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PUBLIC RELATIONS
Boost Club Membership in 2017
Embrace the Online Option
by Phyllis A. Harmon, DTM - Public Relations Manager
In August 2015, Toastmasters International Let’s look at Toastmasters International’s
threw open the membership door giving clubs the requirements for adding remote members to
ability to recruit members who might never cross your club as well as some techie stuff to help you
their threshholds by attending club meetings get started:
online. Protocol 2.3.A.II—Participants must be able
The 2015 protocol change gave clubs a to communicate with all other members in
boost in member retention and recruitment attendance at the in-person meeting.
opportunities. Members, who leave because of Protocol 2.3.A.III—Online participation in a
club meeting does not include voice only
teleconferencing, recorded video, or recorded
audio.
Protocol 2.3.C.—Each club determines the type
of online platform(s) to be used and must acquire
it at the club’s expense if there is a fee for use.
Protocol 2.3.D.—Each member participating
in online club meetings will provide their own
technology at their own expense if there is a
fee for use.
For those of you who are giving me the
stink-eye after reading the above requirements
and takng a look at your club budgets, stop it!
Bringing remote members “into the room”
doesn’t have to be a tech-heavy, budget-busting
relocations, changes in work schedules, or who ordeal.
can no longer make their way to the meetings, Here are a few meeting location basic
could now stay connected via the Internet. Niche must-haves:
clubs, like Feedbackers, Storymasters, and Thrill • Internet connection
of the Quill, could attract remote members by • Laptop or tablet
providing online options. • Webcam
The days of hearing “if only” comments can • Exernal speakers/microphone
be relegated to the annals of history. You know • Skype, Google Hangouts, Facebook, etc.
the conversation, “if only you met at a more Hmmm, that’s not such a daunting list, is
reasonable time/location/day of the week, I would it? Connecting to the Internet is a must. If your
love to join your club!” Now you can respond meeting location doesn’t offer a connection,
with, “Never fear! I have a solution that will work perhaps one of your members has hotspot
for you!” capabilites on their smartphone.
So the question is, What’s holding you back? If your laptop or tablet is less that 5 years
If your club is recruiting new members, or old, it probably has a built-in webcam. You can
looking for ways to keep the ones you’ve got, strategically place it at eye level in the meetng
then an online option should be part of your room, where it spans the majority of the space,
publc relations strategy. allowing everyone to be “in the online meeting
As with any new strategy, you need to know room.”
the ground rules and develop a plan of action. Built-in speakers on electronic devices are not
34 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 JANUARY, 2017 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 JANUARY, 2017
