The Point

TIE-DC – Review of 2009

We still have about six weeks to go this year, but it is safe to say that under the leadership of D.P. Venkatesh and Amir Hudda we were able to put a number of serious events on the map in 2009. Without exceptions the board has been in full alignment and support throughout this process. Here are some of the event highlights.

Leadership Dinner Series
The TiE Leadership Dinner Series was designed as an exclusive event for our charter members. The events provide an intimate setting (50 people maximum) for Charter Members to meet accomplished executives and one another. Our speakers share candid advice and lessons learned in informal talks.This year’s line up included:

• Sudhakar Kesavan, CEO of $700M ICF International was the inaugural Leadership Dinner Series speaker sharing his story of building ICF into a major presence in the federal IT market. 
• Mike Daniels, SAIC: Our June Leadership Dinner Series featured Mike Daniels, SAIC Board Member who was responsible for the sale of Network Solutions to SAIC and Verisign for $19.6 billion in 2000. The 40+ Charter Members in attendance were treated to Daniels’ insights on how to identify the next waves in business and capitalize on them for financial and business gain. 
• Nitin Pradhan, CTO of DOT, shared his vision of the role of IT in a Web 2.0 world with Charter Members to in October. Highlighting how he is working to align IT with the business of DOT, Pradhan shared management models for building the IT organization into a business-focused group that uses their technology expertise to answer mission critical challenges.
• Magid Abraham,Magid Abraham, CEO comScore, shared his experiences in building comScore from an idea into the global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence with Charter Members in November.

 
CRAWL-WALK-RUN
This three part series was designed to discuss the three stages of raising capital in the life cycle of a business – from angel investing to venture capital and private equity to IPO or sale of the company. In support of our “Expanding Entrepreneurship” pillar the dynamic panels discussed the state of each market and tips for navigating each stage.

CRAWL: The first stage (CRAWL) focused on raising capital from angel investors, seed investors and very early stage venture capital firms. Panelists were John May of Active Angel Investors, Dendy Young of McLean Capital Group, Phil Garfinkle of Trust Strategy Group, and Michael W. Broderick of Uniloc USA. The panel shared stories of successes and lessons learned from their work with early stage companies.
 
WALK: The WALK panel was an all-star group of venture capital investors from across the country. Panelists were Vispi Daver (Sierra Ventures), Chip Hazard (Flybridge Capital), Roger Novak  (Novak Biddle), Alan Taetle (Noro-Moseley Partners) and Frank Tower (Gold Hill Capital). Each panelist shared their candid thoughts on the state of the VC market including difficulties they face in finding investments and supporting existing portfolio companies.
 
RUN: Watch for information on our RUN panel slated for January 2010.
 

Managing in Troubled Times

In partnership with American University’s Kogod School of business, TiE DC brought together a group of accomplished CEOs to discuss their success and lessons learned managing their companies through a down economy. Focusing on the “Expanding Entrepreneurship” pillar, The panelists candidly shared how they made difficult decisions and what challenges lie ahead. The panel included Roy Dunbar (CEO Network Solutions), Shiv Krishnan (Chairman and CEO INDUS); Bob Segert (President and CEO GXS); Dave Shea (Chairman and CEO Bowne)  and was moderated by AU Professor Robert Sicina. 

Special events

Ambassador Meera Shankar: In July, TiE was proud to welcome Ms. Meera Shankar, the new Indian Ambassador to the United States. In support of our “Spotlight on India” pillar, Ms Shankar spoke on the major initiatives of the Indian Government. She also touched on the brain drain, due to progressive thinkers coming to the US to start companies; though, she’d rather call it “brain circulation,” as those who come here bring ideas back to the India when visiting friends and family.

Vivek Kundra, Federal CIO: In September, TiE was pleased to welcome Vivek Kundra. Prior to his White House appointment formerly served in Mayor Fenty’s cabinet as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia, responsible for technology operations and strategy for 86 agencies.  He has been recognized among the top 25 CTO’s in the country and as the 2008 IT Executive of the Year for his pioneering work to drive transparency, engage citizens and lower the cost of government operations. Kundra shared his areas of focus and talked to the audience about how they can help him achieve his goals.

Aneesh Chopra, Federal CTO: In November, Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra enjoyed a type of homecoming at TiE’s reception in his honor. Chopra shared how his affiliation with TiE helped him make connections for his then boss, David Bradley at the Advisory Board, which led to a higher position within the company and set the stage for him being named as Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Chopra talked about his focus on bringing transparency to the numerous government programs available to entrepreneurs and researchers as well as his desire to work with the best and brightest minds in technology to come up with solutions for better access to information around health care and energy usage. This access to information, Chopra believes, is the first step in changing the behaviors and status quo for both healthcare and energy consumption.

