The biggest gathering of all members of the Toastmasters International Annual Division A and B in the Kingdom dubbed as “Riyadh Divisions Joint Conference 2012” (RDJC) was successfully held at Riyadh Palace Hotel. The theme of this year's momentous joint annual event was “Riyadh Divisions: Together as One.” Division A and Division B comprises of all the Toastmasters International Clubs in Riyadh. It has more than 3000 members, representing various professions, designations, nationalities and cultures. The ceremony commenced with a parade of banners led by Divison A and B followed by welcome speeches from the Chairman of Riyadh Division Joint Conference 2012, Aamir Shamim Choudry; Division A governor, James Edward Taruc; Division B governor, Dr. Delfin Federico Jr.; governor for marketing, Lt. Hassan Maghazel; governor for education and training, Lt. Abraham Daniel. Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago graced the occasion as the Chief Guest of Honor. Tago in his message lauded Toastmasters International for initiating activities such as speech contest and educational workshops that help enhance public speaking abilities and leadership skills of members and other individuals. “I encourage your organization to continue with this mission since it benefits not only your members and their families, but the community which includes Filipino expatriates in the Kingdom,”said Tago. In the conference, the participants were judged on their speaking abilities, skills, techniques, contents, and delivery of each speech in a series of competitions. After a nail-biting finish, the results were declared to the anxiously waiting audience and the participants. Under Division A: Toastmaster (TM) Shaun Louie Sabico of the Mabuhay and PICPA Riyadh Toastmasters Club bagged the speakers award in the International Speech Contest category for his winning piece “Trigger.” TM Donnie Ray Aquino won the Humurous Speech, TM Reina Tejano won the Speech Evaluation Contest and TM Sankaran Iyer emerged as a winner in the Table Topics. Under Division B: TM Syed Abdulqader won the International Speech Contest category, TM Syed Waqas Javed excelled in the Humorous Speech, TM Sarah Kaleem Ahmad secured the first place in the Speech Evaluation Contest with TM Arshad Qazi taking the top spot in the Table Topics. RDJC 2012 was sponsored and supported by Mabuhay Mobily Telecommunications and SABIC Industries. Shutters Guild provided photo coverages of the event. This year's winners will compete in District 79 Toastmasters Annual Conference on May 17-18 in Jeddah. __
