Division N Director (part 2) Getting a feel of things again - challenges and all.
As I said before, we were having difficulty finding Toastmasters who could be tapped to serve Division N. The reason behind it? Several, actually. For one, some names were being floated as possible Division Director before me - but there was a reluctance to tackle the role. I don't know what their previous exposure to the Division Council looked like - at least to those who were already past Area Directors... but they seemed reluctant to jump into the leadership role.
Some made competing as an excuse... possibly legitimate, but it showed a lack of wanting to sacrifice for the sake of the division. Still, we couldn't fault them. Another possible candidate actually had plans to tranfer to Canada,. We couldn't exactly fault the person - I just wished we knew more about this plan earlier, more so since we tapped her as part of the Division Council. The other problem? Our clubs had their own worlds... theri Toastmasters experiences did not go beyond the borders of the clubs. Areas were almost just a token word - and the Division was probably just an unknown, except for a few persons, these clubs hardly knew their District officers. Club hopping was not happening - so cross-learning was not happening. Why so? I can't say.
Many members - potential leaders were also relatively young... as in positioning to be VPs or even Presidents in their respective clubs... so let's forget tapping them as Area Directors - at least, not yet. Another question I had... aside from Troy (the immediate past Division Director), and Tisha - the Division N matriarch (N's Division Director at the start of it all), I did not see any past Division Directors showing up - so, no council of past leaders? Why the absence? I was not in any position to contact them either, as I did not know who they were. Anyway... we worked with what we could.
So we forged ahead. One of our first activity... one to build the community was a Fun Run. It had good attendance, and showed that a core group of Toastmasters could organize themselves - with a few hiccups, but nothing too bad. The activity even attracted Toastmasters frpm other Divisions. I also heard that our activity, held in the Ayala Triangle, gave Division B the impetus to organize one themselves. Maybe they had one planned, but we executed faster - and they learned form us. Not keeping score, here. But I was proud of the team being able to organize this. We even got a great t-shirt from the activity too.
I also started visiting clubs... meeting with my Area Directors when possible to find out how they were (except Troy who could run on automatic). Our next Divisoin activity had to be the Turnover ceremony - and Tisha helped a lot here in being able to tap the new club, St. Lukes BGC Toastmasters. Through them we got sponsorship for food (the major cost of the activity), hence we allowed attendance from people without any need to collect to cover expenses. Our food was ample - and did not look cheap. The people responsible did not want to look bad with their doctors. I even brought bottles of wine - but these were not opened becasue the caterers were not informed of the need for wine glasses. Ah well, I brought most of them home - for future use. All in all, a successful activity indeed.
I could say that ours was one of the more organized and even elegant turnover activity. I mean, I later attended Division A and L's turnover... okay L's was elegant as well, but I learned later that Director Jonathan had problems collecting funds to cover their expenses. A asked their attendees for registation fees. In that sense, I felt lucky we did not have to find additional cash to cover for expenses. I understand that Troy had taken care of the needed ribbons and other sundry stuff. Tisha took care of the gifts for the VIPs.
I was also tapped by District Trainer Law to be a speaker in the Club Officers Training. So My visibility as Division N's Director was riding high in the District.I got to speak about the roles of the officers in several sessions. I would like to think that what I said gave the new officers some idea for what their roles would be. On a personal note, I was glad that I was getting exposure as Division N's Director - but I was worries that my other role, as Presidntr for HOLA was being completely set aside - I guess this was to be expected, after all, the role of a Division Director was higher in the District level in terms of responsibility. Still, I made sure my HOLA Presidncy was not completely set aside. Whenver I was introduced, I made sure my two current roles were mentioned.
Some made competing as an excuse... possibly legitimate, but it showed a lack of wanting to sacrifice for the sake of the division. Still, we couldn't fault them. Another possible candidate actually had plans to tranfer to Canada,. We couldn't exactly fault the person - I just wished we knew more about this plan earlier, more so since we tapped her as part of the Division Council. The other problem? Our clubs had their own worlds... theri Toastmasters experiences did not go beyond the borders of the clubs. Areas were almost just a token word - and the Division was probably just an unknown, except for a few persons, these clubs hardly knew their District officers. Club hopping was not happening - so cross-learning was not happening. Why so? I can't say.
Many members - potential leaders were also relatively young... as in positioning to be VPs or even Presidents in their respective clubs... so let's forget tapping them as Area Directors - at least, not yet. Another question I had... aside from Troy (the immediate past Division Director), and Tisha - the Division N matriarch (N's Division Director at the start of it all), I did not see any past Division Directors showing up - so, no council of past leaders? Why the absence? I was not in any position to contact them either, as I did not know who they were. Anyway... we worked with what we could.
So we forged ahead. One of our first activity... one to build the community was a Fun Run. It had good attendance, and showed that a core group of Toastmasters could organize themselves - with a few hiccups, but nothing too bad. The activity even attracted Toastmasters frpm other Divisions. I also heard that our activity, held in the Ayala Triangle, gave Division B the impetus to organize one themselves. Maybe they had one planned, but we executed faster - and they learned form us. Not keeping score, here. But I was proud of the team being able to organize this. We even got a great t-shirt from the activity too.
I also started visiting clubs... meeting with my Area Directors when possible to find out how they were (except Troy who could run on automatic). Our next Divisoin activity had to be the Turnover ceremony - and Tisha helped a lot here in being able to tap the new club, St. Lukes BGC Toastmasters. Through them we got sponsorship for food (the major cost of the activity), hence we allowed attendance from people without any need to collect to cover expenses. Our food was ample - and did not look cheap. The people responsible did not want to look bad with their doctors. I even brought bottles of wine - but these were not opened becasue the caterers were not informed of the need for wine glasses. Ah well, I brought most of them home - for future use. All in all, a successful activity indeed.
I was also tapped by District Trainer Law to be a speaker in the Club Officers Training. So My visibility as Division N's Director was riding high in the District.I got to speak about the roles of the officers in several sessions. I would like to think that what I said gave the new officers some idea for what their roles would be. On a personal note, I was glad that I was getting exposure as Division N's Director - but I was worries that my other role, as Presidntr for HOLA was being completely set aside - I guess this was to be expected, after all, the role of a Division Director was higher in the District level in terms of responsibility. Still, I made sure my HOLA Presidncy was not completely set aside. Whenver I was introduced, I made sure my two current roles were mentioned.
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