January 20, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Middlesex & Cromwell Speech-a-Thon

See many great pictures from this event here:    Speech-a-Thon Pictures

The 2^nd annual Joint Speech-a-Thon with Middlesex County Toastmasters & Cromwell Community Toastmasters was held on Thursday, January 20, 2011, at the Cromwell Public Library, in the Arch Room.  The event was well attended with members from both clubs joining in the fun as well as a number of guests.  Refreshments were provided for everyone to enjoy. 

The meeting featured seven great speeches, including a “secret” speaker not known until that evening!  Ute Brinkmann from Eagle Club in Wallingford was a guest speaker.  Thorough, constructive speech evaluations were given to all the speakers, and one evaluation consisted of “round robin” comments from everyone in the audience, including guests!

Opening

Louis Nizet, Cromwell Club President, opened the meeting and welcomed all!  Guests were introduced individually and welcomed. 

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Bill Sullivan, Cromwell

Timer:                          Brian Conte, Cromwell

Ah Counter:                  Phil Mason, Cromwell

Speaker 1:                    Jackie Kirwan, Middlesex

Speaker 2:                    Murugan Pachaiyappan, Cromwell & Middlesex

Speaker 3:                    Charlie Hubert, Cromwell

Speaker 4:                    Charnaie Gordon, Middlesex & Cromwell

Speaker 5:                    Ute Brinkmann, Eagle

Speaker 6:                    Jay Broderick, Middlesex

Speaker 7:                    Tom Alvord, Cromwell & Middlesex

General Evaluator:       Kay Jeyapalan, Middlesex

Evaluator 1:                  Bill Sullivan, Cromwell

Evaluator 2:                  Rob Schaff, Middlesex

Evaluator 3:                  Cheryl Mason, Cromwell & Middlesex

Evaluator 4:                  Michael O’Brien, Middlesex

Evaluator 5:                  Louis Nizet, Cromwell

Evaluator 6:                  Kay Jeyapalan, Middlesex

Evaluator 7:                  All, Round Robin Feedback

Closing

Charnaie Gordon, Middlesex Club President asked each of the guests for feedback and comments regarding the meeting.  The feedback from guests was very positive and comments such as “stimulating,” “fun,” and “I’ll be back” were heard.  Charnaie then closed the meeting.  Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. sharp! 

January 4, 2011 Meeting Minutes

The first meeting of the year was well attended and very educational!  The meeting featured three great speeches,  table topics that were loads of fun and included surprise props, and thorough, constructive speech evaluations!

Members Present:  Tom Alvord. Phil Mason, Cheryl Mason, William Sullivan, Charlie Hubert, Heather Turner, Ethel Peltz, Joe Lenart, John Lecornec, Akshay Dhote, Udaya Neelam

Guests Present:  Charnaie Gordon

Charnaie completed the application process and became our newest member tonight!  Welcome! 

Udaya Neelam, Area C5 Governor, conducted an official club visit. 

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Cheryl Mason

Invocation:                   Charnaie Gordon

Word Master:                Ethel Peltz

Timer:                          Charlie Hubert

Grammarian:                Charnaie Gordon

Ah Counter:                  Akshay Dhote

Table Topics Master:    Heather Turner

Speaker 1:                    Phil Mason

Speaker 2:                    Tom Alvord

Speaker 3:                    Bill Sullivan

General Evaluator:       Joe Lenart

Evaluator 1:                  Heather Turner

Evaluator 2:                  Charnaie Gordon

Evaluator 3:                  Udaya Neelam

Business Portion

Vice President of Membership (VPM) Bill Sullivan welcomed all and kicked off the meeting.
Upcoming events: 

Thu 1/20/2011 7-9:00 p.m. Speech-a-Thon with Cromwell & Middlesex Clubs, Cromwell Town Hall

Mon 1/24/2011 7-9:00 p.m. Division C TLE Mid-Year Officers Training, All Welcome, Cromwell Town Hall

Sat 1/29/2011 12 noon – 6 p.m. District 53 Jan Jam 2011 – This is a free event open to all! 

The Hartford, Tower 22^nd floor, 690 Asylum Ave., Hartford, CT  06105

Must pre-register, RSVP to:   janjam@district53toastmasters.org

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Ethel presented the Word of the Day, “compensate”

Table Topics

Table Topics was led by Heather Turner.  Participants:  Tom, Ethel, Akshay, John, Joe, Udaya

Props were provided for some to use in their speeches, while others responded to “what-if” scenarios such as inheriting a large sum of money, and explaining driving infractions! 

Education Portion

Speaker #1                   Phil Mason

Speech Number:           2

Speech Length:             5 – 7 minutes

Manual:                         Competent Communicator

Objective:                     Organize Your Speech

Title:                             My Passion – Or Is It An Obsession? 

Phil described his love for motor sports and racing, which started early in his childhood. 

Speaker #2                   Tom Alvord

Speech Length:             10-15 Minutes

Objective:                     Successful Club Series

Title:                             Going Beyond Our Club

Modules in the Successful Club Series are Toastmasters International provided materials that address the quality of club meetings and offer tips on attracting and maintaining members.  Fulfills ACS & ALB requirement.

Tom described the many ways for personal enrichment and growth by attending events and participating in activities outside the club environment.  The opportunity is to get to know and interact with a broad variety of people while practicing communication and leadership in these other environments. 

Easy opportunities:  visit another club, participate in an area contest, attend the upcoming Jan Jam, join a Toastmasters hike.       

Speaker #3                   Bill Sullivan

Speech Length:             10-15 minutes

Objective:                     Successful Club Series

Title:                             Setting the Stage for Success:  Meeting Roles & Responsibilities

Modules in the Successful Club Series are Toastmasters International provided materials that address the quality of club meetings and offer tips on attracting and maintaining members.  Fulfills ACS & ALB requirement.

Bill described the various meeting roles and how important they are to successful meetings.  He also described additional meeting roles (e.g. Humorist) which we may want to consider adding to our structure.  He included descriptions of the club officer duties as well and how their contributions help to strengthen the club. 

Evaluation Portion

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

Speech Evaluators provided feedback to each of the speakers: 

Evaluator 1:                  Heather Turner

Evaluator 2:                  Charnaie Gordon

Evaluator 3:                  Udaya Neelam

Each of the technicians provided their reports: 

Word Master:                Ethel Peltz

Timer:                          Charlie Hubert

Grammarian:                Charnaie Gordon

Ah Counter:                  Akshay Dhote

Closing

Toastmaster Cheryl closed the meeting.  Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m.