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We spoke with two Toastmasters who started a corporate club. Here are some tips to help you start one, too. Aurigo MasterWords (club # 7219118) who chartered November 19 2018.
Aurigo Software is a global software company headquartered in Austin, that provides capital program and project portfolio management software solutions for large capital infrastructure owners in the public and private sectors (including ports, city governments and state transport departments). (wikipedia). The club is named after Aurigo's best-selling product - Masterworks. Who decided to start your corporate club and why? Employee growth is a key value at Aurigo. Aurigo executive team is committed to providing employees opportunities to develop necessary job skills. Since many of the Austin-based employees are customer-facing, Aurigo’s executive team decided to invest in helping employees improve their communication and interpersonal skills. As a result, Aurigo MasterWords corporate club was started with Manish Sharma as the executive sponsor.
We have added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of April 12th - Manor Toastmasters Club
Current Area J63 Director Marva Bennett, a resident of Manor TX, noticed that the rapidly growing community just east of the Austin area had a need for a Toastmasters club. Marva started to reach out to her contacts in the Manor community to build an interest group, and worked tirelessly with the Manor Chamber of Commerce, the Manor School District, and the whole community until she built a team of 20 committed Toastmasters. I recently attended a meeting and met 2 guests who both told me that they had been looking for a club that geographically fit their needs, and were both relieved to have found Manor Toastmasters. Manor Toastmasters club will meet at 6:30pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at Saint Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, located at 12800 Lexington Street in Manor Texas. The club is aligned to J63, supported by Area Director Marva Bennett, who is also the club sponsor. The club will also be supported by club mentors Nicole Johns and Reed Stoddard. Congratulations to the Manor Toastmasters team, and welcome to District 55! We have added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of April 24th - City of Del Rio Toastmasters!
The City had a Toastmasters Club previously. Recently City Leaders realized what they were missing out on in terms of communications and leadership development for their managers. Thanks to the hard work of new club president Elsa Reyes, Director of Transportation and reinstated member, the club is back up and running. Mentor/Sponsors Bill Friedrich and Jan King helped the club plan and run its first kickoff meeting before the club had even officially chartered. The club will be aligned with Area F21, and supported by F21 Area Director Wilma Igwe. City of Del Rio Toastmasters club will meet on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. at the Council Chambers, 109 W Broadway St, Del Rio, TX 78840. Congratulations to Elsa Reyes, and the City of Del Rio Toastmasters team, welcome to District 55! Toastmasters International announced the election of the leaders of District 55; Wafae Owen, Jean Ramsey, and Kathy Moore at its District conference.
Owen, a resident of Cedar Park, will serve as the District Director. In this role, she will be responsible for directly administering and overseeing the district’s day-to-day operations. As Director, she will lead the rest of the district leadership team to work towards the District’s mission to build new Toastmasters clubs and supporting all clubs in achieving excellence. Owen has been a member of Toastmasters since 2001 and is a member of Lakeline Toastmasters. ”Toastmasters has helped me in my personal development and career advancement. It is an honor to continue serving District 55 to help contribute to the personal growth of others.” Ramsey, a resident of Austin, will serve as the Program Quality Director. She has been a member of Toastmasters since 2008 and is a member of both iChatters Toastmasters and Paper Club Toastmasters. As the Program Quality Director, Ramsey will be responsible for all aspects of education and training within the District. This includes supporting club-programming efforts, promoting the Toastmasters “Distinguished Club Program”, and planning District-wide events. "I am so excited about serving the members of District 55 Toastmasters this year! I hope by empowering our member clubs with Education and Training that they'll all achieve excellence in the coming year!" Moore, a resident of San Antonio and a member of Medtronic San Antonio Toastmasters, will serve as the Club Growth Director. She will be responsible for all aspects of marketing, club building, and club retention efforts within the District. This includes defining an overall marketing strategy, developing outreach and retention efforts within existing community and corporate clubs, and penetrating new markets. Additionally, she will support challenged clubs to help them excel. She joined Toastmasters in 2005.
If you're stumped about how to get started, reach out to your Area Director, or to your Club Growth Director at cgd@tmd55.org Let's join other clubs in Toastmasters Region 3 (AZ, CA, NM, OK, TX) in hosting an Open House
between April 21-April 27! Follow the directions on this flyer (PDF) and post your video to the District 55 Facebook page, and you'll be entered into a drawing for a $50 VISA gift card for your club! We have added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of March 29th – Southside Speakers!
Steve Lockwood PDG/DTM and Erica Lockwood DTM, a wonderful couple who met in Toastmasters 10 years ago at the Speaking of Liberty club in North Austin moved to South Austin a year ago and noticed there were no clubs in the Slaughter/I-35 area. They put together a demo meeting on 1/22 and by 3/26 (meeting #10) had the 25 members they needed to charter. Their membership consists of 7 dual members, 6 reinstated members, 1 transfer, and 11 new members. Getting 10 signed up at the demo meeting and 15 over the next 9 weeks was a rapid pace but almost every guest has joined. The club will meet Tuesday evenings at DK Maria’s Legendary Tex-Mex at Slaughter & Manchaca. Social time is 6-6:30 pm and the meetings run 6:30-7:45 pm. Due to the club’s close proximity to Kyle and San Marcos, the club is aligned to H41, to hard working Area Director Alan Shinn, who is also one of the club mentors. The other club mentor is Jen Soto, a former Area Director and member of Austin Toastmasters. Club sponsors are Erica Lockwood and District Administration Manager DJ Cardamone. Next year the club will be realigned into I54 with other clubs in south/southeast Austin. The charter party will be held Tuesday, April 23rd at DK Maria’s. All are welcome! Congrats to the Southside Speakers team, and welcome to District 55!
