What’s the Challenge?

Have an Open House between May 15 and June 15.  Take a picture and submit the guest list to LGM@District23.org.

Why?

An Open House or demonstration meeting can be one of the easiest ways to build membership. Organizing such an event satisfies the requirements in the Competent Leadership (CL) manual: Organize & Delegate for organizing a special event or Motivating People for running a membership campaign.

Who can enter?

Any club in the District (if you’re already distinguished, you could offer to help another club with their open house. They may take you up on it)

How do you host an Open House?

Some clubs hold Open Houses on a regular basis (e.g., Quarterly) and they frequently have 20 or more members. Need a few more people to fill seats? Ask your Area Governor, Division Governor, or another club. Put out flyers and spread the word. Invite a special guest. Sometimes you may get one guest, sometimes more. Just keep doing it!

Read TI’s info on holding on open house here and check the info below – one way to hold an open house:

1. Choose a date in advance. Publicize that your meeting is welcoming guests. Use the Open House flyer or one of the other marketing flyers on the District 23 website – Click here.
2. Plan the meeting. If you have a one hour meeting, consider one speech & evaluation or reduce some of the roles (jokes, thought of the day, etc.) to keep the meeting simple and allow time for people to ask questions or talk at the end of the meeting. Maybe invite a special speaker. Have some munchies. Ask your AG, Div Gov or another club to fill meeting roles.
3. Be sharp! Be positive! At the open house, show guests how a meeting works, explain the roles succinctly, and provide a handout or guest packet (flyers, benefits of Toastmasters, who to contact for more information, a TM magazine). Take a picture, ask guests to sign a guest book. Ask guests to join!
4. Send the picture and the guest sin in sheet to LGM@District23.org.

Every club that hosts an open house with at least 2 visitors receives a $25 gift certificate to Toastmasters International.

Thirteen clubs are recognized as distinguished, which means the clubs
provide a quality environment that promote enabling their members to
reach their full potential!

Presidential Distinguished Clubs: Midday Maddness (ABQ), Border (El Paso)

Select Distinguished: Oh Pinon (Santa Fe); Coronado, Daybreakers, Midday Rio Rancho,
ADP El Paso (ABQ)

Distinguished: Earlybirds, ABQ 122, Toastmasters @ TVC (ABQ); Northeast,
Gateway (El Paso); Panhandle PRO (Amarillo)

Several clubs have at least 5 goals and just need a few members to be distinguished
(20 members or a net gain of 5 members):
- need 1 member: Taylor Ranch (ABQ); Articulate, Toasters (Lubbock)
- need 2 members: Amigo (El Paso), Kirtland (ABQ), Pop-Up (Midland/Odessa)
- need 3 members: La Tierra (Santa Fe); Duke City, ABQ Hispano Chamber (ABQ); Lubbock, Llano Estacado (Lubbock); Rio Rancho (Rio Rancho); Copper Masters (El Paso); Roswell Noonday (Roswell); Pantex (Amarillo)

A few clubs have the membership and just need another goal to be distinguished(minimum of 5 goals to be distinguished):
- need 1 more goal: Guymon (Guymon, OK), Border J&J (El Paso)

Any club bringing in 3 new members during Beat the Clock, will receive a $45 prize* from the TI store to increase the incentive of their own club-level contest prize.  Any club bringing in 5 or more new members will receive a $100 prize* from the TI store.

Beat the Clock ends on June 30th and so does this incentive.  So start your contests as soon as possible and good luck to you all!

Notes:

• Your club does not have to hold a contest to receive this prize.  If the club gets the necessary number of members without a club-level contest, the club can use the money for their own needs.
• For the advanced clubs, this contest is in addition to the “Join an advanced club, get an advanced leadership manual” incentive.

* The prizes are any item or items that your winners choose from the TI store with a total value, prior to shipping, of the full prize amount.  The prize can be given to one member or split up for several. or more members, but to save on shipping and processing costs, the entire order will be shipped to one person (the winner if there is only one or a single person designated by the club if there is more than one winner).

