Tuesday, December 6, 2011

December 6, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Meeting started at 5:30 p.m. and concluded at 7:00 p.m.

Attendees

Members:  Rob Dalo, Charnaie Gordon, Cheryl Mason, Phil Mason,
Crystal Storo, Louis Nizet, Bill Sullivan, Heather Turner, Charnaie Gordon, Sharon Roth, and Mano Rudravajhala
Guests:  Elizabeth Landeen (who joined tonight), Deidre Rice

Business Meeting

Cheryl Mason covered the following topics: 

-       Club Supplies have been ordered from Toastmasters International – a new club banner with new TI logo, a banner stand, full set of Advanced Speech Manuals, promotional marketing materials, membership pins, etc.  We’re very excited about the new supplies on their way! 

-       Upcoming Club Events: 
o    February 21 – Open Houselooking for volunteer chair (leadership opportunity, earn credit toward CL manual project ) 
o    March 20 – Club Speech Contests, Tall Tales & Internationallooking for volunteer chair (leadership opportunity, earn credit toward CL manual project)
o    April / May – Guest Speaker, Marilyn Jess, DTMthis will be a Skype-type of session, topic is phone interviewing skills

Heather Turner covered these topics: 

-       January Holiday Partymore info to follow, looking for location options, someone’s home or a restaurant, Heather will send e-mail
-        New club websitethe current club website will be retired in January, all club members need to register with the new site!  http://5908.toastmastersclubs.org/
Any questions, please contact Heather.  heather@forfengdesigns.com

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Louis Nizet

Word Master:                Rob Dalo
Rob had a unique approach to the word-of-the-day: 

Everyone had a crayola crayon that had been placed in front of them. 
He also showed us his library card. 

He went on to explain that he is sometimes challenged to correctly pronounce “crayon” and “library”.  He asked each of us to think about the word(s) we have difficulty pronouncing and he would provide a “grand prize” to the winner at the end of the meeting. 

At the end of the meeting, during the word report, there was a quick “round robin” report of words that each person has difficulty pronouncing.  Everyone practiced the correct pronunciation of each word! 

Words:  Crayon, library, pronounce, drawer, idea, Caribbean, realtor (and others)
Prize went to:  Heather, for shrimp(s) and accouterment

Table Topics Master:    Crystal Storo, Theme:  Season of Giving

Participants: 
Bill Sullivan – Explaining giving to the needy, hats/gloves, food
Rob Dalo – A great meal on Christmas
Cheryl Mason – Finding money on the ground, and community giving
Elizabeth – Yes, she would work at a Salvation Army event this Saturday
Louis – What he really wants for Christmas

Speaker 1:         Mano Rudravajhala, CC Speech # 7 Research Your Topic
                          Avadhana

 Introduction:  Mano joined Cromwell Community Toastmasters in July this year!  Since then he has
been a very active member.  Tonight he will be giving Speech #7 from the CC Manual.  Mano will be speaking about Avadhana - a literary performance of India

Speaker 2:      Charnaie Gordon, CC Speech # 3 Get To the Point
How to Conduct Productive Meetings

Charnaie has been a member of Toastmasters since January 2009.  Since joining she has served as a club President and Vice President of Education.  She is currently serving as an Area Governor in Division B.

Tonight, Charnaie will be presenting a practice speech for a presentation she will present later this week at another Toastmasters club.  This speech will be a shortened version of the actual speech she will present.

The speech goal is to discuss How to Conduct Productive Meetings.  This speech is part of the Success Leadership Series, but Charnaie will count tonight's speech presentation towards her CC manual.  She'll be presenting speech project #3, Get to the Point.  The speech will be 5 - 7 minutes long and the title is "How to Conduct Productive Meetings."

Speaker 3:       Heather Turner, Humorously Speaking, Speech #2
Leave Them with a Smile
How to Peel an Onion

Introduction:  In 20 years in the restaurant industry and many onions peeled, Heather has found the perfect way to peel an onion.
                        
General Evaluator:       Bill Sullivan

Evaluator 1:                  Heather Turner
Evaluator 2:                  Phil Mason
Evaluator 3:                  Sharon Roth

Timer:                          Cheryl Mason
Ah Counter:                 Charnaie Gordon
Grammarian:                Rob Dalo

Noteworthy:

Bill's General Evaluation report included the following helpful comments: 

-       Meeting was both FUN and RAN SMOOTHLY – sometimes it’s difficult to do both! 
-       Table Topics were challenging and well done – and it was excellent that guest Elizabeth was invited to participate
-       Signs were well placed and helpful (2nd guest attended impromptu as a result of seeing signs when she was visiting the Town Hall for something else!) 
-       It’s helpful when the Toastmaster reviews the roles and asks functionaries to describe / confirm their roles for the meeting
Surprise Guest: 

At the end of the meeting, a guest stopped by after seeing the Toastmaster Meeting signs at the Town Hall!  Several of us had an opportunity to welcome and talk to Deidre as well as provide her with Toastmasters information. 

Deidre indicated she would like to join Toastmasters, lives nearby, and will attend the next meeting! 

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