Ovation 2017 – District 82 Toastmasters International Conference kicks off tomorrow

The District 82 Toastmasters International Annual Conference – Ovation 2017 is an annual event which will be held in Colombo during 25to 28May at Waters Edge, Battaramulla. The event will be attended by its membership consisting of corporate leaders, professionals and recognised members of the society.

Toastmasters International (TMI) is a world leader in communication and leadership development with a membership of 345,000 consisting of 15,900 clubs in 142 countries that make up our global network of meeting locations.

Toastmasters International District 82 comprises of 219 Toastmasters Clubs spread in Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka with a membership ofover 6,500 members. 

The Toastmasters movement in Sri Lanka, which commenced its journey in 1984 with one club has made significant strideslocally and internationally. At the recently concluded International Convention held in Washington DC, USA, Distinguished Toastmaster Arunasalam Balraj was elected as the President Elect of the organisation. He will take up position as International President of TMI, in August 2017 becoming the first Sri Lankan to lead this organisation. 

In 2014, Toastmaster Dhanajaya Hettiarachchi became the World Champion of Public Speaking. Since then for two consecutive years Toastmasters representing District 82 namely Toastmaster ArfathSaleem and Toastmaster Kaishika Rodrigo were ranked among the top 10 speakers of the world. Their achievements along with accomplishments of district leaders from Sri Lanka have placed District 82 at the pinnacle of Toastmasters International.

Ovation 2017 is the annual conference of District 82, which is usually held in the home country of the District Director. The District Director of District 82, DTM Sudash Liyanage sharing details of the conference said: “The conference this year will special as we are honoured to have the presence of current International President TMI DTM Mike Storkey, who will deliver a key note address on leadership. 2017 is a milestone year for District 82 as DTM ArunasalamBalrajwill be elected as the President. The three-day program will consist of educational sessions featuring the World Champion of Public Speaking Dhananjaya Hettiarachchi and other esteemed speakers. It will also be a networking opportunity for the members of the Toastmasters fraternity to engage, enrich their knowledge and enjoy the wonderful camaraderie.”

The Prime Lands Group has been consistent supporter of events held by the Toastmasters fraternity. The company has been a sponsor for the Ovation Conferences, which have been held over the years. Prime Lands Group Chairman B. Premalal expressing his views said: “We are pleased to be associated with Toastmasters International,an organisation dedicated to promote communication and leadership. I have over the years witnessed the growth and significant strides the movement has made over the years with its growing membershipwith many milestones achieved by this organisation.” The three-day program consists of educational sessions and speech contests sponsored by many other leading corporates including ATG Gloves as the Corporate Sponsor and several main sponsors such as Singer Sri Lanka, Union Assurance, People’s Leasing and so on. This conference will see the crowning of the District International Speech champion who will represent theDistrict at the World Championship of Public Speaking in Vancouver Canada in August. The event is packed up and closed with over 750 members consisting 600 local and 150 international delegates.