Getting Started with The Club Schedule

Welcome!

Congratulations on choosing The Club Schedule for your club! This guide will walk you through the essential setup steps to get your club up and running.

After signing up and having your club approved, follow these steps in order for the best experience:

Step 1: Invite Club Members

The first step is to add your club members to the system. You have two options:

Option A: Individual Invitations (Best for Small Clubs)

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Members
2. Click "Invite Member"
3. Enter the member's email address
4. Optionally include a personal message
5. Click "Send Invitation"

The member will receive an email invitation with instructions to create their account and join your club.

Option B: Mass Import (Best for Larger Clubs)

If you have an existing member roster in CSV format (from Toastmasters International, spreadsheets, or another system), you can import all members at once.

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Members
2. Click "Import Members"
3. Download the CSV template or prepare your file with these columns:
   • Name - Full name (will be split into first/last)
   • Email - Email address (must be unique)
   • Original Join Date - Date member joined (MM/DD/YYYY format)
   • Mobile Phone - Phone number (optional)
   • Address fields (optional): Addr L1, Addr L2, City, State/Province, Country, zip-code
4. Set the Auto-Eligibility Threshold:
   • Members who have been in the club longer than this threshold will be marked as eligible for all roles
   • Default: 6 months (recommended for Toastmasters clubs)
5. Upload your CSV file
6. Review the preview and click "Import Members"

Step 2: Define Club Roles

A standard set of roles is pre-configured for each club based on your organization type. You should review and customize these roles to fit your club's specific needs.

Reviewing and Editing Roles

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Roles
2. Review the default roles (Speaker, Toastmaster, Evaluator, General Evaluator, etc.)
3. Click on any role to edit its settings
4. Configure the following for each role:

Role Configuration Options

• Role Name: The name displayed in schedules and assignments
• Assignments Per Meeting: How many people are assigned this role per meeting (e.g., 3 for Speaker, 1 for Toastmaster)
• Display Order: Controls the order roles appear in schedules (lower numbers appear first)
• Assignment Priority: When to assign this role in the scheduling algorithm (higher priority roles are filled first)
• Prerequisite Roles: Roles that must be completed before a member can fill this role
  • Example: Require "Evaluator" to be completed 2 times before assigning "General Evaluator"
• Major Role: Check this for leadership roles (limits how often members get assigned)
  • Example: Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Table Topics Master
• President Only: Restrict this role to the club President
  • Example: Presiding Officer role
• Allow Concurrent Assignments: Whether a member can have this role AND another role in the same meeting
  • Example: Enable for "Backup Toastmaster" role

Adding Custom Roles

If your club has unique roles not in the default set:

1. Click "Add New Role"
2. Enter the role name and configure settings
3. Set prerequisite roles if applicable
4. Click "Save"

Step 3: Import Member History (Optional)

If your club is transitioning from another scheduling system (like TMClubSchedule), you can import historical role assignments. This ensures the assignment algorithm knows each member's experience level and maintains fair rotation.

Import Process for TMClubSchedule Users

1. In TMClubSchedule, go to Members → Manage Members
2. Click on each member's profile
3. Use your browser's Print function (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P)
4. Select "Save as PDF"
5. Repeat for all members

Then in The Club Schedule:

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Import Role History
2. Click "Configure Role Mappings" (first time only)
3. Select TMClubSchedule as the platform
4. Click "Create Default Mappings"
5. Upload each member's PDF file
6. Review the preview and click "Confirm Import"

If You Don't Have Historical Data

Don't worry! You can skip this step. The scheduling algorithm will:

• Start with a clean slate for all members
• Assign roles fairly based on member join dates and eligibility
• Build up rotation history as you publish new schedules

After a few meetings, the system will have enough data to make informed assignment decisions.

Step 4: Configure Schedule Options

Schedule options control how your club meets and how schedules are generated. These settings are critical for the scheduling algorithm to work correctly.

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Schedule Options
2. Configure the following settings:

Meeting Schedule Settings

• Timezone: Select your club's timezone (used for email reminders and notification timing)
• Meeting Interval: How often your club meets
  • Weekly: Meets every week on a specific day
  • Bi-Weekly: Meets every other week on a specific day
  • Monthly: Meets once per month on a specific day
  • Custom: Specify exact meeting dates (up to 6 specific dates)
• Regular Meeting Day: Day of the week your club meets (if using Weekly, Bi-Weekly, or Monthly)
  • Example: Thursday for a weekly Thursday club
• Custom Meeting Dates: If using "Custom" interval, enter up to 6 specific dates
• Meetings Per Schedule: How many meetings to include in each schedule
  • Options: 2, 4, or 6 meetings
  • Recommendation: 4 meetings for weekly clubs, 2 for monthly clubs

Role Assignment Settings

• Major Role Gap (weeks): Minimum weeks between major role assignments for the same member
  • Default: 4 weeks (prevents burnout of active members)
  • Major roles: Toastmaster, General Evaluator, Table Topics Master
• Allow Members to Claim Roles: Whether members can self-select roles when schedules are published
  • Recommended: Leave disabled for most clubs (algorithm assigns all roles)
  • Enable if you want hybrid manual/automatic scheduling

Step 5: Configure Reminder Template (Optional)

The Club Schedule can send automated email reminders to members with upcoming role assignments. You can customize the reminder template to match your club's communication style.

