December 21, 2010 Meeting Minutes

The last meeting of the calendar year was well attended and lots of fun with a variety of speeches, table topics, and evaluation reports!    Our Toastmaster, Bill, kept the meeting moving and on track while bringing lots of energy and enthusiasm to the meeting. 

Members Present:  Tom Alvord. Phil Mason, Cheryl Mason, William Sullivan, Charlie Hubert, Heather Turner, Brian Conte, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ethel Peltz, Joe Lenart

Guests Present:  Joe, John Lecornec, Akshay Dhote

John & Akshay completed membership applications and joined as new members!  Welcome! 

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Bill Sullivan

Invocation:                   Heather Turner

Word Master:                Murugan Pachaiyappan

Timer:                          Phillip Mason

Grammarian:                Brian Conte

Ah Counter:                  Brian Conte

Table Topics Master:    Heather Turner

Speaker 1:                    Heather Turner

Speaker 2:                    Ethel Peltz

Speaker 3:                    Tom Alvord

General Evaluator:       Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 1:                  Charlie Hubert

Evaluator 2:                  Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 3:                  Round Robin led by Bill Sullivan

Business Portion

Our VPM Bill Sullivan welcomed club members and guests. Upcoming events: 

Ø  January 20^th, 2011 Cromwell Community Toastmasters & Middlesex Toastmasters are joining together for a Speech-a-thon at the Cromwell Town Hall (7pm to 9pm). All members are encouraged to sign up for available roles and make use of this opportunity to get closer to completing their TM goals.  Bill will be the Toastmaster and is helping to organize the agenda. 

Table Topics

We had a unique table topics session which was guided Heather Turner.  She enthusiastically volunteered to fill in when help was needed!  Topics included clever play-by-play narration of baseball game highlights with role-play by Bill & Phil, and other topics which included our guests as willing participants! 

Education Portion

Speaker #1                  Heather Turner

Speech Number:           2

Speech Length:             5 – 7 minutes

Manual:                         Competent Communicator

Objective:                     Organize Your Speech

Title:                             The Elephant in the closet, or dyslexia and should one wear a big red D?           

Heather shared stories and experiences about dealing with dyslexia, and inspired the audience with this speech! 

Speaker #2                  Ethel Peltz

Speech Number:           4

Speech Length:             5 – 7 minutes

Manual:                         Competent Communicator

Objective:                     Get to The Point

Title:                             Trip to Stowe, VT

Ethel shared many interesting facts about the early endeavors of Ben & Jerry, the founders of the famous ice cream company, She left everyone wanting to hear more!   

Speaker #3                  Tom Alvord

Speech Number:           1

Speech Length:             4 – 6 minutes

Manual:                         Competent Communicator

Objective:                     The Ice Breaker

Title:                             Paint

Tom shared a story from his childhood about painting, and left us with a very inspirational message about exploring our potential talents and not giving up!   

Evaluation Portion

Cheryl led the Evaluation portion of the meeting as General Evaluator. 

Speech Evaluators provided feedback to each of the speakers: 

Evaluator 1:                  Charlie Hubert

Evaluator 2:                  Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 3:                  Bill Sullivan led a timed round-robin evaluation segment for Tom, where each member of the audience provided feedback about Tom’s speech.  Members and guests all participated! 

Each of the technicians provided their reports: 

Word Master:                Murugan Pachaiyappan

Timer:                          Phillip Mason

Grammarian:                Brian Conte

Ah Counter:                  Brian Conte

Closing

Bill asked each of the guests for their feedback of the meeting.  Feedback was very positive feedback; John Lecornec and Akshay Dhote completed membership applications and joined as a new members!    

Meeting was adjourned approximately 6:40 p.m.

