OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF DISTRICT 82 | JUNE 2016
Many efforts were taken during the last year with a few key objectives in mind:
• Negate:
To set a standard on expenses allocated for district events with the objective of increasing resource efficiency and directing available resources to improve the learning and development opportunities for members.
• Expand:
To ensure benefits of the Toastmasters experience to reach all members and non members.
• We
not ME: To ensure consistency in opportunities extended to members and clubs to achieve their goals, and to extend support to all members, clubs and officers to work together and convert the potential of individual achievements to achievements of the District.
This Digest offers a brief look at our achievements. Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 2
District 82 started the new Toastmasters year with a change to the Areas: we are now realigned according to geographical location of Clubs. Main objective in this move is to facilitate Area Directors (AD) to visit their Clubs more frequently by allocating clubs located within close proximity to the AD’s home clubs. This initiative was not without its share of opposition from members as well as officers. However, it has proven to be a very effective initiative.
With the aim of taking Toastmasters to remote areas, a team of Toastmasters conducted programs in Badulla, Sri Lanka, a location over 200km away from the commercial capital of Colombo. This is the first time a Toastmasters program was held in this region. The Roadshow was also taken to the Northern city of Jaffna
Introduction of the online payment gateway facilitated online registration and payment of fees for district organised events. This effort increased the effectiveness of managing registrations for officers and convenience for members to participate in these events.
New awards such as Club Quality Award, Outstanding Area Director Award, Outstanding Division Director Award etc. were introduced by the Program Quality Director’s team in the 2015/16 toastmaster year with the key objective of improving quality of the club experience. As such, members, officers and clubs were evaluated and awarded points for preparation towards goals, theme meetings, joint meetings, visitors from other clubs as well as a quality check from the AD towards these awards schemes. Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 3
Asst. Program Quality Directors; • Sri Lanka: TM Ranishka Wimalasena • Tamil Nadu: TM Vidiya Prasanth
Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) was established to be the premier educational opportunity for club officers, as well as the membership at large. Key achievements of TLI include; • Streamlining learning content for club officers, judges and contestants • Making learning programmes in district 82 more affordable and accessible to all members TLI Chair – Sri Lanka: TM Scerena Dirckze Program Quality Coordinator: TM Niroshan Nadarajah Program Logistics Coordinator: TM Sashi Ratnayake Division Coordinators; • A: TM Sliema Gunatunge • C: DTM Varuna Ratnaweera • E: TM Nishantha Hettiarachchi • F: TM Sivatharshini Supagar • H: TM Lawrance Madapatha • J: TM Shiham Nawaz TLI Chair – Tamil Nadu: DTM Guruprasad TLI Co – Chair: TM Alex Jacob TLI Secretary: TM Kruthika N TLI Admin Support: TM Karthikeyan Arumugam TLI Coordinator: TM Guruprasad
Assistant Club Growth Directors; • Sri Lanka: TM Punsirimewan Kamburawala • Tamil Nadu: TM Arun Kumar Sridhar
The club mentoring and coaching initiative was started to aid the ailing clubs and to improve club quality in the district. A pool of mentors was to guide clubs that needed additional support. • Mentors’ Pool Chair Sri Lanka: DTM Srianthie Salgado • Mentors’ Pool Chair Tamil Nadu: TM Badhrinath Soundararajan
Six more special committees were appointed at the Reverberation 2015 Business Meeting in November.
Leadership Committee Chair: • DTM Yusuf Jeevunjee Reformation Research Committee Chair: • DTM Saravanan Velrajan Realignment Committee Chairpersons: • Sri Lanka: DTM Srianthie Salgado • Tamil Nadu: TM Arun Kumar Sridhar Research Member & Club retention Committee Chair: • DTM Zameen M Saleem Procedures Committee Chair: • TM Manoj Sharath Head of Project on Research of the Scope of Expansion in Tier II and Tier III Cities: • TM Vardarajan S.
Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 4
Read more about these initiatives in the midyear review publication Reflect https://issuu.com/tmi_district82/docs/reflections_-_d82_update_-_november Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 5
D82:
What a momentous moment indeed. A chapter entailed with countless memories, experiences and events coming to a spectacular close. The district vision this year was “To make the universal Toastmasters brand, a common brand in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and outreach ourselves into the 2nd and 3rd tier cities� and I am delighted to state that we as the PR team have ensured to execute key initiatives to bring this vision to light. Our key focus was to play a pivotal role in cascading inter district information to all members as well as amplify district and Toastmaster initiatives to all non-Toastmasters, in order to build the equity of the brand.
Some of the key highlights were the beautifully designed district newsletter which caught both district and international attention. We can proudly state that over 40% of the clubs maintain a website and almost 95% of the clubs in the district maintain active Facebook pages and social media presence. The flyer of The Month contest carried much hype within the district bringing in an average of 30+ flyers each month. Our revamped district website, now is much more user friendly, contains a beautiful interface and is device responsive. We have engaged with our members through numerous channels such as our YouTube channel which hosts some valuable content for our members, the Instagram page that has increase in its followers to 400 in just 5 months of activity. The monthly bulletin is now circulated to all members of the district and is highly interactive. During the year we have had numerous talk shows and interviews with esteem Toastmasters and non Toastmasters to educate our members and highlight the holistic learning experience Toastmaster provides.
The above stands testament to the PR efforts by our team in empowering, engaging and creating awareness to our members within and outside the district. I take this moment to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of my team, who comprise of Nisal, who was instrumental in driving our social media agenda, Yasangi and Hingston for the well-coordinated editorial efforts ‌
Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 6
and the beautiful newsletters, Gayantha for the state of the art website, Mazin for bringing the district blog to life and Insaf for the creative design work. As we bid farewell as the outgoing district PR team, I wish the incoming PR team led by competent TM Vidiya to carry on the good work, and take District 82 to soring heights. It was a pleasure serving you and looking forward to working with you in the future. DTM Arshad Mohideen District PR Manager, 2015/16