Lessons Learned

I served as an Area Governor for the 2nd time in 2006-2007 Toastmasters year, five years since I took that role for the first time.  Unlike the first time, I knew far more people in District 30, knew more about how Toastmasters works and knew more about what was needed for events and people to [...]

I posted the following on my Facebook page the day of the District 30 Nominating Committee meeting which was March 27th: The District 30 Toastmasters Nominating Committee meeting is held today at the Bensenville Library. Be interested in finding out who is running and if there will be any contested races for the Top 3 [...]

The April 2nd edition of the Chicago Tribune had an article about the misfortunes of Ed Hearn, District 30′s very own World Champion of Public Speaking.  Among the comments posted in the online version of the article is one from someone who is/was a District 30 officer, which I would say the exact thing: That [...]

Last Friday I received a call from a close Toastmasters friend who was asking me about proxies for the XL Toastmasters Club, which I was formerly a member of.  I mentioned that it appears District 30 is desperate to have all the clubs turn in their proxies.  The answer is obvious, we have a candidate, [...]

The debate regarding Proposal A and other recent issues from Toastmasters International rages on, in particular on the LinkedIn Toastmasters International Members group, which even had two International Directors actively participating.  For the most part, the debate was very civil and those who have issues with the proposed changes came away with a lot more [...]

A few weeks ago, I spoke on the phone for a half an hour with one of the Region V International Directors regarding the recent TI report that they are considering eliminating the Regional Conferences after this year.  This issue raised my attention as it was a hot topic in both the ToastmasterPrime Google group [...]

For a while, I’ve resigned to the likely possibility that District 30′s Lt. Governor of Marketing Blagojevich (not his last name, but no different from the ousted Illinois Governor in many ways – appearance, style and even ethics) will be the District 30 Governor in two years.  I was looking at some options in the [...]

Even though I’ve been using this blog to express my own views about Toastmasters, some of which may be controversial, I’ve been reluctant to go in detail various incidents that could get my blood boiling, as the blog is public material that could be used as a weapon against the entire Toastmasters organization, which has [...]