Club Growth Director, Helena Boden-Brewer
The month of August for many is a time for a holiday. Each one of us will have a different idea of what holiday is best for them from relaxing on a beach, hiking through the mountains or attending the Toastmasters International Convention in Denver. What do all these have in common? The stories we can share from our summer break experiences.
As members come back to their club meetings over the next couple of weeks, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunity to reflect on the memories of our activities during the summer. There’s bound to be something of fun that has happened with a sun lounger.
Pres Vasilev
For my part, I headed to Denver for the Toastmasters International Convention. What a fantastic learning and networking experience this was. It’s an event where we have past champions of public speaking milling around, freely available for a chat!
As are the Toastmasters Board of Directors, who are all approachable to the members attending.
One thing I picked up from the Convention about healthy clubs, is that “30 is the new 20”. Clubs are much more viable when they have 30 members. Think about that for a moment. For clubs that teeter around the 20 members mark, attracting new members throughout the year and retaining established members is key. Consider adding the goal of “30 is the new 20” to your club success plan.
August and September is the time of the Smedley membership drive, when clubs seek to attract 5 new members. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote your club meetings and events that you’re hosting to encourage guests to attend. Share you activities on social media and include the District’s social media links – on Facebook and Twitter that’s @ToastmastersUKI
For our members, this is the renewal period and behind the scenes all club committees are busy, particularly the club Treasurers. They are working hard to collect members’ dues and submit them to Toastmasters International World Headquarters. Why not make their lives easier and make your dues payment today?
The incentive on renewals this year is the 20:80 campaign. That means renewing at least 20 members and retaining 80% of your membership base. Pizza is the prize on offer for clubs that achieve this, so renew, retain and win!
The hard work in our District has continued through the summer. There are now three newly chartered clubs – Moodys, Zig Zag and Legacy Speakers Brixton. I am sure you will join me in welcoming these clubs to the Toastmaster family.
Last Updated on 7th October 2020 by Susan Rayner