OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF DISTRICT 82 | JUNE 2016

Many efforts were taken

during the last year with a

few key objectives in

mind:

• Negate: To set a

standard on expenses

allocated for district

events with the

objective of increasing

resource efficiency and

directing available

resources to improve

the learning and

development

opportunities for

members.

• Expand: To ensure

benefits of the

Toastmasters

experience to reach all

members and non

members.

• We not ME: To ensure

consistency in

opportunities extended

to members and clubs

to achieve their goals,

and to extend support

to all members, clubs

and officers to work

together and convert

the potential of

individual achievements

to achievements of the

District.

This Digest offers a brief

look at our achievements.

Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 2

District 82 started the new

Toastmasters year with a

change to the Areas: we are

now realigned according to

geographical location of

Clubs. Main objective in this

move is to facilitate Area

Directors (AD) to visit their

Clubs more frequently by

allocating clubs located within

close proximity to the AD’s

home clubs.

This initiative was not without

its share of opposition from

members as well as officers.

However, it has proven to be a

very effective initiative.

New awards such as Club

Quality Award, Outstanding

Area Director Award,

Outstanding Division Director

Award etc. were introduced by

the Program Quality Director’s

team in the 2015/16

toastmaster year with the key

objective of improving quality

of the club experience.

As such, members, officers

and clubs were evaluated and

awarded points for

preparation towards goals,

theme meetings, joint

meetings, visitors from other

clubs as well as a quality

check from the AD towards

these awards schemes.

Introduction of the online payment gateway facilitated

online registration and payment of fees for district

organised events. This effort increased the

effectiveness of managing registrations for officers and

convenience for members to participate in these

events.

With the aim of taking Toastmasters to remote areas, a

team of Toastmasters conducted programs in Badulla,

Sri Lanka, a location over 200km away from the

commercial capital of Colombo. This is the first time a

Toastmasters program was held in this region. The

Roadshow was also taken to the Northern city of Jaffna

Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 3

Asst. Program Quality Directors;

• Sri Lanka: TM Ranishka Wimalasena

• Tamil Nadu: TM Vidiya Prasanth

The club mentoring and coaching initiative

was started to aid the ailing clubs and to

improve club quality in the district. A pool of

mentors was to guide clubs that needed

additional support.

• Mentors’ Pool Chair Sri Lanka: DTM

Srianthie Salgado

• Mentors’ Pool Chair Tamil Nadu: TM

Badhrinath Soundararajan

Assistant Club Growth Directors;

• Sri Lanka: TM Punsirimewan Kamburawala

• Tamil Nadu: TM Arun Kumar Sridhar

Six more special committees were appointed

at the Reverberation 2015 Business Meeting

in November.

Leadership Committee Chair:

• DTM Yusuf Jeevunjee

Reformation Research Committee Chair:

• DTM Saravanan Velrajan

Realignment Committee Chairpersons:

• Sri Lanka: DTM Srianthie Salgado

• Tamil Nadu: TM Arun Kumar Sridhar

Research Member & Club retention

Committee Chair:

• DTM Zameen M Saleem

Procedures Committee Chair:

• TM Manoj Sharath

Head of Project on Research of the Scope of

Expansion in Tier II and Tier III Cities:

• TM Vardarajan S.

Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI)

was established to be the premier

educational opportunity for club

officers, as well as the membership at

large. Key achievements of TLI

include;

• Streamlining learning content for

club officers, judges and contestants

• Making learning programmes in

district 82 more affordable and

accessible to all members

TLI Chair – Sri Lanka: TM Scerena

Dirckze

Program Quality Coordinator:

TM Niroshan Nadarajah

Program Logistics Coordinator:

TM Sashi Ratnayake

Division Coordinators;

• A: TM Sliema Gunatunge

• C: DTM Varuna Ratnaweera

• E: TM Nishantha Hettiarachchi

• F: TM Sivatharshini Supagar

• H: TM Lawrance Madapatha

• J: TM Shiham Nawaz

TLI Chair – Tamil Nadu: DTM

Guruprasad

TLI Co – Chair: TM Alex Jacob

TLI Secretary: TM Kruthika N

TLI Admin Support: TM Karthikeyan

Arumugam

TLI Coordinator: TM Guruprasad

Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 4

Read more about these initiatives in the midyear review publication Reflect D82:

https://issuu.com/tmi_district82/docs/reflections_-_d82_update_-_november

Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 5

What a momentous moment indeed. A chapter

entailed with countless memories, experiences

and events coming to a spectacular close. The

district vision this year was “To make the

universal Toastmasters brand, a common brand

in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and outreach

ourselves into the 2nd and 3rd tier cities” and I

am delighted to state that we as the PR team

have ensured to execute key initiatives to bring

this vision to light. Our key focus was to play a

pivotal role in cascading inter district information

to all members as well as amplify district and

Toastmaster initiatives to all non-Toastmasters, in

order to build the equity of the brand.

Some of the key highlights were the beautifully

designed district newsletter which caught both

district and international attention. We can

proudly state that over 40% of the clubs maintain

a website and almost 95% of the clubs in the

district maintain active Facebook pages and

social media presence. The flyer of The Month

contest carried much hype within the district

bringing in an average of 30+ flyers each month.

Our revamped district website, now is much more

user friendly, contains a beautiful interface and is

device responsive. We have engaged with our

members through numerous channels such as

our YouTube channel which hosts some valuable

content for our members, the Instagram page that

has increase in its followers to 400 in just 5

months of activity. The monthly bulletin is now

circulated to all members of the district and is

highly interactive. During the year we have had

numerous talk shows and interviews with esteem

Toastmasters and non Toastmasters to educate

our members and highlight the holistic learning

experience Toastmaster provides.

The above stands testament to the PR efforts by

our team in empowering, engaging and creating

awareness to our members within and outside

the district. I take this moment to acknowledge

and appreciate the efforts of my team, who

comprise of Nisal, who was instrumental in

driving our social media agenda, Yasangi and

Hingston for the well-coordinated editorial efforts

…Pulse Digest | June 2016 | Page 6

and the beautiful newsletters, Gayantha for the state of the art website, Mazin for bringing the district blog to life

and Insaf for the creative design work. As we bid farewell as the outgoing district PR team, I wish the incoming

PR team led by competent TM Vidiya to carry on the good work, and take District 82 to soring heights. It was a

pleasure serving you and looking forward to working with you in the future.

DTM Arshad Mohideen

District PR Manager, 2015/16