Current TI policy is that Officer Training must be face-to-face in order for it to count towards a clubs Distinguished Club Program (DCP) goals. The result of the current face-to-face requirement imposes severe limitations on when, where and how training takes place.

This web page is dedicated to building the argument that a combination of - prerecorded - video based training and - live - interactive online web conference training is essentially equivalent to face-to-face training and should count as Officer Training in the DCP.

Today’s video and Internet technologies now give us the opportunity to capture, connect, interact and share information, knowledge and ideas in ways that were not available a few years ago.

Time, distance and safety are some of the factors that influence whether a person decides to attend face-to-face training or not.

• Some clubs in District 21 are in remote communities (10’s to 100’s of kilometers away from another club or the selected training facility.)
• District 21’s weather can be very dangerous to travel through at times.
• Scheduled training session may conflict with an officers personal schedule and the personal schedule wins.
• Busy people are starved for time and need more flexible training options.
• Sometimes a member steps into an officer role part way through the term and has already missed the face-to-face scheduled training.

The emphasis should be on ‘well trained’ and not on face-to-face.

The proposal in brief is this - That effective (equivalent to face-to-face) officer training can be accomplished through a combination of on-line (prerecorded) video and on-line interactive (Conference Call & Web Conference) training.

This will not replace face-to-face officer training……It will be an alternative

(but equivalent to face-to-face) form of officer training.

We live in a time when so much information is online and indeed some Universities deliver a large portion of their teaching/training on-line.

The proposal in more detail:

Step 1 - Online officer training is scheduled and an email is sent to all participants (for example - all VP Membership officers) with links to the appropriate online videos to be watched prior to the the online training.

Step 2 - The officers view the online video(s) related to the officer role they will be performing.

Step 3 - The officers participate in a conference call (or more preferably a Web Conference session) conducted by a trainer designated by the District. Information (presentation slides, etc.) will be shared and questions will be answered during this online interactive session just as if it was a face-to-face officer training session.

Step 4 - Upon completion the club/area/division/district officer will have met the requirement for officer training (in pursuit of President’s Distinguished Club status!)

Your comments and insights are welcome:

There are over 1,000 District 21 Club/Area/Division and District officers. This proposal will ensure that some training tools (the video portion) are available at any time - 24/7/365 - and that the District has a more flexible set of tools for delivering training in an effective yet flexible way. Energetic, informed and well trained officers are what’s needed to continue building a strong and effective District that helps all its members (almost 5,000 in District 21) become highly effective Leaders and Communicators.

I think the main question to be answered here is “What are the main benefits of face-to-face training and are they sufficiently present in this proposal (online recorded training video(s) + interactive conference calling & web conferencing) for online training to qualify as equivalent to face-to-face training?”

Please comment, argue, philosophize, wax eloquent or offer alternative suggestions.

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