December 7, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Participants                    :      Louis Nizet, Tom Alvord. Phil Mason, Cheryl Mason, Praveen Nair, William Sullivan, Charles Hubert, Phillip Mason, Heather Turner, Brian Conte,

                                            

Guests                             :    John

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster                 :           Heather Turner

Invocation                    :           Heather Turner

Word Master                 :           Phillip Mason

Timer                           :           Praveen Nair

Grammarian                 :           Cheryl Mason

Ah Counter                   :           Charles Hubert

Table Topics Master     :           Tom Alvord

Speaker 1                     :           Brian Conte

Speaker 2                     :           Murugan Pachaiyappan

Speaker 3                     :           Tom Alvord

General Evaluator        :           Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 1                   :           William Sullivan

Evaluator 2                   :           Louis Nizet

Evaluator 3                   :           Charles Hubert

Business Portion

Our club President Louis Nizet started off the meeting by welcoming the club members and guests. Below are the highlights of the business portion of the meeting:

Ø  Welcome certificates awarded to our newest members : Brian Conte and Charles Hubert

Ø  Our VP for Education Joe Lenart has reached out to all members to provide him a list of all completed speeches for his records. All members are requested to respond to Joe Lenart’s email.

Ø  The Cromwell Community Toastmasters club and Middlesex Toastmasters club are having a Speech-a-thon on January 20^th, 2011 at Cromwell town hall (7pm to 9pm). All members are encouraged to sign up for all the available roles and make use of this opportunity to get closer to completing their TM goals.

Ø  Our club is planning an “Open House” in February 2011. More details will be available soon. Heather Turner has agreed to take a lead in organizing this event.

Ø  Tom Alvord provided some details around the Mentoring program. Members are encouraged to reach out to Joe Lenart or Tom Alvord with regards to any mentoring requests / questions.

Education Portion

Word of the Day      :           Stalwart

                                     

Table Topics           :

We had a unique table topics session which was guided by one of our Stalwart member and Table topics master Tom Alvord. The goal for every member was to carry forward a conversation based on the last sentence spoken by a different member. The key part of the exercise was to have the ability to continue a conversation without asking a question. All the members thoroughly enjoyed this unique exercise.

Prepared Speeches & Evaluations

Speaker #1                   :           Brian Conte

This was an Ice Breaker speech and Brian provided us a fascinating introduction to his life and his interests.

Speech Number            :           1

Speech Length              :           4 – 6 minutes

Manual                          :           Competent Communicator

Objective                        :         To get comfortable in front of an audience for first speech

Title                                :         My Beach

Speaker #2                   :           Murugan Pachaiyappan

Murugan provided some unique insights into the difference between a Leader and a Manager

Speech Number            :           9

Speech Length              :           5 – 7 minutes

Manual                          :           Competent Communicator

Objective                        :         Persuade listeners to adopt your viewpoint or ideas or to take some action

Title                                :         Leadership style

 

Speaker #3                   :           Tom Alvord

Couple of weeks ago Tom attended the TM conference and had the opportunity to listen to an accomplished and inspirations speaker Dana Lamon. Tom gave an inspirational speech based on Dan Lamon’s life.

Title                                :         Dana LaMon, My New Hero

Evaluations                  :          

Ø  The General evaluator for the evening Cheryl Mason guided us through the evaluation portion of the meeting

Ø  William Sullivan, Louis Nizet and Charles Hubert provided a very detailed and effective evaluation for the speeches

Ø  The Timekeeper (Praveen Nair), Word Master (Phillip Mason). Ah – Counter (Charles Hubert) and Grammarian (Cheryl Mason) also reviewed their reports for the meeting.

Conclusion                  :

The Toastmaster for the evening Heather Turner and club ex- President William Sullivan thanked all the members and guests for their participation. Our next meeting is scheduled on 12/21 at 5:15pm.

