News You Can Use - Toastmasters D56 Messenger!

Toastmasters District 56 offers many ways for members and the public to learn about Toastmasters, including our website, social media communities, press releases, and mobile alerts.   You can also find out about news you can use each month in the District 56 Messenger. This month's newsletter is full of useful information, including many accolades and achievements!

From the Divisions

District 56 Area Directors Complete 100% of Round One Visits The following Area Directors in District 56 completed 100% of their club visits in Round 1. Look forward to hearing from your Area Directors in the coming year as they work on completing Round 2 visits. Congratulations to the Area Directors and Division Directors in the lists and photos below.

Janna Cook, IP5, Area Director L40 Fernando Turegano, DTM, Area Director L41 Naomi Galvan, , Area Director L42 Cassie Brandley, DTM, Area Director L43 Oluwatosin Esho, DL1, Area Director M30 Conan Nguyen, EH1, Area Director M32 Jeffrey Phillips, EH2, Area Director M33 Lina Papaioannou, TC5, Area Director N21 Carlotta Ford, EC4, Area Director N22 Wilhelm Mwengi, IP3, Area Director O10 Marcia Hudgens, DTM, Area Director O11 Douglas Holloway, PM3, Area Director O12 Kathleen Washington, VC2, Area Director O13 Debbie Demrest, EC5, Area Director O14 Ryan Boyce, PM2, Area Director P1 Katrina Isaac, VC1, Area Director P2 Robert Kieschnick, EC5, Area Director P3 Valeria Jones, VC5, Area Director P4 Johna Hill, MS3, Area Director P5 Elizabeth Smith, LD5, Area Director Q50 Patricia Clarkson, EH1, Area Director Q51 Brent Jatko, IP2, Area Director Q52 Karem Court, SR5, Area Director Q53 Becky Noe, DTM, Area Director R60 Sheryle H. Warren, DTM, Area Director R61 Kathy Kest, DTM, Area Director R63 Natali Ortiz, PM1, Area Director R64 Division Directors Luis Medina, DL3, Division L Director Mary Jubb, EC5, Division M Director Samantha Traylor, DTM, Division N Director Jennifer Nelson, DTM, Division O Director  Lizz Moala-Page, LD3, Division P Director Erin Neyhart, DL1, Division Q Director  Carolyn Charney, DTM, Division R Director

District 56 Announcements

Nominations Now Open for District Leaders for 2024-2025 District 56 is accepting nominations for elected and appointed District Officer positions for 2024-2025. The deadline to submit your intent to run is January 15, 2024. Nominations are still open for all positions: o District Director o Program Quality Director o Club Growth Director o Division Directors Serving as a District leader is a great responsibility and an exciting opportunity. The success of our District, clubs, and members depends on good leaders. For more information, visit toastmastershouston.com/call-for-district-leaders/ or contact District Leadership Committee Chair, Jo Idoux, DTM, PDD, [email protected].

Are you ready for the D56 Spring Conference? WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AT THE 2024 TOASTMASTERS DISTRICT 56 SPRING CONFERENCE MAY 3-4, 2024. We are offering you a fantastic lineup of Spring Conference sessions, a keynote speaker, activities, contests, networking, fun, and more! Visit the official District 56 Conference page and buy your tickets TODAY! Early bird pricing ends December 31, 2023! You can also sign up to volunteer, be a sponsor, donate silent auction items, or purchase program book ads! Faranza Chohan, DTM, International Director for Region 5, will offer a keynote address and education session. The two-day event promises education sessions, networking, entertainment and more. Plus get ready to hear some fantastic speeches during the District Tall Tales Contest and the District International Speech Contest.

Speech Contest Training Set for January Want to learn about new speech contest judging rules and more? Register today for Speech Contest Training. You have one more opportunity to attend training. Register today: Saturday, January 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m. IN PERSON at Looscan Neighborhood Library, 2510 Willowick, Houston. This year, we have the Tall Tales Speech and the International Speech. Most Area and Division Speech Contests dates are already on the District Calendar. For more information, download the Speech Contest Rulebook Toastmasters International -2023-2024 Speech Contest Rulebook. District Speech Contests will be held during the annual Spring Conference. Friday, May 3, 2024, is the District Tall Tales Contest, and Saturday, May 4, 2024, is the International Speech Contest.

