Do you remember the first time you visited a new club?  Was the agenda in a different order, were there different meeting roles, did the evaluations just “feel different”?

Getting the member out of the club is a critical step to building long-term enthusiasm for Toastmasters.  Usually the focus is on going to officer training, speech contests, and district conferences, but what about visiting other clubs?

The advantage to club visits is that there are many more opportunities (every week, not a few times a year), and they’re likely closer to the member as well.

Why visit other clubs?

• It’s far too easy to get comfortable with a known audience
• New ideas on meeting formats
• Fresh views in evaluations
• Increased networking opportunities
• More speaking slots available
• An advanced club produces more and stronger evaluations

I’ve seen three approaches to encouraging members to visit other clubs:

• Card games
• Capture the gavel
• Club ambassador

District 19 (Iowa) had a playing card game a few years ago.  The district distributed cards from a special deck to clubs (maybe just low-membership clubs?), and by visiting clubs, you could pick up a card.  Then you went to the next district conference and presented a poker hand to win prizes (which made winners somewhat random, though more visits gave you more cards to select from).

Several districts run a “capture the gavel” contest (6, 31, 46, 53, and 83, among others).  The basic idea is that the district plants a special traveling gavel with a club to start, and then 2 or 3 members from another club visit and “capture” the gavel to take home.  Then another club does the same thing to that club.  The club holding the gavel has to announce it on the district web site, along with their meeting date/time/location (no hiding the gavel!).  The limitation here is that there’s only one club being targeted with visitors at any given time.

Other districts run a club ambassador contest (my home district 30, 55, and 84, and others).  You visit a club (that you’re not already in) and earns points for doing so (extra points for participating, giving a speech, or a not-yet-chartered club).  Submit a visit report to the district listing three unique things about the club (another source of ideas to share!) and the points are tallied up.  Recognition can be based on number of clubs visited or points earned, with prizes and awards at the next district event.

From first-hand experience, the ambassador program generates some broad enthusiasm and participation; while D30 has about 200 clubs, there are over 60 people participating in the ambassador program, including a number who have never been involved outside their home club.  I’ve visited a number of clubs for credit myself through this program, most of them pre-charter.

There’s also the “S.E.X.” program, via John Lesko in district 27, which is the “Speaker and Evaluator eXchange”.  I don’t think there’s a contest or points involved, just a theme towards encouraging visits.

Obviously, these programs may not work so well for visiting closed/corporate clubs, though many of those will happily accept a scheduled visitor (even if the guest can’t join).

What does your district do to encourage members to visit other clubs?  Leave a comment, and use the new social network sharing links under the headline!