July 1st is an unusual time to start a new year. It is summer for most of us, and we are likely thinking more about holidays and sunshine than a brand new beginning.
But maybe summer is not such a bad time to ring the changes. From the 1st of July, I am the President of Sussex Online Speakers. I'd like to thank all our members for the confidence they place in me. I would never have reached this point if it had not been for my co-sponsor of this club, Amy Holman Jones. Amy is now on the administration team for our District (District 91) so is stepping back from most of the day-to-day running of our club.
As the new Toastmasters year begins, I'd like to thank the outgoing officers, and welcome the incoming team. Jean as Vice President Education, Paddy as Vice President Public Relations (he took on this task a few weeks ago), Anastazya as Vice President Membership, Amy as Secretary, Mike as Treasurer, Tom as Immediate past president, as well as Dil, Julia, and Jess, who are all helping with various tasks. I hope that our first full year as a chartered club will be even more successful than the last, although that will be difficult. It needs us all to progress our pathways, step into roles, and help where we can.
We have a new website and I encourage you all to engage with it. Apart from the website itself - which is gathering many visitors and is ranking well on Google - we have a forum and a messaging app called Spaces. We continue to use WhatsApp and email for communications with members, but in time, we plan to gradually move to Spaces.
Towards the end of this year, we will use the website to RSVP for our meetings. An RSVP will give you the information you need to log into each of our meetings.
That's enough from me. Welcome to the 2022-2023 Toastmasters year.
I wish everyone personal success in their progress along their individual pathways.
Lucy Brooks, President.