Fellow District 7 Kin,

In February. the National Awards and Recognition Committee announced that this year’s speaking competition will be held in a virtual environment. In speaking with the NARC Chair  Debbie Landry, as the last 2 speaking competitions were cancelled, due to our national convention being virtual, the NARC wanted to ensure that if this year’s national convention had to be held virtually, there was still the avenue to hold the speaking competition. So, even if national convention is an in-person event, the speaking competition will be held virtually. The new rules for this year’s competition were circulated on D7’s website and Facebook page. With this change in mind, your District Committee discussed this and has agreed with a way forward in how D7 will deal with this virtual competition.

While all our provinces in D7 are relaxing public health restrictions, it is close to Spring Zone time and many zones are not having a Spring Zone as it would be a challenge to get a facility, registration etc. but there are a couple of zones who are having a full conference. Due to the new rules for this year, even if a zone was having a Spring Zone, the speakers at Spring Zone would need to do the speak off virtually.

There is a significant difference from speaking in front of a crowd , as opposed to doing it virtually, and due to the rule changes this ye, which could be a challenge for zones that are not technically inclined, the District Committee has decided to move forward with the following:

– Whether a zone is having a Spring Zone or not, all Kin who wish to participate will compete at the District Virtual Speaking Competition. As a result, more than one Kin member can compete from the same zone at the district competition;

– Any member who wishes to compete in the District competition will have until 1 May 2022 to indicate through their Deputy Governor that they want to compete. The Deputy Governor will then inform the Clubs Support Director/Awards Chair that they have a competitor from their Zone;

– The District Virtual Speaking Competition will be held in Jun 2022 prior to our Virtual District Convention;

– The winner will be announced at the D7 Virtual District Convention and will represent D7 at the national level;

– As per District Bylaws, Kin members who participate in the public speaking competition, will have their District Convention registration paid for. As our District Convention will be virtual again this year there is no requirement for reimbursement of the registration fee.

Some of you will think that this goes against the spirit of the speaking competition and you are correct. It is significantly different speaking in a large crowd compared to sitting or standing in front of a computer screen. However, once again with the uncertainty of our national convention, I congratulate NARC for leaning forward and thinking outside of the box to ensure that we have a speaking competition this year. More info on our District Speak Off will become avail once we have members step forward for the competition.

Bill McFadden

Governor D7