An interesting quotation ...

From: Walter W. Beveridge
Date: Jul 2, 2008 7:30 AM

Fellow Toastmasters,

Yesterday at noon I attended a meeting of the Toastmaster Club at Cartus in Danbury, where they installed their new officers for the coming year. The President of the company addressed the group, speaking about leadership.

In the speech he said,

"Leadership is a fundamental void in all organizations".

Wow! What an opportunity!

It appears that Toastmasters is in the right place at the right time. Whether or not you take the quote literally, there is a huge need for leaders in business today.

I believe it.

I can think of several reasons why this might be. The good news is that Toastmasters helps people develop leadership skills just as easily as communication skills.

I would recommend that every Toastmaster Club put special emphasis on the use of the Competent Leadership manual and be sure that all members are aware of the potential value to them.

Walter W. Beveridge, DTM

Div.A's Walter Beveridge named D53 Conference Dean

From: Will Ryan, District 53 Governor
Date: Feb 18, 2008 2:43 PM

Dear District 53 Leaders,

I'm pleased to announce that Walter Beveridge has been appointed as our first Conference Dean. He'll be working on our Fall '08 and Spring '09 Conferences.

Responsibilities for this new position are listed below. Special thanks go to Karin von Kaenel for creating this new position.

District Conference Dean

This is a multi-year assignment and is intended to provide support and continuity to our conference committees. The Conference Dean is somebody who has experience with organizing a conference and can therefore give solid advice on how to proceed at each phase of the project. In addition, the Dean advises the LGET on the process of organizing and conducting conferences:

· Points the conference team to existing helpful material (previous budget, agenda, spreadsheets, etc.)

· Links the new team to previous teams

· Meets regularly with the conference team to track progress and answer questions

· Apprises the LGET of potential problems.

Will Ryan DTM
District 53 Toastmasters
District Governor
2007 - 2008 "Dare to Believe"

Vocabulary Challenge ... for Charity!

Walter Beveridge brought the following website to our attention...

Would you like to help the United Nations World Food Program while improving your vocabulary?

This website, http://www.freerice.com/, will donate twenty grains of rice each each time you select the correct definition for a word. The correct definition will be provided if you answer incorrectly.

It's fun, it's educational, and it's for a good cause. It can also be rather addictive. (I managed to stop after 100 correct answers)..

Walter W. Beveridge, DTM

It is a great way to challenge your vocabulary... while also helping out a charity !

FreeRice.com could also be a great source for the "Word-of-the-Day" for your next Toastmasters meeting!