Offers the possibility to find a MENTOR, a MENTEE, or a NETWORKING PAIR and to establish and follow-up a mentoring relationship. The pairs are automatically assigned based on their desired skills, language, level, meeting time preference and they are only from the registered user database.
Next round starts on:
At the registration process, participants input their basic contact info, preferred language(s), the skills they want to develop or can help others develop, as well as some interesting facts they want to share with other participants in the networking process.
After registering, the Odyssey participant will receive within at most 4 weeks an invitation email to connect with their pair(s). A round starts when the pair is assigned. The pairs have 4 weeks weeks to meet online at least once.
After three weeks all participants get a link to give feedback about their mentoring or networking pair and the process in general. They should also specify if they want to continue with the same mentor/mentee. The pair continues only if both parties desire so. Otherwise, a new mentor/mentee will be assigned for the next round, and so on until a suitable mentor/mentee is found.
Mentoring is about finding a mentor or mentee and once you found the right person you can continue round after round. You can also stop working with a person any round you want, by marking this in the feedback form. On the networking path, the assigned pair changes automatically at every round.
Mentoring is the process of helping people to develop more effectively. It is a relationship designed to build confidence and support the mentee so they are able to take control of their own development and work.
After registering for mentoring, the Odyssey participant will receive within at most 4 weeks an invitation email to connect with their mentor or mentee. After three weeks all participants get a link to give feedback about their mentoring relationship and the process in general. They should also specify if they want to continue with the same mentor/mentee. The pair continues only if both parties desire so. Otherwise, a new mentor/mentee will be assigned for the next round, and so on until a suitable mentor/mentee is found.
Mentoring in this context is about finding a mentor or mentee and once you found the right person the mentoring relationship continues round after round. You can also stop working with a person any round you want, by marking this in the feedback form.
Networking is about meeting new people and sharing different points of view and experiences about Toastmasters or other topics. Starting with a discussion on personal interests and passions helps establish easily a good connection.
The networking process is round based and similar to mentoring process, but no skills are considered when making the pairs. The matching process is random to ensure meeting new people. The networking partners should meet at least once during the 4-week round. At each round each networking participant gets a new networking pair.
After three weeks into the round, networking participants have the possibility to send feedback for their netwoking pairs and the networking process in general.
Each participant sends feedback to their mentoring and networking pairs and to the system. The feedback to the pairs is made available by email to the destinatary.
The periodicity of the round-based process allows the follow-up of the mentoring relationship and a continuous update of user settings, namely skills, roles and time availability.
Filling up the feedback form is required for continuing in the next round and it should be filled even if the mentoring or networking meeting(s) did not take place.
You can register anytime and you will start your activity at the next starting round. When the following round starts, you will receive an invitation email to connect with your pair(s).
By registering you agree to the rules of conduct. You can register by clicking the button below
After receiving the invitation email you need to get in contact with your pairs and meet at least once in the following three weeks. Make sure that at the first meeting you agree on meetings periodicity and channels of communication. The mentee should have already before the first meeting an understanding of his/her goals. For tips on how to approach the first mentoring meeting you can check this link.
ROUND:
START OF THE ROUND:
MEET WITH YOUR PAIR:
GIVE FEEDBACK:
END OF THE ROUND:
“I endorse project Odyssey and commend its creators for creating a great tool that matches mentors and proteges in Toastmasters and beyond.
Odyssey came to my attention in July of 2020 and I began exploring its process and possibilities. I was not disappointed. The software was easy to register in and the mentoring period was short enough that I could easily incorporate it into my busy schedule.
I was happily surprised by the rapid success of the model. I was immediately paired with someone who was looking for my skills, and we forged a wonderful mentoring relationship. We lived on opposite sides of the world yet my protege and I were able to meet on multiple occasions and even worked on several activities beyond the scope of our mentorship calls. Odyssey made the relationship more effective by providing easy-to-use processes, follow-ups, and offering ways to improve.
