D98 Times - August 2024

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Dear District 98 Members,

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” – B.B. King

Welcome to the 2nd edition of D98 Times, your guide to all the latest happening in District 98!! August is an interesting time to learn about new initiatives in your clubs, areas, and divisions. So be inquisitive and make the most of your toastmaster’s journey.

Program Quality Director’s Office: 

1.We recently concluded Toastmasters Leadership Training Program for the term Jul-Dec’24. I am happy to share that a total of 44 clubs have all 7 officers trained and 54+ clubs have 4 or more officers trained across the geography of District 98. My heartfelt gratitude to all the trainers who contributed their expertise in training future leaders. All the trainings received 4 and above rating from all our members and customised feedback has been sent to all trainers individually by the respective Division Director(s). 

Below link of training deck was also shared with club officers  

https://bit.ly/TLTP_SLIDES_D98_2024_2025

2.Contest Calendar for Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest is updated on the D98 website with Area and Division Contest Dates. Clubs are requested to plan their contests a minimum of 2 weeks prior to their respective area contest dates. Get in touch with your Area Director to plan effective club contest. This year we have been successful in creating pool of trained judges; that will help in ensuring we have quality contests at each level. Please check Judges Pool under Program Quality section on D98 website

3.Contest Kit is updated on website – I wish all the best to all clubs for the upcoming contest season

4.Gurukul: We are happy to share that we have 190 registrations for the same. An introduction to Gurukul will be scheduled on a weekend to share more details on the program. Gurukul is a transformative learning platform that empowers leaders for future. Over last 4 years this initiative has developed budding leaders that have benefitted from this initiative to nurture their leadership potential and excel in their career both in Toastmasters as well as professionally. This year the program aims be inclusive and open to all the members of D98 who want to explore their leadership skills by not just contributing towards the growth of Toastmasters but also excel in their professional career. An introductory note is updated on website https://district98.org/gurukul/

5.Calling Convenors for Eloquence 2025: We are excited to announce Eloquence 2025 will be hosted between 23rd – 25th May’25 at Jaipur, Rajasthan. If you are excited to host the mega event of District Annual Conference – here’s the link of apply https://bit.ly/convenor_eloquence 

6.Here’s your time to start tracking your progress for the Leader in Me award

7.Launching “Trainer’s Pool” to help clubs conduct offline effective educational sessions from Successful Club Series, Better Speakers Series and Leadership Excellence Series. This is a pilot version and not an exhaustive summation of experts; the idea is to give VP Education(s) a start point to conduct educational sessions at club(s)

8.A huge shout out and Congratulations to below clubs on achieving 5 and above DCP points 

  • Infobeans Toastmasters Club | Area A4 | Division A
  • Mulund Toastmasters Club | Area S4 | Division S

Club Growth Director’s office:

1.Club Extension Update:

  • In July 2024, District 98 successfully conducted 7 demo meetings for prospective corporate ,community and institutional clubs. We are scheduled to host an additional 5 demo meetings in August 2024 of prospective corporate, institutional and community clubs to further expand our reach and engage potential new members of District 98

  • If you have any member of District 98 leads generated or you are working for a corporate organization or studying in a University or a B-School and believe there is a possibility to establish a quality driven and member engaged Toastmasters Club, please reach out to my extension team.  you will be presented an award for your Glorious contribution in the means of Growth Leader award and /or Explorer Award 

    Babu Narayan ( Mumbai and Navi Mumbai as well as Palghar and Thane) – babunarayan2000@gmail.com

    Meghana Mehta (Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh)- meghanamehta1994@gmail.com

    Pragya Maheshwari ( Rajasthan) – p.pragyamaheshwari@gmail.com

    You can drop a mail to the Club Growth Director as well – Sanjan Shetty, DTM as well (sanjan@district98.org)

2.Bulls Eye Award Congratulations:

  • Congratulations to the Vice Presidents of Membership who have achieved remarkable growth by onboarding 2, 3, 5, and 7+ new members to their respective clubs in July 2024. Your dedication and efforts are truly commendable.

 Bulls Eye – Bronze

Club Name

VP Membership

Division

Area

Toastmasters Club of Baroda

Vallabhgar Meghnathi

A

A2

Transcendence

Palak Jain

A 

A3

Vadodara Toastmasters Club

Hitesh Dave

A

A5

Rajasthan Toastmasters Club

Jitendra Shekawat

C

C3

CIPLA Toastmasters Club

Ishwari Kale

D 

D2

Worley India Toastmasters Harmony

Avinash Chandrikapure

D

D3

National Park Toastmasters Club

Ashwini Arondkar

D

D3

Acuris Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Malini M

D 

D5

Bopal Toastmasters Club

Ashwin Agarwal

J

J5

Agnel Toastmasters Club

Rohidas Chitte

M

M4

SErenity Toastmasters Club

Seena Chandran

M

M4

Northern Marine Toastmasters Club

Rahul Dudhade

S

S3

tkUIPL Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Bhushan Vartak

U

U3

Bulls Eye – Silver

Club Name

VP Membership

Division

Area

DB Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Nikita Giri

B

B2

Amdavad Toastmasters Club

Parva Shah

J

J1

Kharghar Toastmasters Club

Rowan Buthello

M

M2

Innoverse Dynamo Toastmasters Club

Pooja Pol

S

S2

TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club

Sujata Mokal

U

U4

Bulls Eye – Gold

Club Name

VP Membership

Division

Area

Goregaon Speakers Community Toastmasters – (GSC Toastmasters)

Gagan Goel

D 

D1

Mulund Toastmasters Club

Prabhadevi Patil

S

S4

Thane Toastmasters Club

Shivam Tiwari

U

U2

Bulls Eye – Platinum

Club Name

VP Membership

Division

Area

Jaipur Toastmasters Club

Kamlesh Jeswani

C

C2

NMIMS Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Neha Kinge

D 

D1

Capgemini Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Bharti Verma

M

M2

Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Arbaz Khan

S

S1

TYHO SDA Bocconi

Siddharth Nayar

S

S2

3.Renewal Window Opening:

  • The renewal window is now open. We urge all clubs to begin processing membership renewal payments till March’25 or September’25  to continue benefiting from the Toastmasters program’s contributions to personal and professional development.

