{"id":758,"date":"2011-10-16T12:32:14","date_gmt":"2011-10-16T17:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/?p=758"},"modified":"2012-04-20T00:01:38","modified_gmt":"2012-04-20T05:01:38","slug":"real-life-leaving-no-clubs-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/16\/real-life-leaving-no-clubs-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Real life: Leaving NO clubs behind!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Anne Myers, DTM, District 49 Governor for last year (2010-11) was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview via Skype.<\/p>\n

Mike: Good morning, Anne!\u00a0 So D49 did something last year that no other district achieved — you renewed every single club in the district, no clubs lost.\u00a0 How did you do it?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: We can look at two areas of focus, one is the new clubs that are formed and the other is the existing clubs, like other districts.\u00a0 I believe the biggest success we have in not losing clubs is that for new clubs, we focus on prescreening new clubs to ensure they are able to be sustained for the long term and not just a short term fix for a situation.\u00a0 Case in point, we had a corporate contact approach us where the group only wanted to form for help in doing some short term presentations.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We encourage corporate clubs to really think about being an open club so that when there is a membership lag they are able to sustain themselves.<\/p>\n

Mike: What do you tell a company that wants a TM club, but you think they won’t be able to sustain it in the long run?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: We can offer to help them by meeting with them. \u00a0We can help to understand their goals and it may not be forming a TM club.\u00a0 This way it is a win-win for them and us.<\/p>\n

Mike: Something like a Speechcraft?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: An example of doing a needs assessment, a company had ten in a management group that wanted to have sessions just to improve their presentation to upper management. I did have the contact come to a club meeting to observe what happens in a club and after that she decided not to pursue forming a club as she was looking for a very quick fix.<\/p>\n

Mike: What do you see as good indicators that a company will be able to make a TM club work for them?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: The key is the one key contact person \u2013 without that the company will never go forward.\u00a0 That person has to understand what Toastmasters is all about.\u00a0 Sometimes it takes some courting time like a few months and to see if there is real interest.\u00a0 Assess the long term goals of the company.\u00a0 For some companies, the time is not right.\u00a0 The companies are just too busy in the company\u2019s life cycle to devote time to a club.<\/p>\n

Mike: Sort of a spark plug.\u00a0 Have you had to go back into an existing (but maybe struggling) company club and re-sell management on the value of TM, and why they need to support it and continue?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: We had a club last year that was struggling and possibly not continuing on.\u00a0 However, our Lt. Governor of Marketing had strategized to get a letter out to upper management that the Toastmasters club was in trouble.\u00a0 This helped to revitalize the club.\u00a0 The turnaround was that the club members needed the support of management and getting the letter out did that for them.<\/p>\n

Mike: Turning to community clubs, what’s the secret to long-term success there?<\/em><\/p>\n

Naturally, we focus on the health of the clubs.\u00a0 However, Cat (Carolyn Sawai, District 49 Governor for 2009-10, just before Anne) says that looking at the number of members of a club does not tell the whole story.\u00a0 It is going out to the clubs to see how they are.\u00a0 Try and understand the difference between clubs in trouble and ones with small numbers.\u00a0 Is there a core go to person?\u00a0 Be positive and don\u2019t try and get rid of clubs.\u00a0 There are two clubs that have low membership.\u00a0 However, they go out into the community to do Youth Leadership and are devoted to having their club serve the community they live and work in.<\/p>\n

Mike: Is the actual attendance rate at club meetings a good measure?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: Yes, but there are other factors.\u00a0 There are clubs in the community that have low numbers but they meet every week no matter who is in attendance.\u00a0 They also do community outreach to try and attract more members.\u00a0 And, clubs also accommodate members with their needs.\u00a0 There are clubs with high attendance rates that sometimes may not always put the members first.<\/p>\n

Mike: Tell me more about what they do to accommodate members?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: Personalized attention.\u00a0 I have seen this at a particular club.\u00a0 The leader recognizes that a member has to do some briefing.\u00a0 Then, she would prepare table topics questions and fire them at the member for a few minutes to help the member with her situation.<\/p>\n

Mike: Is there any easy answer on how to identify struggling clubs that need help, besides low membership or attendance?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: The Area and Division Governors stay close with the clubs and if there are clubs in trouble we spring into action. \u00a0Not too quickly though as timing is always key.\u00a0 We have a one-on-one conversation with the go-to-person as it is not necessarily the club president.\u00a0 Then we identify what the problem is, and try and address the problem.\u00a0 Common problems include not enough corporate management support, meeting time or place, conflict within the club, or lack of time or energy.<\/p>\n

Mike: Have you been able to use the club coach program to turn clubs around?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne Myers: We don’t do much club coaching in the district though our current DG is looking seriously into this.\u00a0 When I was an LGM, I did assign 2 club coaches and they were successful.\u00a0 However, one club reverted back to low numbers.\u00a0 So, I don’t know what long term solution can be put into place.<\/p>\n

Mike: Anything else that helps keep the clubs strong and growing?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: Personally, keeping in contact with the clubs but it is more than that. It is knowing that the key leaders in place understand the TM programs.\u00a0 The best leaders in the club are those that have transitioned into knowing it is all about the members in the club and how they can help them and in turn help the communities they live in.\u00a0 When the realization strikes that it is not me, it is we, that is when you know that the club will remain strong because of the commitment of the individuals in the club.<\/p>\n

Mike: What do we do with a club that doesn’t have a key member, a leader, a spark plug, like you describe?<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: Ask one of them to become an Area Governor.<\/p>\n

Mike: What a great idea!<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: In District 49, it is a habit of not losing very many clubs.\u00a0 In fact in the past five years, we only lost six clubs.\u00a0 It is a habit.\u00a0 We identify clubs that are in trouble and usually it is a long process to work with them. \u00a0To let a club go is the easier answer but working with them to continue on is the most rewarding thing to do.<\/p>\n

Mike: Quite a strong foundation that keeps things working so well over the years.\u00a0 Anne, thanks for your time this morning, I appreciate all that you’ve shared.\u00a0 Have a wonderful weekend!<\/em><\/p>\n

Anne: Aloha and we here in District 49 are truly blessed with such wonderful, giving people who truly exemplify the word ALOHA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne Myers, DTM, District 49 Governor for last year (2010-11) was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview via Skype. Mike: Good morning, Anne!\u00a0 So D49 did something last year that no other district achieved — you renewed every single club in the district, no clubs lost.\u00a0 How did you do it? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous-toastmasters","tag-club-retention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758\/revisions\/825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeraffety.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}