Don Eppler crowned the 'Funniest Man' in District 64!

Venio Dictum is proud to recognize Don Eppler as the winner of the Humourous Speech contest at the District 64 Fall Conference on November 16th. 

Don managed to take down the Area Contest and then he was off to the Division contest where he also emerged victorious, paving the way to compete at the Fall Conference.  After a tough competition against many strong speakers at the conference, Don was able to work his magic and take home the trophy as the ‘Funniest Man’ in District 64!  Venio Dictum is proud to recognize Don’s achievement.

 Congratulations Don!

So ends our 2012 - 2013 Season.

Fellow Toastmasters,

Having just completed this season's financial reports, I wanted to recap a few of the accomplishments that our executive and membership can look back on as terrific successes.

First, I just received notice that we have achieved Distinguished Club Status from Toastmasters International.  This was our key educational goal as our club had fallen off that select list of clubs.  This achievement is a reflection of our membership and executive team working together to have our hard work and goal achievements recognized.

Second, our club is widely recognized as Winnipeg's most "healthy and successful" club.  Nothing could be more reflective of the truth.  I am extremely happy to report, that our club has moved from an unsustainable financial position to one of growth and durability.  This is reflected in 40.7%  increase in our club funds this year.  Was it easy?  No -- it required dedicated investigations, data collection, analyzing and knowing how to apply it to the execution of an effective plan -- but the support of the executive and membership made it all come together.

Third, our Treasurer recommended I actively secure an Area Contest, as a way to bolster and showcase our club to the District and area clubs -- but also as a way to practice and prove we can do it profitably.  I attended meetings and was able to secure an Area Contest through persistence.  Our membership could not have hosted the event to a higher standard.  I received endless praise for the event.  Literally all the executive team, including our Past President, our contest representatives, and a good portion of our membership were responsible for making this event turn out well.

Fourth, I was grateful to be able to have the club funds available -- via the 50/50 and Grunt monies -- to cover the room charge for our Award's Night.  This is something that has not been done for a couple years, due to financial considerations.  Again, it was very nice to have our club in a position to be financially able to support this years event in this manner.

I appreciated the great attendance and lively participation at our meetings -- where we learn and practice our skills -- and get energized by proving our true potential.

I could not image being allowed to lead a more talented, kind and supportive group of people.

My sincerest thanks to everyone.

Best Regards,

Glenn Laycock

President, 2012-13

Venio Dictum Toastmasters

Executive Line Up for 2013-14

At our regular Wednesday meeting on May 8th, we elected the Executive for the 2013-2014 Toastmaster Season. 

• President:  Janet Adam
• VP Education:   Andrew Smith
• VP Membership:  Jon Rekrut
• VP Public Relations:  Eric Elford
• Treasurer:  Don Eppler
• Secretary: Nuo Yang
• Sergeant of Arms:  Alexis Cherewayko
• Past President: Glenn Laycock

The new executive will take over officially on July 1, 2013.

Area Speech and Table Topic Contest

Good morning fellow Toastmasters,

The Area Contest we hosted this last Wednesday went extremely well.  Thanks to our speakers -- Andrew and Ray -- and those who came out to support them -- as well as all the other contestants and supporters.

A strong turnout got the meeting to a good start, and the audience was treated to strong speeches and table topics.  Our club's contestants, Ray Hignell and Andrew Smith were very competitive and the audience would not have been surprised if either had won for the night.

Stephanie won the Table Topics

RESULTS

Table Topics

1) Stephanie V.

2) Andrew S.

International Speech Contest

1) Lynn S.

2) Jennifer R

The crowd lingered in cheerful conversations and actions for a long time after the meeting which is an excellent sign to that the event was well received.

2013 a New Year with New Events Scheduled

As 2013 gets rolling, I am looking at a couple events we have coming up.

First, our Club Level International and Table Topic contest is scheduled for April 3rd this year.  The event is scheduled to be chaired by Jean, with Monica our Area Governor coming out that evening to be our Chief Judge.  Being a club level event, we are planning to let our members practice their skills by taking on some roles, such as judging.  Certainly there are practical reason to do this "in house" but certainly it is good practice and experience for our membership, and if you can't practice these roles at our own club, your learning curve would be a lot longer.

Our second event, and one we are very happy to HOST is the Area International and Table Topic contest is scheduled for April10th @ 6:15 p.m. at our normal location at the Masonic Temple.  In the case of an Area Contest, we are just hosting the location and the Area will handle the actually contest.  In this case, the formality of the event goes up a notch and the roles have to meet the guidelines solidly -- so Judges and so on will be from other clubs.

Contestants, Guests, and Toastmaster Members are all invited to these events.  The Area event will have a door fee -- probably $10.  We would love to see you out.

Glenn Laycock
President (2012-13)
Venio Dictum Toastmasters Club