September 7, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908
Meeting Minutes for 9/7/2010

Participants : Louis Nizet, Tom Alvord. Heather Turner, Phil Mason, Cheryl Mason, Sharon Roth, Praveen Nair, Todd Bower, Brian Conte, Mary Talbot, Joe Lenart, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Bill Sullivan

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster : Tom Alvord
Word Master : Heather Turner
Timer : Sharon Roth
Grammarian : Cheryl Mason
Ah Counter : Phil Mason
Table Topics Master : Joe Lenart

Speaker 1 : Todd Bower
Speaker 2 : Murugan Pachaiyappan
Speaker 3 : Tom Alvord
Speaker 4 : Bill Sullivan

General Evaluator : Praveen Nair

Evaluator 1 : Cheryl Mason
Evaluator 2 : Praveen Nair
Evaluator 3 : Louis Nizet
Evaluator 4 : Murugan Pachaiyappan

Business Portion

Our club President Louis Nizet started off the meeting by welcoming the club members and guests. He congratulated and thanked all the members for making the 25th anniversary meeting a huge success. A 25th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet is available for download in the “Public Download” section of our website. He also provided some details on upcoming meetings / events:

Humorous Speech and Evaluation contest (Club Level) : September 21, 2010

Education Portion

Word of the Day :
Segue - To continue at once with the next musical section or composition

Table Topics :

Our table topics master for the evening Joe Lenart had some interesting questions / topics.

Participants: Heather Turner, Brian Conte, Mary Talbot

Prepared Speeches & Evaluations

Speaker #1 : Todd Bower

Todd manages the Middletown office of TDBank and is one of our newest members. He gave his ice breaker speech from the competent communicator manual.

Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 4 – 6 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : To get comfortable in front of an audience for first speech

Title : The Ice Breaker

Speaker #2 : Murugan Pachaiyappan

Murugan recently made his first trip back to India after becoming a US citizen. He walked us through the anxiety he and his family went through in making sure they had all the necessary paperwork to visit India.

Speech Number : 4

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Select the right words and sentence structure to communicate your ideas clearly, accurately and vividly

Title : One time pain worth a million

Speaker #3 : Tom Alvord

Last week with Labor Day coming up Tom got thinking about work and how it is often thought of negatively. He gave a speech on how he discovered that work can be pleasant

Title : The joy of work

Speaker #4 : Bill Sullivan

Bill has been a parent for 5 years and has done his best to raise his children. He has often reflected on his own childhood and the manner in which his parents raised him as a guide to better parenting. Bill is working from speech project number 2 in the advanced manual Humorously Speaking. The project is called "Leave Them With a Smile".

Speech Number : 2

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Humorously Speaking

Objective : Prepare a serious speech that opens and closes with humorous story

Title : The two rules of parenting

Evaluations :

The General evaluator for the evening Praveen Nair guided us through the evaluation portion of the meeting

Cheryl Mason, Praveen Nair, Louis Nizet and Murugan Pachaiyappan provided a very detailed and effective evaluation for the speeches

The Timekeeper (Sharon Roth), Word Master (Mary Talbot). Ah – Counter (Phil Mason) and Grammarian (Cheryl Mason) also reviewed their reports for the meeting.

Conclusion :

The Toastmaster for the evening Tom Alvord and club President Louis Nizet thanked all the members and guests for their participation and also reminded everyone that our next meeting on September 21st is the club speech contest meeting.

August 17, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908


25th Anniversary Meeting

Meeting Minutes for 8/17/2010

Thank you to all the member and guest for making our 25th anniversary meeting fun filled and a memorable one. We had great participation in all sections of the meeting.

Participants : Louis Nizet, Cheryl Mason, Phillip Mason, Bill Sullivan, Praveen Nair, Joseph Lenart, Ethel Peltz, Udaya Neelam, Brian Fleming, Sandra Bassett

Visiting Toastmasters : Brian Cavanaugh, Joseph Katucki, Michael Aaron, Deb Grehn, Kay Jeyapalan,

Sharon Roth, Ute Brinkmann, Rose Scruto-Zolnik, Charnaie Gordon.

