July 17, 2012 Meeting Minutes

Attendees:

Members: Tom Alvord, Linda Campbell, Chu Chiang Chang, Rob Dalo, Charlie Hubert, Elizabeth Landeen, Cheryl Mason, Phil Mason, Louis Nizet, Angie Ondrick, Don Ostertag, Sharon Roth, Mano Rudravajhala, Crystal Storo, Bill Sullivan, Mary Talbot, Heather Turner

Guests: Elize Nizet, Neda (Cassie) Solinis, Charnaie Gordon ( past member, now a member of the Middlesex Community Toastmasters), Rob Schaff, Laura Dinan (Division C Governor), Rachel Mele (Area Governor)

Business Meeting:

Rob Dalo mentioned that we needed a bigger room as we were at a capacity of twenty-three members and guests tonight. He introduced the guests and notified us that an executive meeting would be held after the general meeting.

.

Meeting Roles:

Toastmaster: Crystal Storo

Invocation: Linda Campbell - "Two men looked out of prison bars. One saw mud; the

other saw stars." On what we choose to focus makes all the difference.

Word Master: Elizabeth Landeen - Word-of-the-Day: Protean -adjective - Meaning: display great diversity or variety. ( Appeared in New York Times last year over fifty-two times )

Table Topics Master: Elizabeth Landeen

Theme: Fortune Cookies

Tom Alvord - Newly elected officers

Rob Dalo - Be discreet; it's a gift

Mano Rudravajala - Challenges at work; enjoy what you're doing

Laura Dinan - Bargain shopping pays off

Neda (Cassie) Solinas - Making cultural contacts

Donald Ostertag - Lost and found ring on beach

Speaker # 1: William Sullivan ACB, ALB

Manual: Persuasive Speaking

Project: Addressing the Opposition

Title: It's a No Brainer

Speaker # 2: Rob Schaff ACS, ALB

Manual: Competent Communicator

Project: #7 Research Your Topic

Title: Target Knows Your Pregnant

Club Officer Installation: Tom Alvord ( past president, now steward and statesman) was thanked by our Area Governor, Rachel Mele, for his service as Cromwell Community Toastmaster President. The following officers were sworn in:

President - Rob Dalo

Vice President of Education - Crystal Storo

Vice President of Membership - Mano Rudravajhala

Vice President of Public Relations - Heather Turner

Co-Secretaries - Linda Campbell/Mary Talbot

Treasurer - Brian Fleming

Sergeant at Arms - Charlie Hubert

Speaker # 3: Rachel Mele ACB, Area Governor

Manual: Advanced Communication Series, Speeches by Management

Project 5: #1 The Briefing

Title: Distinguished Club Recognition

Area 34 Governor Rachel Mele presented Cromwell Community Toastmasters with a LARGE personalized DCP Record chart on foam board for us to track our points. Rachel mentioned that only 15% of the clubs in District 53 are President's Distinguished including our club!

General Evaluator: Sharon Roth ACS, CL

Sharon suggested that the Toastmasters banner be placed both inside and outside of the room. She congratulated Crystal for completion of her CL manual. Sharon complimented the Table Topics Master, Elizabeth Landeen for a new and fun idea for Table Topics. Sharon mentioned that all roles were filled tonight and further complimented the speech evaluators on their excellent and detailed evaluations. Thanks was given to Crystal Storo for making our new place cards.

Evaluator # 1: Cheryl Mason DTM

Evaluator # 2: Heather Turner ACB

Evaluator # 3: Mary Talbot

Grammarian: Mary Talbot

Ah Counter: Phil Mason

Timer: Charlie Hubert

Heather announced the upcoming  'ABCs of Facebook'  free workshop August 16th 6:30-8:30 in the Arch Room at the Town Hall. 

Rob Dalo concluded the meeting with congratulations to Crystal Storo for completion of her CL manual. He further asked our guests for their comments on tonight's meeting and thanked them for coming.

Next meeting: August 7th.

