2009. Both of these clubs are very strong and West Kendall were also represented. Thank you to everyone for making the long trip. and have already increased membership.

What a great way to support Congratulations to Ann Kessler, President of Toastmasters and to take advantage of the fun Homestead Toastmasters and to Katie Kaye, and educational activities.

President of Ocean Reef Toastmasters.

Area 54 is well positioned to be an At this time, two Area 54 clubs are awesome Area next year. Let us work together Distinguished or better. Middle Keys to ‗continue the legacy‘ of this fantastic Toastmasters is Distinguished and West Kendall organization! ▄

CLUB PRESIDENTS and their PROXY! The official Toastmasters International proxies for the Regional Conferences and International Convention were mailed to club presidents of record in March. Each was mailed in a blue envelope with the words: “IMPORTANT PROXY INFORMATION” printed on the front of the envelope.

Take the following steps to help District 47 survive the annual proxy chase: In every way possible, continue to encourage clubs to update their club officer information through the Toastmasters Web site (club business portal) or notify WHQ by mail, fax or phone.

Advise clubs of the mailing in your district’s Web site and/or newsletter.

Have a district team member contact club presidents in late April. Ask if each received a proxy card and whether he or she will be sending a delegate to the regional conference and International Convention. If not, then the team member should ask that the proxies be tendered to the district governor or another officer.

If a club president claims not to have received the proxy card, describe the card to confirm that it was never received, or was set aside or accidentally thrown away. Sometimes the club officer list at WHQ is outdated and the proxy is sent to the former club president. Be sure the club president checks with the former officers to see if one of them received the proxy card.

Duplicate proxies can be requested by e-mail to duplicateproxies@toastmasters.org.

WHQ will start honoring requests for duplicate proxies on April 27. Include the club/district number and the current president’s name and address. Remember, WHQ can send only one duplicate proxy card per club, which must be mailed to the club president. ▄

Toastmasters & Breakthrough Miami Forge An Alliance

By Lillian Koziol, DTM Toastmasters Brandon Aday, Patricia Rua, Coordinators Frank Koziol, Alan Stein and Lillian Koziol at Doctor‘s Charter School in Miami Shores.

Photo by Area 54 Governor,,Kathy Dyke.

Toastmasters and Breakthrough Miami Forge an Alliance by Lillian Koziol, DTM During the months of April and May, Toastmasters was called upon by Breakthrough Miami to implement the Youth Leadership Program at one of its locations in Miami Shores. Breakthrough Miami is a national, non-profit organization that identifies low -income, college bound students and provides two

hours of additional education daily, as well as Saturday programming. Many of their students have already graduated from Ivy League schools.

When Toastmaster David Nemitz and I met with the Director of the program, Cecelia Guttierez, we knew that Toastmasters and Breakthrough would be an excellent fit!

Two sessions were run by Frank Koziol and Alan Stein with help from Area 54 Governor,Kathy Dyke, Brandon Aday PhD. and Patricia Rua. Division E Governor, Jason Smith, also paid a visit and was impressed by the results, ―Nothing I say can prepare you for what it's like to see a child gaining confidence before your eyes in a ONE HOUR Toastmasters meeting.‖

The students took to the program like ducks to water! Some children advanced their already excellent speaking skills, some were able to identify their fears of public speaking and others took on leadership positions in their 'club'. Their participation was excellent! Breakthrough Director, Cecelia Gutierrez ,called the Youth Leadership Program , ―wildly successful! Toastmasters exceeded our expectations!‖ There is one more scheduled Youth Leadership Program for Breakthrough Miami at the Ransom Everglades location during the summer. Toastmasters Brandon Aday, and Patricia Rua will be leading the program.

There are great opportunities ahead for Breakthrough Miami and Toastmasters: ~ The formation of a new Toastmaster Club at the Ransom Everglades location for the staff. ~ Additional Youth Leadership Programs at Doctor's

Charter School during the summer sessions.