Guests : Brian Cote, Heather Turner, Brian Dibella, Mary Talbot, Jane Tinti, Theo Gomes,

David Adametz, Angie Ondrick, Charlie Mongoho, Angela Caponetto, Shawn M. Mcdade
Meeting Roles


Toastmaster : Cheryl Mason

Word Master : Kay Jeyapalan

Timer : Philip Mason

Grammarian : Joe Lenart

Ah Counter : Brian Fleming

Table Topics Master : Praveen Nair

Speaker 1 : Brian Cavanaugh

Speaker 2 : Michael Aaron

Speaker 3 : Deb Grehn

Speaker 4 : Joe Lenart

General Evaluator : Ute Brinkmann

Evaluator 1 : Bill Sullivan

Evaluator 2 : Udaya Neelam

Evaluator 3 : Charnaie Gordon

Evaluator 4 : Sharon Roth


Business Portion

Our club President Louis Nizet started off the meeting by welcoming the club members and guests. He thanked all the members for working together to plan and setup the 25th anniversary meeting. He also provided some details on upcoming meetings / events:

Humorous Speech and Evaluation contest (Club Level) : September 21, 2010

Party / Social announcement by Louis Nizet

“Bring and Barbecue" party at my place on Saturday August 28-10, beginning at around 5pm and going on as late as participants will want. We'll have hot coal, from real wood, ready to cook the food from about 6pm onward. All members welcome with wife, husband, children, friends and guests. Weather permitting, for those interested, we can take a short walk through the forest to the secluded "Turkey Hill" reservoir, an unspoiled nature jewel in the area. Elize and I will appreciate it if those interested will let us know by no later than August 24th, so that we can send a map and directions how to get there to all participants.”
Education Portion

Word of the Day : Coup

A highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment.

Table Topics :

The impromptu portion of the meeting was very interesting and thanks to our guests for agreeing to participate. Joseph Katucki, Brian Cote, Brian Dibella, Brian Fleming, William Sullivan, Sandra Bassett.

Prepared Speeches & Evaluations

We had a wonderful set of established and polished speakers and evaluators who kept us all engrossed with their speeches and evaluations.
Speaker #1 : Brian Cavanaugh

Brian Cavanaugh is the Area D-5 Governor and past President of Sikorsky DCMA Toastmasters club – A Presidents Distinguished Club. Brian has been a Toastmaster since 1983 and is dedicated to helping Toastmasters become more effective communicators and leaders.

Speech Number : 10

Speech Length : 8 – 10 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Inspire Your Audience

Title : There is a Light

Speaker #2 : Michael Aaron

Michael Aaron has been a Toastmaster since July 2000. He is a Distinguished Toastmaster, which is the highest designations a Toastmaster can receive. He has served in various club officer positions. At the District level, he has server as a club coach, club mentor, Area B3 Governor and Division B Governor. Michael is also a producer of his own TV show called “Toast of the Town” in West Hartford Community Television. In November of 2009, Michael won first place in the District 53 Humorous speech contest and in May of 2010 he took second place in the District 53 Tall Tales speech contest.

Speech Number : 5

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Your Body Speaks

Title : Half Full or Half Empty
Speaker #3 : Deb Grehn

Deb Grehn is a member of two clubs in District 53 – Charter Oak Toastmasters in Glastonbury and the West Hartford Toastmasters. She served as District Governor from 1999 – 2000 and will serve as Area B4 Governor in 2010 – 2011. Deb is an established speaker and also appeared on the TV show “Jeopardy” in 2009.

Speech Number : 2

Speech Length : 8 – 10 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Inspire Your Audience

Title : Take the First Step

Speaker #4 : Joe Lenart

Joe Lenart joined our club in June of 1999. Joe is a regular participant at contests and always provides wonderful insights on different topics during his speeches. He is currently serving as the 2010-2011 VP – Education

Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Speaking to Inform

Objective : Resources for Informing

Title : The Other Free Radicals – Not a Political Commentary
Evaluations :

Ute Brinkmann, our General Evaluator guided us through a very well organized evaluation portion of the meeting. She also provided insightful tips on how to deliver a meaningful and effective evaluation.

William Sullivan, Udaya Neelam, Charnaie Gordon and Sharon Roth provided a very thoughtful and positive evaluation for the four speeches of the evening.

