Toastmasters clubs meet at corporations, churches, colleges, community centers, libraries, and even in restaurants.

Here are a few tips in finding a venue:

  1. Start with your members: ask your members (and/or sponsors) if anyone can sponsor a room (a meeting room at a company, a church, a school, an HOA community room, etc).
  2. Start in a neighborhood: find nearby clubs by asking the Area/Division Council. Ask these clubs if their venue can accommodate another club, or if there is another room or business in the building that can.
  3. Look for old venues: ask the Area/Division Directors for venues that have been used in the past, and how they worked out.
  4. Use your technology: Look on the Google Maps, Yelp, and NextDoor to identify potential venues.
  5. Use the Find a club feature on Toastmasters.org to find out where near-by clubs meet and see if those venue are available for your meeting time.

Define your criteria

List the criteria based on the need of your members and rank the criteria based on the nature of your club.  Some criteria can be negotiable, and some could be the deal-breaker.  Discuss thoroughly with your members.  Here are a few criteria for you to consider.

Logistics:

  • Room capacity to fit your club members + 5 guests currently; and your future state (add 7-10)
  • Time needed (add 30 minutes to either side of your meeting)
  • Is the location easy to find?
  • Is there parking?
  • What’s the cost?
  • Is there security requirements?
  • Is it accessible?
  • Is there seating, tables? Will you have to set up and tear down each night?
    • Who sets up the venue? Who is responsible for returning the room back to the way it originally looked?
    • Can it be re-arranged?
    • If setting up the night before the event, can arrangements be made so that the facility staff does not re-arrange the room and janitorial services do not throw out items? (This actually happened; one club spent the evening before a meeting putting up decorations and setting up all the tables and then, overnight, the cleaning staff threw everything away and put the tables back in the closet.)

Experience:

  • Who’s the contact person if there are issues (light, room temperature, alarm, etc)?
  • May food and beverages be brought in?
  • Do they have food and beverages on site?

Amenities:

  • Lectern
  • Projector or TV
    • Is there electricity for use with a microphone, projector, and timing lights?
  • White boards or flip charts
  • Are there tables on which to place food, drink, timing lights, etc.?
  • How far are the restrooms?