Page 18 - voices-2023-10

TRIO TALK
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL
Jim Robison, DTM
District Director
When I first joined Toastmasters, over three decades
ago, I had not joined because of Toastmasters
International; I had joined because of the club. I got
to know the people in my club who made me feel
welcome, and that Toastmasters was a place where I
could learn, grow and belong.
At first, I knew that a member of my club had served
as something called “District Governor” and I knew
there were other clubs who we competed against in
contests, but I did not know a lot about the extent
of Toastmasters as an organization. Eventually I
started interacting with other clubs. I attended Area
and Division contests, District Conferences, officer
training sessions and I visited the meetings of other
clubs. This got me to thinking about the reach of
Toastmasters beyond my own club.
I then started looking at the diverse backgrounds
of the members of our club. At one point, I decided
to do an informal survey to see where the members
of our club came from. Based on place of birth, I
learned that we had members in our club who were
born in 11 different countries. This was long before
clubs began meeting online, so all the members
were local, but they had come from many places.
We had members who were from Nigeria, Russia,
Mexico, Canada, Poland and many more. One of
our members had actually been the first person to
charter a German language Toastmasters club in the
United States (in Chicago).
The International nature of Toastmasters struck me
more when I learned that some of our former club
members were transferring to clubs in their home
countries, or countries they moved to. One member
18 ONE COMMUNITY
told me that he joined our club so that he could
transfer to a club near his home in Russia, because it
was easier for him to join the club here and transfer,
than it was to join the club there. Another member
transferred to a club in Saudia Arabia. Knowing
that we had members from west Africa, South
America, Europe and Asia, and that we had former
members in clubs in other countries, gave me a
much broader feeling about the international nature
of Toastmasters.
When the Covid 19 Pandemic forced most clubs to
go to online meetings, it opened up opportunities
for clubs to gain members from around the world.
Prior to this, we occasionally had a travelling
Toastmaster visit our meeting. For example,
Toastmasters from Hungary, China and Japan had
visited our club when they travelled to Portland.
When we went online, it opened up so that we had
visitors from other countries at a majority of our
meetings, without the need to travel.
Looking at membership in District 7 today, I see
thirteen countries other than the United States
represented, and 25 states beyond Oregon and
Washington (we currently have no clubs in California,
but many members from there). You might think
that the most international clubs would be those in
major cities or transport centers but you’d be wrong.
A club in a small city in southern Oregon (Roseburg
Speakers and Storytellers) has an international
membership that includes members in Germany,
Indonesia, China and India. The International scope
of Toastmasters has truly come home.