All the earned awards have been reported to Toastmasters International and posted on their web-site.   

This contest generated a lot of interest - both by individuals and clubs.  There were a total of 189 individual Educational Awards earned by the members of District 22!  That is a staggering amount!  They were earned by 139 different Toastmasters.  That translates to 79 Competent Communicator, 22 Advanced Communicator Bronze, 5 Advanced Communicator Silver, 9 Advanced Communicator Gold, 46 Competent Leader, 18 Advanced Leader Bronze, 6 Advanced Leader Silver and 4 Distinguished Toastmaster Awards earned.   

Rhonda Green took the honors for earning the most awards with 7.  Paul McDonald earned 5.  Both Laura Linstra and Gary Walton earned 4 awards.  Rob Christeson, Marilyn Schwartz, Andrew Statler, and David Wootan earned 3 each.  23 other individuals earned 2 Educational Awards.    

In the club contest - the Speaking Eagles club in Area 73 earned 4 Distinguished Club points in December alone and nosed out the Boeing Achievers with 9 total points.  Fourteen clubs will receive a banner size Goal Getter Ribbon at their TLI by earning 5 or more Distinguished Club points.  They are:  9 points - Speaking Eagles, 8 points - Boeing Achievers, 7 points - Don't Stop Talking at DST, 6 points - Olathe Sunrise Speakers, Building Speakers, Professionally Speaking Toastmasters, and 5 points - West Wichita Toastmasters, Suburban, Insuring Success, Agmasters, Pro-Mo, Cerner Innovative, Springfield Toastmasters, and Heartland Toastmasters.

Thank you all for participating and remember - in order to collect your award ribbon, you must attend the winter TLI session.

Be a Goal Getter!  Unleash Your Possibilities!     

If you are not aware of the details of the contest, find out more at:  http://www.toastmasters22.org/pdf_files/GoalGetters.pdf

We may have just started a new calendar year but in Toastmasters, we are half way through our year.  Don't wait until after the April 1^st renewal to realize that Goal #7 (4 new members) and Goal #8 (4 more new members) have not been achieved or that your club is not at charter strength. 

Whether you are a corporate or a community club, a great way to bring in guests (aka potential new members) is to hold an Open House.  If you are a corporate club, advertise at least a week in advance on bulletin boards or your intranet.  Community clubs can put their Open House notice on the community calendar of their local newspaper and public bulletin boards at stores and work places.  

Be sure to have a printed agenda for your Open House.  Include all 3 sections of your meeting format - a prepared/manual speech, Table Topics and an evaluation so that guests will know what to expect in a regular meeting.  By having just 1 speech and 1 speech evaluation, there will be time for members to talk about the benefits of Toastmasters and answer questions.  Refreshments are always a nice added touch.  

Building up your membership now will help you achieve your club DCP goals, infuse your club with new ideas, revitalize your Toastmaster spirit and counteract the non-renewals in April.  Your club can also receive a "Talk Up Toastmasters!" ribbon by adding 5 new, dual or reinstated members between February 1^st and March 31^st and a 10% discount off of their next club order. 

Plan now to have an Open House in the next few months.  Help insure that your club reaches their Destination: Distinguished > May 1, 2010!

Here's how:

On the Members page, click the Club Officer tab; enter your club number and password.

Select the link to "Change my club's meeting and/or club officer information."

Click on "Click here to review and update your map location" found In the middle of the page, just below the postal code box.

Then, follow the instructions:

First, type your club's correct address into the locator on the right of the screen to retrieve latitude and longitude.  Then copy the results into the box on the left and update.

When you are done, test the results by using TI's FIND feature to display your club's information.

While you are at it, check the contact information shown and see if the link to your website works.

The first step for a successful membership building is to make sure that people can find your club.

Is your club on The Map? 

The wheels are in motion for the winter sessions of our Toastmaster Leadership Institutes - they will be rolling into your area in the very near future!

This coming weekend (January 16th) kicks off the winter rounds in Springfield, then we go to Wichita on January 23^rd, Liberty on Monday evening the 25^th and Overland Park on January 30^th.  The final planned session will be on February 13^th in Topeka. 

Visit our website at:  http://www.toastmasters22.org/pdf_files/latest_TLI.pdf for more complete information.  Clubs can pre-register by sending $15 to John Mulroy, LGET at 14270 W. 131^st St, Olathe, KS 66062.  By doing that, an unlimited number of their officers and members may attend any of the sessions. 

We hear the question "Didn't we do all that training this past summer?" quite frequently.  We did hold our TLI's in the summer, but the winter sessions are different.  There will be different elective sessions, and the club officer sessions themselves will be different.

Are you thinking about being a club officer next year?  This would be a good opportunity to attend and get an idea of some of what is involved by being a club officer.  

If you read this article, let me know at your local TLI, and I will give you a special gift (while they last)!