WHAT WORKS AND DOESN'T

Toastmasters is an amazing place where people develop in moments of enjoyment. The experiences that members gain by participating in various activities in the organization, brings about so much learning, growth, and skills Among the many skills enhanced by being a Toastmaster, the skill of organizing events is my favorite

The first event I was involved in was just as I joined my club and that was our club’s 3rd Club Officer Installation Ceremony. Being part of the organizing team was loads of fun and was the incident that bonded me to the club, its members and ultimately to the fraternity From then on, I have embraced every opportunity to be a part of any team to organize events or lead such teams. So far, I have had the pleasure of organizing events at club, area, division and district level in the fraternity Those experiences and lessons learnt have given me the confidence to take up and complete any event organizing work in my professional and personal life successfully as well. It is my pleasure to recall some of the events, learnings, and a few tips to be good at organizing events

Once given the responsibility, it is important to understand the purpose of the event

Then the first thing that needs to be done is to pick your team This needs to be done keeping the purpose in mind. We naturally pick the people we are comfortable working with and if given that option, you certainly can I recall cochairing one District event titled “Speaker to Trainer” We decided to take a risk and bring in all new faces in the fraternity who have shown leadership skills and commitment in club and area contests that season We ended up with a team of 9 people from 9 different clubs from different parts of the country That event was a massive success

When the team is finalized, the next step is to plan out the event At events such as contests or club installations, the ideal way to plan isplan, is to draw up the agenda. When that is done, you would see what is required to complete each item in the agenda and you can allocate resources and responsibilities accordingly This way nothing will be missed on the day of the event. Of course, there are a few other things that need to be listed out such as finalizing and coordinating with the venue, etc which are not captured in the agenda

The agenda would be the source document to draw up the event budget as well.

Clearly defining what is expected of each member of the team is next If we take an installation ceremony, who is responsible for coordinating with the hotel, preparing invitations/ flyers/ videos, the band/ DJ/ sounds, training the MCs, decorations, etc. It is important to clearly allocate responsibilities, and to do so in one common forum with the entire team This would ensure that the responsibilities do not overlap, and everyone knows who does what This avoids ambiguity and gives the opportunity for team members to help each other out, while preventing anyone from overriding someone else Also keep in mind not to micromanagemicro-manage Once responsibility is defined let them do it in their style You need to follow up, but not give step by step instructions on how to do it.

There are times when we get carried away with all the glamour and variety being included in certain events and forget the core purpose of the event To avoid any embarrassment when the event goes live, it is critical that a rehearsal of the entire event is run through with the team

To recall one incident, there was an awards ceremony where the LED screen was running with all the photographs of award winners The slide was wrong, but the MCs announced the correct name

The person on screen and the person whose name was announced came to collect the award and the award presenter was confused and the scene was not pretty to say the least

Bamboo culture has been an essential part of human history and civilization in Asia and the South Americas. This group of plants belongs to the family of grasses, the Poaceae which includes many forms such as the herbaceous, bushy and woody tree-like ones. Woody bamboos have come into prominence in recent times due to their economic and environmental benefits Bamboos are distributed in countries ranging from the temperate to the tropics. It has been called the “cradle to coffin plant” or the “poor mans’ timber” for its role in benefiting rural communities in such countries. But now this role is changing and bamboo has become a miracle plant, the “Green gold”!

The importance of woody bamboos came into focus with the development of processed bamboo products that can be substituted for timber. Bamboo mat board, PLY bamboo, floor boards, paneling, MDF, strand woven bamboo etc. are now turned out on industrial scales and used in making furniture and housing Demand for wood is high, pressuring harvesting of valuable trees from forests Thus bamboo timber substitutes are a solution for saving forests resources.

Concerns regarding a clean environment are now encouraging the use of green products. In this scenario too bamboo plays an important role Bamboo water bottles are becoming popular along with bamboo cutlery, plates and related products These can be turned out as handicrafts giving higher economic returns to those already engaged in these crafts.

The Miracle Plant

By Shantha Ramanayake

There are other industrial applications of bamboo Manufacture of paper pulp in India and China is the oldest. Bamboo shoots are an edible nutritious food. Bamboo charcoal and activated charcoal have a high demand. It is also a fuel wood which can be used in furnaces especially in tea factories.

Many countries the world over are raising bamboo plantations and expanding their bamboo industries Those countries which have gained high economic returns are those that gave a high prominence to bamboo at a National level, and made strategic plans to expand the bamboo industry. China is in the forefront with Thailand, Viet-Nam, India and now followed by some African countries The global bamboo market was valued at US$ 72 billion in 2019 It is expected to rise continuously as the demand for sustainable green products are high.

Bamboo is environment friendly. Climate change and global warming are issues in the forefront. Solving the problem of forest loss is a prerequisite to any effective response to climate change Sri Lanka being a UN REDD+ (United Nations collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) signatory is committed to reducing emissions. Bamboo could play an important role under the NRIFAP (National REDD+ Investment Framework and Action Plan) to mitigate emissions as bamboo plantations have a high carbon fixation rate

Bamboo has an underground system of stems, the rhizome, from which roots and the aerial branches arise This underground network can bind soil together and prevent soil erosion and trap water Bamboo can grow on poor abandoned soils and brings about its recovery.

Bamboo is fast growing and can be harvested after 4 to 6 years of growth whereas a valuable timber tree takes 60 years to mature and harvest. Furthermore, bamboo being a grass keeps on growing even after harvesting and can be sustainably harvested over many years Thus a bamboo plantation can be a continuous supply of the resource without new planting. Sri Lanka can gain much benefit by elevating bamboo as a plantation crop and also needs to address the constraints to its large-scale planting and utilization at a National level

Shantha Ramanayake is a Scientist and Plant tissue culture specialist with wide experience and knowledge in micropropagation. Senior Scientist and Project Leader of the Plant Biotechnology Project of the Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka (1988

2008).