The star of the two-day event was Toastmasters 1994 World Champion of Public Speaking Morgan McArthur. A number of young Saudis and top business executives took an active part in the event’s different activities.
Khalid Matlagaitu, who is credited with the phenomenal growth of Toastmasters in the region, described the event as a great success. He urged everyone to contribute to make a difference in the lives of people.
The event was unique in many colorful ways. It brought together the cream of professionals living in and around Jubail Industrial City under one banner irrespective of color, creed, language and nationality.
The team of organizers, led by Division L Gov. Jacob Kuriakose and Conference Chairman Syed Jamal Zaheer, came in for a lot of praise for their meticulous planning and excellent efforts.
Under Kuriakose’s leadership, the event showcased the oratorical brilliance of the fraternity. “Division L is the largest of all Toastmasters divisions in Saudi Arabia with an estimated membership of more than 800 members and nearly 30 individual clubs,” said Kuriakose.
Jamal Zaheer was delighted at the event’s total success. He praised the corporate houses for lending full support to the annual conference. “Without their stellar support we would not have managed all this,” he said and honored the various sponsors with mementos.
More than 400 delegates attended the conference. Prominent among them were Abdullah Al-Bakr and Adel Shaheen Al-Dossary; both of them gave inspiring keynote speeches much to the delight of the multinational audience.
Morgan McArthur thrilled the audience with two keynote addresses in which he spoke of the need for people to move out of their comfort zones and to establish connection with others with a view to creating opportunities out of calamities. His down-to-earth style of speech was both entertaining, powerful and effective. He won a number of fans in Jubail during the two days.
Six educational workshops were conducted on the event’s sidelines by experts such as Matlagaitu, P.J.J. Antony, Yousuf Abu Gosh, Dr. Samir Ibrahim, Dr. Sudhakar Shetty, Joey Villaneuva on a wide range of subjects including travel tips, challenges of parenting, secrets of professionals, bone-related diseases, obesity and ways to get rich.
Conference Vice Chairman Ahmad Al-Subiani, Past Division Governor Syed Waheed Lateef, Juan Roy and Mohammad Zawad were the contest masters. Popular anchor P.G.R. Nair and Asif Daudi were the master of ceremonies for the two days.
Periyanayaham, Bander Al-Zunaid, Krishnakumar Raghupathy and Sushil Agarwal were declared winners in the international speech, humorous speech, table topics and evaluation contests. They will represent the division at the District Conference in Jeddah on May 17.
An e-magazine was released by Dr. R.J. George and N.V. Arasu. The program concluded with melodious Arabic songs by a group of professional Saudi singers led by Bander Al-Subai. The singers captivated the entire multicultural audience and gave a unique taste of Arabic music.
