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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Letter to D85P District Council
Final Thoughts for the Year
Today's Date -- June 30, 2008
Dear District 85P District Council Members and the 2007-2008 Leadership
Teams,
When I was a young man (yes, I was young once upon a time), my father told me
to cherish the length of my days while I am young, as when I grow older they
would pass far to quickly to get everything done. As I sit today and know that
this Toastmaster Year is coming to a close, I do not regret a single minute –
but I do realize how quickly the time has passed. As the first District Governor
I had an easy assignment – make the district stronger than when the year began.
Through the dedication and unwavering support of the Senior Leadership Team, the
Division Governors, the Area Governors and the collective clubs in our district
we all have made the district stronger and more successful than when the year
began.
The primary task that our leadership team strove to accomplish this year
proved to be the easiest – to develop enough sustainable clubs before the end of
January to reach the minimum number of clubs necessary for the TI Board of
Directors to move our district from Provisional to Full status. Initially I was
not sure we could do this – as it had never been done before. Most developing
districts take several years to move from a Territorial Council to Provisional
District and then several more to become a Full District – in China this was
accomplished in only two year – one year each for the two required levels to
become a full district. The vision to allow this to happen was not that of one
person or even a few – it became an unstoppable force that you and your members
drove by their sharing their passion for all they had received through their
Toastmasters experience. During this year an additional 23 clubs were formed
across China – expanding our network of clubs from the 20 that began the
Territorial Council to 68 active clubs meeting in sixteen communities in this
vast country.
To me, however, the greatest accomplishment that we have achieved is not in
the development of clubs but in the lives that have been changed by their
Toastmasters experience. This year (so far, as there will be more awards posted
tonight and in the coming days as TI closed the reports for the year) 156
Educational Awards and 64 Leadership Awards were earned by more than 175 members
in 39 clubs. While not all of the clubs were able to achieve an award, the
57.35% of the active clubs achieving an award in their club far exceeds the
average in most districts (closer to 40%) – this shows the dedication our
members have to the excellence they can achieve through Toastmasters. The total
number of Educational and Leadership awards earned this year exceeded the number
of Toastmasters in China when I first arrived here in 2002! Now that we are over
1600 members imagine how many awards our members will earn in the years ahead.
Finally, through the efforts of all the leaders, officers and members our
district has shown the international community that Toastmaster’s in China can
achieve amazing things. This is the last year our members could take part in the
International Taped Speech Contest – in the four years that members in China
have participated we have won the contest twice and have placed third twice –
something none of the other districts in the world can say! In our first year as
a district we are positioned to end the year as one of the top districts in the
world (using the programs that TI uses to determine this) -- this did not
surprise me, as I knew that our leadership team and the passion of our members
would allow us to exceed all targets given to us. When other districts started
to close in on our lead (as we led all performance reports of districts all year
long), leaders across the country pulled together to help complete the
development of five clubs in the final two weeks – while this may not ensure our
achieving the top honors, we should complete the year in the highest category
(President’s Distinguished).
Looking back it was quite a year – my only regret is that I could not travel
more to meet more of our members and visit more clubs, but this was not
practical. I am excited that we had such a good year, but even more excited at
the year ahead – the leadership team for the coming year has gained a great deal
of experience over the past two years and are well prepared to take our district
into the coming year with wisdom, experience and understanding. I have
personally enjoyed helping some of these leaders develop and hope to assist them
more in the coming months, but now it is time for me to end this term of office.
Incoming District Governor Victor Yu, ACS/CL has built a dynamic team filled
with the passion and skills necessary to lead our new full district into the
year ahead. I have the greatest confidence that Victor and his team will dwarf
the successes of this year and continue to write the ongoing history of our
districts with new “first” and more outstanding achievements.
I want to thank each of you, your clubs and their members for giving me the
thrill of a lifetime by allowing me to serve you as district governor. We have
only begun to touch the edges of the excellence inside of every club and every
member in this past year, so as my parting wish I hope that each of you can have
an experience like my past year – to see your dreams turn into reality.
Sincerely,
Keith Ostergard, DTM
2007-2008 District Governor
District 85P - People's Republic of China
"Share Our Passion"
2007-2008 International Theme - "Shaping Ourselves - Shaping our World"
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