Page 4 - Voices! - September 2015

EDITORIAL Publisher

Why is It. . . Phyllis Harmon, DTM

by Phyllis A. Harmon, DTM Associate Publisher
Immediate Past District Governor
Brenda Parsons, ACB, ALS
It’s contest season in District 7. Club contests are finished and
we’ve launched into area competitions. The annual hue and cry Senior Editor
for judges is once again peppering social media and clogging
email boxes. I wonder why it is that we have such trouble staffing Phyllis Harmon, DTM
our contests with judges. Judges training, in one form or another,
happens multiple times every year. The training sessions for the Associate Editors
most part are always full, indicating that more than enough of us
have been briefed on the current rules. Leanna Lindquist, DTM
Speaking of the rules, you can easily download them from the Erik Bergman, DTM
Toastmasters International website and readily bring yourself up Karen O’Keefe, DTM
to date. Also, Toastmasters International offers online training Alexis Mason, DTM
through the Toastmasters Learning Connection. Why then, are
Directors begging for judges? Layout/Design
Toastmasters International doesn’t require that judges be “trained.”
They require that members must be in good standing and have Phyllis Harmon, DTM
completed six speeches. That’s it! That being said, we have more Curtis Low
than 3,000 active members in District 7. For the most part, only 176
people can advance to the area contests. That leaves a heck of a lot 2015-16 Officers
of people who potentially could be judges. Why then, are Directors
put in a position of begging for judges? District Director
Perhaps we don’t step up and help because if we do, we will be
asked over and over again to be judges at other contests. Or, we Michelle Alba Lim, DTM
have scheduling conflicts, family obligations, work responsibilities,
or a plethora of other excuses that keep us from - supporting our Program Quality Director
fellow club members. Or perhaps we just don’t want to. Is that why
our Directors are begging for judges? Leanna Lindquist, DTM
My opinion?
Directors shouldn’t ever have to beg for judges. We are Club Growth Director
a community, a family, a tribe that supports one another. It is part
of our Toastmasters code, our culture if you will, to help each other Erik Bergman, DTM
be successful. It isn’t someone else’s job to support our contestants
by serving as judges or in ancillary roles. It’s everyone’s job. District Treasurer
Yours, mine, ours.
Jill Ward, ACB, ALB

District Secretary

Tom Knapp, ACG, ALB

Voices! is published monthly by
District 7 Toastmasters. First issue
published August 2014.

4 Volume 2 Issue 3 - SEPT 2015