Budapest Toastmasters announce that the Club Conference shall be held on Monday 5th March, 6.30 p.m. at the Kempinski Hotel, Erzsébet tér.
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The Kempinski Hotel in Erzsébet tér.
Features: -

●  First stage of the International Speech Contest.
●  First stage of the Evaluation Contest
●  Notable past members of the Club shall speak about their Toastmasters experience.
●  Recently elected President of the Club, Peter Fekete, shall present his vision for the future of the Club.
●  Networking and fun.
●  Entertainment.
●  Refreshments and snacks.

    The conference organiser is Bea Bincze, who is the Club VP Mentoring and Leadership Track.  “I am delighted with Bea’s choice of the Kempinski Hotel,” states Peter Fekete.  “The Club Conference is the focal point of our year.   We look forward to a landmark event, full of fun, entertainment and quality.”
    The event is being subsidized by the Budapest Club and is sponsored by the Kempinski Hotel.
    Expect further announcments!

Registration

●  New Members or Members who renew may attend on registration for a fee of HUF 1500.
●  Guests of members are welcome at a charge of HUF 3500 per person.
●  Non-members are welcome at a charge of HUF 4500 per person.
Membership renewal is from April 2012 and is now due.
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On Monday 23rd January the Club elected Peter Fekete to the position of Club President, following the resignation of Andras Barath.
    Peter has already held the position of President once – from November 2009 to June 2010.  It was under Peter’s first administration that the Club was established as a charitable association and obtained legal status.  Peter was very ably assisted in this matter by our Club Treasurer, Istvan Grafjódi, who is the longest continuing serving member of the Club Executive Committee.  Peter is also well-known for his organisation of three major events – two Area Conferences and one Club Conference – all held at the beautiful Beke Hotel and resounding successes.
    In his acceptance speech Peter thanked Andras Barath and the existing committee for their sterling work.  He went on to outline aspects that he wished to focus on in the coming period.  His primary concern is the need to do more to retain long-standing members. He also feels that this is an opportunity to make a survey of current members’ perceptions of the Club.  He highlighted the need for a long-term strategy so that new committees were not always starting afresh, and to provide greater continuity for all members.  He also hopes to see the Club do more to promote the general interests of Club members. 
    Peter has already met with several of the members of the Committee and other long-standing members not currently on the committee.  He plans to contact all past members in the coming period in tandem with the development of the long-term strategy, to which all members are invited to contribute views. 
    Other news is that the Club competition will be on Monday 5th March.  This is the first stage of the competition for the International Speech Competition that culminates in the grand convention to be held this year in Orlando, Florida from August 15th to 18th.  There is also the evaluation contest.  Further details will be announced shortly. 
    If you are interested in competing please contact Bea Bincze, Vice President Mentoring, who is the organising the event.: -
mentoring@budapesttoastmasters.org,  
A booking form will also appear shortly.
    If you wish to participate in the survey please send Peter your comments using the form below.

    Suggestion Box for Budapest Toastmasters

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Some of the contestants; Flora, Peter, Daniel, Michael, Moritz and Leo (Contest Master)
Area Conference

On April 9th Budapest was host to a very successful Area Conference. Attended by more than 100 people at the Beke Hotel it was a truly memorable occasion featuring wonderful competitions in English and German, as well as great workshops that in all respects lived up to their billings.

International Event

Impressarios for the day were Club Presidents Hans Peterson (Budapest Toastmasters) and Daniel Szentimrey-Harrach (Budapest Morgan Stanley). Their double-act and running commentary was very entertaining. Other Clubs to show up in force were the German language speaking club, Vienna Rhetorick, lead by Christian Biever, who also gave a memorable Keynote speech, and the Bratislava Toastmasters Club, lead by Olga Durakova, who gave an excellent workshop on online marketing for Toastmasters clubs. We extend our heartfelt thanks also to the other workshop presenters, Mary Murphy, Imre Remenyi and Charlie LaFond. The other clubs represented were Vienna Toastmasters, Vienna Speakers and Vienna International. Yes “international” was very much the theme of the day!

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Katarina Kultanova
Bratislava

We were very pleased that Bratislava was able to join us in such great force for the conference. Although Bratislava, being “undistricted”, are not officially part of our area, they have taken a dynamic role within our region and have organised many events. It was therefore only natural that we should reciprocate and warmly welcome them to Budapest. In this spirit of cooperation our Budapest club invited Bratislava to nominate one contestant in each of the categories to represent both of us jointly in the competitions. Our representatives were, therefore, Andras Baráth and Katarina Kultanova for the International Speech contest, and Peter Fekete and Michael Ulicny for the Evaluation contest.

Congratulations!

Congratulations in the German contest to Otto Schwere and Markus Albrecht who came first and second respectively in both competitions! Warm Thanks to our great Contest Master Leo Ziegler. The Bratislava-Budapest connection did well. Katarina and Michael came first in both their respective categories. Morgan-Stanley also featured prominently with Steve Nelson coming second in the International speech contest.


Wining streak!

The winning streak did not end there! The Division Contest was held inn Nuremberg on Saturday 30th April and once again Katarina won. This time Michael came second in the Evaluation contest, and Steve third in the International speech contest. This outstanding performance means that the joint team of Budapest-Bratislava is represented at the District Conference by Katarina to be held in Lisbon on 20 to 22nd May.

Katarina’s speech

Katarina’s speech is a sensitive and insightful exploration of what motivation really means. Exploring her own experiences and Indian mythology she advances the thesis that motivation must come from within and cannot be whipped up from external influences. She delivers her speech with both drama and passion, and we wish her all the best for Lisbon.

The Nuremberg conference

The Nuremberg conference was a lovely occasion drawing together participants from Southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. It was a delightful event led by Morag Mathieson (Division Governor), Tara Majumdar (Contest Chair), and Margaret Jankowsky (DTM), who gave an Educational workshop on what makes a great speech.

For any of you who have not visited Nuremberg we can say that it is a beautiful city full of history. A key feature of the weekend was an entertaining walk around the walled city lead by Margaret Jankowsky, who would have little difficulty getting a job as a professional tour guide. Thanks to Daniel Szentimrey-Harrach we were able to find the rotating ring on the famous fountain that enabled us to make a special wish. Nuremberg is well worth a visit.
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Preparations are in hand for a wonderful Spring Area Conference, to be held this Saturday, 9th April, registration from 1.00 p.m. onwards at the Radisson Blu Beke Hotel, Terez krt. 43. With over 85 expected to attend the Conference itself and 40 to the buffet it promises to be a remarkable event.

Tickets
Tickets for the Conference itself will be on sale on the day, price 3000 HUF.

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Olga Durakova
Workshops

A key feature of the day will be four workshops on various aspects of public speaking and club management. We have already featured those offered by Charlie LaFond (Vienna), Imre Remenyi (Vienna) and Mary Murphy (Budapest). Here we take a look at the workshop to be offered by Olga Durakova on Online marketing for Toastmasters Clubs. With elections for Club Officers upcoming, this is an opportunity for those of you considering a leadership role to gain some insight into what this involves. Olga is a fantastic speaker and an experienced Club Officer. Bratislava is tipped to outstrip all other European clubs in the Distinguished Club Programme, so Olga clearly knows a thing or two about getting things moving and getting people motivated.

Bratislava

In addition to contestants from Vienna, our contest master, Leopold Ziegler (Vienna) and our keynote speaker, Christian Biever (Vienna), we are pleased to announce that we are expecting a large party of members from Bratislava. This will be a wonderful occasion and a great opportunity to forge new links of cooperation between Clubs in our Area.

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