The District 84 Club Ambassador Program 2011-2012

by Club Ambassador Chair, Cedric Ching, CC ALB

Cedric Ching

Expand your Toastmasters experience by participating in the District 84 Club Ambassador Program (CAP). The District would like to encourage you to take a step outside of your club and to visit at least three clubs you're not a member of.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN?

• New Ideas to bring back to your home club to keep the excitement strong.
• New Opportunities to participate as a speaker or other meeting functionary.
• New Friends! Why wait for an Area or Division contest to meet new people?
• New Experiences which will help you get the most out of Toastmasters!

WHAT WILL YOU EARN? When you turn in your third completed CAP form, you will receive the following:

• The designation of being an Official District 84 Club Ambassador and recognition at the next District Conference,
• A Club Ambassador certificate (suitable for framing) and a Club Ambassador pin for you to wear at your club meetings and future ambassador visits.
• The opportunity for one of this year's Club Ambassador of the Year Awards (details below).

WHAT'S NEW/DIFFERENT WITH THE CLUB AMBASSADOR PROGRAM THIS YEAR?

• There is a new Club Ambassador Visit Form with more ways to earn ambassador points -- in addition to filling in a meeting role and listing 3 unique things about the club, Toastmasters can earn points bringing a friend, submitting a photo, making note of your favorite phrase/idea from the meeting; there is the opportunity to earn up to 10 ambassador points per visit.
• There is also no longer a requirement to report findings to home clubs before submitting a form to the Club Ambassador Chair for credit. After you complete the form, including the signatures from one of the visited club's officers and yourself, just turn it in.
• And this year, when you submit a completed CAP form and it has been received and process, you will receive a receipt via email with the information from the form about your visit, which you can then report to your club/VPE if desired.

HOW TO COMPLETE A CLUB AMBASSADOR VISIT

• Find a club that you'd like to visit that fits your schedule -- the club does not have to be in your area, your division, or even District 84!
• Note: The only restriction for the visited club is that it cannot be one that you are a member of or are the area/division governor of; e.g. to become a club ambassador, an area governor would have to visit three clubs outside of his/her area to receive credit.
• Contact the club to verify meeting date/time/location, and ask to be put on the agenda if you would like to speak or can perform a meeting role.
• Print out the 2011-2012 Club Ambassador Form, Fill out the top portion (your name, email address, home club), and bring the form with you on your visit.
• At the meeting: observe, participate, take notes, then have the visited club's VPE (or other officer) sign the form.
• Submit your completed form to the Club Ambassador Chair.
• Note: credit will not be awarded for multiple visits to the same club.
• As soon as three (3) completed forms are received, you will be noted as a District 84 Club Ambassador!

CLUB AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR

• There are a couple additional recognitions that will be given to individual Toastmasters this year:
• Club Ambassador of the Year: Traveler's Awards -- given to the Club Ambassador who visits the most club* (first place & runner-up)
• Club Ambassador of the Year: Pointer's Awards -- given to the Club Ambassador who accumulates the most ambassador points* (first place & runner-up)

In addition to the recognition to individuals, the club visited by the most club ambassador program participants will be presented with a Club Ambassador Hospitality Award.

The Club Ambassador of the Year Awards will be presented to the winners at the 2012 District 84 Spring Conference.

Note (*): in addition to the restrictions above concerning club eligibility, only completed forms whose visit date is on or after May 22, 2011 ("start date") and received by the CAP Chair by April 17th, 2012 ("end date"), will count towards a Club Ambassadors's clubvisit and ambassador point totals.

To find more information about the Club Ambassador Program, complete details about the contests, or to download this year's ambassador form, visit the Club Ambassador Program page.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve you and am look forward to your participation!

Our New Look and Logo

by District 84 Governor Jim Miller, DTM

Jim Miller, DTM

By now, you have seen the new logo and color scheme introduced by Toastmasters International. The new "branding" brings with it an opportunity for our clubs and our organization to improve our marketing and our product which is the Toastmasters experience. For years, each club has been known for individualism, and the result has been a detriment to our marketing efforts. Each website, poster, meeting agenda has been so individualized that in many instances it's even hard to determine if the club, district, or even region is even in the same organization known as Toastmasters International. That's all changing now.

