Three Sandgate Toastmasters (and 259 other members) attended at the Novotel Hotel in Surfer’s Paradise.
On Friday night, the conference kicked off with networking, cocktails and some nibbles. There was ample opportunity for many conversations: introducing oneself to new faces as well as catching up with the usual crowd.
Saturday started with emcee Colin welcoming us for a full day.
First, he introduced District 69 director Lou who had the honour to acknowledge the dignities. (It became an overwhelming exercise when he ask the past division and area directors to stand).
The opening address was delivered by Russ who was the first District 69 governor. He gave us some tall tales and statistics – to detect the difference wasn’t easy.
The first contest
was Table Topics.
Last year’s winner Steve was contest chairs and asked to speak on “This time I said yes” of:
Bronwyn – Western
Yolande – Pasifika
Lesley – Northern
Trevor – Central
Eileen – Eastern
Robert – Brisbane
Sebastian – Moreton
Chrissy – Southern
Luckily, there were no time disqualification.
The awards went to:
Sebastian
Eileen
Chrissy
After morning tea (and more catching up and lots of “yes” stories), we listened to Ryan and the SWISH method: Sell With Integrity, Sell Honestly. He also introduced the sixty seconds legacy – which we promptly took to action over lunch which followed.
We then split into (initially three, but due to a no-show) two groups: workshop time – I had selected Carolyn’s enterTRAINment.
Take-home messages: gesture of the evening, calling on members by name during a speech (challenge) and the power of colour in DISC (and presentations in general).
You guessed it: it was time for a break again – afternoon tea followed by some spare time to get ready for the gala red carpet dinner.
The gala dinner
started with a contest – Humorous Speech contest. It was chaired by
last year’s second placegetter Hillary.
She called on:
Oala with “Key Lessons From My Embarrasing Experience With Food – Pasifika
Jerome with “The Danger of Motivational Speaking” – Central
Alexandra with “The Definition of Empty” – Brisbane
Chris with “My Wicked Childhood Dream” – Moreton
Bob with “Yes, Dear” – Western
Darryl with “Trucking Mad” – Eastern
Julian with “Through The Eyes of a Child” – Southern.
There were no time
disqualifications, so Hillary announced the winners:
Bob
Darryl
Julian
Afterwards, we loaded plates with amazing food, heard from three speakers about their involvment in the film industry (and community engagement) and then danced the night away.
Sunday was an early
start, but we were excited to start our third contest: Evaluation.
Raka was our contest chair and first called our test speaker Jessica
speaking authentically about her dark upbringing changing to a bright
future with her speech titled “Lights, Lights and Lights”.
Jessica’s speech was evaluated by:
Heidi – Moreton
Lesley – Northern
Thomas – Eastern
Sasa – Pasifika
Donna – Central
Robert – Brisbane
Ben – Southern
Priscilla – Western
Sadly, there was one time disqualification.
Raka announced the winners:
Ben
Priscilla
Robert
We were honoured to hear of Bonnie and her circumvention of Australia – in a kayak. She encouraged us to bring out our resilence as she demonstrated her reward system as well as finding her gratitude in everyday life.
Following on, incoming District Director Nicky introduced her team for the year ahead.
Then we split again
into three groups for workshops.
Gail H attended the EnterTRAINment session.
John attended the Speechwriting session.
Christiane attended the Your Book session and learned that it is more important to be consistent – 10 minutes every day writing on your idea with a clear outline since Structure guides/ releases (find your verb) creativity. During the workshop, we brainstormed all possible stories which we wanted to include and then brought them into a chapter outline with three key messages. A good place to start our daily habit.
During the lunch break, the room lite up with the virtual banner parade – Sandgate among them.
Our final contest was the International Contest, chaired by Tom.
We heard from:
Trish with “Mind Over Matter” – Pasifika
Jerome with “Leaving Your Life” – Central
Nikki with “Moments Matter” – Southern
Natalie with “A Perfect Ponytail” – Western
Graham with “Refine me, not define me” – Brisbane
Josh with “The Hero’s Journey” – Northern
Sachini with “It Is Time” – Eastern
John with “Sending Out An SOS” – Moreton
Unfortunately, Tom had to announce one time disqualification, before he presented the awards to:
Graham
Sachini
Jerome
Lisa then drew the major raffle prizes: and made some members cry out in joy.
Our final break was used for more catch up.
Lisa handed out all the raffle prizes (some were lucky and received three!).
To close the conference, emcee Colin called on District Director Lou to give us an address (which he kept short to send us on our way in time). He called up Christine for Thank Yous to all who have been involved to make the conference run smoothly.
Being the District Conference, only the International Speech winner is going on to the next level. We wish Graham all the best for the next step ahead!
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