Round 2 Club Officer Training Opportunities Available Round 2 Club Officer Training is underway in District 56 with dates in January and February. Learn more or register for one of the following trainings on ZOOM Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 6:30 ro 8:45 p.m. Saturday, January 27, 2024, 8 to 10:15 a.m. Saturday, February 3, 2024, 8 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Thursday, February 29, 2024, 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. OR register to attend an immersive, all-in-one IN-PERSON training on Saturday, January 6, 2024, 2 to 4 p.m., in the River Oaks area at Looscan Library, 2510 Willowick, Houston, TX 77027.

Monthly Mentor Moments Offered for Current, and Future Club Mentors The D56 Club Growth Team is hosting a "Mentor Moments Session" at 7 p.m. Monday, January 8, 2024, on ZOOM. All Toastmasters are welcome to attend. Register here! This is an ideal opportunity for Club Mentors and anyone interested in serving as Club Mentors to share experiences, challenges, and best practices. Additional sessions will be scheduled each month for continuing the conversations and information sharing.

Mid-Year Hybrid Contest Demo set for District Officers and Contest Leaders District 56's Mid-Year District Officer Training will be an in-person Speech Contest Hybrid Set-up Demo Training for Area and Division Directors and other interested Toastmasters. The training will be Saturday, January 20, from noon to 1 p.m. at Looscan Library, 2510 Willowick, Houston, TX 77027. Space is limited. Register today.

Leap Into 2024 - Renew Your Dues TODAY All clubs can now Leap into 2024 by renewing dues through September 2024 to ensure uninterrupted access to Toastmasters' leadership and communications tools! Clubs that submit renewals for 20 or more members, or their member base plus 3 members for April 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024, earn Toastmasters International merchandise and VIP recognition at the District 56 Spring Conference. The deadline is February 16, 2024. Learn more about this and other Club Growth Director incentives on the District 56 website.

Toastmasters Members Eligible for 3, 2, One Incentive Becoming a District 56 Toastmasters Ambassador is as easy as 3, 2, One! Toastmasters members are encouraged to invite 3 people to a club meeting. When 2 of those invited guests attend the meeting, the goal is to inspire and encourage at least one of them to join Toastmasters.  Recruit 1 member and receive a 3, 2 One Star pin and recognition at the D56 Spring Conference. Recruit 4 or more members and receive a 3, 2 One Star pin, recognition at the D56 Spring Conference, and Toastmaster merchandise.  The deadline is March 31, 2024. Note: Name must appear as sponsor on new member’s Membership Application.

Time Change for Pathways Refresher Courses for Leaders and Members MEMBERS, VPE's & other club officers become more comfortable with PATHWAYS. Objectives of the training Learn how to use and benefit from Pathways from start to finish. Demonstrate "hands-on" during the training that you can navigate the Pathways program Receive resources that will help you in the future when you are working on Pathways online or explaining it to others. The training is held on Thursdays from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. You may remain in the zoom call after the session if you need additional help. Check out the District 56 incentives page for club and member incentives associated with this course. Learn more and register. (Choose the date you want to attend from the calendar for more information and registration info)

New Member/Pathways Orientation - Monthly Zoom Meetings New members who are excited to start the Toastmasters’ journey are invited to attend the online New Member & Pathways Orientation to activate your communication and leadership goals. The orientation will be offered from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursday and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. Register 24-hours before the scheduled date. (Choose the date you want to attend from the calendar for more information and registration info) This is open to all new members who joined a District 56 club AFTER May 2023. You must have received an email from Toastmaster International and assigned a mentor by your Club VP Education. Check out the District 56 incentives page for club and member incentives associated with this course.

