A two-day joint Annual conference of Division E & L was held at the Marafiq Beach Camp, Jubail Industrial City. Amid the serene sea and clement weather, the conference with the theme ‘confluence of camaraderie and competence' served not only as a platform for Toastmasters to display their communication and leadership skills but also as a springboard for a higher level of performance. The first day of the conference beheld a colorful start with the majestic Banner Parade that presented to the audience 38 clubs and areas falling under the two Divisions lead by the Division Directors Omar Badhurais and Venkatesan Devarajan. The Conference Chairman Distinguished Toastmaster Periyanayaham formally flagged off the core educational program with his rousing address on the importance of both competence and camaraderie in our life. Mohammed Z. Al Wadaey, president of Farabi Petrochemicals Company graced the occasion as chief guest for the opening day and he commended Division E & L leaders for their service to the society and for their efforts to develop leadership and communication skills amongst the younger generation. The entire Toastmasters fraternity lauded the corporate support of Farabi Petrochemical Company for its 5th consecutive years sponsoring the event to promote the education amongst the young Saudi Engineers in the Jubail Industrial City. District Director Abdullah Al-Sharif, Khalid Matlagaitu, immediate past international director, Rashid Ali, district program quality director, James Taruc, district club growth director and Syed Waheed Lateef, chief ambassador of Toastmaster International revitalization program, district and division leaders from across the Kingdom along with their families attended. The highlights of the conference were a series of stirring contests in the prepared speech, humorous speech, table topics and evaluation categories. The contestants demonstrated their intellectual sinews, fine sense of humor and readiness to think on their feet. The quintessence of the conference on the second day was the keynote speech "Coping with Change" by World Champion of Public Speaking for 2015, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, who inspired the audience with his energy, humor and agility. And the guest speaker, Abdullah Al Abandi, a renowned humorist and motivational speaker, presented an interactive workshop on ‘Connecting with the Audience'. A brilliant display of eloquent talents by youth leaders of the Gavel Clubs and the YLP programs of Division E &L added to the glare of the Conference that reached out to the young and the old alike. The winners of the Divisions E & L in their respective International Speech Contests were Majid Haj Ahmad and Suresh Kumar, with second place going to Vidya Urs and Vijay Kumar, and third place to Assem Hussain and Koteeswaran. Similarly, the winners of the Humorous Speech Contests were PP Salim and Manju Biju, and second place was won by Palaniraj and Richa Tripathi. The third place winners were Javed Anwar and Aleister Salgado. The best performers who romped home in the Evaluation speech contests were Mahesh Kumar and Richa Tripathi, with second place won by Karthik and Ardee Flores and third place going to Hareesh and Murali Krishnan. The winners of the Table Topics Speech Contests were N.V. Arasu and Suresh Kumar, with Vijay Kumar and Jagadeesan Kumar in second and Hareesh and Elna Rajan in third place. The first place winners will represent their respective Divisions at the upcoming District level Competition to be held on April 21-23 in Dammam and the winner of the district will be representing KSA at the international level competition in the month of August in Washington, USA, for the coveted Title of World Champion of Public Speaking. The two-day conference that concluded on Saturday evening with dignitaries honoring the winners followed by dinner was indeed a culmination of months of dedication, preparation, and perfection by the conference team under the leadership of the Conference Chairman Distinguished Toastmaster Periyanayaham and Vice Chairman TM Nawwaf Saif Al Ahmadi. To sum up, the joint Annual Div. E & L Conference, 2016 served as a benchmark of excellence, and was truly a confluence of competence and camaraderie!
