A confluence meeting is always refreshing as it is an
amalgamation of different ideas and diverse mindsets from all walks of life.
The Area 25 confluence meeting held online on 10th April 2021 was verisimilitude
to this which was enriched with the active participation of three unique clubs
namely Filcom International Toastmasters Club – an open community club with 13
different nationalities; Ooredoo Toastmasters Club – a corporate club; and
Hamad Toastmasters Club – an Arabic speaking club. Bring them together and
you’ll have quite a quintessential experience.
The meeting agenda was power-packed with a balanced stake
holding from each club. At the outset, Aqeel Mohammed welcomed the guests as he
advised everyone of the meeting protocols and the club mission. Area Director
Pil Catinoy officially opened the meeting, acknowledged the guests including
the district dignitaries, and introduced the three Club Presidents: Mai
Abuzaina (Hamad TMC), Yoonas Kalathil (Ooredoo TMC) and Diana May Tangente
(Filcom International TMC), each of whom addressed the audience with their
inspiring remarks.
Leo Ortega, DTM took over the reins as Toastmaster of the
Day highlighting the importance of leaders in charting the course for an
organization just like Toastmasters Clubs in particular. He went through the
meeting segments leaving insightful tips on charting the course subtlety:
Getting a Vision – Setting a goal – Finding a Way – Making a Plan. Each club
paved the way to inspire the audience with three enthusiastic speakers and
three dynamic speech evaluators that contributed to the successful conduct of
the meeting. Each speaker was evaluated by the evaluator from the other club.
In the prepared speeches session, Musaab Mohamed Noor from
Hamad TMC, Regina Kunhammed from Ooredoo TMC and Nadim from Filcom
International TMC presented their speeches in a variety of subjects: from the
importance of a mother to celebrating family reunions and thoughts on the
current pandemic, respectively. Philip Cherian from Filcom Intl, Abdalla
Hamadan from Hamad & Davar Abbas from Ooredoo gave thoughtful and
motivating evaluations during the Evaluation Session.
The meeting highlight was a Keynote Address delivered by Dr.
Yogesh Pawar on: “Building a leadership culture that lasts”. He is one of
Asia’s top leadership and business strategy authorities, an entrepreneur, an
author, a keynote speaker and a business school faculty member with clients
across the globe. His message was profound and provoked our minds. Attendees received truly inspirational
insights from an accredited master coach from American Institute of Business
Psychology (AIOBP) and American Leadership Development Association (ALDA). The
message resounded in all the attendees as they leant some secrets on leadership
cultures that we may or may not be consciously aware of. It was a highly
engaging keynote which prompted for an active participation of the attendees
from asking questions and responding to Dr. Pawar’s inquiries.
After the insightful keynote, there was a short stretch
break accompanied by some dance music After the break, Mai Abu-zainah from
Hamad TMC conducted an engaging Table Topics Session which was later evaluated
by Shyam Sundar of Filcom International TMC. Five brave souls (Ravi, Athira,
Yugul, Abdalla and Diana) some of which were guests spoke on a variety of
topics from tackling an enemy, hard work vs talent, music, traps and birthday
reflections.
The Evaluation Session was moderated by Kaiseray Jahan, DTM
from Ooredoo TMC from which she gave feedback on the good practices and
recommendations to improve in the future confluence meetings. The General
Evaluator was assisted by prepared speech evaluators and other role players.
The timer Dennis Mujana, Grammarian Browlin Raj and Ah Counter Rinku Saha
presented their findings during the evaluation session.
During the Business Session, the best performers in each
category were duly recognized: Regina Kunhammed - Best Speaker for prepared
speeches, Shyam Sundar - Best Evaluator, Athira - Best Table Topics Speaker and
Mai Abuzaina - Best Segment Host.
All the 40 attendees had the blast and learned a lot! A
photo session capped the successful confluence meeting.
This was the first ever Area 25 confluence after the
District 116 re-alignment in 2020. Deepti Potnis, VP Education of Filcom
International TMC was the main organizer for this event with the assistance of
the three clubs’ officers and members and the Area 25 Council. It was such an
energetic, fun filled learning experience and I’m sure all attendees are
already looking forward to another confluence meeting soon.