I am hoping to take this new alliance into District 47, and eventually nationwide.

Can you imagine if you had Toastmasters in elementary school? Would you like to make a real difference in the life of a child? Would you like to earn credit towards your AC Gold? Being involved with Youth Leadership could be for you! For more information you can contact me at LillianKoziol@aol.com.

Lillian Koziol is a member of the Weston Area Toastmasters and Hollywood Toastmasters. She is a former Division E Governor, named ―Division Governor of the year‖ 2007-2008. ▄

The Talk of the Town

―I had not been to a murder mystery event before and I was in awe of the effort taken by all the participants to come dressed in character. To see all the Toastmasters in so different a setting did much to

By Doreen M. McGunagle, CC, ALB, Ph.D. solidify us as a group, even though it was like being in Set in the 1930s, a well known railroad baron is found a continuous table topics loop. I hope we are able to dead. The guests are all suspects. A murder mystery add this type of event to our calendar.‖ ~ Geoff Shelley event is not only fun but a wonderful opportunity to ―What a fun way to utilize our speaking skills! The learn ―on your feet‖ speaking skills. Some of the costumes brought out the Ham in each of us and the benefits to having a murder mystery dinner event: lovely meal added to the ambiance and Improves impromptu speaking skills by having guests interact by asking questions about other atmosphere. The scripts and clues provided kept us all focused as did your leadership and that of our characters and about the ever questing detective. I think we should do clues received throughout the this every year and have other TM related evening. events outside of our regular venue. It will Playing a character unlocks your show members how much fun an active, creative side and improves creative Toastmasters club can be. Thanks for your ability to write better coming up with a great idea and bring it to a speeches. successful ending.‖ ~ Suzy Hammer, CTM, CL Serving on the committee to plan I encourage you to engage your members by the event helps improve your thinking outside the box. A murder mystery leadership skills. event offers members a fun opportunity to Our club members enjoy the learn and hone their speaking skills. There is opportunity to mingle with no better way to finish off the year but each other which aids in the through a fun and educational setting of a building of relationships murder mystery event! between members.

Encourages members to think outside the box skills Doreen McGunagle, CC, CLB, Ph.D. is the Vice today‘s employers are looking for this type of President of Public Relations for Delray Newsmakers skill. and Area 43 Governor elect for 2009-2010. She A fun themed event that creates team building coaches CEO and senior management teams of with members. organizations on key strategy issues.

This is just one way that your club can provide a fun dmcgunagle@globalstrategicmgmt.com and educational learning experience that allows it‘s www.globalstrategicmgmt.com the members to grow. Here are some of the 561.208-1071 office comments from our members at Delray Newsmakers 561.310.7537 cell ▄ Club #2225.

Treasurer‘s Corner

By Treasurer, Jeanine Kinsey, CC/CL All U.S. Clubs are required to file a Form 990-N with the IRS. This is a simple process, but is required for Toastmasters to stay compliant with the U.S. Government. You can get detailed instructions at http://www.toastmasters.org/irs_990n.aspx. The deadline is May 15, but please don't wait until then to file it. The treasurer or president of the club can take care of this. You are not required to send anything to TI, but they will be notified if you do not do this.

articles to see what you can and cannot do with your club funds.

If for any reason, you have not paid your membership dues as of today, you are not a member in a good standing and you need to take care of this today. If you are not in good standing, that means that you cannot compete in any contest until you have resolved the problem.

As you near the end of the official year for your clubs, this is a good time to review your treasury and If you have any suggestions for future treasurer see if you need to find some way to spend your extra articles, please forward them to me at money. Please be sure to refer back to my previous treasurer@toastmastersd47.org. ▄

St. Petersburg Toastmasters Club Well Represented at the Division Contest.