Toastmasters International. That's all changing now.

The new look has been thoroughly researched over the past few years. The result is a clean look, standard colors and fonts, and an images that we can move forward with over the next several decades. Tremendous efforts are being made to bring us into the 21st century. We'll see standardized advertising which will benefit all our clubs, and a standard look and feel that will assure visitors that they are in the right place.

Our tag line "Where Leaders Are Made" reflects not a new direction, but who we are. Yes, Toastmasters makes us better communicators, but leadership is at the heart of our organization. This is not our theme for the year, but our tag line for years to come. Frankly, I'm thrilled with the tag line. I have said before that leadership is the hidden pearl of Toastmasters; it isn't hidden anymore!

We'll need your help as club members and officers over the next year to transition to this new look and feel. Toastmasters International has set up a virtual brand portal to help not only with the transition, but to keep us on track in the coming years. Website help is provided there, as well as logos, letterheads, business cards templates, standard agenda templates, and all the tools we need to present a unified look and feel. There is a manual, and a FAQ page at the virtual brand portal as well, which should answer most of your questions and concerns.

Changes of this magnitude don't happen overnight. The most we can hope for is that we complete most of the transition over the next several months. We ask for your patience as we progress. We've been asking for serious advertising from Toastmasters. We lacked a recognizable brand throughout the organization right down to the club level, and it makes sense to introduce the brand now. Now, we'll begin to see our request become evident. In the long run the change should help us build stronger clubs with better membership retention, and isn't that what we all expect? We've been asking for that assistance from headquarters, and they are listening.

Let's move forward together and take every advantage of out new look. Let's lead the way as District 84 in making the transition, because Toastmasters is Where Leaders Are Made!

Exciting Membership Challenges

by Dee Melvin, DTM - Lt Governor Marketing

Dee Melvin, DTM

What will be the number one challenge for District 84 this year? We believe it will be membership retention and membership recruitment. We have two options for dealing with these challenges. We can pretend they don't exist or we can meet them head on. District leaders are committed to our success and have decided to be proactive and take steps now to ensure we have an exciting, fun filled and successful year. After all, success is so very sweet .

We have assembled an incredible Marketing Team. They are: DTM Kevin Adams, Membership Chair; DTM Bill Bender, Recruitment Chair; ACB Larry Alario, Retention Chair; ACS Darlene Williams, Club Fitness Chair; DTM Melissa Floriolli, Renewals Chair; DTM Doug Tambor, Corporate Club Advocate; DTM Joy Lewis, Club Extension Chair; CC Cedric Ching, Club Ambassador Chair. Each of these Toastmasters is working diligently to ensure each club member and each club meets their goals. When we all meet our goals we will be successful.

Your District leaders understand the membership challenges each club will face this year. In response to these challenges we have implemented a comprehensive incentive program. We hope these incentives will lead to outstanding growth in the District and show each of you how much we appreciate the work you do. Use them as you have your membership drives to encourage some friendly rivalry and as opportunities to have even more fun. This is also your opportunity to increase the club treasury. We are currently in the middle of four of these challenges. They are:

D84 Summer Challenge is a District challenge that runs for the months July-August-September-October.

• Clubs add 8 new, dual or reinstated members
• Receive $25 gift card from the District

The Smedley Award is a Toastmasters International membership program and runs from August 1 st to September 30 th.

• Clubs add 5 new, dual or reinstated members
• Receive "Smedley Award" ribbon
• 10% off next club order from Toastmaster International
• The District has enhanced the program by offering a $25 gift card to those clubs that win this award.

To encourage early payment of dues the District is sponsoring two dues renewal challenges.

• The Magnificent 7 : Club pays for 7 members in the first 7 days in September; get "The Magnificent 7" ribbon for their banner.
• The Incredible 20 : Club pays for 20 members in the first 10 days in September; get "The "Incredible 20" ribbon for their banner, plus a $25 gift card.

Remember to receive these renewal awards the club must submit the receipt from TI showing the dues have been paid in the time requirement. Submit the receipt to Dee Melvin, District 84 Lieutenant Governor marketing at dee@toastmastersd84.org .