Planning our next event and reengaging with Toastmasters International

I just got out of a “lessons learned” session with members of the EVV CON team. We do want to do the event again (and better), targeting October 2023.

In addition to thinking October would present fewer conflicts with district events than April, we want to allow time for proper planning — including identifying the next group of event leaders and trying to reengage with Toastmasters International.

We would prefer to negotiate some way of running our next event as an official Toastmasters event. After two years of running what used to be called VTM CON as an “unofficial conference for online clubs,” this time around we ran into issues with TI branding and legal that forced us to change the name of the event and restricted our ability to promote it through Toastmasters channels.

If you believe there is a need for an event like this focused on excellence in online speaking, please communicate that to any board or HQ staff contacts you may have. We believe we’ve created something that should be an asset for the Toastmasters brand, not in conflict with it.

If Toastmasters International leadership doesn’t see it that way, there are still enough of us who see the value and will volunteer as individuals (if not as Toastmasters) to put on another event. But we will at least try to patch things up.

Meanwhile, although the conference team discussed a number of things we want to do differently next time, we are proud of what we pulled off. If you haven’t seen the replays from our April 23 event, check them out.

Please write if you would like to be part of the leadership team for next time.

Yours virtually and for real,

David F. Carr, chair, EVV CON April 2022

World Champion Speaker Mike Carr: “Virtual is here to stay … why not get good at it?” (Replay)

When the pandemic forced the 2020 World Championship of public speaking online, Mike Carr demonstrated how to not just cope with the change but take advantage of the medium. (See his speech, The Librarian and Mrs. Montgomery). In his EVV CON keynote, Mike addresses his passion for continuing to experiment with the possibilities of the virtual stage.

See also Mike’s interview with EVV CON chair David F. Carr in which he discusses the challenges of hybrid online/offline events and the selfie videos he uses to stay in touch with friends and fans between speeches.

Webinar Contest, Winner Angela Heath (Replay)

This replay of the webinar contest from EVV CON: Elevate the Value of Virtual features an introduction by 2020 World Champion of Public Speaking Mike Carr and the contest speeches by Angela Heath (winner), Julian Cereceda, Andy Colborn, and Paul O’Mahony. The Contest Master was Lou Brown and the Chief Judge was Lillian Cooke.

Webinar contest

Tech Tips from EVV CON 2022 (Replay)

Our Tech Tips program is a series of short tutorials on tech of value to speakers and leaders.

Part 1 featured:

  • Andy Colborn: Slido, an audience interaction tool
  • Markus Seppälä: OBS Studio, free open source video recording streaming, and mixing
  • Pamela Benjamin: Notion, a simple database for collaboration
Tech Tips Part 1

In Part 2 of our program, we heard from retired radio newsman and dedicated Toastmaster Graham Cairns on getting your audio right.