August 2nd, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Meeting started at 5:30 p.m. and concluded at 7:20 p.m.

 

Attendees

 

Members:  Tom Alvord, Cheryl Mason, William Sullivan, Crystal Storo, Philip Mason, Charlie Hubert, Louis Nizet, Heather Turner, Charnaie Gordon, Mano Rudravajhala, and Akshay Dhote.

 

Guests: Jerry Aiyathuria and Nancy Green

 

Business Meeting

  

Tom Alvord, our club President, introduced our guests and guest speaker of the evening, Jerry Aiyathuria.

 

Cheryl Mason congratulated the club on achieving the President’s Distinguished Club award. She also congratulated and informed the club of Heather Turner for achieving her Competent Communicator award and William Sullivan for achieving his Advanced Bronze Leader award.

 

Crystal reminded the club of the set date of Tuesday, September 20th for the upcoming Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contest. Crystal encouraged members to sign up for a Humorous speech or Table Topics contestant and/or sign up for a role. Crystal also informed the club that the following roles are available:

 

Contest Roles:

 

Table Topics Contestants (no limit) – 1 signed up so far – speak for 1-2 minutes, after receiving a topic

Humorous Speech Contestants (no limit) – 1 signed up so far – present an original 5-7 minute speech

Contest Chair – Crystal Storo – Organizes the contest, supplies, prepares the agenda, helps fill roles, briefs contestants & SAA on rules

Contest Master – Charnaie Gordon – Toastmaster for the Contest, follows a prepared agenda / script

Chief Judge (1 needed) – Ensures published rules are followed, briefs judges, counters, timers on duties, selects tiebreaking judge

Contest Judges (2 more needed) 3 participants signed up so far – Using pre-printed judging ballot, scores and ranks contestants, follows judges code of ethics

Timers – (1 more needed) – Charlie Hubert - Primary timer signals contestants, both timers document speech time using pre-printed time record sheet

Ballot Counters – (3 needed) Collect sealed ballots from each judge, outside of contest room, record speakers points on tally sheets

Sergeant At Arms – Philip Mason - Helps with room setup, calls meeting to order, guides contestants in and out of the room as necessary

Table Topics Master – Heather Turner – Provide the same general topic to each contestant.  Should lead to an opinion or conclusion

  

Meeting Roles

 

Toastmaster:                Tom Alvord

 

Word Master:                Nancy Green

PROGRESS – Noun & Verbal – Development/Growth & Forward movement

 

Table Topics Master:   Cheryl Mason

                                       Theme: Pictures to Improve Imagination/Creativity

                                       Participants:  William Sullivan – Picture of Earth from the Moon

                                                            Charlie Hubert – Antique Picture of Family

                                               Akshay Dhote – Picture of the Subway rush hour

                                                      Nancy Green – Picture of the Grand Canyon

                                                            Philip Mason – Picture of a double Rainbow

                                                            Crystal Storo – Picture of an Albino Ladybug

                                                            Louis Nizet – Picture of a Painting

 

Speaker 1:                    Charnaie Gordon, Project 3 from the Humorously Speaking Manual
                                      The Disagreement

 

Speaker 2:                    Mano Rudravajhala, CC Speech # 2 Organize Your Speech

                                      Java

 

Speaker 3 (Guest):      Jerry Aiyathuria, Practicing for International Contest, second speech
                                      The Best Thing that Ever Happened To You

 

Speaker 4 (Guest):      Jerry Aiyathuria, Practicing for World Championship of Public Speaking Contest

                                      Trapped

 

General Evaluator:       William Sullivan

 

Evaluator 1:                  Heather Turner

Evaluator 2:                  Charnaie Gordon

Evaluator 3:                  Round Robin (Everyone)

Evaluator 4:                  Not needed

 

Timer:                           Philip Mason

Ah Counter:                 Mano Rudravajhala

Grammarian:                Louis Nizet

 

Noteworthy

 

·           Cheryl Mason encouraged imagination and creativity growth with a great Table Topics session

 

·           We were also blessed to hear Jerry Aiyathuria perform his prepared speech for the semifinals of the World Championship of Public Speaking Contest at the 2011 Toastmasters International Contest in Las Vegas on August 18th.  If he wins the semifinals he will go on to the Finals where he will have to deliver a new speech.  That would be "The Best Things That Ever Happened To You" (working title).

 

·           Everyone was in agreement of the impact of new outdoor signs on the street, which were very helpful to the guests who attended our meeting. Heather Turner also made Member name badges and had blanks available for guests.

 

Prepared by Crystal Storo, Club Secretary 8/3/2011

July 19, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Meeting started at 5:30 p.m. and concluded at 7:10 p.m.

Attendees

Members:  Tom Alvord, Cheryl Mason, Philip Mason, Crystal Storo, Charlie Hubert, Louis Nizet, Mary Talbot, Heather Turner, Charnaie Gordon, Joe Lenart and Mano Rudravajhala
Guests:  Laura Dinan, Area 34 Governor

Business Meeting

Tom Alvord, our Club President, called up Club Secretary, Crystal Storo to read the club mission. Tom informed the club of 3 officers completing training, 2 going on Saturday and 1 still pending. Tom announced our District 53, Area 34 Governor, Laura Dinan as a guest to our Club meeting.

