PMI Dallas Toastmasters, associated with the Project Management Institute, was chartered in 2010: over a dozen years ago. The Dashboards show their club has thirty-five members. Club officers indicate twenty-five members typically attend their meetings. Is your club this large and this active? Read on for some insights.
Their linked website states “Since the Project Management Institute (PMI) was founded in 1969, it has grown to be the organization of choice for project management professionalism. With over 320,000 members worldwide, PMI is the leading nonprofit professional association in the area of project management. PMI establishes project management standards, provides seminars, educational programs, and professional certification that more and more organizations desire for their project leaders.”
Robert “Bob” Beideck, Club President, joined the club eight years ago because “This club has a unique partnership with its sponsoring organization where club members also tend to be volunteers within the chapter. It’s not uncommon for a board member of the chapter to also be an active member of the club as well. Project managers need communication and leadership skills: Toastmasters provides that. On the speaking side, I know I was a technical audience that can help me tweak presentations from a technical perspective. Our meetings always have themes and word of the day relating to topics from our book of knowledge PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), helping reinforce standards and helping when new concepts come up through revisions.”
The best sentence to describe this club is, “We help project managers and inspire them with their communication.”
“It’s not uncommon to see 5 years with the club, but sometimes people have gotten what they wanted from Toastmasters within a few years,” according to Bob.
When asked for advice from other corporations considering Toastmasters, his stated, “Support your employees and the club members, sometimes it can be as easy as providing the time for your employees to invest in themselves. Reach out to other the Toastmasters’ leadership team for support if you have questions, there’s someone who can answer them.”
Currently an online club, they are working toward establishing a physical location in the near future. They meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 9 am to 11am, with networking at 8:30am. If you have further interest, you should contact them via the information available on Toastmasters International Find a Club website. Or contact the Plains Division, Kimberly Richards, or Area 43, Karl Kuptz, Director for additional contact information.
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