Hello and welcome to the May newsletter!
Believe it or not but next month will be my last as president! How time flies and what a busy and fruitful year we’ve had!
When I took over as president we were meeting twice a month with the occasional extra meeting. Now we meet virtually every week to accommodate our record membership, which has soared from 30 to some 50 members in the past year!
Even as I write we have just admitted five brand new members whom I’d like to cordially welcome: David, Helen, Marte, Peter and Rufina. Welcome to the Bloomsbury Speakers family; it’s a pleasure to have you in our midst. I look forward to seeing more of you in the club.
Already I can see Rufina getting stuck in, with her first speech and first timekeeper role booked. Way to go!
Given that we are now at over 50 members in the club, we have decided to freeze membership until the autumn. However, we continue to welcome guests and for those who would like to join, please visit one of our meetings and let us know you are interested.
Now onto the details of this month’s issue. If you are pressed for time you may scroll down to the bottom for the key facts you really need to know.
Please note: this month our VPE Swarajit is acting as guest editor for the newsletter – so many thanks to him for stepping up to take on this role!
What’s happened since the last newsletter?
Regular meetings – We had two great regular meetings in April, complete with fascinating speeches from Rajeev, Michael, Eugenia, Christopher, Hari and Femi. These meetings also featured two of our newest members, Tasos and Sinead delivering their icebreaker speeches. Congratulations to them!
Bloomsbury ‘Speak-athon’ – Our third meeting in April was a special evening (with an experimental format) during which we had seven prepared speeches, with evaluations and two rounds of voting for each! We heard some fascinating and well-constructed speeches from Gemma, Baranby, Damien, Bronia, Eugenia, Paula and Joe, but special thanks goes out to our functionaries for the evening: Ben, Janet, Henry, Glen, Rajeev, Ahmed, Renars, Elena and Nazia, without whom the evening could not have run as well as it did.
The main reason for holding this event was to allow more of our members to get through their speech projects, and we hope to hold more of them going forward. In any case, we would welcome feedback from members and guests of Bloomsbury Speakers on whether you think the format was effective and worthwhile. Contact president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk with your comments.
Table Topics Workshop – With an extra Monday in April, The Real Man Pizza Company played host to an evening of impromptu speaking, run Carrie. Members and guests were given ample opportunity to practice table topics with feedback provided by other experienced Toastmasters. We are grateful to Carrie for leading this session, which was well received by members and guests alike.
Area 34 and Division L contests – After winning our club contests with some style, Janet and Femi respectively went on to represent Bloomsbury Speakers at the Area 34 International Speech and Evaluation contests. Femi won the Evaluation contest at this level, while Janet’s speech about her experiences of being a single mother placed a very respectable second, meaning that they both progressed to the next round at division level.
With the standard at the Division L contest being exceptionally high, this was sadly where it ended but Janet and Femi can be very proud of themselves having progressed as far as they did. It was an exceptional achievement, so well done to both of them!
Club Awards – Bloomsbury Speakers didn’t go totally unrecognised however, being awarded not one or two but three prizes at the Division L contest night.
The first, the Club Officer Training award, was in recognition of our commitment to the development of our leadership team by sending all seven of our committee members to Club Officer Training in September and in January.
The second award was the Toastmasters Online Presence (TOP) award, recognising the high standard of our online marketing strategy – starting with the very website this newsletter is published on, along with excellence in our use of social media and communications – singling us out as an example for other clubs to follow.
Third, because we signed up five new members to your membership base between February 1 and March 31 we received a special “Talk up Toastmasters!” award in April from Toastmasters International.
Non-returning members – I’m sad to say that Chris (our acting Sergeant at Arms) has left the club to focus on other goals. Chris’ departure is a big loss to us not just on the committee but to the club. Personally, I will miss Chris’ cheerful spirit and witty speeches, and I’d like to thank him for the numerous times he helped us to set up the meeting venue.
Punam is also taking some time away from Toastmasters. In the little time Punam was with us, I found her to be a very conscientious and articulate speaker. We will miss her and I hope to see her back in the not-too-distant future.
What’s happening this month?
With May ‘bookended’ by bank holidays, we only have time for two regular meetings this month.
- Monday, 13th May – This first meeting already has a packed agenda, but members can still pre-book into one of the topics slots. The topics section will be headed up by last month’s workshop leader Carrie.
- Monday, 20th May – Another busy programme, with prepared speeches from experienced members Ahmed and Renars, but again there are topics slots up for grabs.
New committee – call for interested parties
With three of the seven committee positions filled, we are making progress in having the new Bloomsbury Speakers committee in place by the time the next Toastmaster year starts in July. (The new committee will take over from July but we will be handing over during June.)
Therefore if you are thinking of joining the committee, the posts listed below are still vacant. Please approach the current post holder or myself to give you more details about these roles between now and June.
Moreover, let us know if you’re interested in getting involved in some way but not necessarily as a full committee member. Perhaps you want to assist in setting up the meeting room from time to time or printing the meeting agenda and bringing them to the meeting. Maybe you are interested in being a mentor, or occasionally writing the meeting reports and/or developing our Facebook page. Or if it’s organising a club social or even supporting anyone of the committee officers, just reply to this email or come and talk to me or one of the other committee members. (Swarajit, Jo, Joe, Elena and Glen)
Note that some of these activities can credit towards your Competent Leadership award. See below for details of an extra incentive for achieving this award sooner rather than later!
Here are the available roles and who to contact:
- Elena Fanaberova – Treasurer – responsible for controlling the club finances to ensure stability and continuity for all members
- Jo Higham – Secretary – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to committee meetings and decision making
- Glen Long – VP Public Relations – responsible for raising the club profile and attracting new guests, e.g. via website and mailing list (more details here)
- Femi Asaolu – Sergeant at Arms (Acting) – responsible for co-ordinating the room set-up before and after each meeting. The SAA also has a regular slot giving guest introductions (unless taking on another role).
Discounted Renewal Rates
As an incentive for members to complete their Competent Communication and Competent Leadership manuals, we have decided to offer discounted rates for annual membership renewals to members who have achieved one or both of these awards.
Hence, if you have achieved one of the awards you are entitled to a £15 discount from the £85 renewal rate and if you have achieved both then you are entitled to a £30 discount, bringing your renewal down to just £55 for the year!
To be eligible for this: a) your awards need to have been registered through Bloomsbury Speakers, but members who achieved their awards with other clubs are still entitled to the discounts as long as they have previously been a member of Bloomsbury Speakers for at least one year at the full rate; and b) the discount is only available for those renewing for a year NOT for 6 months.
Right, that’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon.
Best wishes,
Femi Asaolu
President
Bloomsbury Speakers
Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know
- Contest Success – Janet and Femi proudly represented the club at the Division International Speech and Evaluation contest having triumphed at both club and area level
- Division Awards – Bloomsbury Speakers has been recognised by the Division for the best online presence (website, etc.), for high levels of new members and for its commitment to training.
- Meetings this month – There are two meetings in May – Monday 13th and Monday 20th – table topics slots are still available for both.
- Join The Committee – There is still an opportunity to join the club’s committee for the new Toastmasters year (starting in July) and help run this thriving club.
- Membership Discounts – We are introducing a scheme to give a discount on club renewal fees for members who successfully achieve their Competent Communicator and/or Competent Leadership awards – up to £30 can be saved!