If you have not yet tried Odyssey, I highly recommend you do. Whether you are seeking to enhance your skills or have skills and wisdom to share, you will benefit from this useful tool.“
Toastmasters International International President-Elect 2020-2021, Canada
“Odyssey is a great way for me to expand my network of peers and friends within my organisation. Thanks to the programme I met some amazing people and formed really strong friendships with peers outside of my home region. The programme also provided me with insights on the challenges that overseas peers and colleagues face, thereby transforming me into a better leader and furthering my skills as a coach and mentor. I highly recommend the programme to anybody wishing to broaden their horizons and meet fantastic people at the same time."
Public speaking trainer, UK
"We used 2020 to bring Toastmasters closer together than ever before. Thanks to us holding almost 100% of our sessions online one can visit Toastmasters clubs everywhere in the world. At the same time Odyssey helped us automate the matching of mentors, mentees and networking partners worldwide. Thanks to initiatives like Odyssey, Toastmasters has become even more International in 2020.”
D109 Corporate Program Evangelist, Switzerland
"The Odyssey project is great incentive to develop own mentoring skills and learn from peers and mentees equally. Additionally, the opportunity to work with individuals from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures is rewarding.”
Finland
"Odyssey Project is a holistic learning and networking project for sharing experience, thoughts, and practical knowledge. By being a mentor, I improved my communication and personal skills. Besides, I engaged in an opportunity of being a mentee, which reinforced my own study skills and knowledge of public speaking and leadership. Also, having a networking pair supported me to start applying new skills and ideas for my speeches.”
Professional Certified Coach, Turkey
"Going on this journey as both a mentor and a mentee, aboard the Odyssey ship has been enlightening and empowering. I was honoured to be matched with the right mentor (DTM Jaap Russchenberg), who poured out his depth of experience and knowledge into our time in Odyssey. This quality time and knowledge has built me up and he connected me with other experts to help me think deeper and more creatively about my goals. I daresay I found a Coach as well in him and a connection I hope to nurture with each of the milestones I achieve here on. I'll certainly recommend Odyssey to anyone who desires to crossover to the other side of hesitation, to discover their next Horizon. It helps you shift to that next Higher level, when you make that commitment to challenge yourself further.
As I mentor others on this Odyssey trip, I also had the opportunity to meet other Toastmasters who could benefit from my experience and knowledge. Thank you Odyssey Team and keep Scaling Higher Heights!”
Ghana
"My reason “why” for joining Odyssey was to test the waters to see if it is possible for mentoring to work 100% online and see what happens when you go beyond the walls of your local Toastmasters club. My Odyssey experience has been rewarding, as it proved to me that you can do real mentoring work, on a virtual platform. There is also value to be found, and meaningful connections to be made in cross-district mentoring activities. If only mentor-mentee pairs invest a bit of time in exploring common ground, based on their Toastmasters club experience, and through this establish a shared purpose, the impact of such connections and the mentoring results they produce can be global. After all, it is called Toastmasters *International* for a reason.”
Greece
Adriana, the founder of the project, recounts: "I like to put numbers into figures and observe correlations between different data. While preparing a presentation for a speech and checking the number of club members, of experienced club members and how well the clubs in Finland were doing, it became clear that the struggling clubs had very few experienced members. Well, you might not really need a study for this, but I hoped that an image told the story better. It turned out these clubs were also, more often than not, geographically isolated. I also noticed at my home club how the new members were very enthusiastic about getting a mentor, and how the experienced members got easily overloaded. So, to make the story short, after I heard three new members at my club asking at their very first meeting how can they get a mentor, I thought that we should build some kind of mentor pool for Toastmasters in Finland. Soon after, I became Club Growth Director and the idea of extending this to the entire district, came only naturally. To tell the whole truth, I admit that I am a bit shy and was dreaming that this platform can help also those who are hesitant to go mentor hunting in the district.