Looking Forward to 2024

Messages from District Chairs "As the Distinguished Club Program Chair, I look forward to working with you in 2024 to get your club Distinguished! Feel free to contact me if you need help; let's work together to reach your club's Distinguished goals in the next six months!" -Kate Shi, DTM, [email protected] ——- "May your club begin the upcoming new year with a fun-filled speech contest. Consider attending the upcoming in-person speech contest training session on Saturday, January 6, 2024, from 12-1 PM, at the Looscan Neighborhood Library, or contact me if you need additional guidance." Sincerely, Keith D. Romain, DTM, Speech Contest Training Co-Chair, [email protected] ——- "2024 will be another stellar year! I look forward to helping you, your teams and your club members understand everything you need to know about Pathways from start to finish. Your clubs will be Distinguished for sure. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!” - Pamela Williams, DTM, Pathways Chair, [email protected], (281)217-4724 ——- “The New Member and Pathways Orientation Team is eager and ready to facilitate onboarding your new members to meeting roles, mentoring, leadership opportunities, and Pathways. We conduct these weekly sessions on Thursdays and are currently making a modified onboarding session (30 minutes) available during your online club meetings.” -Zenia Shipp, DTM, New Member & Pathways Orientation Chair, [email protected] ——- "Let’s hear you all make up those outrageous stories that will have us laughing in astonishment. Bring on your best fibs to compete to win the title of the best liar in the District!" -Thanks & Regards, Roop Roy, DTM, [email protected] ——- "As your Program Quality Training Chair, I am delighted to extend heartfelt holiday wishes to you and your loved ones. May this festive season bring you joy, warmth, and cherished moments. In the spirit of quality training and personal growth, the Program Quality Team continues to work together to elevate the training experiences within District 56. 2024 will be filled with learning, development, and success opportunities. Visit https://toastmastershouston.com/calendar/ to register for the upcoming training opportunities." -Fatimar Jones, DTM, [email protected]. ——- "I am pleased to serve as the District 56 International Speech Contest Chief Judge. To all District 56 members: If you would like to serve as an International Speech Contest functionary, contact me." -Marcia Hudgens, DTM, PDDG, [email protected] ——- "Everyone has a leader inside of them waiting to be heard. I encourage you to let your inner leader out in 2024. Share your wisdom and encourage other leaders. Leadership articles are accepted at [email protected]" -Samantha Traylor, DTM ——- "One of the fruits of working on our Communication and Leadership skills is the fun of collaborating on projects. And Toastmasters do a lot of collaboration! As the Google Workspace Admin and Logistics Chair for 2023-24, one of my goals is to support and enable collaboration across D56. Happy TM Holidays." -Harold Eaton, DTM, [email protected] ——- "This is the perfect time to remind VPPRs to take photos, with members permission, of your holiday meetings and events and your events all year long. You can combine these into a collages of your clubs' meetings/activities. There are plenty of online tools to help you. For example, Google Photos is a great place to store and share photos. It also includes a collage photo builder. Go to Google photos > Utilities > Select 2 to 9 photos > Select create > then share a link to the collage." - J.R. Marshall, Photography Co-Chair, [email protected]

Achievements and Applause

District 56 congratulates the following clubs and members for achieving milestones and meeting goals, including earning Triple Crown recognition, reaching distinguished club program goals, supporting members' educational goals, completing officer training, and promoting your clubs. PQD Achievements Triple Crown: Congratulations to the latest District 56 Triple Crown Award Recipients. Updated 12/17/232

Alberto Orozco Becky Sill Bill Atkinson Brent Jatko Cicely R. Flournoy David Pazda, DTM Debbie Demrest Debbie L. Demrest Dennis Kirby Desrine Butler Diane Nino, DTM Dorothy Hudson-Jenkins, DTM Elizabeth A. Smith Elizabeth Ruiz, DTM Emily Murello Eugenia Morefield Eva Pecht Gail E. Lover, DTM Harold A. Eaton, DTM Horacio Rodriguez, DTM Janice Poscovsky, DTM Javier Florez, DTM Jenn Aguilar Jennifer M. Nelson, DTM

Kimberly H. Roland Leslie L. Davis Maria R. Peña, DTM Mingyu Lu Pamela Y. Williams, DTM Patricia Clarkson Peter Contreras Rachael Fuentes Rajesh Verma Raymond Schuette Robert Kieschnick Roxanne Warthen Sally A. Boyd, DTM Samantha Traylor, DTM Shaf A. Malik Shantel M. Carter Sharla Ozen, DTM Sheryle Warren, DTM SivaJanani Uppalapati Tania Valerdi Ramirez Tara Motamedi Tere Benza P. Vincent Belt Zaida F. OConnor

Clubs with 4+ Distinguished Club Program Goals: Congratulations to the clubs with 4+ DCP goals toward being distinguished. Updated 12/17/23

American General Toastmasters Blue Frog Toastmasters Club Cane Island Path Blazers Toastmasters City of Bryan Club Clear Lake Communicators Club Conroe Speaks Club Daybreakers Toastmasters Club Find Your Voice Toastmasters Firm Speakers Toastmasters Club Greenway Plaza Toastmasters Health Wealth and Happiness Toastmasters

Heights Toastmasters Club HP Houston Toastmasters Club Mente Abierta Pensadores Northwest Power Speakers Southeast Houston Toastmasters Storytellers Sugar Speakers Club TACL Club Talking Heads Club Woodforest Toastmasters Club Woodlands Lakeside Toastmasters Club

Highest Education Awards: Congratulations to the top 10 clubs with highest education awards per July 1, 2023, base membership. 10/21/23 to 11/23/23.

