One should note that each clubs procedures and responsibilites for each role may vary slightly. The major differences occur between noon hour clubs and evening clubs.
The Sergent at Arms serves as a master host and makes the proper physical arrangements for all club meetings. This person makes sure each member and guest is welcomed at club meetings; arranges room and equipment for each meeting; arranges for food service at meal meetings; collects ballots and tallies votes;controls club property between meetings; chairs the Social and Reception Committee; attends and participates in Executive Committee meetings.
The SAA:
Prior to the Meeting:
Reviews the schedule to anticipate any special equipment needed for the meeting. Typically the onus is on the presenters to notify you if they have any out of the oridinary requests of equipment for the meetings. Prepare the introduction of the meeting and the introduction of the toastmaster. For aids in making introductions go here.
Make sure you have enough voting chits and speech evaluation chits for the meeting.
At the Meeting:
Arrive early, place notice sign out on sidewalk, and prepare room (seating arrangement, banner, timing lights and stopwatch, guest book, guest info. package, name cards, voting chits, evaluation chits). If a special meeting ensure appropriate preparations made (ie: business meeting requires the business agenda)
Greet members and especially guests. You may be a guests first contact with the club. Mirror their handshake, introduce yourself and give them some brief info. on the meeting today. Get them to sign the guestbook and give them an info. booklet. Introduce them to some fellow members to sit beside if they aren't meeting a member that they know at the meeting.
Review the final agenda as supplied by the toastmaster, ensure all people scheduled are present.
Call the meeting to order with a significant bang of the gavel.
During the Meeting:
Review the agenda with the club and fill any missing roles or make changes to the presented agenda
Follow the agenda calling upon the following:
- Grammarian to introduce the word of the day
- Invocation/thought of the day
- Toast
- Joke
Introduce the Toastmaster for the day.
When called upon for closing of the meeting by the General Evaluator you will have some time to kill while the ballots are being counted. Typically we ask the executive or members if there is anything that needs mentioned. Also we like to give the guests the opportunity to speak if they haven't already. One topic is to ask them what they thought of the meeting and is there anything we could do better from their perspective (give us feedback).
Finally announce the winners and adjorn the meeting again with a significant use of the gavel.