By Tony Duda, CC St. Petersburg, FL. March 5, 2009. It doesn‘t happen often - in fact it hasn‘t ever happened before. For the first time in 54 years of competition in Division G, three speakers from the same club dominated the same Division contest. In early March when the St. Petersburg club held its club International Speech competition, six of its members competed for the right to advance to the Area.

determine who was the Division‘s; best but also who was club 2284‘s best. Care to add to the drama? Two of the competitors, Thomas and Strong, were still trying to settle the best speaker on a personal level. They have been an item for the past 8 years, frequently working on speeches together. ―We try to help each other out as much as we can, but Among them were: Jeff Thomas, Jane Strong, we both want to win‖, said Thomas. and York Somerville. While Thomas emerged as the winner at the St. Petersburg club From the group, Strong placed the highest competition, both Strong and Somerville overall taking 2nd place. When asked what competed and won her biggest obstacle between her winning at other area clubs next year‘s contest, Strong replied, ―The to which they also biggest thing is just getting out of my club belong. All three competition!‖ then emerged victorious as Area With competition like this you can see where winners, thereby she is coming from. To learn more about the setting up yet St. Petersburg Toastmasters Club visit them another club at http://stpetetoastmasters.org or visit a showdown of sorts meeting any Tuesday evening at 6:15 at the where they tried Piccadilly Cafeteria on 34th Street and 22nd not only to Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida. ▄

TRY…..and you can achieve great things every time!!

Tony Duda joined Toastmasters in November 2007 and is currently mentoring a new club at Jabil circuit in St. Petersburg. He is working on his CL distinction and is in his second term as VPPR with St. Petersburg TM Club # 2284. He enjoys competing in triathlons and works as a business consultant..

Toasting the Town for Fifty Years

By Robert Rizzo, DTM, of Naples Toastmasters Club #2835 Naples Toastmasters Club #2835 Toasted the Town holding its Fiftieth Anniversary celebration Wednesday April 1, 2009, at the Bellasera Hotel in Naples. The evening showcased the influence of Toastmasters and provided a great opportunity for members of various clubs to socialize.

Thirty five people celebrated Naples Toastmasters club Fifty Year Celebration.

Toastmasters from Naples Sunrise Bay, Naples Speakeasy Advanced & Collier Communique clubs joined in the party.

Representatives from District 47 were also present. They were Kristina Kihlberg DTM, Lt. Gov. Education & Training; Nancy Spieth DTM, Division A Governor and Marcia Herrera, CC/CL, Area 12 Governor.

Thanks to the efforts of Marcia Herrera,

Naples Toastmasters Club received proclamations from Collier County and the City of Naples. On Tuesday March 3, 2009, a tribute to the Naples Toastmasters Club was read on the House of Representatives floor by the Hon. Connie Mack and submitted into the Congressional Record.

The celebration event started with a social

hour which led into the festivities. The Master of Ceremonies was Kathryn Gaertner ATMG/CL who led us through a fantastic evening. In her opening comments, she recognized the District dignitaries, area clubs and their officers and speech contest winners. She then highlighted the history of the Naples Toastmasters Club followed by a video presentation of the Naples Toastmasters Club developed and presented by Robert

Rizzo DTM. Naples Toastmasters Club President Edward Larsen shared some inspiring thoughts and introduced the club officers.

After his remarks, several Naples club members toasted the club and its success.

The meeting was adjourned to enjoy a buffet dinner provided by the hotel.

Before the dinner break was over, Koen Beckers provided us with some Aborigninals music from Australia using a didgeredoo.

After dinner there were three fantastic speeches all a testament to the importance of Toastmasters. Marcia Herrera stated how warmly she was welcomed at the Naples Toastmasters Club and credited the teamwork of the officers & members in achieving their goals; Kristina Kihlberg spoke about her Toastmasters experience and her current job as Lt. Gov. Education & Training for District 47. Wearing several (Continued on page 26)

Toasting the Town for Fifty Years was a tremendous success. It was because of the efforts of the Naples Toastmasters Club Organizing Committee. Thank you to Conference Chairs Kathryn Gaertner and Ed Larsen, Robert Rizzo, Christine Cargnoni, Jeff Feldman, Pamela Mitchell, Karen Dancsec CTM/CL, Marcia Herrera & Stephen D. McCann CTM/CL. It was truly a team effort culminating in a successful Fiftieth Anniversary celebration.