TIE DC Gala

We will end this TIE-DC season with our Annual Gala in December. Featured speaker will be Senator Mark Wanner. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our organization and perhaps get involved. You can find more information on TIE-DC’s website. My special thanks go out to Piper Conrad from Speakerbox for all her help putting this article together.

Get Your Club into Growth Mode

Every year Toastmaster clubs around the world are working on their Distinguished Club Goals (DCP). In order to get to all ten (10) goals a club needs to achieve the following:

- Goal 1 and 2: Four (4) Competent Communicator Awards

- Goal 3 and 4: Two (2) Advanced Communicator Awards 

- Goal 5 and 6: Two (2) Advanced Leader Awards

- Goal 7 and 8: Eight (8) new members

- Goal 9: Train their officers in the summer and winter

- Goal 10: Submit the officer list in the summer and get the dues in on time at least once

It’s very rewarding to reach all ten goals. There is lots of recognition on the area, division and district level as a result. Most importantly it’s fun to be part of a club that is humming like this. Now, all goals except 7 and 8 are about making it happen with existing club members. We can identify people by name, we can talk to them, track their actions and help them, if needed. So, goals one to six and nine and ten are basically about good management and leadership. Goals seven and eight are different. How do you reach out to people you don’t know yet? Here are three simple principles that are the key to success.

1. Every club meeting is a demo meeting

Consider every meeting as a demo meeting. A good meeting features well-prepared speeches, fun table topics and constructive evaluations. If you think there is a problem in the way your club runs its meeting, then your intuition is probably right. There are Toastmaster assessment tools (e.g. The Moment of Truth) that help to dig deeper. Use them. Get a club coach if a fresh outside perspective is needed. The VP Membership needs to be good in talking to visitors and following up. It should be everyone’s job to make sure that visitors feel welcome. If you have the foundation built, it makes sense to increase traffic to your club. New people will be attracted and join your group.

2. The club can be found easily

Traditionally, Toastmasters made all sorts of efforts to get the word out: Flyers at the library, hang outs at the local super market. I wouldn’t want to discount the effectiveness of those. However, in today’s world people go to the web to find out about stuff. So, your best bet is to make sure that your club can be easily found online.

a. Accurate club information on http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/: Make sure that your club’s information is listed correctly on the global Toastmaster website. Check the correctness of the meeting time, location and contact information (email and phone)

b. Have a website for your club: This doesn’t have to be fancy. There is a free hosting platform that allows you to set up a club site. Check out www.freetoasthost.org. Ask your members to fill in their profiles. Give your club that personal touch that others can relate to. Check out this club as a simple example: http://fstoastmasters.org.

c. Search engine ranking: This requires a little more tech savviness, but it goes a long way. Submit the URL of our club site to the main search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo, Bing). If you don’t know how to do this, find someone who does. Here is a simple litmus test. Conduct a Google search. Type “Toastmasters”, your city and state. For example search  for “Toastmasters Reston VA”. If your club shows up on the first page, you have done a good job. Ideally your club should be among of the first three links.

d. Leverage advanced platforms: There are additional ways for people to find you. Look at meetup.com or facebook.com. These platforms are social networking sites. You might consider to build a community of existing club members  and friends there. Then you can publish your meetings and reach out to others. I would recommend this after you have completed your work on a-c.

3. Reach out to the club member’s network

This last principle is about active marketing. There is a difference between corporate clubs and community clubs. I have recommendations for both.

 a. Bring a friend: This is the most straight forward approach for boosting attendance that works very well in community clubs. Put a meeting together with some of your stronger speakers. Arrange for a nice welcome. Ask every member in your club to bring at least one friend to the meeting. Involve your guests in the meeting. Table topics is great for that. Don’t forget to ask for feedback. Arrange the follow up.

b. Toastmasters means business: Corporate clubs have the opportunity to tie Toastmasters to the goals of their company. At the end, what organization doesn’t need good speakers and leaders. Talk about your club in the company  newsletter and publish an article on the intranet site. It makes a huge difference if your club officers are able to secure executive sponsorship within your company. If company officials are endorsing the club, you will have it much easier to reach out and stir up interest. Go for it. Executives will get the value of Toastmasters quickly.

Personally, I have seen clubs that are President Distinguished year over year. Some accomplish all ten goals in the first six months of a Toastmaster year. I also have witnessed how a low membership club with six members grew to a club with more  than thirty members within eighteen month. The success of these clubs is based on these three simple principles. If your club goes systematically through the recommended actions, visitors will come to your meeting and you will turn visitors into members. A little extra tip. It has always been a good idea to feed your members and visitors very well. Great speeches combined with great food are irresistible.