The Beginning of the 2015-2016 Toastmasters Year at Boise Club 61

Tonight is Boise Club 61's 1st meeting of the new Toastmaster Year and we will be inducting most of our new officers tonight. Last week we had several officers unable to attend and tonight we will be short one officer, so we chose the induction for tonight to get the most attendees possible.

I have a few goals, tweaks, and changes in mind for the club this year, but since this is our club the most I'll be doing is gathering some ideas from the executive team and the club members, adding a few of my own, and see what we want to work on collectively as a group.

Some really minor things I feel I can easily accomplish without needing permission, like keeping the club informed about our progress in the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) and making some posts here on our blog. We do also have a Facebook page, which I recommend checking out, but I doubt I'll make many posts there.

Our Boise Club 61 Officers for the 2015-2016 year are:
President      Christopher Stogdill
VP Education      Phill Vansickle
VP Membership      Robert Corbin
VP Public Relations   Annette Krause
Secretary      Carolyn Stogdill
Sergeant at Arms      Rob Lucas

The main way for folks to keep informed about the Club's DCP progress has been the Toastmaster's Dashboard, which is an open site for all to view. You don't need a login (I verified this myself by using an incognito browser) and you can check out any club in the entire organization.

Odds are, for the average member, this is a bit much so I'll be keeping folks updated using a "simple" graphic I made and used as this post's lead-in graphic. There are 10 DPC points that can be earned and fully half of them have multiple parts to each point. Without listing every point I think you can guess which points have multiple parts to them....

We need 5 points to get "Distinguished Club", 7 points for "Select Distinguished" and 9 for "President's Distinguished". As you can see by the info on the right side of this page Boise Club 61 has been President's Distinguished for the last eight years running. I'm hoping we'll make it nine years before I finish up my term of office.

On a couple levels I don't really care for if Boise Club 61 makes Distinguished, much less President's Distinguished, but the fact of the matter is that these 10 points that make up the DCP program correlate strongly with healthy clubs. If you participate in the DCP program and earn these awards, you most likely will have a strong & healthy club.....so for that reason I'm all for the DCP program.

The dashboard is still trying to finalize things for last year so it doesn't yet show our progress, but I was able to look up a few things and get my new tracker updated.

I hope you are able to attend the meeting tonight and welcome our new officers!

After Elections

Our new officers from left to right.... Note the new president is holding the gavel!!

Jamie Parker .... Exiting President reading our duties and responsibilities to us.

Sergeant at Arms Phil Vansickle

Treasurer Luke Gallegos

Secretary Annette Krause

Vice President of Public Relations Lynda Clark

Vice President of Membership Tim Hastings

Vice President of Education Steven Hurst

New President Carolyn Stogdill

Everyone accepted the duties and now we are ready for a new Toastmaster year.

Congrats to Boise Club 61's New Officers!

Last night Boise Club 61 held its elections for the 2014-2015 Toastmaster year.

Serving 6 months in a club officer role is a requirement towards earning the Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) award as part of the Leadership Track for Toastmasters International.

This group of people will lead the club to another year of earning President's Distinguished for the 2014-2015 year. Before announcing the newly-elected officers, now would be a great time to thank the previous slate of officers serving out the next two weeks as "lame ducks":

President Jamie Parker
Vice President of Education Annette Krause
Vice President of Membership Michael Pluto
Vice President of Public Relations David Coney
Secretary Carin Pluto
Treasurer Keiko Knudson
Sergeant at Arms Lynda Clark

You guys did a great job leading us to a good 2013-2014 year where we once again met all of the goals in the Distinguished Club Program for another year of President's Distinguished standing.

These folks will have some big shoes to fill, but like always the rest of the club is there to support you as much as you support us.

Boise Club 61's slate of officers for the 2014-2015 Toastmaster year are:

President Carolyn Stogdill
Vice President of Education Steven Hurst
Vice President of Membership Tim Hastings
Vice President of Public Relations Lynda Clark
Secretary Annette Krause
Treasurer Luke Gallegos
Sergeant at Arms Phil Vansickle

Hopefully we will get some posts from these folks to the Club 61 Blog.

Officer Elections Results

Boise Club 61, after several elections, finally has a full slate of officers for the 2012-2013 year.

President: Brett Kennedy
Vice President of Education: Carolyn Stogdill
Vice President of Membership: Brian Vetter
Vice President of Public Relations: Carin Pluto
Secretary: Jamie Parker
Treasurer: Adam Bland
Sergeant at Arms: Dave Manning

These officers will lead us into the next year and hopefully to another President's Distinguished Club again.

Congratulations folks!

Election Day!

It is that time of year when we have to select new Boise Club 61 officers to lead us through the next Toastmaster year.

Annette Manning, who was recently elected District 15 President, headed up the nomination committee for tonight's elections.  If you've already thrown your name in the ring, thank you for volunteering.  If you haven't, but wish you did, never fear because we do accept nominations from the floor.

It is never too late to step up and help lead the Club!

Club Officer Elections Coming Sooner than you Might Think!

It may seem early, but now is the time to start thinking about club leadership positions for the upcoming Toastmasters year which starts July 1st.

Why now?

Elections are just over a month away and now is the time that a nomination committee is being formed to find those that would like to run for office in this upcoming year.  If you really don't want to hold an office then maybe you'd like to help Annette finding those who do.

"They" say the best offense is a good defense, but I say the opposite hold true as well.  If you don't want to hold an office the best way to not get questioned frequently is to help Annette find those who do!

Club Officers

While Boise Club 61 Officer Elections are months away, now is the time to be thinking about what role you'd like to take within the club in the upcoming year.

Toastmasters International has outlined the seven basic roles for a club:

President
As president, you are responsible for providing the supportive club environment members need to fulfill their self-development goals, making sure that members benefit from the Toastmasters educational program, and helping the club recruit new members and retain current ones.


Vice President Education
As vice president education, you are responsible for providing and maintaining the positive environment and the programs through which members can learn and grow. If you do your job well, your club will have satisfied members and will continue to grow.


Vice President Membership
As vice president membership, you are responsible for building membership and ensuring a strong membership base by satisfying the needs of all members. Your efforts contribute to the success of the club.


Vice President Public Relations
As vice president public relations, you are responsible for coordinating an active public relations and publicity program. Your job is vital to the growth and success of the club; your efforts help to attract new members.


Secretary
As secretary, you are responsible for keeping clear and accurate records of club business, including membership records and correspondence with Toastmasters International’s World Headquarters and others.


Treasurer
As treasurer, you are responsible for keeping clear and accurate financial records of club business and for seeing that the club remains financially stable.


Sergeant at Arms
As the sergeant at arms, you are responsible for maintaining club properties, arranging the meeting room and welcoming members and guests at each meeting.


Now is the time to talk to the current slate of officers and ask them about their position and what it really entails.  Sometimes there is a bit of a disconnect in what "the book" says about a role and how things really work out in the clubs.  It isn't a large disconnect, but it helps to know the reality of your future workload should you seek out a Club office.

Just as now is a good time to be thinking of looking at your future role within the club, it is also the time of the year that the officers are starting to look for their replacements.