Toastmasters strives to empower individuals through personal and professional development. In the day-to-day activities of a club, it can be a challenge to know where you place your club's focus. Fortunately, Toastmasters provides a way for clubs to track their progress towards excellence. The Distinguished Club Program (DCP) offers a set of goals for which to strive.
We have added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of March 11th - HDR San Antonio Toastmasters Club.
HDR Inc, is an architectural, engineering, and consulting firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. HDR has worked on projects in all 50 states, and across 60 countries, including notable projects such as the Hoover Dam Bypass, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital and Roslin Institute building. The firm employs nearly 10,000 professionals, and represents hundreds of disciplines in various markets (including San Antonio). (source wikipedia) HDR San Antonio Toastmasters will meet 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at noon, at their campus on Northwest Loop 401 in San Antonio. Membership is restricted to HDR employees. The club is aligned in Area H44, and will be supported by Doug Kelly and Keng Chester as new club mentors, Bill Friedrich and Sandy Watson as sponsors, and Darla Peek as Area Director. Congratulations to new Club President, En Weng. We just added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of February 25th - NanoToast Toastmasters (club # 7294562).
The NanoToast club will meet at Canon Nanotechnologies. Canon Nanotechnologies, together with Canon, is the market and technology leader for high-resolution, low cost-of-ownership nanoimprint lithography systems and solutions for the semiconductor industry. (from the corporate website) NanoToast Toastmasters will meet Wednesdays at noon. Membership is restricted to CNT employees. Congratulations to new Club President, and club sponsor Steve Burns.
Effective immediately, any club coach who has already been assigned, and any new club coaches that are assigned before June 30, 2020 will not only receive credit toward their ALS, but they will also receive the required year of district leadership credit to achieve their DTM.
The club they are coaching must achieve distinguished status by June 30, 2020.This credit will apply to those still working under the legacy program as well as those now committed to Pathways and working toward the Pathway DTM
We just added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of December 3rd – Alamo Toastmasters Club (club #7199373)
The Alamo Colleges District is a network of five community colleges in San Antonio and Universal City, Texas, and serving the Greater San Antonio metropolitan area. The district was founded in 1978 as the San Antonio Community College District before adopting the Alamo name in 1982. (Wikipedia) Alamo Toastmasters will meet 2nd & 4th Thursday at 12pm. Membership is restricted. The club is aligned in Area F23, and will be supported by Michele Riboul and Wilma Igwe as new club mentors, and Michele Riboul as Area Director. We just added a new club to our District 55 Toastmasters Community as of November 19th - Aurigo MasterWords (club # 7219118).
Aurigo Software is a global software company headquartered in Austin, that provides capital program and project portfolio management software solutions for large capital infrastructure owners in the public and private sectors (including ports, city governments and state transport departments). (wikipedia). The club is named after Aurigo's best-selling product - Masterworks. Aurigo will meet 1st and 3rd Thursdays each month, at 4pm. Membership is restricted to Aurigo employees. The club is aligned in Area K75, and will be supported by Miriam Mora and Fernando Hinojosa as new club mentors, and Balu Muthuvulu as Area Director. Congratulations to new Club President, and club sponsor Manish Sharma. Bart Loeser is a professional trainer and dedicated Toastmaster for eight years. Bart and his team are offering multiple educational opportunities each month to help members in District 55 sharpen their skills and hasten their progress along their route to success in achieving the goals that are available through Toastmasters.
We encourage you to take advantage of the many opportunities our District offer for you to acquire/strengthen your leadership skills. You can take on a leadership role at your Club or District. You can also conduct specialized workshops to help other Toastmasters or your community using the modules and workshops shown below from the legacy education program. Pathways has leadership opportunities within the various Path projects.
Participate in these leadership programs will satisfy some of the requirements toward achieving your Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) status: Pathways DTM (serve 12 months) or Competent Leader (serve 6 months). Some club elect new officers every six months, while other clubs hold elections once a year. This usually depends on whether the club meets weekly or biweekly. Additionally, you will acquire/hone leadership skills that will help you in your profession such as teamwork, project and time management, motivation, mentoring and conflict resolution. These leadership opportunities will also allow to expand your networking and help you advance in your career. Club Officer PositionsServing as a club officer will enable you to develop valuable leadership skills while also assisting your fellow Toastmasters. To help you prepare for the role, District 55 sponsors a number of Club Officer Training sessions to discuss your duties, best practices and resources. Listed below are the officer positions in each Toastmasters club:
District Officer PositionsAfter serving as a club officer, you may want to go beyond your club to further enhance your leadership capabilities and continue growing as a leader. Also, serving as a district officer for one year term satisfies one of the requirements for Pathways DTM or Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) recognition. (All district officers serve from July 1 to June 30 – see District Leadership Handbook for role responsibilities.) Listed below are the District officer positions:
If you are interested in a joining our District leadership team, please let your Area or Division Director know. You can also contact the current District Director at d55dd@tmd55.org.
We're in good company. You'll be hard pressed to find an occupation that cannot be enhanced by the skills learned in Toastmasters. Many well-known people from various fields have been Toastmasters, including, Napoleon Hill, James Lovell, Leonard Nimoy.
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