Officers
Disclaimer
These are just general guidelines, additional and actual operational procedures may vary.
New Officer Information
As an officer (President, VP Education, VP Public Relations, VP Membership, Secretary, Sergeant at Arms, and/or Treasurer, you have a number of key responsibilities.
You will attend an officer training specific to your position each term for which you are elected. Yes, you may have already attended these but not only do you get new ideas each time, but you might also grasp something that you missed the previous time you attended. And there is always the chance that some new things have been added.
You should have received a manual that explains your duties as well. Please take some time to review this.
You have agreed to support the club by being an officer. You can choose to do the bare minimum and let the club suffer or you can choose to make a difference.
The purpose of this page is not to review the items that you learned when you did the above, but instead to focus on things that are either not covered (just something that our club does) or maybe covered, but a reminder might help.
Privacy Issue – Important!
Each officer will have their own @startupspeakers.us email ID. In most cases, it is generic, as in pres@startupspeakers.us. Usually, email sent to these are then automatically forwarded to your 'real' email ID. This protects your privacy and personal email ID.
DO NOT give out anyone's person email ID. When in doubt, use the official email ID listed on the contacts page.
If you are a new officer, please verify that your @startupspeakers.us email ID works as desired. If not, please contact the club President.
President
Please make sure that you are a member of the club's Officers email group. Please make sure that all your officers have also joined that list.
When you cannot attend an officer's meeting, please find someone to fill-in for you and let them know the meeting's agenda.
It is YOUR responsibility to be sure that the TM for the week realizes that they are the TM (provided that they haven't already started) that week. You can pass this on to your VP-E, but make sure that they will do it.
At the end of each meeting, please have the following readily available:
Schedule for the following week
Winners (and extra ribbons if there is a tie)
To make sure that the VPE is preparing and distributing the schedules on a timely basis.
You will have to be in contact with the Area Governor. This person is also a volunteer. Try to make their job easier by being prepared for their visits and having the information readily available.
Request all records from the previous President that you will need as well as any information regarding ongoing issues.
Make sure all club email addresses have at least one person who regularly monitors them.
Whenever a holiday will happen the same day (or week) as a meeting, make sure the SAA notifies all members and officers the meeting establishment and confirms that they know if we will (or will not) be meeting. Don't assume they will know.
Notify the responsible person to:
Update the Startup Speakers email forwarding (so email to pres@startupspeakers.us goes to you, VPE@startupspeakers.us goes to the VP of Education, etc.)
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.
Vice President Education
Please make sure you have attended all the relevant training and read the manual you were sent.
Please join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Check with your predecessor to get information about each member's status and goals for their next level.
Make sure we have extra manuals (and photo copies of the evaluation pages) on hand to use if a member forgets their manual, they can still get a proper evaluation.
Don't forget that we need to plan for the following events:
Spring competition – International and Table Topics – usually in Feb
Fall competition – Humorous speech, Evaluation, Tall Tales – usually in Sep.
Special meetings – debates, auctions, etc.
Speak to each new member and see if they would like a mentor. If so, see if they have someone in mind.. Then contact that person , or others if necessary, to see if they will serve as a mentor.
When scheduling, you need to pick 'Themes' for each meeting. Here are some ideas on how to get themes:
Look at the calendar – are there any holidays or events around the time of a meeting? Tax day, Easter, Mother's Day, Secretaries Day, etc. are all good candidates
Any major sporting events (Super Bowl, World Series, Olympics, etc.) or awards show (Oscars, Grammys, etc
Any major change in the season (Spring Cleaning, Summer Vacations, etc.)
If all that fails, then here are some web sites that will give you ideas based on events that have happened in the past:
http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/ - Famous birthdays, holidays, events, etc.
You can also ask the person doing Table Topics if they would like to pick a theme, as they will need to develop questions around whatever theme is chosen.
Make sure that all new members know about the web site and email list. Point them to the Tips & Tricks pages so they can be somewhat prepared for the various duties.
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.
Vice President Membership
Please make sure you have attended all the training and read the manual you were sent.
Please join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Check with your predecessor to get information about any processes in place to aid in your task.
Make sure that the Sergeant at Arms is greeting each guest and that there are packets of information available to give to that guest if they are interested in joining.
If you cannot stay to talk with a guest, make sure that someone else can and that they know what to do if the guest decides to join
When a new member joins, make sure you send the new members contact information to the Startup Speakers Officers email list so that all the officers know about the new member, can add them to the schedule, call and congratulate them, etc.
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.
Vice President Public Relations
Make sure you have attended all the training and read the manual you were sent.
The officer training is really useful as the same officers from different clubs do meet face to face to share their knowledge and learn from each other.
Join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Make sure you have admin rights on the Meetup.com event page and on our clubs Facebook page.
Weekly duties:
Announce the Meetup.com event in the clubs Google Group and ask the club members to RSVP to the upcoming event. This shows visitors on Meetup.com that there is a good attendance.
Make a photo of today's winners and upload it to the Meetup event and to our club's Facebook Page: StartupSpeakersTM
If possible write new guests a welcome notice on Meetup.com. You should receive E-Mail notifications when someone RSVPs to the event and is a first timer.
General:
Make sure that any changes to the club are reflected on the Meetup.com page, the Facebook page and this web page.
Ideas:
You may consider requesting members to bring in old copies of their TM magazines and then cover the original mailing label with one that has information about our club. Then you can give these back to us to distribute to medical waiting rooms and other areas where people might find them.
Work with the VP Membership on other ways to promote the club.
Remember: This task is your turf and you are free to come up with new ideas and remodel old ones. Your duty is to serve this club by promoting it. How you do it is up to you.
Secretary
Please make sure you have attended all the training and read the manual you were sent.
Please join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Check with your predecessor any outstanding issues (pending orders, etc.)
Join the Startup Speakers Minutes email list (same as you did the Officers list)
After each meeting (regular, board, or special event) please send an email to the Startup Speakers Minutes email list. Anyone can be on the list, but most will choose read the minutes at the club's site so they can look up information about meetings without it filling up their mailbox.
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.
Sergeant At Arms
Please make sure you have attended all the training and read the manual you were sent.
Please join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Check with your predecessor on where all the club materials are stored and how to get them before the meeting as well as putting them away after the meeting.
Check with the TM each week to see if the projector and screen need to be set up or not.
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.
Treasurer
Please make sure you have attended all the training and read the manual you were sent.
Please join the Startup Speakers Officers group (E-Mail & WhatsApp)
Check with your predecessor on how to collect money for the meals at each meeting.
Make sure you get the bank updated with the new signatures, etc.
And, of course, all the other stuff you learned in the officer training.