Whoa, it’s spring conference season already! Actually, I wonder if you could get a paid job just going around to conferences every week like this. It’s always nice to see your old friends again and catch up on things, and D54 has always worked especially closely with D30, since they practically surround us!

One really great thing that happened Friday night. I found the chief judge for the evaluation contest to offer assistance, and she didn’t need any — but she said oh wait, you’re from Chicago, let me introduce you to someone who needs to talk to you. Turns out that someone from D54 is now working in the Chicago Loop, and she wants to start a Toastmasters club there! It sounds very promising, we’ll talk again next week.

Darren LaCroix (2001 World Champion of Public Speaking) played a prominent role in the conference program, with both an hour of comedy on Friday night, and an educational session on Saturday afternoon. Both of the Region V International Directors were present, with Dietmar speaking several times, and Michael talking about how to make your club stronger. Jon Greiner (Past International President, he’s from D54) was there, and we had an extended conversation about the history of the Distinguished District Program, as well as how to keep the Board focused on what’s best for the organization, not just for one part.

The C&L award was presented to Deanna Frautschi for her work with many charities. D54 had a special contest to recognize the clubs with the best newsletter, and I thought that was a pretty good idea. I’d include web sites as well, either as another category, or in combination with that.

Haven’t had much to write in the last few months; the campaign trail is pretty quiet between the last fall district conference, and the first spring conference. I’ve been attending my own club meetings, including the club I coach (South Loop Speak Freaks), home district DEC meetings (I am still the Immediate Past District Governor too), and helping out with club officer mid-year training. Also helping to get a couple of clubs started as well, serving as Toastmaster for demo meetings.

Looks like the districts in Region V are starting to publish spring conference details and registration forms. Four of them are on the same weekend, D22, D30, D43, and D63 are all on April 25-26! So I guess I’ll only get to one of those, and it’ll be D43, since I visited the other three last fall. I’ll make it to five of the eight total, though.

The first is D54 in Bloomington, IL on April 11-12, I can drive to that one, as well as D11 in Nashville, IN, on April 18-19. But I’ll fly to D43 on April 25-26. Joan is going to pick me up in Memphis, which is right on her way from Little Rock to Tupelo (it’s her home district), which is very nice of her.

The Region V registration is out too, so I’ve registered for that and booked my airfare to Kansas City.

My trip to Decatur began inauspiciously; my car’s navigation system took me to the east side of Decatur, even though the address I had put in was clearly on the west side. So I got to see downtown Decatur, and Lake Decatur (which is quite impressive).

Friday night opened with a buffet dinner and an entrancing keynote from Col. Jill Morgenthaler about her experience facing down Saddam Hussein, and how to tailor the speaking style for the audience, choosing the right story and living it out on stage (in keeping with the conference theme of “Living the Story”).

This was followed by a frenzied and enthusiastic performance by a drumline, 9 youths with drums and cymbals to get everyone excited and ready for a great conference. The table topics contest was next, where I was able to assist as a sergeant at arms.

Saturday morning’s business meeting was swift and efficient, there was a low turnout due to bad weather. I gave what I thought was my best version yet of the two-minute “table topic” on my candidacy. Lunch was followed by a short address by Dietmar about upcoming organizational changes, and the afternoon was filled with educational sessions.

The evening began with dinner and awards, followed by the traditional “DTM line”, recognition of new DTMs in the district. One really nice touch was that, while the new DTM was walking down the line shaking hands and exchanging hugs, the District Governor told us about their High Performance Leadership project, the club they sponsored, mentored, or coached, how Toastmasters had changed their lives, etc. It did a great job of avoiding the problem of either awkward silence, or very extended applause.

Last was the humorous speech contest, where we were treated to five awesome speeches, though the best, the winner, was a great one about his birthday … talking about how he resisted being born, hanging on to the umbilical cord for 27 hours. It was really quite good.

So that wraps up the fall round of conferences! I can take some time off, get re-involved with my home clubs (including one I’m coaching), attend DEC meetings, and prepare for the spring conferences in April and May.

