BOSTON TOASTMASTERS

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Dear Fellow Boston Toastmasters and Friends,

We are writing to keep you informed about the measures that Boston Toastmasters and Toastmasters International are taking in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. 

As you know, in-person club meetings at Boston Toastmasters have been suspended since last year.  The club immediately pivoted to meeting through Zoom in March 2020 and will most likely continue to do so for quite some time as part of our transition to hybrid meetings. We expect to run hybrid meetings in some form through the end of the dues term (Sept 30) and probably through the end of 2021 or later.

Although the situation in Massachusetts is improving, there is still some reason for concern, particularly around the delta variant and the possibility of the US missing its July 4 vaccination targets. We have consulted the most recent CDC guidelines for community organizations, and those still advise certain common-sense measures at this point. As with our partner, the Old South Church, our staff have been pushed pretty hard during the last 12 months. Reopening aside, we will need time to transition to our new team in June and July and figure out how to run Boston Toastmasters to a high standard with a limited board. The Old South Church is planning to reopen its own in-person services September 12, and we are targeting a similar date in early fall. This matches the predictions we made earlier this summer, so we are still on track.

The combined incoming and outgoing officers met today and approved the following timeline for a return to on-site meetings. We have already started the process you see presented, but we will need our members’ help to proceed. Please engage with opportunities to share your thoughts when asked. We want to be sure our club is representative of all members with respect to the transition.

We ended physical meetings quite suddenly, but we have the freedom to plan an elegant and deliberate return now. We ask for your patience and understanding that, although we will be meeting in Back Bay soon enough, there is no going back to 2019 entirely, and that is probably for the best. We look forward to discovering a new, more accessible, more far-reaching Boston Toastmasters with you.

Sincerely yours,

Your Boston Toastmasters Leadership Team:

Jesse Welty	Erik Stricker	Patrick Wadland
	Phaneendhar Gondesi	Tristen Grannum	Kevin Mannix