Boracay Midyear Conference 2011

Every year, District 75 holds a Midyear Conference in order for district officers to get together and discuss the progress in their respective areas of responsibility. This is the “serious reason”. But frankly, I think the real reason for holding Midyear conferences is so that Toastmasters can get together and have funnnn! Yes. The once-a-year District Conference isn’t enough for us. That’s why we created another national conference. Did you know that we are the only District that holds Midyear Conferences? For other districts they just have a midyear meeting. The district officers sit down, discuss their progress and that’s it. But for us, we’ve turned it into one big party.

This years Midyear Conference was held on October 22 – 23 on the beautiful island of Boracay. The 2-day conference held at La Carmella de Boracay was packed full of activities. It was opened by a processional of the Past District Governors (PDG’s) present: PDG Elisa Tay, PDG Erni Limkakeng, PDG Mike Chua and PDG Noli Espina – who is currently a Region 14 International Director candidate. The District Officers, the Big 3, Lt Gov for Marketing Katrina “JJ” Letargo, Lt Gov for Education Grace Paras and of course, District 75 Gov Vic Navales also had their runway moments. There were also National and International Officers present such as Past International Director Johnny “Pawe” Uy, NaComPhilTo  (National Commission of Philippine Toastmasters) Chair Jeff Dy and the International Director of Region 14, Christine Temblique – who also happened to be our keynote speaker.


The conference was jam-packed with educational and fun activities. We were inspired by the words of wisdom of our keynote speaker DTM Christine Temblique as she shared her experiences as a Toastmaster and a leader. She was introduced by DTM Pawe Uy where he revealed to us her deepest and darkest secrets. That was the longest – and most humorous – introduction I’ve ever heard. If he’d joined a humorous speech contest, he would have won hands down. We were motivated by 2-time International Prepared Speech Champion Michael Del Rosario as he shared with us the 4 S’s on how to “Communicate with Power”. We were also fortunate enough to hear Life Coach and Writer Raju Mandhyan speak to us about “Industry, Innovation & Integrity for Leadership Excellence”.  

Of course we do not only focus on Educational portions. As Toastmasters we have within us a competitive spirit that cannot be extinguished. That’s why no conference can ever be complete without a contest. In last years MidCon we had the Talentadong Toastmaster, Talk N Talk and the Duet Singing Contest (all not recognized by TI by the way). This year we had a “real contest”. One that TI recognizes. We had the Evaluation Contest. It was hosted by the Discon 2011 Evaluation Champion (ahem, ahem), myself. Just trying to be factual here ^_^. For the Midyear 2011 contest results click [HERE].


Now another thing we love to do is to have fun. And that was what Fellowship night was all about. Fellowship and fun. On the night of October 22 we had Ati-atihan Night. It was complete with a festive opening number by sexy babes in bikins, fire dancing and numerous contests – all of which happened to involve alcohol. I should know. I was a contestant. Sadly I didn’t win because my competitor had a more flexible back. I guess this were we got our name – “Toast”masters.

When asked about how he found the Midyear Conference District Governor Vic Navales said, “Fantastic! I had fun and the attendance was higher than ever before. I have received a lot of good reviews from the participants. The only negative comment I got was about the weather.” Well, well. Next time lets ask our Midyear Chair to do something about the rain, shall we? DTM Vic further said, “Mhel did a great job. It was amazing, flawless. It was very organized. All details were considered and no major lapses were observed. The district council meeting was very successful. The nominated district officers were unanimously approved.”

From what I have heard from our District Governor and from other participants it seems that congratulations are in order for our Midyear Chair, Mhel Sillador. But according to Mhel, the success of the conference was not only through his own efforts. He says, “It was ok because I had a very good team. We didn’t have any problems or fights within the committee and that helped a lot.”

All in all it was one heck of a weekend. Boracay was beautiful, the venue was great and the food was delicious. Who can ask for more? Oh that’s right. I know what to ask for. An extension of the conference! I had so much fun I didn’t want to leave Boracay. It’s a good thing I have Discon 2012 in Samal Island, Davao to look forward to. For those who weren’t able to join Midyear, don’t miss Discon 2012.