The Timekeeper (Phillip Mason), Word Master (Kay Jeyapalan). Ah – Counter (Brian Fleming) and Grammarian (Joe Lenart) also reviewed their reports for the meeting.
Conclusion :

The Toastmaster for the evening Cheryl Mason and club President Louis Nizet thanked all the members and guests for their participation and help in making this a wonderful and exciting meeting. Members and guests spent some time socializing while enjoying the refreshments.

August 3, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908

Meeting Minutes for 8/03/2010


Participants : Louis Nizet, Cheryl Mason, Phillip Mason, Tom Alvord, Bill Sullivan, Praveen Nair, Joseph Lenart, Ethel Peltz, Amee Parikh, Robert Schaff, Udaya Neelam

Guests : Todd Bower


Meeting Roles


Toastmaster : Amee Parikh

Word Master : Amee Parikh

Timer : Philip Mason

Grammarian : Louis Nizet

Ah Counter : Tom Alvord

Table Topics Master : Bill Sullivan

Speaker 1 : Robert Schaff

Speaker 2 : Udaya Neelam

Speaker 3 : Tom Alvord

Speaker 4 : Ethel Peltz

General Evaluator : Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 1 : Bill Sullivan

Evaluator 2 : Joseph Lenart

Evaluator 3 : Udaya Neelam

Evaluator 4 : Louis Nizet
Business Portion

Our club President Louis Nizet started the meeting by welcoming the club members and guests. He provided an updated on upcoming meetings

1. Party to celebrate the Cromwell Community Toastmaster Club 25th anniversary – scheduled for August 17th.

a. Speakers involved were mentioned

b. Reminder to members to encourage friends , family and colleagues to join

2. Another surprise party announcement by Louis Nizet

“Bring and Barbecue" party at my place on Saturday August 28-10, beginning at around 5pm and going on as late as participants will want. We'll have hot coal, from real wood, ready to cook the food from about 6pm onward. All members welcome with wife, husband, children, friends and guests. Weather permitting, for those interested, we can take a short walk through the forest to the secluded "Turkey Hill" reservoir, an unspoiled nature jewel in the area. Elize and I will appreciate it if those interested will let us know by no later than August 24th, so that we can send a map and directions how to get there to all participants.”


Education Portion
Table Topics:

We had four members (Bill Sullivan(Table Topic Master), Cheryl Mason, Amee Parikh, Louis Nizet ) and guest (Todd) participate in the Table Topics session.
Prepared Speeches & Evaluations

Speaker #1

Rob has been a member of Middlesex County Toastmasters for 3 ½ years, and has recently joined Cromwell Community Toastmasters. Tonight, Rob will be speaking about the limitations of human effort, and will discuss one theory about what determines those limitations, with his speech, “The Central Governor”.
Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Your Body Speaks

Title : The Central Governor
Speaker #2

Udaya Neelam is Area C5 Governor and dual member of Cromwell & Wallingford Eagle Club.During this meeting, Udaya will deliver an icebreaker speech to introduce himself to the Cromwell Community Toastmasters.
Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 4 – 6 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective : Ice breaker

Title : I and Toastmasters
Speaker #3

Tom has achieved two Competent Communicator awards and is now working toward his Advanced Communicator Bronze award. He will be completing project # 5 of the advanced manual: Interpretive Reading. His job during the allotted 8-10 minutes is to present a famous speech in a way that conveys the original speaker's meaning and emotions.
Speech Number : 5

Speech Length : 8 – 10 minutes

Manual : Interpretive Reading

Objective : present a famous speech

Title : Never Give Up!
Speaker #4

Ethel is a newer member of the club and a resident at Cromwell. She is working on her Competent communicator manual completion

Speech Number : 2

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Competent Communicator

Objective :

Title : The Glory of Richmond

Evaluations :

Bill Sullivan, Joe Lenart, Udaya Neelam, Louis Nizet provided a very thoughtful and positive evaluation of the variety presented in the evenings speeches, as was required for each speaker.

