The 2025 Spring Conference began the next morning. Our food was provided to us by Thermo Fisher. They had a few of their members attending the event and one of them was speaking in the Tall Tales Contest. I ran into a few former members who were in clubs no longer in existence and both from Notthern and Central WV where Toastmasters doesn’t have the presence that it used to. After eating my breakfast and feeling a cool breeze at my back, we all headed to the Carnegie for the first session of the day with our Keynote Speaker. We had a small parade of banners and I carried for Greensburg. Instead of standing behind the podium our speaker walked around and called on people, including those in the back who thought they were safe 😉.
Tall Tales was the first contest of the day and we heard a lot of funny speeches from our contestants. My division was represented well by our two speakers. Our Frenchman from BPMI spoke of his perils trying to live life in Paris and speak the language. He should brush up on his French-speaking skills or he’ll end up with something sour to eat. Grapefruit, anyone? Perhaps taking five minutes on Duolingo will help. Our contestant from Thermo Fisher showed us what it was like to live life as a cat. The lady I met from HELPS on Smithfield spoke for the trees in Penn Hills. But it was our South Hills Toastmasters participant who stole the show looking for her friend. Bruce, if I’m correct. She’d end up winning the Tall Tales contest of 2025 with our Frenchman placing second and feline friend placing third.
Once that amazing Tall Tales contest ended, it was back to the Carnegie after a ten minute break to be enlightened by our sparkling keynote speaker. This time, we thought of a speech topic using a diagram and looked for words that would highlight it. Soon after, it was time for lunch which was an Olive Garden type setup with salad, dressing which tasted like the restaurant’s itself, and choice of penne or tortellinis with either alfredo or red sauce. Oh, and I can’t forget the breadsticks. Glad I chose the alfredo as I might have just hopelessly soiled my clean white shirt with that red sauce. We honored our members who achieved new levels and finished their paths, and celebrated two dignitaries who received their DTMs, including one who was our past District Director. The International Speech Contest would be coming soon, but first the afternoon workshops.
I made sure to attend Sharon’s afternoon workshop that showed us how to find our purpose and ignite our fire. It was very interactive and we began with an exercise where she called on a few of us and we tried to free ourselves. In a way, it was almost like Twister. We were given a handout with some blanks to fill out. We filled out a Gifts and Talents Self Assessment Form and added up all the numbers. Research shows that only 10% of people know their life purpose. When employees are connected, turnover decreases. Some takeaways from the workshop include the mind being our most valuable asset and that we are our greatest investment. Also, there are six psychological human needs. One more is to do everything you do 1% better than everyone else.
Eight dynamic speakers represented their clubs and their divisions Saturday afternoon. All the speeches I heard were very good. It’s hard enough judging at the area level, imagine how hard it is at the District. I’ve done both. This was my fourth time hearing our champion speak, including Tuesday night at the Johnstown club. Each time he spoke saw improvement from all the feedback he received. When it was all said and done, the best speaker won but it was very close.
We wrapped up the night with an amazing dinner that included key lime cheesecake or a slice of chocolate cake for dessert. For my dinner, I had the apple brie stuffed chicken with some Florentine vegetables. I sat with Western Maryland and Steve and Carly from the Nittany Club. Carly is our incoming Division C Director and Sharon is the incoming Program Quality Director. After the DTM gauntlet and basket raffle, the conference was over and we took some time to let it all out and hit the de facto dance floor.
When you’ve gone to as many conferences as I have, they feel like a reunion where you meet your old friends. But you find new friends along the way for you to invite into your life.
Finally, let’s talk about my fashion sense. I rocked my outfit for the dinner portion of the conference. Minus the scarf, I copied my Winter TLI ‘fit which included the iconic cheetah print cardigan. I was treated to a drink along with our keynote speaker as well as our past regional advisor. I downed another cosmopolitan and received some compliments on my pink bag from a few people. The fact that it went with my cardigan showed how much of a fashion statement I really made Saturday night. Those words of wisdom to just not worry about what I’m drinking or what I’m wearing really helped me to enjoy the night and the conference.
Stylish 🍒 