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FIELD NOTES

IMPACT OF COVID—Meeting remotely com). This app allows a Zoom audience to enter

via Zoom was one of the protocols we hoped several words or phrases they felt best described
would minimize the impact of Covid on our their experience listening to a speaker. The result
event. Unfortunately, Covid managed to reach is a word cloud. (See Sondra’s on page 37).
its tentacles over the airwaves, as several of our Another innovation was the Picker Wheel

presenters were stricken at the last minute. No (pickerwheel.com). This app allows the upload of
worries though! Several champions stepped into a list of names to a website which puts the names
the breach and saved the day. on a wheel, spins the wheel with sound effects,
and finally stops on a random name from the

HYBRID MEETINGS—We asked a question list. This tool came in handy to pick names for
on the survey after the last TLI to gauge interest the early bird and grand prize drawing at the
in new topics, and one that emerged near the end of the program.
top demonstrated an appetite to learn more Finally, while not an innovation per se, our

about how a club can successfully run a hybrid Program Quality Director revived Bingo and we
meeting. We included a panel discussion in this made it accessible to the online world.
TLI with representatives from Clubs who have
had some degree of success with this format. The CONCLUSION—Let me conclude with these

session was well attended and elicited excellent thoughts as we take the lessons learned from
reviews. We included a question on the post-TLI TLI forward into the future.
survey about the format for the next TLI. The The Toastmasters Club is an extraordinary
response strongly favored a hybrid format. laboratory for exploring the transformational

There was a contingent who favored meeting in principles that emerge from moments that
person, but the majority opinion favored either matter in our lives. Sharing those moments with
online or hybrid. We will take this feedback into others can put a twinkle in their eyes and you
consideration. know what happens next! The light dawns in

(If you are hearing about hybrid for the first the mind of the beholder, they become infected,
time, here’s a quick definition. It’s a meeting and Toastmasters becomes a contagion that can
that takes place both in person and online spread across generations, divides, oceans, and
simultaneously. Some of the members join via continents! Take a moment to reflect on how

Zoom and the others meet at a physical location Toastmasters has transformed your life and
and all partake of the dialog and discussion.) consider sharing this experience with others
this coming year. Let’s make 2022-2023 a year
RECOGNITION—The online format for TLI to remember!

provides some unique opportunities to be
creative. We introduced three new tools this
time that received positive feedback.
The first was the Mentimeter (mentimeter.

38 ONE COMMUNITY