The mission of a Toastmasters

Club is to provide a mutually sup-

portive and positive learning envi-

ronment in which every member

has the opportunity to develop

communication and leadership

skills, which in turn foster self-

confidence and personal growth.

DIABLO TOASTMASTERS CLUB 598 NEWSLETTER

“WHAT’S GREAT IN 598”

The Diablo Toastmasters Club

is a community Toastmasters

Club that meets every Thurs-

day at 7 PM at Denny’s Res-

taurant, 1313 Willow Pass Rd.,

Concord, CA.

Volume 21, Number 1 February, 2018

Publisher: Irving Joe, President Editor: John Peterson

New Club Officers Take Charge at Diablo 598 At an installation ceremony conducted by Area B-

7 Governor (and long-time Diablo 598 member)

Destinee Cooper during the January 11th meet-

ing, our club’s leadership team was sworn in to

their offices — some new, some old — to guide

club activities for the first half of the year through

June 30th.

Shown in the photo below, from left to right, are

Kyoko Ii, ongoing in her role as club secretary;

Cindy Johnson, new

VP Education, Irving

Joe, ongoing Presi-

dent; Destinee

Cooper, ongoing Ser-

geant-at-Arms, and

Jose Cobangbang,

incoming Treasurer.

Unfortunately absent for the ceremony were Rose

Falgout, ongoing VP Public Relations, and Janice

Sanchez, incoming VP Membership.

Now it’s up to the club membership to support our

leadership team in every way they can, by attend-

ing meetings regularly, helping build membership

by bringing friends to visit meetings, and talking

up the benefits of Toastmasters within their social

groups. This is how strong clubs are formed and

maintained!

And let’s not forget to form a team that will focus

on the Chamber of Commerce’s “Yo-Pro’s” —

their group of Young Professionals. Contacts

made there can be extremely helpful to our mem-

bers as well as to growing club membership!

SAVE THE DATE!

Did you know that Diablo 598 will be 70 years

old on April 1st? It’s true! We were one of

three clubs to split off from District 4 and form

the new District 57 on that date. We’ll be cele-

brating at our meeting on Thursday, April 5th, at

a location to be announced. See the flyer on

page 3 — and SAVE THAT DATE!!

CLUB SPEECH CONTEST

It’s that time again! The club’s Table Topics

and International Speech contests will be held

by the middle of this month, probably on the

14th, and we always send good contestants on

to the Area-level event. So dig into your

memory bank or your files and come up with

something you can bring to the contest! P.S.

Even if you decide not to compete, there are

lots of openings for timers, judges, ballot coun-

ters and other high offices such as Chief Judge,

Toastmaster, and Contest Chair. Contact Cin-

dy Johnson regarding your interest in filling one

of these vital roles!

YO-PRO’S EVENT

On February 28th, the Concord Chamber of

Commerce’s “Young Professionals” group is

having a panel discussion on “Entrepreneur-

ship.” See page 4 for details. This should be

an event of interest to all our members interest-

ed in business and job opportunities in the ar-

ea, and remember — as members of Diablo

598 you’re automatically Chamber members of

the Yo-Pro’s and can attend for free!

“What’s Great in 598” is the publication of

Diablo Toastmasters Club 598, Concord, CA.

Publisher: Irving Joe, President

Editor: John Peterson

IRVING’S COLUMN

By Irving Joe

Would you believe the first 31 days of 2018

have already vanished before us or behind us

now? I hope that we spent time working on

our goals for this year. Before you know it, the

Holiday Season will be back again and if we

don’t do some planning we’ll be looking back

over the past year only to see all the things

we didn’t do. Remember, a goal without a

plan is just a wish!

As we enter February, the shortest month of

the year, we see it’s filled with many holidays:

Groundhog day, President’s day, and the Lu-

nar New Year which will be the Year of the

Dog this year. And don’t forget Valentine’s

Day, or you might end up in

the dog house or in your man

cave all by yourself!

Diablo Toastmasters has a number of upcom-

ing events you’ll need to know about:

The club’s International Speech and Table

Topics contests, to be held by mid-

February.

The Area B-6 Contest before March 25th.

The club’s 70th Anniversary celebration on

April 5th (save this date on your calendar!!)

The Division B Contest before April 14th.

The District 57 Spring Conference May 5th.

Try to be part of these events, and invite your friends as well, to help grow our club!

Janice was born and raised in the Philip-

pines. She describes herself as a quiet and

shy person, which led her to earn a B.S. de-

gree in computer science from the University

of the East because she wanted a job where

she would have less interaction with people.

After graduation, she landed a job as a soft-

ware engineer at a software company in Ma-

nila. It was there that she met her husband-

to-be, Rolando, who was based in the U.S.

but was helping his company to set up an off-

shore office in the Philippines. Janice and

their three-month old son moved to the Bay

Area in 2005 with Rolando, and now they live

in Pittsburg with their three children aged 12,

10 and a one-year-old baby!

Janice has been working as a Data Analyst

at Optum, a health services and innovation

company, for the past ten years, and is now

a full-time telecommuter. Her daily schedule

revolves around her work, household duties,

and her kids’ activities, but she looks forward

to having a little more free time in the future

as she would like to learn how to play the pi-

ano, to draw and paint, and to sew.

Janice’s long-term goals are to become a

confident speaker and to overcome her shy-

ness, and so she worked up the courage to

join the Diablo 598 Toastmasters club in Oc-

tober 2017. She hopes that Toastmasters

will really help her to overcome her fear of

public speaking, as well as to improve her

communication and social skills.

Welcome Janice! We’re here to help!

Janice Sanchez