Friday, March 2, 2012

Open House Report

We are totally delighted that Fourteen guests attended our Open House last Tuesday ... nearly out-numbering our eighteen members who attended this exciting evening of entertainment and inspiration!

This made for an extraordinary meeting which began early with members welcoming guests and everyone greeting each other, networking and enjoying refreshments.

Phil Mason our Sergeant at Arms called us together right on time,

Louis Nizet stepped up as Toastmaster and

Bill Sullivan shared inspiration from Dale Carnegie on how to Win Friends and Influence People.

Mary Talbot followed with the Word of the Day: Scintillating which means brilliant and stimulating.

RamManohar Rudravajhala then led us through his carefully chosen, insightful and entertaining Table Topics.

We are delighted that several guests participated along with members!

We then were treated to three excellently Prepared speeches:
Heather Turner regaled us with a very funny speech about her pet Rock and pet Rocks in general - a real education!
Charlie Huber practiced what he was preaching by turning those “ah”s, “um”s "you know"s,  etc. into golden silence!
and ...
Our guest speaker Michael Aron used humor to inspire us to consider that G.P.S. can mean Goals, Plans and Success!

Thank you Michael for your special appearance at our club!

Our General Evaluator Cheryl Mason introduced our speech evaluators: Elizabeth Landeen and Bill Sullivan;

and our technicians:

Ah counter: Crystal Storo

Grammarian: Mary
Word Master: Mary who noted that seven people had used “Scintillating”

and …

Timer Phil Mason

As Toastmaster Louis Nizet skillfully guided us smoothly through the entire evening!!

We even had a raffle with member and Division C Governor Sharon Roth organizing tickets and facilitating the drawing for 10 wonderful and useful gifts! Thank you Sharon and Heather for providing those great items!

We had plenty of delicious refreshments organized by Crystal Storo including provisions from several others including Rob Dalo who was unable to attend!

(Rob sent two guests to the meeting!)

Thank you Phil for arranging the use of the Arch Room at least two months in advance and to our VP of PR Heather Turner who generated tons of great publicity!

Finally - Congratulations to our VP of Education Cheryl Mason for masterfully guiding and inspiring all of us to put this hugely successful evening together! 

Let’s all encourage the guests who attended to join our club! Louis Nizet is leading the follow up with these guests and we are hoping to have several new members soon.

Congratulations to all of you! 
Personally inviting guests seemed a key motivation for them to attend. 

This attests to the service we all provide when we extend the Toastmasters opportunity to those we care about!

Tom  Alvord
President