Division F Contests...APRIL 6

We have a date! We have a time! and We have a location!

The Division F International Speech and Table Topics Contests will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 1:00 pm CDT.  The contests will be held at the Midland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 208 S Marienfeld, Midland, TX  79701 (directions).

Contestants, Judges, Counters and Timers should report between 12:15 pm and 12:30 pm as briefings will begin promptly at 12:30 pm.

Area 61/62 Contests on March 23rd

The Area 61 & 62 speech contests for Table Topics and International Speech will be Saturday, March 23rd, from 2pm to 4pm at Sunset Church of Christ in Room 210.

The first and second place finishers of each Area contest will advance to the Division Contest (time & location TBD).

The Sunset Church of Christ is at  3723 34th Street Park at the east end of the main building (see below) and  enter the east end door.  You'll walk down a short hall and take a left hand turn.  Just ahead and on the right will be a doorway that opens to a staircase.  Take the stairs up to the second floor and you will be right at room the contest room, room 210.

Out and About

Over the weekend, several Lubbock Toastmasters came together to set up marketing tables at both Mardel Christian Bookstore and South Plains Mall.  Using the tried and true approach of talking to people face to face, they met hundreds of people from Lubbock and the surrounding cities and invited them to attend Toastmasters clubs and, in a few cases, talked with them about setting up new clubs in their home towns.

The marketing table idea came from Uwe Beltz of WWJS Toastmasters and Eloquent Raiders.  Area 62 Governor Robyne Vaughn organized the event by drafting volunteers from clubs in both of Lubbock's areas, Area 61 and Area 62, and securing venues to host the marketing tables.  Volunteers fed off each others' energy and personally invited hundreds of people to Toastmasters as well as getting them signed up to win one of two books, Tribal Leadership and The 360° Leader.  Visitors also received a Toastmasters brochure which included an insert listing every club in Lubbock along with details like meeting date & time, location, website, and personal contact info for a club representative.

Volunteers included Michelle Leatherwood from Llano Estacado, Gary Johnson from Toasters, Debbie Robertson and Michael Oden from Downtown Toastmasters, and, of course, Robyne and Uwe.

More marketing tables are coming soon.  Come out and support your club! Or if you're not a Toastmaster, come out and find out more.

Marketing table in the Mardel foyer

Uwe and Michelle at Mardel

Debbie at Mardel

Uwe talking up Toastmasters at Mardel

Michael and Uwe at South Plains Mall

Debbie at South Plains Mall

Debbie, Michael, and Gary (facing right) at South Plains Mall

Robyne, Michael, and Gary at South Plains Mall

New Events Planned to Promote Toastmasters....Volunteers Needed!!

We're making a serious effort in Lubbock to increase membership just for the fun of having more members in our clubs.  The related benefit is that we may qualify for a higher Distinguished Club Program status. 

Just like meetings are  more fun when all the roles are filled and the room is full of audience members who provide love and support, volunteer opportunities are more fun with big group!

Here are some new opportunities for Lubbock Toastmasters to take advantage of to try to increase their membership base.

Consider working together as a club to man a certain chunk of time or just dropping by to help for a few moments, even if you don't sign up for a slot.  Drop-ins are always welcome!

All the preparations have been made; we just need you to help man the table. And you could get credit in your Competent Leadership manual for assisting with a membership campaign.  Be sure to bring your manual with you to the event.

You sign up to volunteer for any of the events at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0548ABA72BA31-promoting2 .

Talk Up Toastmasters

"Toastmasters love to talk, so take advantage of it. During the "Talk Up Toastmasters!" membership contest, you can encourage your members to invite guests to a special meeting where regular procedures are augmented by a discussion of Toastmasters' many benefits. Add five new, dual or reinstated members to your roster between February 1 and March 31 to receive a special "Talk up Toastmasters!" ribbon to display on your club’s banner. Membership applications and payment for members who join between February 1 and March 31 must be received at World Headquarters or online no later than March 31. Each member's join date as listed on the application must be in February or March. Transfer and charter members do not count for credit. In addition to the ribbon, qualifying clubs will also earn a special discount code for 10% off their next club order. Discount code expires six months from date of issue and is not valid with any other offer. "

In an effort to bolster membership in all clubs in Lubbock, and in concert with Toastmasters International's "Talk up Toastmasters" contest, we've kicked off a city-wide membership drive.

Watch for email invitations to volunteer to man tables, handing out pamphlets and greeting passers-by, promoting Toastmasters and encourage your fellow club members take advantage of this opportunity. You could even man a table as a club.

District 23 leadership is providing the marketing materials for all events and is even covering the cost of an event at South Plains Mall to increase Toastmasters exposure and allow all Lubbock clubs to  reach out to the community.

The first few events on the schedule are at Mardel Christian Bookstore, Saturday, February 23, from 1:00 pm CST to 4:00 pm CST and Saturday  March 2, from from 1:00 pm CST to 4:00 pm CST.  If you are interested in volunteering for either one (or both) of these dates, please sign up here.  Be sure and watch your email, this site or the Sign-up Genius for more dates.

Remember, we will be promoting ALL clubs in Lubbock.  However, the clubs represented at these events  will naturally have greater opportunity to promote  their own club.

Get ready for a whirlwind of opportunities for building membership coming your way.  And don't forget, you can get credit in your Competent Leadership manual for helping with this membership campaign.