Description of IMG_2698.jpg Left to RightKristina Kihlberg DTM; Robert Rizzo DTM; Marcia Herrera CC/CL Description of IMG_2711.jpg Koen Beckers playing the Didgeredoo Description of IMG_2727.jpg Dr. Diane Longstreet DTM Description of IMG_2743.jpg Left to Right-Pamela Mitchell; Stuart Unsworth CTM; Sheila Bolduc-Simpson ACB/CL; Stephen McCann CTM/CL; Kathryn Gaertner ATMG/CL; Matthew Marzano ACB and Edward Larsen ▄ (Continued from page 25)

colorful hats throughout her presentation, she extolled the importance of attaining your educational and leadership goals to make the club and thus the Area, Division and District distinguished. Dr. Diane Longstreet DTM, who

Robert Rizzo has been a TM for 11 years, starting in Freetoasters TM club in Las Vegas, Nevada. He received his DTM award in 2007 and is not a member of the Maples Toastmasters Club, Naples Sunrise Bay TMs, and the Orlando International TM started her Toastmaster‘s career in 1989 with Club. In additions, Robert was recently the Naples Toastmasters Club, shared her appointed Area 12 Governor for the 2009reflections on how Toastmasters has influenced 2010 year. her life in her presentation titled, ―The Gift of Toastmasters‖.

By Pierre Taschereau, ACS/ALB

Our Membership Is Growing!!

District 47 congratulates Area 52 Governor, Gabriel Silva, for the newest addition to the Toastmaster family.

Sofia Silva was born on May 6th at 3:50am at Baptist Hospital in Miami, weighing 6 ½ lbs. and measuring 19.8 inches.

Baby and Mom, Marcela are doing well even though Sofia can cry very loudly. Gabriel finds refuge in the fact that Sofia is so vocal because he is sure she will be easily heard, when in May of 2017, at age 18, she will join Toastmasters.

“GOOGLE Ranking” How Google Ranks Pages

By Webmaster, Matt Kinsey, DTM,

Google is the most popular and most important search engine on the internet today. With this in mind, it's no wonder that hundreds of thousands of webmasters are constantly looking for ways to improve their search engine rankings on Google. So how does Google rank your site?

Read some basic Google ranking ideas below.

Introduction Google uses two main factors in determining your web site's rank on their search engine. These are On-page ranking factors (these you can control by making changes to your web pages), and PageRank™. These two main factors will be explained in the below paragraphs to help you understand the Google ranking phenomenon.

On-page Ranking Factors These are things that are controlled by you, the webmaster: things like the title tag, heading tags, link text, body content, alt tags and more.

Optimizing these parts of your web site and more means that Google can crawl through your content and pick out exactly what you want it to. The trick is knowing how to optimize your pages just the right amount for Google - you don't want to saturate your pages with keywords and make them useless to your target audience - that would be pointless.

PageRank PageRank is Google's method of measuring a page's "importance." When the On-page factors such as Title tag etc are taken into account, Google uses PageRank to adjust results so that sites that are deemed more "important" will move up in the results page of a user's search accordingly. Sites gain more PageRank by having quality links to them.

Quality links are links from other related sites whose Pagerank is good.

The Google theory goes that if Page A links to Page B, then Page A is saying that Page B is an important page. PageRank also factors in the importance of the links pointing to a page. If a page has important links pointing to it, then its links to other pages also become important.

Basic Google Ranking Overview

1. Find all pages matching the keywords of the search.

2. Rank accordingly using "On-page factors" such as title and page content.

3. Calculate in the inbound link anchor text.

Adjust the results by PageRank scores.