Find Your Voice Toastmasters Unity Toastmasters Club Mainland Toastmasters Mente Abierta Sugar Speakers Club

H-Town Toastmasters Club Cane Island Path Blazers Toastmasters Post Oak Toastmasters Cougar Rhetoric Brazosport Club

Congratulations to the top 10 clubs with highest education awards per July 1, 2023, base membership. 11/23/23 to 12/17/23.

Health Wealth and Happiness Toastmasters Unity Toastmasters Club Find Your Voice Toastmasters Post Oak Toastmasters Clear Lake Communicators Club

Mente Abierta Sugar Speakers Club Boeing Club Mainland Toastmasters Brazosport Club

PRM Achievements Social Media Promotion of the Month - October: Congratulations to Frankly Speaking for posting Toastmasters Club News on their own social media OR the District 56 Facebook group and getting the most engagement in October! Frankly Speaking earns a $25 Toastmasters International Gift Certificate! The following clubs are also recognized for social media engagement in October. (Clubs may only win once, but can be recognized more often.) Updated 11/1/23.

Club Pensadores de Houston UHCL Toastmasters San Felipe Plaza Toastmasters Club Storytellers

Speak Up Houston Mente Abierta Master Evaluators

Social Media Promotion of the Month - November: Congratulations to Pensadores de Houston for posting Toastmasters Club News on their own social media OR the District 56 Facebook group and getting the most engagement in November! Pensadores de Houston earns a $25 Toastmasters International Gift Certificate! The following clubs are also recognized for social media engagement in November. (Clubs may only win once, but can be recognized more often.) Updated 12/17/23.

UHCL Toastmasters Deerwood Toastmasters

San Felipe Plaza Toastmasters Club Mente Abierta

Find a Club: The following clubs confirmed their information is correct or submitted an update for their information on District 56 Find A Club tool by November 30, 2023. These clubs were entered in a drawing for a TI gift certificate. The winning club is Houston Methodist Hospital Toastmasters. To be eligible for a second drawing, confirm your club information is correct or submit an update by June 1, 2024.

Brazosport Toastmasters Cane Island Path Blazers Cheniere Toastmasters Club City of Bryan Club ConocoPhillips Toastmasters Cy-Fair Super Speakers Deerwood Toastmasters Firm Speakers Toastmasters Club 2521 Health Wealth and Happiness Toastmasters Houston Galleria Project Management Houston Methodist Hospital Toastmasters InNOVaters Toastmasters Katy Toastmasters Club Kiewit Houston KW Memorial Toastmasters Marathon Speaks! McDermott McToasters Medically Speaking Toastmasters

Memorial City Toastmasters Post Oak Toastmasters Professionally Speaking Singles Toastmasters Club San Felipe Plaza Toastmasters Southeast Houston Toastmaster Southwest Houston Toastmasters Southwest Project Managment Toastmasters Clu Speaking of Shell Toastmasters Club Spirited Speech Masters Talking Heads Club Technip Energies Toastmasters TGS Well Spoken The Friedkin Group Timmons Talkers True Blue Talkers UHCL Toastmasters West Pearland Toastmasters Woodforest Toastmasters

Will you see your name or your club's name here next month?

District 56 Resources and Tools

District 56 provides maintains photo albums for special events in the district. You can view photos and share your own for the 2022-23 Year End Celebration, 2023 Fall Education Summit, and Spanish Club Officer Training. If you have photos from special events, including events at your club (like open houses, speech contests, or special guests) follow these easy steps to share your photos with D56. Open your Gmail account Select Google photos from the 9-Dot Apps menu in the upper right, or open another tab and enter "photos.google.com" Create an album. Give it a descriptive name and include the date, such as "11-4-23 D56 Education Summit" Upload your photos from your local storage to the album From the album, you will see the a menu in the upper right (see image) Select the "less than" icon which is second from right In the next menu, share with [email protected] to share with District 56

Tip of the Month

Did you know that you can search for events on the District 56 calendar by keyword or topic? Try this. Visit toastmastershouston.com/calendar. Find the search bar above the month. Type “conference.” What result did you get?

Compassion Outreach

Sometimes, life gets in the way. If you or another Toastmaster encounters a life event (i.e., the birth of a child, marriage, divorce, family loss, loss of a job, moving to another state, diagnosed with major illness, etc.), please email our Compassion Outreach Chair ([email protected]) to let us know.

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