The Fourth DEC Meeting
With a bit of relief for me, I did not attend the February 23, 2019 DEC meeting. I had family in town for the entire week and was busy entertaining and driving my guests to the airport that day.
The February Area Newsletter
I had already begun making formal visits to clubs with a rough goal to complete them around the end of February. Meanwhile, the looming monster of the combined Area contests was approaching for March 9. These were the topics highlighted in my February newsletter:
- TLI Registration: I made a final reminder and call for registration for the remaining TLI events.
- Club Contests: I asked all clubs to complete their International Speech and Table Topics contests. I also reminded them to send me notification of their winners.
- Area Contests: I noted that the combined Area contests were scheduled for March 9 with details still pending. Nevertheless, I reminded them that we would need numerous volunteers and encouraged everyone to volunteer.
- Pathways Welcome Kit: I put together a combined PDF package that includes The Navigator and all three manuals for Level 1 in the Pathways program. Since Level 1 is the same for all paths in Pathways, this can be used by any member. This kit contains the same information your members would find online, but is in a document format. Of course, it does not replace the need for the online system. Instead, this was provided as an alternative way for people to rapidly make progress offline while they are just getting started.
- Club Coach Policy Update: I explained that Toastmasters International made a policy change regarding club coaches for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 program years. Effective immediately, successful club coaches would get credit for both coaching and a year of District-level service.
- Club Coaching Opportunity: I noted a nearby club that was searching for coaches and asked that interested parties contact me.
- New Provisional Club: I highlighted a new club, which just began the organization process. I invited interested parties to contact me if they'd like to support the club.
- Dues Renewal: Lastly, I reminded everyone that the time has come for dues renewal once again. I encouraged club leaders to set an early deadline, such as March 15, rather than to wait until the moments just before the April 1 deadline.