1. Navigate to Club Administration → Reminders & Notifications
2. Configure reminder settings:

Automated Reminder Settings

• Reminder Days Before Meeting: How many days before a meeting to send reminders
  • Options: 1, 2, 3, or 4 days before (or Disabled for no automatic reminders)
  • Recommendation: 2-3 days gives members time to prepare
• Reminder Email Template: Customize the message sent to members
  • Available placeholders: {member_name}, {role_name}, {club_name}, {meeting_date}, {meeting_location}
  • Click "Reset to Default Reminder" to restore the original template

Notification Preferences

• Notify all members when new schedule is published: Send announcement when you publish a schedule
• Notify VP of Education when assignment status changes: Alert VP Ed when members accept/decline roles
• Notify Toastmaster when assignments change for their meeting: Keep TM informed of changes

Skipping This Step

If you prefer to handle reminders manually, you can:

• Set "Reminder Days Before Meeting" to Disabled
• Use the "Email Members" feature (Club Administration → Email Members) to send custom messages

Step 6: Create Your First Schedule

You're now ready to create your first schedule! The Club Schedule uses an intelligent algorithm to assign roles fairly based on member experience, availability, and rotation.

Creating a Schedule

1. Navigate to Schedules from the main menu
2. Click "Create New Schedule"
3. The system will:
   • Generate meetings based on your schedule options (interval, meeting day, meetings per schedule)
   • Automatically assign all roles using the scheduling algorithm
   • Check member availability (absences) before assigning
   • Enforce role prerequisites and major role gap rules
   • Balance rotation fairly across all members
4. Review the generated schedule (status: Draft)

Reviewing and Making Changes

Before publishing, you can make manual adjustments:

• Change Assignments: Click on any assignment to select a different member
  • The system shows you which members are eligible for each role
  • Ineligible members are grayed out with reasons (prerequisites not met, major role gap, absence, etc.)
• Fill Placeholders: If the algorithm couldn't find eligible members for some roles, they're marked as "Placeholder"
  • Click to assign a specific member
  • Or leave as placeholder and assign manually later
• Adjust Meeting Dates: Edit meeting dates if needed (click on the date)
• Add Notes: Add meeting-specific notes or instructions

Publishing the Schedule

Once you're satisfied with the schedule:

1. Click "Publish Schedule"
2. Confirm the publication
3. The system will:
   • Make the schedule visible to all club members
   • Send email notifications to members with assignments (if enabled)
   • Lock the schedule from further automatic changes
   • Allow members to accept or decline their assignments

Managing Member Responses

After publishing, members can respond to their assignments:

• Pending (yellow): Member hasn't responded yet
• Accepted (green): Member confirmed they'll fill the role
• Declined (red): Member cannot fill the role - you need to reassign

If a member declines an assignment:

1. Click on the assignment
2. Select a different member from the dropdown
3. The new member receives a notification

Next Steps & Best Practices

Congratulations! Your club is now set up and ready to use The Club Schedule. Here are some best practices for ongoing management:

Ongoing Schedule Management

• Create Schedules in Advance: Generate and publish schedules 2-4 weeks before the first meeting
  • Gives members time to prepare and arrange coverage if needed
• Monitor Member Responses: Check for declined assignments and reassign promptly
• Use Absences Feature: Encourage members to mark absences in advance
  • Prevents assigning roles to unavailable members
  • Members can add absences from their dashboard
• Review Role Assignments Periodically: Check that rotation is fair and members are developing skills

Member Communication

• Email Members Feature: Use Club Administration → Email Members for club-wide announcements
  • Available to club officers (President, VP Education, Secretary)
  • Also available to current Toastmaster during their meeting week
• Automated Notifications: Let the system handle routine reminders (if enabled)
• Encourage Dashboard Use: Members can view all their assignments and absences from their dashboard

Managing Member Profiles

• Update Member Information: Edit member profiles as needed (contact info, eligibility, etc.)
• Role Eligibility Overrides: Mark experienced members as "Eligible for All Roles" to bypass prerequisites
  • Useful for returning members or experienced Toastmasters transferring from other clubs
  • Does NOT bypass major role gaps or president-only restrictions
• Track Member Activity: View role history on member profiles (admin view only)

Getting Help

Explore the Help Center for detailed guides on specific features:

• Configuring Club Settings - Detailed explanation of all club configuration options
• How Schedules Are Created - Deep dive into the scheduling algorithm and business rules
• Import Role History - Step-by-step guide for importing data from TMClubSchedule
• Feature Roadmap - See what's coming next

If you encounter issues or have questions not covered in the documentation:

Email Support: [email protected]

Quick Setup Checklist