District 69 Conference - Rock Solid Growth

The May long weekend saw Stanthorpe be filled by Toastmasters: the District Conference is the next level after the Division Conference to battle out our best speakers.

The District 69 conference brings together the winners, supporters and interested members from 8 divisions (in alphabetical order):

1.  Brisbane
2. Central
3. Eastern
4. Moreton
5. Northern
6. Pacifika
7. Southern
8. Western 

The conference booklet provided to the 123 full registrations also gave us some encouraging statistics: those 8 divisions are separated into 35 areas which in turn are 147 clubs filled by 2198 members.

Since the District conference is a 2.5 day event, there is much more than 4 contests:

The conference started at Stanny Brewhouse where conference convener Michelle welcomed us before Councillor Russell spoke some words. Afterwards, District 69 director Nicky gave us some sneak peaks what to expect over the next 48 hours - before finger food was served and we were able to welcome fellow Toastmasters (and make new friends - thank you Janine, Lorraine and Tracey to put up with me before Moreton Division people arrived).

 

The Saturday program started with MC Marty calling Charly (Year 6 student) to give the first address.

Samantha with "Sensational Stanthorpe" followed with a very emotional recall of history and past events. 

It was time for the first contest!

The Table Topic contest was chaired by Brendan who asked the following contestants in turn:

• I know it's trivial but it really bothers me

1. Kait (Western)
2. Lorris (Eastern)
3. Tarik (Southern)
4. Monica (Pacifika)
5. Heidi (Moreton)
6. Dot (Northern)
7. Karen (Central)
8. Jeremy (Brisbane)

With no time disqualifications, the awards went to:

1. Heidi
2. Karen
3. Kait 

After morning tea, we heard from 

• International Director Monique's Keynote address titled "Staying Here and Growing More"
• reminding us that the reason we first came to Toastmasters might not be the reason we stay 
• Jolene (aka Ranger Jo) - "Granite Belt Beauty"
• Breakout sessions: Rock Solid Growth
• Di - "Making Your Stories Come Alive
• Margot - "When Your Nerves Take Over - How to Take Them Back"
• Trevor - "Memory Pegging Masterclass"
• After assigning a word to the numbers of 1-10, we learned how to remember a shopping list (many remembered all 10 items) and then were interrupted from our to-do list - I didn't get to thank Trevor for helping us remember to first bake a birthday cake, then hit the gym, afterwards visit the chemist...) 

Lunch gave us the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets.

The second keynote speaker was Roly (don't you dare call him Professor!) on "Truth And Thruthiness in Public Talk". He even explained why we can call Bullshit when we see it - scientific paper. 

The second contest for Saturday was the International Contest, chaired by last year's winner Graham.

He called on:

1. Jem (Western) - "30 Years And One Storm"
2. Tarik (Southern) - "Who Holds the Pen?"
3. Steve (Eastern) - "The Self-esteem Folder" 
4. Robert G (Brisbane) - "Left Right Out"
5. Robert W (Northern) - "How to Get Out of Your Own Way"
6. Julius (Pacifika) - "No Regrets"
7. Heidi (Moreton) - "The Daniel Tree"
8. Andria (Central) - "When Fun Went Missing"

 No Time disqualifications meant, Graham could award:

1. Steve 
2. Heidi
3. Julius 

 

Saturday night saw us visting Golden Grove Estate for a full evening of good food (dinner), fun (entertainment) and dance.

Our MCs for the evening were Peter and Margaret. First, they called on Colin F who gave us the toast. International Director Monique gave the response: a Thank you to all of us - for coming and for being members of Toastmasters.

Chef Jason gave us a mouth-watering run-down of the menu and explained his connections to the estate.

After dinner, we firstly had a panel of International Speech contestants: Colin W who had gone to the International Conference and participated in the semifinals, Steven B who was this year's winner (after trying several times) and Jem B who reached the District level for the first time.  

I learnt for practicing the speech for contests: Record and let a program print it (text to speech) since you will be able to see all the filler words you still use in the prepared speech. 

Our mystery guest of the evening was Paul who did a magnificent interpretation of The Godfather - not by killing anybody, but muting participants on Zoom, answering trivial Tabbel Topics and flirting with Nicoletta. 

Then it was time to dance the night away...

This year, there was also four categories to win a prize for dressing up:

• Unique - Brendan, the penguin (Thorpe's brother Stan)
• Sparkling - Di
• Glamorous - Catherine (with some notable mentions)
• Outrageous - Janny 

 

 

 

After such a night, it was hard to concentrate on the early morning agenda. What better way to start than listen to Kaj's humorous speech titled "A Bird Nerd's Guide to Life".

It was part of the evaluation contest, chaired by Kate and saw following participants evaluating in turn (photo not in order): 

1. Alice (Pacifika)
2. Joshua (Eastern)
3. Kait (Western)
4. Lorraine (Central)
5. Robert (Brisbane)
6. Julia (Southern)
7. Heidi (Moreton)
8. Dot (Northern)

There were no time disqualification and the awards went to:

1. Robert
2. Heidi
3. Julia 

Morning tea was followed by:

• Martin - "Beyond the Bottle: The Rise of Granite Belt Wines"
• Breakout sessions: Rock Solid Speakers
• Colin - "The Speakers Quarry - Unearthing, Shaping And Polishing Your Creation"
• Peter - "Empower Through Evaluation - The Master Craft"
• Mirror the speaker in tone
• Be Precise
• Invite to recommendation 
• Annette - "Because Words Aren't Enough" 
• International Director Workshop: Monique on "The Power of Attraction"
• What is your club's uniqueness (in one sentence)? 

 Lunch followed.

 

The Humorous Speech Contest was chaired by last year's winner Bob. He called on:

1. Douglas (Central) - "Employable Me in Three Ps"
2. Thomas (Eastern) - "Rissoles Surprise"
3. Tom (Southern) - "Kissing With Confidence"
4. Jessica (Pacifika) - "The Ex-Girlfriend Encounter"
5. Sunny (Brisbane) - "Lost in Translation"
6. Catherine (Western) - "One, Two or Three; Which One Would You Choose?"
7. Dot (Northern) - "The Learner Driver"
8. Jai (Moreton) - "The Art Of KIS(S)"

With no time disqualifications, the awards went to:

1. Douglas
2. Thomas
3. Tom 

 

It was time for the conference close which saw Michelle read out the Raffle prize winners (sadly not me), then Thank all the people involved in the planning and execution of the conference (see group photo - notable mention since Alvin didn't come into the photo shoot: Alvin who built a ramp at the back of the stage for contestant Dot since she was in three contests and couldn't make the stairs!)

District 69 director (for 2 more months) also gave her Thanks, then called on incoming District 69 director to introduce his new officers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twelve Moreton Division members made the way to Stanthorpe (Denise is sadly missing from the photo).

Heidi from Bracken Ridge Club was able to show off her three trophies from the weekend. 

 

 

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The District 69 conference 2027 (sadly without Moreton Division) will be held over the May long weekend - 30th April to 2nd May 2027 in Brisbane - Robert will be conference convenor and is just finalising some aspects. Watch https://www.toastmastersd69.org/events/ for updates.