Toastmasters Spring Conference 2009

What people are saying:

We recently conducted interviews with past Conference attendees on why they go to conferences.

Craig Senior

My friends asked/encouraged me to go. I remember Velma Latmore, who often helped our club early on, encouraging us to attend. I had no idea what to expect really. I go to see old friends, watch speech contests, deliver a workshop. It's energizing to be among positive people. I missed some conferences due to conflicts with other commitments and that makes me miss them even more.

If we can figure out how to get people in clubs to encourage each other to attend, that's the trick. "Who's going to the conference? One? It would be really cool if a gang of us went. We'd have a hoot!..."

Diane Pearson

I attended my first conference to hear the top notch speakers. I was inspired by the key note speaker. The experienced presenters, who gave workshops, made me feel like I was really learning something of value. Wanting to improve my speaking skills really enticed me to attend my first conference."

Leona Hamel

I went to the Toastmasters conference because it looked fun and exciting. When I joined Toastmasters and learned there was life beyond the club (i.e. conferences, contests and training events), I couldn’t wait to experience all the exciting opportunities Toastmasters has to offer. Attending a Toastmasters conference was and is a great learning experience for me, not to mention that I get to meet and make a lot of new Toastmaster friends. I can’t help but add that our conference registration fees are cheap compared to other conferences put on by other organizations. Thankfully, I have only had to miss two conferences since 1993."

France Vézina

I went to my first Toastmaster's conference because it looked fun and exciting and it was a great opportunity to meet other Toastmasters outside of our club.

When asked if she would attend another conference France replied,

Yes but most of our members will not go on their own. They need to have a Toastmasters friend to invite them to go. Once they attend they get a new perspective of Toastmasters and they get refueled."

Sylvain Gagne

There are three of us in my household (myself, my wife and my son) and we are all committed to success and advancing in leadership and communication. We originally attended a Toastmasters conference because it looked fun and exciting and we wanted to hear great speakers. We thought it would be great to associate with success-minded people. We haven't missed a conference since we joined!"