Northrise Toastmasters Club 1988/112

Meetings: alternate Thursdays 6:45 am

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Hospitality

Role Objectives

Greet guests and members at meetings. If attending in person, ensure that club facilities are organised for each meeting and that meetings are called to order on time.

Description of Role

As its name suggests, this role is about organisation, hospitality and making people feel welcome. The Hospitality person is the first face most people see on arriving at a physical meeting and thus help form their first impressions of the meeting. If the meeting is hybrid and you aren't attending the Toastmaster needs to be advised.

Preparation

Arrive at the meeting early and if attending physically, set up the timing lights and lay out the signs

Timing

Call the meeting to order at 7.00am and after 5 minutes of the mid meeting break,

Procedure

Physical Attendance:- You will need the Hospitality Desk gear which is in the storage boxes containing all the club's equipment stored at the venue.

Put out signs and sandwich boards. If you are going to need help recruit this early. signs should be positioned to assist guests find the meeting ie at the front door and lower rear car park entrance.

Guests need to have the lay of the land explained. Preferably, introduce your guest to a member but if no member is available, this will fall on you. It isn't really enough just to give guests a smile and just turn them loose.

Keep an eye on the front door for the first half of the meeting and intercept any late arrivals. It is useful if you use your early arrival to arrange a seat in the meeting that allows you to do this without having to jog around the seated masses to greet any stragglers. Don't stay seated at the door, join the meeting as soon as possible.

Hybrid and Virtual Attendance:- Greet the online members and guests and as people arrive, greet them warmly.

Call the meeting to order at 7.00 am and at the end of the refreshment break. Your first call to order should ideally be preceded by a 2 minute warning, " Meeting will start in 2 minutes" and your call to order should include a brief topical "warming up" segment/comment/joke before handing over to the Toastmaster.

You will be asked to address the meeting very early in the piece to introduce any guests. Be ready for this so that you can deliver without fluster when you are called upon to do so. There is a specific item on the agenda "Introduction of Guests" where this is done. When asked by the meeting Toastmaster to do so, introduce each guest to the meeting by name (eg "Mr/Madame Toastmaster, this morning we have as guests.......and......").

It is a nice touch if you can indicate if the guests are attending for the first time or if they are returning guests and then extend a one or two sentence welcome to the guests (eg a variation on "Thank you for coming along this morning and we very much hope that you enjoy the meeting"). If the guest is a visiting Toastmaster from another club, or a special guest General Evaluator, Guest Speaker or Contest Judge this should be mentioned in your welcome address.]

At the end of the mid meeting break, repeat the calling to order procedure with a two minute warning. You should be advised by the Timekeeper when the break is over but occasionally this is overlooked so you should watch the time also. This should not be left for the meeting Toastmaster to do.

Very occasionally a meeting is non-standard and in this case you should check with the meeting Toastmaster as to any special requirements.

At the end of the meeting, pack away signs together with the Visitor Book and Visitor Packs.

Key points

  • Get to the meeting early and set up the hospitality desk & signs

  • Be hospitable

  • Be organised

  • Be prepared to introduce the guests to the meeting when asked.

Desirable Outcome

An orderly greeting and processing of arrivals that sets the stage for an enjoyable meeting.