First D109 Director says good-bye

Fellow Toastmasters,

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the author’s Toastmasters district “birth” in Cyprus. Over the past year, they’ve traveled to Bulgaria, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece for various events and meetings, connecting with members from all over the district. The author reflects on the enjoyable experiences they’ve had, including the Allegro cruise and the District Conference.

First D109 Director says good-bye

As a “father” of this District, I am very proud that Together we created District 109 from scratch, adding to our original team from Italy, Switzerland, Greece, and Cyprus our friends from Austria and Bulgaria. These last countries grew incredibly fast: Austria spawned four new clubs, consolidating itself as an autonomous Division for the first time in many years. Bulgaria went from 1 to 2 areas and may soon become a Division.

And we even went Beyond! This year, our District has grown into a strong and beautiful child! We have gone from 89 to 101 clubs, growing 13%, our membership payments have grown by 10%, and more than 77% of our clubs have reached Distinguished leave, giving birth to the areas accessible new areas in Divisions A, B, and E. All of our Divisions are President Distinguished, and half of our areas, with the rest being Select Distinguished or Distinguished.

In the first year of its life, our District became Smedley Distinguished, a new level that has just been created this year and is even higher than President Distinguished. Only 10% of the districts in the world have reached such a result, and we are currently ranked number 5 and number 1 in our Region 10, Europe.

After 8 years in Toastmasters, I’ve learned a lot this year, especially from my mistakes. Thank you to those who were patient and gave me feedback. I faced some issues and hope I handled them well. Any extra feedback is welcome.

First D109 Director says good-bye

I have to thank specifically a few people:

  • My Core Team members have done a great job running the District and being patient with me. Thank you!
  • My Extended Core Team for all the support I got. Thank you!
  • My 6 Division Directors and 23 Area Directors with whom I have had the pleasure of working – they have done a great job at supporting all our clubs. Thank you!

Most of all, I would like to thank you, Members of D109. Thank you for trusting me with the role of the father of this new District and for giving me the privilege of being the first District Director to serve this District. Thank you for all you did: TOGETHER we went BEYOND every possible dream I had.

I’m excited to step back and hand over the gavel to Metaxia and her team. I wish them a successful year and am happy to be available for support and advice as needed.

I wish that we all continue along this path of excellence that our District has undertaken with such success, continue with our learning experience, reach new goals, and go beyond everything. Let’s do that: Together Beyond!”

Francesco Fedele
District 109 Director 2018/2019

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