About

 Men's Community Service and Discussion Club, serving Woodstock, Oxford County, Ontario and surrounding towns. 

Contact:  mailto:victoriaclub1921@gmail.com

 When do we meet

The Victoria Club meets typically on the second and fourth Thursday  evening  between October to April. Meetings

  run from 7:30pm to 10:30pm in Woodstock, and occasionally in other surrounding towns, depending on the

 hosting Members location.

Bi-Weekly Meeting Format

Meetings are generally hosted at a Member’s home, or at an alternate venue to accommodate up to 24 people. Meetings typically consist of introduction and minutes, followed by the main research paper, or topic presentation and moderated discussion.  The presentation is a summary approx 15-20mins of the paper,  previously distributed by email,  and may be verbal only or with audio visual aids, but always with an electronic copy for Club archiving. This is followed by a break for light refreshments, provided by the host. After the social break, any Club business is discussed followed by another Member introducing their chosen current topic of the day for discussion. Meetings end at 10:30pm 

 Club Organization

The Club has a rotating Executive consisting of a President, VP and Club secretary/treasurer. A rotating program selection committee decide discussion topics of general interest to all, based on Members suggestions as well as organizing hosting & presenting schedules. Members generally rotate through the executive and program selection committees over time.

 Main Topic Speaker Guidelines

Typically, every year,the main topic speaker researches and prepares a written Paper previously agreed by the program committee.  The Paper presented should take approx. 60 minutes to read. The word count for an average speaker is approximately 8000 words. However the paper need only be summarized in the actual meeting. The paper must be the work of the speaker and may only contain original short passages from research materials. AI is encourged for research as long as it is fact checked prior to the paper distribution.  

The Paper presented is to be submitted to the Club Secretary/Treasurer before the meeting in electronic format (e.g. MS Word or, .pdf), typically a week before to allow time for members to read. The paper will be archived onto the Members-only online server for Members access. Papers should avoid bad or insulting language. 

At the end of the Paper summary, the Paper presented is opened for general discussion. Typically, the current President acts as moderator who will help steer the discussion to remain on topic and allow all Members who wish to contribute to the discussion a chance to do so.

Current Topic Speaker Guidelines

Each year, the current topic speaker needs to research any topic of interest to members, typically something current.  The current topic should take approx. 15 minutes to summarize.  No current topic document needs to be submitted to the Club, unless the member wishes to do so, in which case it will be saved in the Club archives. The current topic may be announced at the meeting, or provided before the meeting at the current topic speakers descretion.  However the paper need only be summarized in the actual meeting. 

At the end of the current topic summary at the meeting, general discussion ensues. Typically, the current President acts as moderator who will help steer the discussion to remain on topic and allow all Members who wish to contribute to the discussion a chance to do so.