The Division Pathways Leadership Webinar

In coordination with our Division Director and another Area Director, I helped to organize an event for the club leaders (President and Vice President Education) in our Division. The meeting focused on supporting club leaders in the adoption of Pathways and the technical management of their clubs within the new program. In effect, you can think of this as our specialized form of an Area Council and Division Council meeting.

We used an online webinar platform to host the meeting. This allowed members to log in by computer or call in by phone. We were happy to see 15-20 attendees at this meeting. It is often difficult to get people to show up for yet another meeting on a weeknight that goes beyond their normal responsibilities. Also, technology can often cause trouble, especially when people aren't used to attending online meetings. Nevertheless, the turnout was good and we had little to no technical difficulties during the session. Furthermore, the event was recorded. That allowed us to follow up and share the details with everyone who attended, as well as those who did not attend.

To start the meeting, I gave a brief introduction on the importance of adopting Pathways now, while we still have 18 months of transition time left between the traditional program and the new program, rather than waiting to be forced into Pathways all at once after June 30, 2020. Getting some members working through Pathways today is essential to supporting new members, maintaining membership, and sustaining the club's educational progress over time.

The majority of the session focused on key topics for club leaders in Pathways. To conduct this portion, we invited our District Pathways Chair. The District organized a committee for the specific purpose of encouraging Pathways adoption, which is why we had an excellent presenter available to us. There was also lots of time for questions and answers. Here are the primary topics we covered during the session:

• How to review, approve, and submit awards in Base Camp and Club Central
• The information contained in the Base Camp Manager dashboards (emphasis on using the "Individual Progress" dashboard)
• How to complete projects (in particular, the importance of remembering the pre-and-post assessments)
• The projects found in Level 1
• What all leaders should do right now: look at the club roster to determine who is not enrolled in Pathways; find out why they are not enrolled, so they can be supported

I am certain that everyone in attendance learned new things about Pathways. Further, I expect that their confidence in encouraging Pathways within their club and supporting members in the new program is increased.

Our next step is to consider hosting a member-focused Pathways training session. Instead of limiting access to leaders, we would want to invite all members from the Division to attend.

The December Area Newsletter

With almost half of the year complete, just under half of the work has been done for the term of the Area Director. There was a lot of information to share, although the items are much less urgent during this time of the year. I highlighted these items in my December newsletter:

• Division Contests: I recognized the members and clubs of our Area, which took first place in both the Evaluation and Humorous Speech contests at the Division level! These members will go on to compete in the District-level contests at the spring conference.
• Membership Growth: I recognized two clubs that recently added an amazing 10 members to their rosters. I also noted that they made specific efforts to grow membership, such as by organizing open house events. Moreover, I recognized the remaining clubs for their membership growth (all other clubs added two to five members).
• Pathways Training Event: I informed the club Presidents of a special Pathways training event I was coordinating along with a fellow Area Director in the Division. I asked them to save the date and look for details as the event approached.
• Pathways Resources: I provided a number of useful Pathways resources, including path and project descriptions, a video tutorial on how to enroll, and the Base Camp Manager duties guide. This was to support Pathways adoption and educational progress, which has become of increasing interest to clubs lately. I also outlined how Level 1 works in Pathways, since it is the same for all members, regardless of which path they choose.
• Nominations for Elected Positions: I provided a link to the District nomination instructions and forms, noting the deadline of December 15. This is the nomination period for elected positions, including District Director, Program Quality Director, Club Growth Director, and Division Director. I also asked the club leaders to keep an eye out for potential Area Directors, which would be nominated in April 2019.
• Presenting the Community: I announced that my year-long series of video testimonials from members all over South Florida and The Bahamas officially came to an end. I sent everyone a link to the final video, as well as the entire series, so they could enjoy.
• Upcoming Events: As with the previous newsletter, I provided a simple list of events on the horizon for 2019 to keep everyone focused on what is ahead.
• Special Events and Requests: Lastly, I announced some special events and requests made by individual members and different officials in the Toastmasters hierarchy over the past month, thereby making club leaders aware and encouraging their participation.