By VP Public Relations 2022-23 Dale
Blog Post #3
What will our booth at the Love Local Porirua Expo look like? How will we use that space to attract visitors who will stop and talk to us?
These questions, along with a myriad of others, were tackled by the Expo Organising Sub-committee.
We know our booth will be a 3 m x 3 m space, with 3 walls in black. We know we can hang things off the walls and pin things to the walls. Great! We can use our Toastmasters flags and banners. We can put up posters. We can display Toastmasters pamphlets and fliers on a table. And on a large TV we can play two videos about Spinnaker Toastmasters that were produced a few years ago but are still relevant and useful today.
Video 1 – Anna (YouTube 2 mins)
Video 2 – Jerry (YouTube 2 mins)
Kathy had the great idea of using our lectern in a dedicated space, with some kind of fear statement as a backdrop – such as: would you rather die than stand up here and speak!
We thought that sounded a little too dramatic! So we’ll ask people to take a selfie at the lectern and send it to us, and in return, receive a free gift. We’ll see how that goes!
Social media and existing resources
Other planning activities include preparing social media posts for Facebook, MeetUp and Neighbourly. We were highlighted on the Porirua City Council Facebook page as an exhibitor as well.
We also reviewed existing Toastmaster resources on the Toastmasters International and New Zealand Toastmasters District 72 websites. In the end, we decided to design our own pamphlets and posters because the Toastmasters ones were “very American” in appearance and wording. We wanted something with a “local” flavour with our own club information highlighted for our Love Local Porirua Expo. While we’ll display the Toastmasters International resources, we’ll also hand out our own with our club information and invitation to our Open Meeting on 16 August. We’ll show you screenshots of those in a future blog post.
What’s next
In the next post, we’ll talk about the fear of public speaking and how we expect to answer the public’s questions about this.
See Blog Post #1 – The Proposal
See Blog Post #2 – Approval and Funding
About Toastmasters
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organisation that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, the organisation’s membership exceeds 300,000 in more than 15,800 clubs in 149 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.
About Spinnaker Toastmasters Club
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club chartered on 18 September 1990, and originally met in Whitby. Now the club meets in Plimmerton on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. The club has 12 active members and is looking to increase that to at least 20, the desired size for an active and dynamic Toastmasters club.
About the author
Dale is a Distinguished Toastmaster and a member of Spinnaker Toastmasters Club since 1998. She has received a Presidential Citation for her work as District 72 New Zealand Webmaster, and helped charter three other clubs. She has completed the Presentation Mastery educational Pathway and is currently working on the Motivational Strategies Pathway. Dale is the VP Public Relations for 2022-23.
About this blog series
The purpose of this blog series is to fulfil the requirements of the Level 4 Elective “Write a Compelling Blog” in the Motivational Strategies Pathway. She has chosen to document the process of organising and presenting a booth at the Love Local Porirua 2022 Expo being held in Porirua on 30 July. The target audience is her fellow Toastmasters who may have an opportunity to run a similar activity at a future event. To do this, a minimum of 8 blog posts must be created and published. Club members will be asked for feedback, and when done, Dale will deliver a short speech on her blogging experiences.
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club, Plimmerton, Porirua, New Zealand 