The conference began with a Friday night fun night, with open dancing and a dancing demonstration; the emcee did a great job of tying in how dancing skills related to speaking skills. It was a great time to catch up with several old friends from a neighboring district.

The district council business meeting kicked off Saturday, where I discovered that D54 elects the Area Governors in the area councils (no nominations required district council approval). I always knew it was an option, but didn’t know of anyone that did that. This was followed by the opening ceremonies and a keynote from Ed Hearn (2006 world champion of public speaking from D30).

The Saturday luncheon started with the table topics contest (“What was your most inspirational moment in Toastmasters?”). Another thing that D54 does things differently is they alternate table topics (odd years) and tall tales (even years) for the fall season, along with the humorous contest every fall as well.

The afternoon had several educational sessions, including one from International Director Michael Smith, where he updated everyone on the latest planned organizational changes in TI.

The evening began with the humorous speech contest, featuring five very funny speeches. After dinner, the C&L award was presented to Don Wooten for his work as a radio and television celebrity, a state senator, and part-time journalist.

The Hall of Fame awards included some unique ones I’ve not seen before; D54 names a club president of the year and Toastmaster of the year in every area, and in every division (not just at the district level), and also an area governor of the year within each division (as well as district). They also have several other individual district awards for those showing the most commitment and dedication, parallels to the Toastmaster of the year award. All the winners were listed in a souvenir Hall of Fame booklet that was distributed right after the last award.

Imagine a brand new hotel — opened less than three months ago! Gorgeous lobby, flawless meeting rooms, all the highest technology. District 30 hosted its biggest conference ever, and while I may be a bit biased, I loved it. It kicked off with a keynote from Dietmar Wagenknecht and the evaluaton contest. In District 30, there’s a neat tradition that the winner from the previous year’s contest gets to be the next contest master (introducing speakers and doing interviews).

Saturday morning had an achiever’s breakfast (anyone who had earned an educational award in the previous six months) and the opening ceremonies. That included the club banner parade, where each banner holder announced their club and made a 15-second speech about it, which was judged by the audience. We also presented awards to every club that was distinguished last year, ranging from laminated certificates (Distinguished clubs) up to engraved gavel sets for President’s Distinguished clubs that earned 10 points (some for as many as seven years in a row!). The district business meeting finished off the morning, where I was formally nominated for International Director.

After the luncheon, the LGET handed out purple “Magnificent Seven” banner ribbons to recognize clubs that had all seven officers trained this summer. Ed Hearn, the 2006 World Champion of Public Speaking (and who is from District 30!) gave an amazing keynote to a full house of 180 people, based on the conference theme of “Empower Yourself”. Afterwards, Ed was presented with a letter recognizing his accomplishments from the President of the United States, George Bush.

Saturday evening started with dinner and the C&L award to William Mueller, the president of Lombard, the city we were meeting in, which also developed and owns the conference hotel. Afterwards was the DTM ceremony for five new recipients, and the humorous speech contest, with a record audience of 285 people!

Before the winners of the contest were announced, as Immediate Past District Governor I presented awards to the five Key Area Governors and the one Area Governor of the Year from that select group, the Division Governor of the Year, and the Toastmaster of the Year. (Photo is of myself handing out an award.) The evening closed with dancing to a live three-piece band.

The district 35 conference is in Neenah, Wisconsin, this same weekend, but I won’t be able to attend both.

What a beautiful hotel! It’s the Broadview hotel, near the river, dating back to 1921 or so. My room is huge! Friday night is a Halloween-themed mixer with a costume contest. I brought a simple feathered face mask to wear. This is Michael Smith’s first official International Director visit to a district. There’s an interesting contest, which is based on bingo, but each square on the card is filled in by finding someone who meets a specific requirement (like past DG, member for more than 10 years, has presented “Parliamentary Procedure”, etc.). There’s a variety of prizes for the winners to claim.

