Contests Update from District 31 Program Quality Director
Friday, March 20th, 2020
Hello Fellow Members of the District 31 Executive Committee:
I hope that this message finds you well during a very interesting and challenging time due to the recent events that have unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic. We want you to know that us as the district trio have worked our hardest over the past week 2 weeks to try to get ahead of any and all potential challenges that the recent quarantine has presented but most importantly to make decisions and proposals that were in the best interests and safety of you and all other members of District 31.
As many of you know, we recently held an emergency District Executive Committee meeting on Monday March 16th, 2020 as directed by Toastmasters International to present their prescribed proposals for us to introduce to our DEC. Based upon the majority vote of the District 31 DEC specifically relating to the District contests, we will proceed as a district as follows:
– The current 2020 Evaluation will be discontinued for this contest season
– The current 2020 International Speech contest will proceed through Area/Division/District levels and will be allowed to be conducted virtually starting on March 23rd, 2020 (guidelines to support the contest are contained here!)
o The district trio will help all Area and Division Directors in supporting the virtual contests through our district’s Zoom meeting account.
o Area Directors and Division Directors are to reconfirm their contest dates, times and volunteer commitments immediately by sending an email to trio@district31.org in order for the trio to manage the schedule and hosting assignments for the virtual contest
o The deadline for Area Contests will be extended to April 4th, 2020 due to the temporary suspension of contests. For any area contests that were impacted, the please reschedule with the district trio as soon as possible
o For Areas that were able to complete their contests before the suspension, please contact your respective contestants of the above changes. Due to the decision made by the DEC, evaluation contest winners at the Area level prior to the suspension will not move on further.
In relation to CLCON2020, due to the current restrictions by the Massachusetts state government and the instability of the pandemic, the district trio has decided that CLCON2020 will not be conducted in person.
We will be exploring facilitating the activities of CLCON2020 virtually including the district business meeting, the District level International speech contest and breakout presentations. More news, updates and guidance on virtual participation will be provided in the days &
weeks to come, however we will still need volunteers and assistance to help execute this properly. Please reach out to conferencechair@district31.org or trio@district31.org to learn more.
We want to thank everyone for their adaptability, passion and support of our District and we hope to still finish what we started!
Cheers and Best Wishes,
Anthony A. Alexander, DTM
Program Quality Director
District 31 Toastmasters
Anthony Alexander
District 31 Program Quality Director