TOPIC:

This will describe some ideas I have thinking about for some possible future features to make FreeToastHost help with certificates of recognition, ribbons, and member awards. This is not something I am currently working on or plan to work on soon, but it may well end up in code eventually... I am posting this to allow for comments and feedback.

I don't know about you all, but i have gotten a number of certificates and awards in Toastmasters. I never know what to do with them--frequently, they end up in the "circular file" (trash bin). It occurred to me that it would be nice if there was a way to capture/upload those into FreeToastHost, and then display them in a "film strip" view under the member bios in the Meet Our Members page. This would be a nice way to show everything you have done in Toastmasters and it would help clubs attract new members. If these were just image files that were uploaded, they could just as easily be photos of ribbons or awards you got.

Perhaps, certificates could also even be designed and uploaded or printed from FreeToastHost in a similar manner to how you can do that with name tags in FreeToastHost. Essentially, there is very little custom information that typically goes on a certificate anyway (like a member's name). We would just need some certificate backgrounds (could just be image files).

So those are my thoughts on this... let me know what you think. Again, not planning to work on this soon, but you never know...

Steve:
I would find the ability to create certificates via the website to be very valuable.

Over the years, I done a lot of fancy footwork with photo editors, PDF editors and word processing programs to create certificates for members. It would be so much nicer if we could have certificates that had the professional Toastmasters look that was accessible to all club officers.

The variables that I could envision are:
1.) Organization (consider allowing a check box to default to a field already on the website)
2.) Award name (field that can wrap to two lines for things like "Toastmaster of the year" or "International Speech Contest First Place"
3.) Presented to (member, guest, friend/affiliate drop down list)
4.) Presented by name
5.) Presented by title
6.) Presented on date (could be free form, or with a calendar choose interface)

This photo shows an example of what we have done in the past. This was for our best speaker of the year.
281.toastmastersclubs.org/imageuploads/2...MG_1518550189545.jpg

I generated that one from a Word template and then just forced on some Toastmasters logos.

Thank you,
Tom Colling

Omaha Toastmasters Club 281
281.toastmastersclubs.org/

Hi Steve,

District 33 (Central California) 2020-2021 is looking for a way to offer "Virtual Ribbons" to clubs such as for "Pathways Adoption" or "Award Winning Website" etc. I've created such "ribbons" as div blocks (see attop www.cvtm.org), and I'm sure we can make simple .png files to send to each club, but I think we at the district are looking for something more controlled.

Any ideas on how FTH could help with offering "digital/virtual" ribbons to a club and having them display for a certain period of time? We'd suggest some controls so that only valid recipients could add the ribbon. I'm thinking there may be a way to display a small chevron like banner on or near the header where the club name is displayed, or similar that when clicked could take you to an awards page that shows all the clubs awards. (Obviously this could be greatly expanded to include typical TI awards current and historic, but one thing at a time). Maybe the display of the "header ribbon" could be enabled/disabled in the website settings, and only display if there was a recent (several months) award added - otherwise the award page could be accessed under the menu.

Anyhow, I think long-term this would be a really neat option. Let me know if you'd like to discuss further. Our District will be offering a few Virtual Ribbons this year as mentioned above.

Regards,

Eric W. Browning
Public Relations Manager
District 33 Toastmasters 2020-2021
Toastmasters International