ACTIVE SISTERS – THE BUZZWORD IN TOASTMASTERS CIRCLES BY TM VINEETH R

ACTIVE SISTERS – THE BUZZWORD IN TOASTMASTERS CIRCLES BY TM VINEETH R (Open House Chair , CGD Extended team District 121)

Every adversity presents a new opportunity! Just when the COVID pandemic had cast a shadow over the entire Toastmaster year, with physical meetings becoming a near impossibility, District 121 came out with a brilliant idea to leverage the best out of the circumstances! District 121 initiated a new program called Active Sisters, to bring novelty into meetings by making the best use of networking possibilities available through the technology platform. The entire District was divided into four regions – Kerala, Mangalore, Southern Bangalore, and  Central Bangalore + Western Bangalore + Mysore. A Club had to find out two clubs from two other regions and form a cluster. With the clubs in their cluster, they had to have quarterly joint meetings and switching of Evaluators and General Evaluators in their usual club meetings.

‘The Active Sisters program is seen as a novel way to get most out of the pandemic situation. It has opened a world of possibilities such as adopting best practices, making new friends, sharing insights, etc.

So far, 31 Sister club clusters have been formed and club members are participating in the Active Sisters program with exuberance. The main pillars behind the success of this program are the Open House Coordinators of different regions – TM Mohana Krishna and TM Yash Khivasara (Bangalore), TM Joan Mascarenhas (Mangalore), TM Muralikrishnadas (North Kerala), TM Valli Nithya (Central Kerala) and TM Mohanachandran (South Kerala) – who are working dedicatedly to coordinate with the clubs.

Responses received from the members and club leaders vouch for the fact that the Active Sisters program has become a hit and is really working well to reinvigorate the spirit lost due to switching over to online mode.

TM Vineeth R (Open House Chair )

Active Sisters program spruced up the clubs and made them function actively in the spirit of sisterhood. Congratulations on this COVID special initiative which turned out to be a litmus test of our productivity and creativity.

DTM Malini Hebbar (Mangalore)

The confluence of Toastmasters clubs is akin to birds of a feather flocking together. There is warmth and belonging as much as there is a fantastic opportunity to learn from eminent Toastmasters who share different perspectives and views. It’s also a welcome deviation from the familiar territory that you are accustomed to, giving you novel experiences and getting exposure to diverse cultures and backgrounds, especially if you are a role player.

TM Solomon Mathews (Kochi)

I met many speakers and I could benchmark my improvements and my strong points with my fellow Toastmasters across regions. People whom I otherwise would have just seen in pictures or some convention have become best buddies today, which is noteworthy. And as a President today I know where we as a club stand with our practices.

TM Naveen Manomohan (President, Kannur Toastmasters Club)

Active Sisters program is a wonderful initiative that helped clubs to step out of their comfort zones, collaborate with other clubs, thereby breaking the monotony. Each of the 3 clubs in any given group is bound to learn something new.

TM Arun M. Suryanarayana (President, IEEE Impressions Toastmasters Club)

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden and the Active Sisters program amazingly brought these sisters together. It opened a new world of possibilities from sharing best practices to forging new friendships.

DTM Beena Vas (Kochi)