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A Touch of Gold in Kalgoorlie

Welcome Stranger

Welcome Stranger is the name of largest gold nugget ever found. That was in Victoria in 1869.

Eric Davies has unearthed a Toastmaster Nugget in Kalgoorlie in 2007. With help from Judith Allen, Eric organised and ran a demonstration meeting in Kalgoorlie on Monday evening, October 22 (last night). It was a spectacular success. 38 visitors came to the meeting and 20 of them signed and paid for Applications to join. A temporary committee has been elected - President, Treasurer, Vice President Membership and Sergeant at Arms from the new members, while Eric will act as Vice President Education for the time being.

Touch of Gold is the name of the club. The next meeting will be in a fortnight’s time, on November 5th.

BUT!!!

There are problems!!

Eric Davies

Too many members? Yes, it looks like that will be a problem. It’s very difficult to give everybody enough meeting time once there are more than about 25 active members. The signs at present that there are likely to be many more than 25 as the word spreads.

Weekly or fortnightly? Right now some of the members want weekly, because they are on shifts and will have to miss meetings from time to time. Missing a meeting is a lot less of a problem with weekly meetings than fortnightly. But several of the new members are young mums, and they see problems in being able to attend weekly, so they would like fortnightly meetings. Which will it be? Particularly when it is clear that there are going to be too members for just one fortnightly club.

If only more of our clubs had these kinds of problems

Eric and Judith will have their work cut out helping the members make critical decisions about their future. In the meantime we will keep your up to date on progress in this exciting development, riding the crest of the resources boom. And you can also check out the Touch of Gold Website for updates.

We need a leadership group for WA which will drive the growth required to form our own District. WA Governors is a specialist Club servicing Toastmasters in WA who have been, who are now or are thinking of becoming an Area or Division Governor. This is the leadership group we need.

Come to the first meeting of the new Club

It is being held on Thursday evening, October 18th, at Michael Malone’s house, 73 Monmouth St, Mt Lawley from 6.15 for a 6.30 start to 8.30 pm. The meeting runs from 6.30-8.00 with a light supper and time for socialising after that. There is no meeting charge, but you can join the club, and get benefits from being a foundation member.

What will WA Governors do?

This will be a very different kind of club from any currently running across the District. A brainchild of current District Governor Mike Helm, it will be an Advanced Club, meeting monthly. Of course there will be speeches and evaluations, but in addition there will be marketing and policy planning along with specialist training programs. Current Area and Division Governors will be able to call on the experience of previous governors, while members thinking of taking a senior leadership role will get advice and training to prepare them.

Why would you be interested in joining WA Governors?

• Do you want to meet with other experienced, skilful and energetic WA Toastmasters?
• Do you want to help locate and train coming leaders?
• Do you want to complete your DTM requirements by founding or mentoring a new Toastmaster Club?
• Do you want to be part of the leadership group that will drive WA Toastmasters to the goal of our own District?

That’s just a few of the reasons you could be interested in joining us.

It wont cost an arm and a leg to join

The joining fee will be a modest A$35. This will cover the fee to Toastmasters International, since all members will already belong to a Toastmaster Club and be Dual members. Running costs during the year will be very low because we plan to hold meetings in members’ homes, moving around the suburbs. This will be very appropriate to our membership who will come from a wide cross section of Clubs in Perth. In addition, some committed members have already helped run a Speechcraft Course and funds from that will be in the new Club’s bank account by the first meeting.

A Planning Committee has already met and elected some Officers.

At a meeting on September 15th, elections were held. These Officers will hold their positions until the first official meeting of the new Club on October 18. The Officers are:

Mike Helm, President & District 73 Governor
David Nicholas, Vice President Education & WA Marketing Coordinator
Alan Smith, Treasurer & District Treasurer
Mark Richards, Secretary & Western Division Governor

A bank account has been set up. Alan can give you the official receipt for your $35 membership application.

