The Spring Division Contest

The spring Division B contests (International Speech and Table Topics) were held on Saturday, April 13. Fortunately, the contests went smoothly without any major disruptions or delays. The experience of the team showed through this time, as things were more organized and streamlined than ever before. Although the Division contests are much smaller than the combined Area levels, we nevertheless finished after just 2.5 hours (well short of our 4-hour time limit for the venue). If only all of the events could go this well. Onward and upward, we are nearly finished with our Area Director positions for the year! This was the last major, mandatory event aside from the final DEC meeting and elections in May. Now there is time to make a few additional club visits, at our discretion and without mind-numbing paperwork, and generally celebrate the accomplishments of our clubs as the year winds down.

The April Area Newsletter

The end of the year is rapidly approaching, yet we still had several key items to highlight in the April newsletter:

• Area Contests: I congratulated the Area 21 International Speech and Table Topics contest winners, while thanking my clubs for the volunteers, competitors, and guests that made the content event a success.
• Division Contests: I provided the event details and volunteer contact information for the upcoming Division contests.
• Dues Renewal: I reminded everyone that the dues renewal deadline was here and encouraged them to track down any unpaid members, even if they already met the minimum requirement to remain in good standing.
• District Conference: I noted that registration for the annual District conference was now open and provided a link to a webpage containing the event details.
• District Voting: I reminded everyone that annual voting and elections would take place immediately after the District conference. No ticket purchase is required for the meeting. Each club gets two votes, which can be assigned by proxy in the event the club President or VPE cannot attend.
• Online Open House Events: I shared details about a Division member who was conducting a series of online open house events.
• DCP Status: I noted that my clubs were already approaching or exceeding distinguished status for the year. I created a table showing each club's name, DCP goals met to date, and number of members, so they could all see where they stand at this point in time.
• Spring Visits: I wrote a special thank-you message to all of my clubs for welcoming me on the spring round of Area Director visits. I noted how much they've grown and thrived over the year, as well as how they proactively overcame challenges that arose. I ensured them that this quality leadership would keep their clubs thriving into the future.