ทูต Agora คืออะไร

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Michal Papis, First Agora Speakers Amabassador for Poland, September 2016

An Agora Ambassador acts as a leader or evangelist for the organization in a country during the initial stages of Agora in that country, representing the organization, its principles, and its core values. They constitute the embryo of the future Board of Directors.

Requirements

To fulfill this purpose, Agora ambassadors must be extremely ethical, supportive, and willing to help people in their country with starting and running Agora clubs and help the organization expand in the country. Depending on the size and population of the country, there may be one or several ambassadors.

Ambassadors need to meet the following requirements:

• Run a Reference club in their country.
   
• Be completely familiar with all the information about Agora - our purpose and mission, the educational program, all meeting sections, and roles and the guidelines for creating and running the club.
   
• Create at least one new club in their country per year. This does not mean running it  (unless you want and have the time to do so)  - merely helping found a new club and mentoring it so that it can thrive independently.
   
• Share media (photos and videos) about their club.
   
• Officially add their title ("Agora Speakers Ambassador for country") to their social networks profiles.
   
• Have a behavior consistent with the ideals and principles of Agora Speakers International.

From a logistical and operational viewpoint, Agora Ambassadors must:

• Live in the country which they represent.
• Have daily access to a computer and internet connection, and be able to participate in the Ambassadors mailing list.
• Be able to communicate in English and have native fluency in the country's official language or region in which you live (If the country has more than one official language, then native fluency in one is enough).
• Be able to participate in the monthly Ambassador meetings regularly.

Running a Reference Club

An ambassador's most important task is running a "reference" or "template club" - an Agora club that other people in the country can refer to and can see as a close and real-life example of how Agora works worldwide. As such, reference clubs need to be aware of the suggested Meeting Format and the minimum requirements for roles in a meeting. A Reference Club has a bit stricter requirements than a normal public club because, after all, it's more than simply a club - it's representing the way the organization works. See this comparative list for the specific differences.

This is helped by recording some meetings, speeches, and roles and sharing them with the rest of the Agora community and especially in media, blogs,  and other publications in their own country. Agora Ambassadors should uphold the values, ideals, and core principles of the organization; that's why it's vital that this club functions as flawlessly as possible.

The reference club must be public and very welcoming to guests - both from the general public and Agora or other organizations and place as few restrictions and requirements on attending as possible. It must meet at least twice a month.

The following, for example, are not recommended for reference clubs:

• Requiring attendance notice for guests long in advance
• Meeting venues in remote places or places not easily accessible by public transport
• Meeting venues that have strict security requirements
• Requiring guests to sign on groups or mailing lists before attending
• Meeting formats that wildly vary from the recommended meeting structure

Reference clubs should also have as low as possible fees and should not charge guests for attending.

Social Media

Agora Speakers maintains many social media outlets, including Facebook groups, forums, etc. An Ambassador is responsible for the social media channels of Agora for the country and has administrative privileges. These channels should also be kept running as smoothly as possible, which basically means approving membership requests as soon as possible, answering questions, removing questionable content,  etc.

A well-kept Agora Speakers social group may become even more popular and numerous than the official one. Agora Speakers Ethiopia, maintained by Rajendra Singh, is one such example

There's no need for Ambassadors to publish anything regularly or to maintain any kind of blog or newsletter. Still, if they have the time and desire to do so, that's definitely welcome.  However, we do request from Agora Ambassadors to periodically share media (photos or videos) illustrating the working of their club.

Regardless of the official languages used in Agora, Ambassadors are encouraged to use in all social media channels the languages of the country they're in to increase the organization's outreach.

Other activities

 Agora Ambassadors also:

• Manage the Agora social network presence  in the country (such as  Facebook groups, Twitter, etc.)
• Act as an accretion point or center around which the organization grows.
• Grant awards to members and clubs that have had outstanding performances in different areas.
• Suggest people that can be contacted for further growth of the organization, in their country or elsewhere.
• Provide insight into local issues that the organization may be unaware of, such as specific religious or political issues, translation needs, suggested projects for development, etc.
• Provide a first contact point for media inquiries and media-related issues.
• Actively promote the organization and encourage and help with the creation of new clubs.
• Within their available time, perform demo meetings at prospective institutions.
• Provide answers to questions of prospective club starters.
• Organize, participate, or suggest advertising campaigns or channels and opportunities for the growth of Agora.
• Provide also a local contact for projects involving or requiring the participation of local country authorities.
• Organize, participate, or suggest local Agora events, Contests, and Conventions.
• Participate with the rest of the ambassadors in a melting pot of ideas, suggestions, and insight into growing the organization globally.
• Act as appeal points for disciplinary issues

Recognition of Ambassadors

Ambassadors are recognized in Agora in many ways, including having a prominent presence on the website and in Agora publications.

All the Ambassadors feature a  professional profile on our wiki.

Limitations

Also, your role as an Ambassador may not be used to promote any other organization, business, service, or product, nor it can be used in such a way that might create the impression that Agora Speakers International endorses, supports, partners or is somehow affiliated with other organizations, businesses, services or products.

Finally, ambassadors act as mentors, coaches, and guides, but the Ambassador role does not confer authority over any club, nor the ability or capacity to impose decisions on its members.

Current Ambassadors

The current list of Ambassadors can be found on this page - https://wiki.agoraspeakers.org/worldwide -, and this list is the only source of truth in that regard. Some countries don't have an Ambassador, and that's ok: it just means that the country has members and clubs, but no one has yet volunteered to step in as an Ambassador.

Honorary Ambassadors

Ambassadors who are no longer active but have provided exceptional service to the Foundation retain an Honorary Ambassadorship which allows them to keep the title but frees them from the obligations of actively running or creating clubs or moderating the social networks.