District 69 Conference - "Bright Lights, Big Ideas"

It was again the May long weekend, when 8 divisions (Brisbane – B, Central – C, Eastern – E, Moreton – M, Northern – N, Pasifika – P, Southern – S, Western – W) met to have the District 69 conference.

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:

1. Sebastian

2. Eileen

3. 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:

1. Bob

2. Darryl

3. 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:

1. Ben

2. Priscilla

3. Robert

 

Over morning tea, we were able to catch up with new (day) attendees.

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:

1. Graham

2. Sachini

3. 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!