Thank you, Matt Kinsey, President matt@mktechgroup.om Www.mktechgroup.com (954) 603-7698 Office (954) 778-0598 Skype matt.kinsey Follow me on Twitter—mattkinsey

▄

Matt Kinsey, DTM, is the District 47 webmaster. He has been developing and maintaining websites for the past 13 years. Matt publishes a free newsletter with Technology Tips for Toastmasters. You can join this list at his website, www.opensourcewebpros.com.

He can be reached by email at web@toastmastersd47.org.

Cruise Anyone?

By Phyllis May, DTM How would you like to travel, specifically cruise, and be part of the ship‘s programs? If you enjoy cruising and have the time, why not use your Toastmaster skills to help you do it?

Cruise ships need programs for their passengers and while they always have entertainers, they also need other types of programs.

Most ships first want Destination Speakers. In other words, if you‘re knowledgeable about art, music, history, for example, of the ports…you are in demand.

For example, Kathy Dyke, AG 54, should be able to package her knowledge of Jamaica to be included in a cruise with Jamaican ports.

Another category is that of Special Interest Speaker and topics might be anything that the cruise directors feel might be of interest. For example, on a 10-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera, I did topics as diverse as ―Netiquette and Celliquette‖ (email and cell phone etiquette), ―Listen Up‖ (listening skills) and ―Tossing Your Baggage Off the Cruise Ship of Life‖ (diversity).

They are interested in people who can ballroom dance and bridge fanatics…those who can set up bridge tournaments. Some have computer classes and other classes which could be your hobby or expertise that

you could use to cruise.

After going through the application process, if you are selected, you are not paid but your cost is a daily fee which covers a variety of charges. Those fees range from $50 -$65/day.

Your cabin is not a fancy one and is in the area where the crew‘s rooms are BUT you can bring a second person as well. You are also given 20% off all ship purchases and excursions. You are responsible for getting to the port but with so many cruises leaving from this area, Port Canaveral or Tampa, that expense can be minimal.

There are several companies that provide entertainment and programs for ships but one is located in south Florida. Sixth Star Entertainment is used by many speakers in this area. To be ―managed‖ by Sixth Star, go to www.sixthstar.com and click on ―cruise‖.

Information and applications are available on the website. Before you know it, you could be saying ―Bon Voyage‖, sharing your knowledge or expertise and traveling inexpensively to exotic destinations….thanks to the confidence you‘ve gained by being a Toastmaster! ▄ Phyllis May, DTM, Ph.D, is known as The Fiery Retiree. She is the author of the award winning book, “Refired not Retired…reignite your zest for life” and is a sought after speaker for those recently retired or close to retiring with her presentation, “Which Direction is Your Deck Chair Facing?” She has a weekly internet radio show, “The Fiery Retiree” on voiceamerica.com and is a popular “morning drive” guest on radio stations in the US and Canada and has been on the NBC and CBS stations in Miami and the NBC affiliate in Reno. She is also passionate about “stamping out” bad Power Point presentations and presented that at the Region VIII.

Honeywell Recognized as an Outstanding Corporate Partner

By Oren Adelson, ACS On Friday, May 1, Sal Asad, the Toastmasters Region VIII International Director, was at the Honeywell Clearwater Toastmasters club, to present Honeywell Aerospace with a plaque recognizing Honeywell as a Toastmasters Corporate Sponsor and the Honeywell Clearwater Club for being an outstanding corporate club in Region VIII. The plaque was accepted by Integrated Supply Chain Director and Clearwater Site Leader Kirk Gerber, on behalf of all of Honeywell Aerospace.