Saturday morning’s opening ceremonies are brief, and includes a good number of club banners. Clubs represented in the audience but without banners were also called up to join the line. A local Cub Scout pack presented a little skit that got everyone laughing. Then Michael Smith presented an educational session on “Be Good to Yourself: Serve Others”.

Lunch is deli sandwiches, and the presentation of the C&L award to Larry Hatteberg, a renowned storyteller about unique people in Kansas. This is followed by the district Hall of Fame awards, which included recognition for club sponsors, mentors, and coaches (great idea!), and the evaluation contest.

Mid-afternoon is my turn, as I presented “The Value of a Club Coach” (one of my favorite topics), to everyone at the conference. I received many favorable comments afterwards, and I hope the district gets lots of volunteers as a result. I realized afterwards that I didn’t close with a “call to action” — I should have had a half-page form asking for people to fill in their details, so they could be contacted about being a coach.

The business meeting came next, followed by the dinner banquet, which includes a delicious prime rib. Michael Smith presented his keynote address “Shaping Ourselves: Shaping Our World”, followed by the humorous speech contest.

One of the best ideas I’ve heard is the current D22 “Gold Star” charter membership challenge — every club that ends the Toastmasters year with a net increase of five members will receive a gold star for their banner, and if they end with a net increase of 10 members, they get a second gold star and a Toastmasters gift certificate.

Welcome to Opryland! Friday night’s highlight is a roast of the Immediate Past District Governor — I think that’s an awesome idea, and I’m going to suggest it in my home district — next year! Silvana Clark delivered a very funny and yet educational keynote on making club meetings more fun. The theme is “Change is A-OK!”, and includes fun ideas like beach ball bingo table topics (questions written on a beach ball, throw it around, and the catcher responds to the question closest to their right thumb), vacation photos, true newspaper headlines, and untraditional holidays.

There’s a great hospitality suite in one of the hotel rooms, with soda, small sandwiches and an endless supply of little snack cakes, cases and cases of them! In fact, these were a good number of the raffle prizes! They also have a silent auction with dozens of things to bid on, ranging from gently-used books to enormous gift baskets of coffee, tea, and chocolate!

Saturday starts off with an invitation-only breakfast, for those who reached specific goals. One neat idea is that anyone who has ever won the TI award for signing up 15 members within a single Toastmasters year (earning a scarf or tie) gets to attend these conference breakfasts for life — so I was eligible!

Lunch is followed by a short address by Dietmar Wagenknecht, the hall of fame awards and the evaluation contest. Mid-afternoon is the business meeting, and dinner is followed by the humorous speech contest.

Unfortunately, the district 43 conference is this same weekend in Memphis, but my campaign manager, Joan Diehl covered that since it’s her home district.

My first district conference away from home! I decide to drive down, since it’s under five hours each way (I’ll fly later to Nashville and Wichita). District 11 is being honored with a presidential visit from Chris Ford, and Friday night starts off with a full sit-down dinner.

Next is a very funny game called Gudentakken. Each table forms a team and is given a different made-up word and continent of origin, gets five minutes to create a convincing definition and selects someone to present it to the rest of the room. A panel of judges scored each, and we went through three rounds of words across the six tables. Much hilarity ensued! Between rounds, there’s a bonus trivia question. Somehow, Chris Ford’s table wins the game!

Lunch includes the hall of fame ceremony and the C&L award to Pat Byron for her work supporting rights for crime victims. This is followed by a great general session with Chris Ford on Leadershape. The mid-afternoon business meeting goes smoothly with my first two-minute campaign speech — the same length as a table topic!

While discussing my candidacy with someone and handing her my brochure, I realized that I had left my web site off of it! OK, well, good thing I only printed 100 of them!

The evening starts off with dinner, followed by the humorous speech contest (all seven speeches were great!). It also includes another brief address from Chris Ford, and finally, the contest results! The evening ends with a governor’s reception for Chris Ford. A wonderful start to my campaign, and I drive home on Sunday in a great mood all the way.