Hello District 6,

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to your Toastmasters Journey! It is truly inspiring!

It is almost hard to believe that this Toastmasters Year is almost over, and yet, I truly believe that there is so much more we can do with the time remaining!

I encourage you to complete the education goals you set for yourself for this year, bring in those new members, and help your club finish the year strong! You will be amazed at what your intentional efforts can do!

If the truth be told, we actually have a fighting chance to finish the year as a Distinguished District which is something we have not been in many years. To some that may sound like an empty status symbol, and yet, to me, it represents the resilience, dedication, and amazing potential of our members. We have and are continuing to overcome the tremendous challenges of the pandemic. In the process, we are rising stronger than we have ever been. I truly believe our greatest days as a district are yet ahead!

As I reflect on this past year, there are many things I could highlight. Here are just a few:

This past year, we upleveled the club officer training materials and introduced a dedicated training team which is something District 6 has never done before. The results were amazing as this team exemplified a heart for giving the members their personal best as we incorporated real-time feedback and conducted monthly retrospectives which resulted in an overall increase in the quality of training delivered and some of the highest training numbers the district has seen in years not to mention extremely positive feedback from trainers and attendees alike! This team has laid the groundwork for an even better training experience in the coming year!! I cannot fully express my gratitude enough for this amazing team!!

Our in-person TLIs felt like family reunions as people were excited to reconnect with one another not to mention the value-added training that was provided!!

Our Spring Conference led by our Amazing District 6 Administration Manager and Spring Conference Chair, Nancy Hobbs, DTM, was incredible as we had a great lineup of education presenters including: Past International President Lark Doley, DTM, Region 4 International Director Kim Myers, DTM, Past District 6 Directors Ravi Rai, DTM and Diane Windingland, DTM, and the awesome mother and son duo Lori Ziebarth and Jack Jacobson.

We also held the first ever Toastmasters Got Talent Event where we saw some incredible talent on display!

We conducted hybrid District Speech Contests with our very own Past Region Advisor Mary Swanson, DTM serving as our District Chief Judge. Jose Luciano won first place in the Humorous Speech Contest as he had us laughing with “Honesty is the Best Policy…Right?” speech. Michael Tsia won first place in the International Speech Contest as he inspired us with his speech “It has to be YOU!”

Our Silent Auction, led by Georgette Benidt & Tara Bolanda, was one of the best yet as they raised $2957. Their out-of-the-box thinking and tenacity delivered incredible results!! Their efforts were instrumental in generating positive revenue for the district. It was a great problem for our amazing District Finance Manager, Chuck Brunnette, DTM, to learn how to enter positive revenue numbers for an event rather than having to supply a narrative to District Finance at World Headquarters as to why we were not successful in holding a budget neutral event. I believe we will only continue with this positive momentum.

I want to thank our current Division, Area Directors, and the District Operations Team (Trio, PRM, Admin Manager, Finance Manager, and Logistics Manager) for all that they have done this year to support our clubs! Our members are worth our time and our investment! I truly believe that this year’s team has been instrumental in setting the stage for a great 2023-24 Toastmasters Year!

My biggest thank you goes to our Amazing District 6 Director, Deb Luu, DTM. I cannot even begin to adequately express how grateful I am for her, and all that she has done these past two years as District Director. She has modeled love and commitment to the members of District 6 like few I have seen. On July 1st when she becomes the Immediate Past District Director, she will be leaving some very big shoes to fill. I am grateful that I have her number on speed dial, and I know where she lives as she has truly been a trusted friend, confidant, mentor, and a stellar example of what it looks like when a leader puts the members first. The good news for everyone is that she will still be actively involved in clubs and supporting the members of District 6. She will also serve as the District Leadership Committee Chair in the 2023-24 Toastmasters year and will help identify future leaders for the district . . . Who knows, her dangerously delicious chocolate chunk cookies may magically appear at district events.

As the incoming team is partnering with the current team to learn how they can best support our members, I truly believe we will have an even stronger year than we did this year!

With that in mind, we still need Area Directors for Division B (B11, B12, B13, B14, and B15), 2 for Division C (C21 & C23), 2 for Division E (E41& E42) and 2 for Division F (F52-54). If you are interested in serving the clubs in these Areas in a meaningful way, please review this job description and submit your application. I look forward to speaking with you soon about this amazing opportunity!

If you have an interest in using your talents and abilities to serve the members of District 6, please reach out to me and we will find a place for you to shine as you help take District 6 to the next level.

TOGETHER – The BEST is Yet Ahead!

Sincerely,

Colleen Marie