Maybe you're wondering if District Officers do anything -- or who they are. Certainly, you might sometimes wonder if they're necessary. I know that I spent my first year as a Toastmaster knowing that Ann Wuori was my Area Governor only because she had a fantastic party one weekend for the clubs in her area. We said "hi." As for the District Governor, we had one in our club, and it sounded like an important job. Nonetheless, our club was doing well, we were having fun and growing; I didn't think we needed District Officers.
The Area Governor is your
Friend
Mary Baker tells a wonderful story of when she was a brand new
Toastmaster. Her small club made her its new president. Within a
month, she had a call from a man who identified himself as Jim
Farasey, told her that he was her Area Governor, and said that he
would be visiting her club this weekend. Mary wondered what she had
done already that was so terrible as to bring someone to her club
from California. It's important for all of us to know that our Area
Governor is not to be feared (especially not Jim Farasey), and that
they actually live nearby. (Maybe those are the two reasons they
often host parties.) Area Governors do wonderful things for clubs.
They have usually been in Toastmasters for a few years and have been
a successful club president; they know how some things get done and
have advice for clubs. As an Area Governor, I helped one club rise
from six to nineteen members. I worked with a second club to moderate
a parliamentary fight that two members were picking with the everyone
else. The other clubs were successful and moving on their own
initiative, so I visited them and made progress reports without
interfering. A key thing about Area Governors is that they don't
impose their ideas on a club; they make suggestions. Clubs do not
report to Area Governors -- Area Governors work for clubs.
The Division Governor Knows You
The Division Governor doesn't work as closely with clubs as do Area
Governors, but this officer knows all about each club. As a Division
Governor, my major concern was that the members in the division get
value from being a Toastmaster. I helped Area Governors sponsor
contests and worked with my staff on Division contests. I worked with
Area Governors on special programs, membership growth, helping new
clubs form, and finding alternative clubs for members of dying clubs.
I didn't know many names and faces, but if you told me your club, I
knew all about what was happening with it. If that club wanted my
help, I was ready to give my suggestions to the Area Governor and
help in any way the Area Governor asked. Remember this: Division
Governors work for Area Governors. The Division Governor's job is to
help Area Governors look good.
The Big Three Don't Make Cars
I can't speak from direct experience anymore, but I've worked closely
enough with Administrative Lt. Governors, Educational Lt. Governors,
and District Governors to understand some of their jobs. If you look
at the long list of these three positions' responsibilities, it comes
down to: travel, paperwork, and committees. The three travel
throughout the District to wherever an event needs some support. They
begin with Officer Training and continue with speechcrafts, seminars,
Toastmaster University, and anything else where they can encourage
members to do their best. Paper shuffling comes next (the reward for
being motivational and organized). These three fill out forms for,
goals, status reports, agendas, budgets, ... you get the idea. Many
of these reports go back to International Headquarters and help HQ
develop programs that Districts' members need and want. They also
oversees numerous committees: member retention, speechcraft, club
extension, Forum 56, and the District Directory to name a few. There
is far too much work for the Big Three to do themselves, so they
spread their expertise among committees.
But Do We Need District
Officers?
If you never attend a contest, don't want to visit other clubs, are
content doing all of the publicity for your club, and never attend
seminars, then maybe not. If your club has enough members, knows when
all of the paperwork is due, will train its own officers, and never
needs a knowledgeable outsider to settle a dispute, then maybe not.
Yet, even in this imagined nirvana, it's nice to consider that
District Officers are there if we want them, ready to serve the
people for whom they work: the club members.