Laura conducted the installment of our new Club Officers: Philip Mason - Sergeant at Arms, Standing in for Brian Fleming, Charlie Hubert – Treasurer, Crystal Storo – Secretary, Heather Turner – Vice President of Public Relations, Louis Nizet – Vice President of Membership, Cheryl Mason – Vice President of Education, and Tom Alvord – President

Cheryl Mason congratulated the club of achieving the President’s Distinguised Club award. She also informed the club of the upcoming Fall Contest – Table Topics and Humorous set to take place on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011. Cheryl encouraged members to sign up early for speeches and roles. The following roles are available:

Contest Roles:

Table Topics Contestants (no limit) – speak for 1-2 minutes, after receiving a topic

Humorous Speech Contestants (no limit) – present an original 5-7 minute speech

Contest Chair (1) – Organizes the contest, supplies, prepares the agenda, helps fill roles, briefs contestants & SAA on rules

Contest Master (1) – Toastmaster for the Contest, follows a prepared agenda / script

Chief Judge (1) – Ensures published rules are followed, briefs judges, counters, timers on duties, selects tiebreaking judge

Contest Judges (5) – Using pre-printed judging ballot, scores and ranks contestants, follows judges code of ethics

Timers – (2) Primary timer signals contestants, both timers document speech time using pre-printed time record sheet

Ballot Counters – (3) Collect sealed ballots from each judge, outside of contest room, record speakers points on tally sheets

SAA – (1) Helps with room setup, calls meeting to order, guides contestants in and out of the room as necessary

Table Topics Master (1) – Provide the same general topic to each contestant.  Should lead to an opinion or conclusion

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Cheryl Mason

Word Master:                Heather Turner

BEMUSED – filled with bewilderment

Table Topics Master:    Mary Talbot, Theme: Bag of Goodies

Participants: 

Philip Mason – Magic Lizard

Laura Dinan – Wooden Fish

Crystal Storo – Metal Spring

Joe Lenart – Arabian Doll

Speaker 1:                    Mano Rudravajhala, CC Speech # 1 Ice Breaker

                                    From the Other Side of the Ocean

Speaker 2:                    Mary Talbot, CC Speech # 4 How to Say It

                                    The Tides of Providence, A must See Art Exhibit

Speaker 3:                    Charlie Hubert, CC Speech # 3 Get To the Point

                                    Revelation

Speaker 4:                    Heather Turner, CC Speech # 10 Inspire Your Audience

                                    Mentoring, Why Mentor?

General Evaluator:       Charnaie Gordon

Evaluator 1:                  Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 2:                  Crystal Storo

Evaluator 3:                  Phil Mason

Evaluator 4:                  Tom Alvord

Timer:                          Joe Lenart/Tom Alvord

Ah Counter:                 Mano Rudravajhala

Grammarian:                Louis Nizet

Noteworthy:

Mano, brand new member, gave his first speech and did a wonderful job!

Heather gave her 10th speech, to complete her CC manual
Tom was presented with a Triple Crown Certificate for completing three educational awards in the last Toastmasters year

Prepared by Crystal Storo, Club Secretary 7/19/2011

July 5, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Meeting started at 5:30 p.m. and concluded at 7:10 p.m.

Attendees

Members:  Tom Alvord, William Sullivan, Crystal Storo, Charlie Hubert, Louis Nizet, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Mary Talbot, Heather Turner, Charnaie Gordon, and new member Mano Rudravajhala.

Business Meeting

Louis Nizet recognized and presented Tom Alvord with a gift of his choice for finishing his CC

Tom Alvord, our new Cromwell Club President, thanked the club and new officers for their commitment to our club and expressed great enthusiasm in our upcoming year. 

Louis Nizet explained goals as VP of Memberships and challenged members to get friends, family, neighbors etc to attend meetings as guests. Louis also has a goal of 12 new members for the year (1 per month).

Heather Turner explained goals as VP of Public Relations and informed us of the recent setup of our Facebook fan page and Twitter. Heather is also working on several different avenues of marketing for our club.

Tom Alvord informed the club of next meeting, July 19^th will be the installation of the new club officers done by our Area Governor.

Our newest member, Mano, read the mission statement of Toastmasters and as a club we all read the Toastmaster promise!

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Heather Turner

Invocator:                    Crystal Storo

Word Master:               Charlie Hubert

ERRONEOUS – derived from error; mistaken

Table Topics Master:   Louis Nizet

                                    Theme:  Communication

                                    Participants:  Tom Alvord, Mano Rudravajhala, Crystal Storo

Speaker 1:                   William Sullivan, Successful Club Series
                                    Creating The Best Club Climate

Speaker 2:                   Murguan Pachaiyappan, CC Speech # 10 Inspire your audience

                                    Ten Steps to Improve Self Confidence

Speaker 3:                   Mary Talbot, CC Speech # 3 Get To the Point
                                    Be Aware, Befriend A Bee

Speaker 4:                   Charnaie Gordon, Advanced Manual, Humorously Speaking

Speech # 3 Make Them Laugh

General Evaluator:       Louis Nizet

Evaluator 1:                  Everyone

Evaluator 2:                  Charlie Hubert

Evaluator 3:                  Tom Alvord

Evaluator 4:                  Charlie Hubert

Timer:                          Charnaie Gordon

Ah Counter:                  Mary Talbot

Grammarian:                Crystal Storo

Noteworthy

·         We had over 10 uses of the word of the day!