Yes, it is symbolic. Here is the place to quote Valeria, our team member, who proposed the name Odyssey with the following: “When I started looking for the synonyms and the etymology of the word MENTORING I came across an interesting note that Mentor was the name of the person whom Odysseus trusted with the care of his son, Telemachus, while he was travelling. Then I thought maybe the Odyssey project might work? This guy had a clear goal but faced obstacles (like finding a great mentor) and he also had to network a lot while traveling home. And the story actually had a happy ending.” What else to say? :-)
Why Odyssey? To practice my technical skills while helping this platform grow and reach more Toastmasters who might benefit from it.
Hobbies A person with many passions, one of which is for Toastmasters (President of Mercury Toastmasters Club Lebanon) Also loves Astronomy, Language Learning and of course coding :)
Why Odyssey? I joined this amazing, international Project because I believe in power of talking to each other, sharing experience and inspiring people with our stories.
Hobbies: Archaeology, foreign languages, jazz
Marta Lewenda
Why Odyssey? 'No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it' (H.E.Luccock)
Odyssey Project for me is collaboration and partnership at all levels: management, team-building, mentoring,
networking all around the globe, communication and leadership. It's not that easy to feel how united all Toastmasters
are unless you're on board.of this Odyssey ship. Go try it! :)
Hobbies: Powerpoint design, South-East Asia, Board games
Why Odyssey? I believe mentoring is a cathalyst for learning and networking a portal to new points of view. The testimonials we get from the Odyssey participants confirm these beliefs and give me the certitude that our contribution matters.
Hobbies: Odyssey, Gymnastics, Dance, Badminton, Running, Reading, Continuous Learning
Why Odyssey? My 5 years Toastmasters journey revolves around mentoring. When I learned about the project I immediately took interest, as I saw a tremendous possibility to improve my corporate club. Also - while helping other people - I never worked with a mentor, so that seemed like my best opportunity. So far my journey with Odyssey is the best thing that happened to me as a Toastmaster.
Hobbies: Reading, learning, planning, music, martial arts, biking, running, story-telling, dreaming ...
District 59 Ambassador
Why Odyssey? When visiting an online meeting of a club in Vietnam I first got in touch with The Odyssey Project. I loved the idea behind it, because it involved learning by helping others and developing yourself, mastering your skills. Build on a principle. The best masters learn from their students. By sharing knowledge, passion and experience being able to make a difference, to be connected with people all over the world, while having fun getting educated. That's why. I didn't hesitate stepping up to the plate to volunteer for Ambassador for the Odyssey Project.
Hobbies: My greatest passion is personal development, ancient cultures and my participation in the sea cadets in Rotterdam. I love the ocean, water and ships, and still have learning to sail on my list. Empowering people and having fun is another passion. My favourite quotes are Credendo Vides, which means, by believing one starts seeing and "You can't determine how the wind blows, but you can determine how you set the sails". Ending with that, related to this Project... Life is an Odyssey, an adventure on which you have to take charge, and become captain of your ship called life.
District 95 Ambassador
Why Odyssey? I love making international contacts and to learn new ideas from other Toastmasters via Odyssey Project.
Hobbies: Tennis, piano, nature, kayaking, travelling
District 95 Ambassador
Why Odyssey? I wanted to join the Odyssey Project to help other Toastmasters with impromptu speaking, speeches, and other aspects of being helpful in Toastmasters. It was a great opportunity for me in my Toastmaster journey to re-visit the Mentoring aspect as a Mentor.
Hobbies: Listening to music (Pop, Rock, R&B, Jazz and Opera), doing Improv Classes at Theatre Language Studio Frankfurt (TLS Frankfurt), watching Winter sports, and Volunteer work.
District 98, District 110
District 105
District 108 Ambassador
Why Odyssey? I joined this amazing, international Project because I believe in power of talking to each other, sharing experience and inspiring people with our stories.
Hobbies: Archaeology, foreign languages, jazz
District 109 Ambassador
Why Odyssey? I believe that if you get on board, the Odyssey ship is the best way to travel overseas online, search for the right answers to your questions, find great inspirational mentors all over the world and become a better speaker and leader. It's a chance not to be missed if you want to excel in developing your skills and competencies.
Hobbies: Toastmasters, Trekking, Travelling, Tennis, Networking