Mike Helm DTM

Do you want more information? You can email Mike Helm or phone him on 0419 962 394 You can email David Nicholas or phone him on 9457 6468

David Nicholas DTM

WA leaders have set an ambitious target - 8 new Clubs in WA this year.

David Nicholas is the WA New Clubs Coordinator and he has been appointed to lead the charge. He has gathered a talented group to coordinate the activities.

Mike Helm - District 73 Governor
Gil Alexander - Perth Division Governor
Mark Richards - Western Division Governor
Jeanette Farrar - District 73 Secretary
Michael Malone - P30 Area Governor
Ross Wilkinson - W28 Area Governor
Eric Davies - WA Community Contact

Already there is a lot of activity.

Fremantle Gourmet

Ross Wilkinson, with the help of co-founder Mark Richards, has sent off a Charter Application for Fremantle Gourmet. This is an Advanced Club which meets every second Thursday of the month at 6pm for a 6:30 pm start in the Fremantle Club, in High Street. There were 25 prospective members at the most recent meeting. “It’s a great success,” Ross told me. “Its not for everybody, but we are finding lots of people want to attend an evening meeting which is a night out with good food. And that’s what we’ve got at the Fremantle Club. We have a regular Toastmaster Meeting in a competely separate room, with a choice of fine meals.” This club is being sponsored by Gateway. Any interested Toastmaster can contact Ross on 0412 383 386 or via email ross@wilcomonline.com.au

An Indigenous Club

Mike Helm had a contact in Indigenous Affairs, who was very interested in setting up a Toastmaster Club to service the needs of a growing number of talented and trained indigenous workers in Perth. The arrangements are now in place for this club which will meet in at room at the Commonwealth Law Courts, at the bottom of Victoria Avenue. While Mike is away at the Toastmasters International Convention in Las Vegas, David Nicholas is completing arrangements so the club can start functioning and charter towards the end of September. This club is being sponsored by Central Communicators.

A Kalgoorlie Club

WA Toastmasters had a thriving Club in Kalgoorlie until 11 years ago when one of the periodic slumps devastated the group there. But now we have we have the mother of all Resources Booms. Eric Davies, our WA Community Contact, has been receiving a steadily increasing stream of enquiries from people in the Kalgoorlie region. He and Judith Allen, the W16 Area Governor, are currently running a Speechcraft course to raise funds to promote a new Club in Kalgoorlie. In fact Eric told me that as soon as they have found a suitable venue he and Judith will plan a Demonstration Meeting. “It will take some hard work,” he said, “but we could have a club up there by Christmas.”

WA Governors Club

Western Founders has decided to sponsor a new club in Western Division. The idea came from Mike Helm and David Nicholas successfully proposed the club take up the idea. The club will be an Advanced Club meeting monthly on Thursday evenings. It will be a forum for previous Area and Division Governors, for current Governors and for prospective governors. The pooled experience from the past, shared with current real life problems and solutions will be a powerful melting pot which will lead to innovative and solidly based plans and practices in WA. As Michael Malone, P30 Area Governor and a member of Western Founders, put it - “We can hold our Area and Division Council Meetings as part of the new Club’s activities. It will be great.”

More new clubs?

Ross Wilkinson says that Fremantle Gourmet will be just the first of a group of Gourmet Clubs. “Fremantle next month,” he said, “Central Perth the following month, and the Northern and Eastern Suburbs soon after. There is a need here, and we can service that need.”

If you have a suggestion about the possibility of other new clubs for our coordinating committee to investigate, write a comment at the end of this post, or send an email to David Nicholas

Attendances at the first round of training in July, 2007
There were two city sessions - July 7 and July 26.
Western Division Governor Mark Richards and W21 Area Governor Michail Overkov went to Albany on July 21 to train Amity Officers
Western Division Governor Mark Richards and W29 Area Governor Chris Telenta went to Bunbury on July 28 to train W29 Officers
If you believe there are errors on this record, email David with details.

Perth Division - Governor Gil Alexander ACG

Western Division - Governor Mark Richards ACG