·         Everyone, including Table Topics speakers, Prepared Speakers, and Evaluators all were within time limits!!

Prepared by Crystal Storo, Club Secretary 7/12/2011

June 21, 2011 Meeting Minutes

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

Attendees

Members:  Tom Alvord, Robert Dalo, Akshay Dhote, Charlie Hubert, Joe Lenart, Cheryl Mason, Phil Mason, Louis Nizet Murugan Pachaiyappan, Mary Talbot, Heather Turner

Guest:  Mano (2^nd meeting)

 

Business Meeting

Louis Nizet, Cromwell Club President, thanked everyone for the team effort that resulted in Cromwell achieving President’s Distinguished status this year! 

Tom Alvord mentioned the upcoming District 53 Club Officer TLI Training events.  The Manchester based TLI is this Saturday, June 25.  All members are welcome to attend in addition to club officers.  For more info:  http://www.district53toastmasters.org/

Cheryl Mason presented Heather Turner with a District 53 Award for completing 5 CC Speeches!  Heather received a letter and 1/2 CC Certificate signed by Lt. Gov. Education & Training, Richard Peck. 

Meeting Roles

Toastmaster:                Joe Lenart

Invocator:                     Louis Nizet

Word Master:                Mary Talbot
                                     TRANQUILITY – calmness, peacefulness, quiet

Table Topics Master:    Cheryl Mason

                                    Theme:  Reader’s Digest Magazine Topics

                                    Participants:  Rob Dalo, Mano, Akshay Dhote, Charlie Hubert, Louis Nizet

Speaker 1:                    Heather Turner, CC Speech # 7 Research Your Topic

                                    Tin Foil, History and Uses Over the Years

Speaker 2:                    Tom Alvord, CC Speech # 8 Get Comfortable With Visual Aids

                                    Even You Can Learn to Read Music

Speaker 3:                    Mary Talbot, CC Speech # 2 Organize Your Speech

                                    Peace &Tranquility

Speaker 4:                    Tom Alvord, Successful Club Series Module

Evaluate to Motivate

General Evaluator:       Murugan Pachaiyappan

Evaluator 1:                  Rob Dalo

Evaluator 2:                  Phil Mason

Evaluator 3:                  Cheryl Mason

Evaluator 4:                  Cheryl Mason (written evaluation only)

Timer:                          Akshay Dhote

Ah Counter:                  Charlie Hubert

Grammarian:                Rob Dalo

Noteworthy

·         A number of “first-times” at tonight’s meeting!  Congratulations to all: 

Rob- first time giving a speech evaluation

Phil – first time giving a speech evaluation

Akshay – first time serving as timer

Murugan – first time serving as General Evaluation

·         Tom completed TWO educational awards tonight:  CC Competent Communicator & ALB Advanced Leader Bronze.  Tom completed an ACB in April which means he has earned a TRIPLE CROWN award (recognition by Toastmasters International for achieving 3 educational awards in one year)!  Congratulations. Tom! 

·         With Tom’s additional CC achievement tonight, Cromwell has earned the 9^th Distinguished Club Program DCP point which achieves President’s Distinguished designation from Toastmasters International for the Cromwell Club!  Congratulations to all! 

Tom Alvord Places First in the Division C Tall Tales Contest!

Tom Alvord competed in the Division C Tall Tales Speech Contest on April 26 in Marlborough, CT, representing Club 5908 Cromwell Community Toastmasters, .

Tom placed FIRST out of the five contestants who had previously won their club and area contests in order to earn their spots in the division contest.  The competitors at the division contest represented the best speakers across 24 clubs and 6 areas, all of which make up Division C. 

Also attending from Cromwell:  Louis Nizet, Club President, Cheryl Mason, VPPR, Charlie Hubert, and Phil Mason. 

Tom's Tale, "Swanee River" earned him 1st Place in the Division Contest.  Tom will go on to compete in the District 53 Speech Contests on May 21 in East Windsor, CT.  We wish Tom much success and hope to see many of our fellow club members at the District Conference to support him! 

Read more here: 

Contest Results, April 26, 2011 Division C

District Spring 2011 Conference Info

Pictured l-to-r:  Dave Wheeler, DTM, District Governor, Tom Alvord, 1st Place Tall Tales Winner,
Cheryl Mason, DTM, Division C Governor, Leslie Hammond, CC, Area C6 Governor & Contest Master

Pictured l-to-r:  Leslie Hammond, CC, Area C6 Governor & Contest Master, Tom Alvord, 1st Place Tall Tales Winner, Liz Trendowski, ACS, CL, Contest Chief Judge

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

***************

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.