4.Smedley Award Recognition:

  • We encourage all clubs to strive for the Smedley Award. Clubs that add 5 new, dual, or reinstated members between August 1st and September 30th, 2024, will qualify for this prestigious accolade.
    As per 14th August’24 records verified through the dashboard , congratulations to the following clubs who have already recognized with this award, and we are anticipating many more clubs to bag the Smedley ribbon, you all certainly have the potential to achieve it

Club Name

VP Membership

Division

Area

Vadodara Toastmasters Club

Hitesh Dave

A

A5

Andheri Orators Toastmasters Club

Subhashini Hiremat

B

B5

SoBo Toastmasters Club

Bhakti Bandekar

D 

D2

RG Orators Toastmasters Club

Gunjan Gupta

J

J2

Hexaware  Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Moulshree Sarpotdar

M

M1

Mumbai Toastmasters Club

Arbaz Khan

S

S1

Somaiya Toastmasters Club

Apurv Yadav

U

U4


5.New Award Announcement – Renewal Rockstar:

  • District 98 is introducing the Renewal Rockstar Award under the Club Growth Director Awards in the Hall of Fame . Clubs that renew 12 memberships till 31st March’25between August 15th and September 15th, 2024, will be recognized with a trophy at the District event. This new award celebrates outstanding commitment to membership renewal. The new Slide will be updated on the District 98 website by the 18th August’24
     

6.Nominations for Club Mentor, Club Sponsor and Club Coach for the 2024-25 Program Year:

  • Nomination forms for Club Sponsor, Club Mentor, and Club Coach for the 2024-25 program year are now available. https://bit.ly/D98SponsorMentorCoach The deadline for submissions is September 8th, 2024. We encourage all eligible candidates to apply and contribute to our community. All the interested candidates have to mandatorily attend the Club Coach training to be held on the 22nd September’24   and the Club Sponsor and Club Mentor training 15th September’24

7.Accolades to Pursue for August and September’24

  • Clubs are encouraged to aim for the following accolades as achieving these recognitions will showcase your club’s commitment to excellence and growth.
     
  • Power of Two : New/Reinstated/ Dual member joining in July/August’24 and paying the membership fee to Toastmasters International till 31st March’25 on or before  30th September 2024 in a single transaction, if more than 5 members , then the Vice President Membership will be awarded with a plaque
     
  • Exceeding Everest :  Clubs to achieve maximum net growth percentage in Membership count on 30th September’24 as compared to July 1st 2024, only Top 2 Clubs per Division will be presented with the awardSuper Sponsor:  An individual member apart from the Vice president membership to sponsor between 3-5 new members in any club in District 98 between July-October’24 (Cycle 1)
     
  • Supreme Sponsor: An individual member apart from the Vice president membership to sponsor between 6-8 new members in any club in District 98 between July-October’24 (Cycle 1)
     
  • Membership Maven Award : Vice Presidents of Membership who “renews” at least 20 members or club base membership whichever is lower in the October renewal cycle by the 25th  September’24

8.Torchbearer Award

  • Let us break barrier of mind and do something historic- let us make the difference and be a learning curve for other Districts to see and learn and have all the clubs achieve at the maximum , earn the recipient award of the Torch Bearer award where we encourage 10+ members making an annual renewal till  September’25, if you are renewing/renewed till March’25, thank you for your valued contribution , but if you are making another renewal payment say in October’24 for the September’25 renewals, it will reinstate your purpose and you all will be the pioneers to strengthen the roots of District 98. Each and every member matter to us!


District Administration Manager’s office:

  • Congratulations to the following clubs celebrating their club anniversaries in the month of August
    1. Airoli Bilingual Toastmasters Club – 4 years
    2.  InfoBeans Toastmasters Club –  4 years
    3.   Andheri Orators Toastmasters – 5 years


District Public Relations Manager’s office: 

  • The theme for August 2024: Celebrating Diversity
    We encourage all clubs to conduct meetings and activities based on this theme.
    Don’t forget to tag @d98tm on Instagram—we’ll be happy to showcase your posts on our Instagram stories and highlights.

  • Design of the Month Winner for July 2024: 
    Congratulations Kalyani Gaikwad from Mulund Toastmasters Club for having your flyer recognized as Design of the Month Winner July 2024. 
    Check out other special mentions  on District Website  – Design of the Month

  • Upcoming This Month:
    Keep an eye on the Public Relations Space on our District Website for exciting new content, including:

    • Podcasts
    • Blogs
    • Design Starter Kit
       
  • Stay Connected :
    • Follow us on social media for the latest updates and to engage with the Toastmasters District 98 community. 
    • Connect with us to celebrate each other’s growth!

 

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