General Evaluation :

Cheryl Mason provided a comprehensive evaluation of the proceedings of the meeting and supported to the timer, ah – counter and grammarian reports.

Conclusion :

The president concluded the meeting by thanking all the participants and guest (Todd Bower).

July 20, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908

Meeting Minutes for 7/20/2010

Participants : Louis Nizet, Cheryl Mason, Phillip Mason, Tom Alvord, Bill Sullivan, Praveen Nair, Peter Carpenter

Guests : Richard Chang
Meeting Roles

Toastmaster : Praveen Nair

Word Master : Louis Nizet

Timer : Cheryl Mason

Grammarian : Cheryl Mason

Ah Counter : Phillip Mason

Table Topics Master : Praveen Nair

Speaker 1 : Bill Sullivan

Speaker 2 : Tom Alvord

General Evaluator : Peter Carpenter

Evaluator 1 : Louis Nizet

Evaluator 2 : Peter Carpenter

Business Portion

Our club President Louis Nizet started the meeting by welcoming the club members and guests. He provided an updated on the Executive meeting held on 7/13/2010 and also made few announcements. Below is the list of items discussed.

1. Party to celebrate the Cromwell Community Toastmaster Club 25th anniversary – scheduled for August 17th.

2. A brief summary of what happened at the TLI (Toastmaster Leadership Institute) meeting in Manchester last month, where the theme was “Have Fun and Get It Done”.

3. The next Officer Training that will be held on July 24th in Bridgeport.

4. More awards being planned to recognize members’ performances.

5. Better communications to keep members informed of meetings reports.

6. Changes to the Cromwell Community Toastmaster Club’s website, and planned assistance for members to get their speech dates booked in advance

7. New calendar for bi-monthly meetings, instead of every second Tuesday.

8. Proposed new system to ease synergy between speakers and evaluators prior to the meeting date/time.

9. Humorous contest – We want to make sure that it will be much fun in October.

10. Ideas to increase membership

11. Another surprise party announcement by Louis Nizet

“Bring and Barbecue" party at my place on Saturday August 27-10, beginning at around 5pm and going on as late as participants will want. We'll have hot coal, from real wood, ready to cook the food from about 6pm onward. All members welcome with wife, husband, children, friends and guests. Weather permitting, for those interested, we can take a short walk through the forest to the secluded "Turkey Hill" reservoir, an unspoiled nature jewel in the area. Elize and I will appreciate it if those interested will let us know by no later than August 24th, so that we can send a map and directions how to get there to all participants.”
Education Portion


Table Topics:

We had three members (Bill Sullivan, Peter Carpenter, and Phillip Mason) and guest (Richard Chang) participate in the Table Topics session.

Prepared Speeches & Evaluations


Speaker #1

Bill has just completed his CC award and is half way through his ACB award, his speech "Good Morning Exercise" focuses on the joy of waking up early in the morning to go out for a run.

Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 5 – 7 minutes

Manual : Humorously Speaking

Objective : Prepare a speech that opens with a humorous story, personalize the story, deliver the story smoothly and effectively

Title : Good Morning Exercise

Speaker #2

Tom has achieved two Competent Communicator awards and is now working toward his Advanced Communicator Bronze award. With this speech tonight he will be 1/2 way to the 10 required speeches. Although this is speech number 1 it is Tom's third project in the Storytelling manual.
Speech Number : 1

Speech Length : 3 – 5 minutes

Manual : Storytelling

Objective : To tell a folk tale

Title : The Samurai
Evaluations :

Louis Nizet and Peter Carpenter provided a very thoughtful and positive evaluation of the 2 speeches.
General Evaluation :

Peter Carpenter provided a comprehensive evaluation of the proceedings of the meeting and supported to the timer, ah – counter and grammarian reports.
Conclusion :

The president concluded the meeting by thanking all the participants and guest (Toastmaster Richard Chang). Richard thanked the club for the opportunity to attend the meeting.