u/bavindicator

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For anyone managing a Toastmasters club website through FreeToastHost, the FTH team has announced that FreeToastHost 4 (FTH4) will begin rolling out soon.

According to the announcement, FTH4 has been completely rewritten on a new framework and will introduce a new template based on Toastmasters International branding.

A few highlights:

Mobile-ready from the start, including access to club website management from mobile devices

Existing content, members, meeting history, and settings will migrate to FTH4

Clubs will keep their existing web address

Migration will happen in phases

Clubs will be notified before their migration

No action is required right now

Clubs interested in helping test the new system can apply through the FTH4 BETA CLUBS forum category

There’s also a preview of the new public-facing website and additional information about what’s changing:

https://www.toastmastersclubs.org/welcometoFTH4/

For those of us who maintain club websites, the mobile support and updated framework are particularly welcome improvements.

Has anyone here applied to participate in the beta? I’d be interested to hear what other VPPRs and webmasters are looking forward to—or hoping will be improved—in FTH4.

What's the deal with TMI website development? The level of shoddy development and implementation is an embarrassment. This week they took Pathways off-line to make "improvements". An already clunky, slow, and inefficient interface, was supposed to be off-line from the 21st-23rd. This morning when I try to do anything in my pathway I click on the icon for my path and am immediately met with a 502 gateway error. Refresh, same. I guess I'll sit around and wait until they get it squared away.

///EDIT///

Based on suggestions and feedback in the comments I've made some additions, modifications, and corrections. The links contained in the body of this post are working and point to the updated files.

As Jacksonville Toastmasters prepared for the 2026–2027 program year, one project we completed was creating an updated Club Fact Sheet.

It has become one of our most versatile club resources. We've used it for:

• Open houses
• Guest follow-up
• Community outreach
• Media inquiries
• Career fairs
• Networking events
• Club officer transitions
• Guest welcome packets
• New member welcome packets

One benefit we didn't anticipate is how useful it is after a meeting. Guests and new members often think of questions later, and the fact sheet gives them a professional takeaway that includes meeting information, club leadership, contact details, social media, and what makes the club unique. It also gives them something they can easily share with a friend or colleague who might be interested.

We've also found it pairs nicely with a meeting agenda, membership application, or business card as part of a simple welcome packet.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I thought I'd share it in case it helps another club.

Example PDF:

https://3478.toastmastersclubs.org/jdownload.cgi?action=download&path=Jacksonville_Toastmasters_3478_Fact_Sheet_2026-2027.pdf

Editable Canva template (Make a Copy):

https://canva.link/5hgx3wes76zze20

Feel free to customize it with your own club's branding, leadership team, meeting information, photos, and messaging.

I'm curious—what club resources have you created that have made life easier for your officers or improved the guest experience? I'd love to see what other clubs are doing.

This week, our club set aside a regular meeting and used the full evening for a Moments of Truth strategic planning workshop.

The goal was not simply to complete the Toastmasters worksheet. We wanted to use the process to begin building our 2026–2027 Club Success Plan with direct input from members.

We structured the meeting around four questions:

What’s working?

What could improve?

What’s one realistic recommendation?

What should become a priority?

We began with two icebreaker questions:

What should never change about our club?

What could make our club even stronger?

From there, we worked through all six Moments of Truth, captured ideas, grouped common themes, and identified the priorities members believed would have the greatest impact.

A few things stood out.

First, the conversation kept returning to member experience rather than awards or growth for its own sake. Members talked about onboarding, mentoring, retention, recognition, meeting variety, advance planning, and making better use of the tools we already have.

Second, people were more willing to speak honestly because the discussion was framed around solutions rather than criticism.

Third, the process created a stronger sense of ownership. The Club Success Plan will not simply be written by the officers and presented to the club. It will be built from the ideas members contributed.

We are still organizing the transcript, worksheets, sticky notes, and voting results, but the workshop gave us a much stronger starting point than a traditional officer-only planning meeting would have.

For clubs considering something similar, my biggest recommendation would be this:

Do not treat Moments of Truth as a checklist exercise. Treat it as a facilitated conversation about the member experience.

I’d be interested to hear how other clubs have used Moments of Truth. Did you run it as a full workshop, or work through it over several meetings?

The Marine Corps launched a new mobile app that gives Marines a simplified guide for uniform and grooming standards, according to Tuesday’s administrative message.

https://preview.redd.it/ricwi3dxi86h1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d2ca07a1bdb11cdc0f3b5aee677b76c4e7af848

For those who have recently separated, retired, or are currently in the process of transitioning, what resources ended up being the most valuable for you?

SkillBridge gets a lot of attention (for good reason), but I'm curious what else made a difference. Job fairs? Networking? Veteran organizations? Professional certifications? Something else entirely?

I recently learned about a large hiring and resource event taking place in Jacksonville, NC on June 2 that will have more than 100 employers and community partners participating, including veteran resources, training providers, apprenticeships, SkillBridge opportunities, federal agencies, healthcare employers, skilled trades, and more.

For anyone near Camp Lejeune or Eastern North Carolina, it seems like it could be worth checking out, but I'm more interested in hearing from Marines who have already made the transition.

What helped you land on your feet after EAS or retirement?

What do you wish someone had told you before you started the process?

Semper Fi.

https://preview.redd.it/xymiltsrvi4h1.jpg?width=1545&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfc69e790f970f70778788f3989d0aebd2bfa941

Please drop a line to your Congressional Reps letting them know that this is a great initiative. We want more spouse Entrepreneurs and I'm not talking about the "businesses" that get roped into MLMs.

//Edit: Added a TLDR for those of us who missed our Adderall dosage today.

TL;DR: Congress is considering the Military Spouse Small Business Recognition Act to help military spouses overcome some of the unique barriers that come with military life and entrepreneurship.

Key points:

• Military spouse unemployment sits around 22% due to PCS moves, deployments, and constant career disruption.
• Nearly half of military spouses are either self-employed or interested in starting businesses because traditional careers often don’t survive military life.
• The bill would improve SBA loan access, reduce startup funding barriers, expand federal contracting opportunities, and formally recognize military spouse-owned businesses in SBA programs.
• Advocates argue this isn’t just a “family issue” anymore — it’s a readiness and retention issue. Financial stress and spouse career instability absolutely affect whether Marines and Sailors stay in.
• For places like Camp Lejeune and other military-heavy communities, this could have a real impact on family stability and local economies.

As a retired Marine and small business owner, this honestly seems like one of the more practical military family support bills I’ve seen in a while.