With this in mind, District 23 is offering a reward to any member that joins an advanced club from May 1st to June 30th of 2012.  Any member joining an advanced club as a new, dual, or reinstated member* will receive a High Performance Leadership set (1 HPL manual and 3 Guidance Committee manuals) from the district.  To receive your HPL set, contact your LGM, Tracy Thomason, after joining one of the district’s advanced clubs.

The advanced clubs in District 23 are:

Albuquerque/Rio Rancho

• Albuquerque Challenge
• High Desert
• Tumbleweeds

Amarillo

• Panhandle Pro

El Paso/Las Cruces

• The Majestics

Lubbock

• Lubbock Professional

Santa Fe

• Power Talkers

Selections will be announced & celebrated at the Fall Conference in November.

It’s easy to do!  Just follow these simple instructions:

• Download the form below
• Fill it out with your comments included
• Sign & send to: Bay Stevens; PO Box 2066; Tijeras, NM 87059

Area Governor of the Year

Division Governor of the Year

Toastmaster of the Year

Congratulations to the Speech Contest winners!

International

1st John Freisinger. 2nd Eric Tonningsen. 3rd Jef Conn.

John now goes on to Orlando to compete in the semifinals in August. We wish him the best!

Table Topics

1st Roy Crawford. 2nd Michael Ramirez. 3rd Charnia Parrish.

And here are your 2012-2013 District elected officers:

District Governor – TK O’Geary

LGET – Steve Hightower

LGM. – Jim McCabe

Division Governors

Division A – Will Schmitt

Division B – Michael Carr

Division C – Sharon Jeffers

Division D – David Broadnax

Division E – Sara Richter

Division F – Linda Leazar

Ellen Buelow

Newcomers/School Readiness Program Coordinator & Community Advocate
Newcomers/School Readiness Program
Archdiocese of Santa Fe

After 30 years of teaching, Ms. Buelow retired and in April of 2007, Ms. Buelow began volunteering with our Catholic Charities program in Albuquerque, tutoring Mexican immigrants in ESL (English as a Second Language) in our Education department. In 2009, Ms. Buelow moved over to our Refugee Resettlement and Support Program. She was one of the founding volunteers in our Conversation Partners program. In 2009, Ms. Buelow began tutoring an Iraqi student one-on-one, and became a tutor in our After School Program for refugee youth.

Beginning in summer of 2011, Ms. Buelow lead a new program called Newcomers/School Readiness Program, which fills a vital need for our newly-arrived refugee youth who have a month between arrival and enrollment in school. As co-founder and lead volunteer of this program, Ms. Buelow meets with the newly-arrived children at our offices, or in their homes, to provide backpacks, to review school vocabulary and important English phrases, and to get them excited about starting school. Her assistance in these programs leads to higher levels of achievement for these children in school. For the adults with whom she works, improved English ability means the difference between obtaining and keeping a job – and falling into poverty. Ms. Buelow, through her friends and church, has spread the word about our volunteer opportunities, referring at least two acquaintances to our programs, who themselves have given many hours to our refugees.

Outside of her direct work with our needy population, Ms. Buelow is a tireless advocate for legislative change and support for poor people in New Mexico. She is a member of Bread for the World, an inter-faith group that advocates methods and legislation that will alleviate poverty. As the coordinator for the local group, Ms. Buelow regularly meets with our representatives to advocate for education initiatives on behalf of our disadvantaged families. Ms. Buelow is also a member of the social justice action committee at her church, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Community. Their most recent project is called “Offering of Letters” and is an event to bring various people and groups together to write letters to our representatives on issues affecting the poor in our community (including food stamp benefits cuts).

Finally, Ms. Buelow is also a member of Albuquerque Interfaith, a legislative action group that advocates on behalf of the poor, addressing issues of just wages and the importance of early childhood education.

Click here for the Alignment Review (Excel file).

Click here for the Alignment Review (pdf file).