After over two and a half years with Toronto Go-Getters Toastmasters (since back when it was known as Toast IT) I'll be leaving the club at the end of 2008. Toronto Go-Getters was my first Toastmasters club (at least, the first I joined as a member) and it's been a fun trip with them. But unfortunately, sometimes things come up and people have to move on, even if they don't want to.

The club was almost a second home for me, since about the time I joined in late March 2006. The members, then and now, have been a source of inspiration, of fun and excitement, and it really sucks having to leave that behind. Toronto Go-Getters has had its ups and downs, but has been on a definite upswing as of late. Too bad that had to coincide with my needing to leave the club.

What's pulling me away is an issue of employment and cost. I have a job situation forming that could turn out to be quite beneficial for me. However, because it's in Whitby-Oshawa and the club's in downtown Toronto, getting from the jobsite to the club on time would be impossible, even if I wouldn't need to scrub down after work. (It's a stinky, but necessary, job.) As for the cost part of it, while Toronto Go-Getters is one of the least expensive clubs in the city to join,

So that leaves me looking for evening or weekend clubs in Durham Region, preferably after 7pm if it's on a weekday. One candidate comes immediately to mind: Ajax-Pickering Toastmasters, only a fifteen minute bike ride from home. Starting in January, I intend to visit the club, and perhaps a few others, and evaluate accessibility, environment, and other factors that can determine whether a club is right for me.

It's been great being a part of Toronto Go-Getters, and for people who live or work right downtown, it might just be the Toastmasters club you're looking for. Go check them out, and tell them Chris sent you.