On Saturday, June 19, around 220 attended the 2010 Korea Toastmasters National Conference (KTNC) at Seoul's Dragon Hill Lodge Hotel, on the campus of the American Army Base at Yongsan.  At least most of us were able to scooch in for a group picture. (Look for the young white guy on the right side with the Army buzz haircut - even a longer story than this blog!)  KTNC was a crazy busy 10 hours, so I'll try to hit the highlights.


Out of 12 candidates, I was 1 of 7 elected by Korea Toastmasters presidents and vice presidents of education to the National Support Committee. It is our assignment to guide Korea Toastmasters toward becoming a Territorial Council, which starts the process toward becoming an official District recognized by Toastmasters International. The picture on the right is the committee plus club presidents.


I was 1 of 12 workshop presenters at the conference.  My 30-minute presentation was titled "A FOCUSED Speech:  From Pondering, to Polishing, to Presenting."  (Click here to download the full, filled-out handout from the workshop.) Around 60 attended, which I was very excited about since some workshops had less than 20 in attendance.  I have also done Toastmaster conference presentations for District 25 (Fort Worth, TX) and District 85 (China).


The keynote speaker was Keith Ostergard, DTM, who is currently the International Director for Toastmasters International Districts Not Assigned to Regions (DNAR). Keith and I were members of the Beijing Advanced Speakers in 2009 when I lived in Beijing. Ironically, he was one my only American friends in China (though he hasn't lived in the States for many years). 

Keith knew that I had officially earned my Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award less than two weeks prior, and had followed my progress with Toastmasters in Korea.  Well, to my shock, during his keynote address he presented me his DTM medallion, which his mentor gave him when he received his first DTM.  He instructed me to give this same medallion to whomever I mentor when they receive their first DTM.  Currently, I am the only DTM in Seoul. The other DTM in Korea lives in the south near Busan.


Finally, here are some pick with my friends and fellow club members at the Seoul Advanced Toastmasters Club.  Yeah, if you noticed, I changed my look halfway through the day for my workshop. Thanks to Cathrine Hatcher for her always awesome image consulting advice.