Honeywell sponsors twelve Toastmasters Clubs worldwide, with over one-hundred fifty Honeywell Employees as members. The Clearwater Club was founded in 1986 and over the past 23 years, Honeywell Toastmasters‘ to 12:45 in the Plant 1 Video Conference Room Clearwater has helped employees improve (1U-P17); guests are always welcome. To learn their communication and leadership more about Toastmasters at Honeywell, please skills. Since 2002, Honeywell Toastmasters‘ contact club president Oren Adelson Clearwater has been a Presidents Distinguished (oren.adelson@honeywell.com , ext 3412) or Club, the highest honor bestowed upon club vice-president of membership Vu Lam Toastmasters Clubs for their achievements in (vu.lam@honeywell.com, ext 4696). ▄ member development and education.

Toastmasters International is a worldwide Oren Adelson is a Senior Mechanical Buyer for organization with over 220,000 members in Honeywell Aerospace in Clearwater. He can be 11,500 clubs in 92 countries. Since 1924, reached at adelsono@hotmail.com Toastmasters has been helping individuals improve their public speaking and leadership skills in a professional, non-threatening environment. The Clearwater Club offers a mutually supportive club environment, with a selfpaced learning program. The club is committed to developing members into effective communicators and leaders.

Club Meetings are held every Tuesday from 11:45

Sarasota Evening TMs Hold Annual Fundraiser

salt and pepper shakers, touted as antiques from Romania, went for $6. A mysterious box, promised to unlock the secrets of the universe, was sold by Brian Hays. It went for $7.

By now I‘m sure you want to know who the winners were. I must say it was a tough choice.

By Kris Kesling-Hays, ACB John Meeks won the prize for the highest priced item sold. He earned $17 for a hanging flower It was Wednesday, May 6th. A lovely Sarasota evening, as evidenced by the view from the tenth basket that he swiped from his Mom‘s front floor of the Terrace Building, where the Sarasota porch. He told us she was 85 years old and probably wouldn‘t notice it missing.

Evening Toastmasters Club holds their regular Second place for the best sales pitch went to Rich weekly meetings. But this evening was different. There was a buzz in the room as the club members got ready to auction off their items to raise money for the club. The items were displayed on a table for everyone to get a glimpse before the auction started. People were vying for what they would bid on and how much they hoped to pay.

There was another variable at stake. There were prizes to be awarded for the best sales pitch and for the highest amount earned on an item. This really got the members motivated to sell their item and Montemagno. Rich sold a foot care basket, containing tools and lotions for making one‘s feet sell it well - a seemingly easy task for a trained soft and supple. He had actual testimonials from Toastmaster.

Coach Bobby Knight, Simon Cowell, and, believe The auction began. Ray Crozier, the club it or not, Barack Obama. How could anyone resist President, evidently enslaved his wife to their buying such a highly recommended product? kitchen, forcing her to bake and bake and bake. Throughout the evening, he auctioned off First place for the best sales pitch went to Jim Tantalo, who, in my opinion, is the best Table her brownies, her fudge, and her homemade Topics speaker in the world. He didn‘t even bring bread, shamelessly selling the fruits of her labor. John Meeks was the winning bidder of the the item that he sold, but was given an opportunity to showcase his skills selling a bottle brownies for $8.01. It was the penny that put of tomato concentrate. He claimed that his ―… him over the top. Arlene Moore would not be outbid on the homemade bread. She paid $16 for Grandmother used to rocket with this stuff.‖ I have to admit I was the buyer on the tomato a loaf of bread that had the smell of a bakery at concentrate for the bargain price of $12.

5am. Needless to say, half of the loaf was gone before the end of the night, even without butter After all was said and done, the club made $173.51. Not a bad take for a really fun or olive oil. time. Feel free to use this kind of event to raise As the evening progressed, many other items were auctioned off - books, poinsettas, a quilt, a much needed money for your club and to offer your members an opportunity to step outside the teapot, some ‗previously loved‘ purses that had box of a ‗normal‘ meeting. been in someone‘s closet probably for decades; all commanding a handsome price. An actual tongue brush, complete with tongue paste, was You won‘t regret it. ▄ sold for $5 by Ionie Bergs. A set of ceramic owl