Respectfully submitted by

Linda Campbell, Co- Secretary

July 3, 2012 Meeting Minutes

Club 5908 ~ District 53

July 3, 2012 Meeting Mintues

Attendees: Tom Alvord, Louis Nizet, Charles Hubert, Cheryl Mason, Sharon Roth, William Sullivan, Crystal Storo, Philip Mason, Mano Rudravajhala, Donald Ostertag, Linda Campbell

Guests: Susan Weeden, Chu-Chaing Chang, Amy Ansah, and Cassie.

Business Meeting:

Tom Alvord informed us that Cromwell Community Toastmasters had grown from eight members a few years ago to twenty-four members currently. Tom announced that we will have the official installation of new officers at the July 17th meeting

.

Crystal Storo, VP of Education, welcomed everyone and thanked members and guests for coming during the holiday week. Crystal further thanked Cheryl Mason for her hard work last year in maintaining our club as a President's Distinguished Club. She discussed the recent TLI (Toastmasters Leadership Institute) held in Manchester on June 23rd, mentioning that we had six out of seven officers in attendance giving us a point on our board. Crystal told us that the TLI's are open to anyone, informing us that two non-members attended. Future meetings will be posted, however there is an upcoming meeting on July 7th in Hamden. Crystal announced that we will all be receiving new Toastmasters name tags as well as name tent cards ( suggested in a previous meeting by Sharon Roth), and also passed out a contact spreadsheet.

Meeting Roles:

Toastmaster: Charlie Hubert

Invocation: Louis Nizet - We are born with love in our hearts, but the world can teach us to

to fear. Fear is overrated.

Word Master: Cheryl Mason

Word-of-the-Day: Pundit - noun - meaning: An expert, and authority in

a certain area (of Sanskrit

origin)

Table Topics Master: Mano Rudravajala

Theme: Independence Day

Phil Mason: July 4th at school

Cheryl Mason: Anticipation of July 4th

Suzanne Whelon: Landmark day/911

Donald Ostertag: Newly arrived in USA/New Britain

Amy Ansah: First time/ theater-Lion King

Sharon Roth: Patriotism and our freedoms

Speaker # 1: Crystal Storo

CC Project # 2 Organize Your Speech

Title: Our Nation's Emblem

Speaker # 2: Linda Campbell

CC Project # 3 Get to the Point

Title: A Plum of a Writer

Speaker # 3: Sharon Roth

Manual: Interpersonal Communications

Project 5: Asserting Yourself Effectively

Title: Just Say No

General Evaluator: Mano Rudravajala

Mano commented that we learn something new at each Toastmasters meeting and offered these salient words: "This is a place to speak."

"Success isn't final; failure isn't fatal; it's courage that counts!"

Evaluator # 1: Phil Mason

Evaluator # 2: Bill Sullivan

Evaluator # 3: Tom Alvord

Grammarian: Cheryl Mason

Ah Counter: Amy Ansah

Timer: Phil Mason

Crystal Storo thanked Charlie Hubert for being Toastmaster and Mano for taking on a dual role of Topics Master and General Evaluator at tonight's meeting. Crystal asked each of the guests for feedback on their experience of the meeting.

Next meeting: July 17, 2012. See you then!

Respectfully submitted by

Linda Campbell, Co- Secretary

June 19th, 2012 Meeting Minutes

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53 ~ Area C-34

Attendees:

Members: Tom Alvord, Cheryl Mason, Heather Turner, Crystal Storo, Philip Mason, Bill Sullivan, Rob Dalo, Mano Rudravajala, Linda Campbell, Mary Talbot, Charlie Hubert, Sharon Roth, Danny Strong, Jay Polke, Elizabeth Landeen, and Don Ostertag.

Guests: Amy Ansah

Business Meeting:

Tom Alvord, our current Club President, thanked the club for a successful year and thanked each of the current Officers for their support. Tom announced that at the previous meeting we had our official election and voted in the new Officers as follow:

President: Rob Dalo

Vice President of Education: Crystal Storo

Vice President of Membership: Mano Rudravajala

Vice President of Public Relations: Heather Turner

Secretary: Linda Campbell

Treasurer: Brian Fleming

Sargeant of Arms: Charlie Hubert

Tom informed the group that we would be holding a mini-ceremony at the end of the meeting this evening. Tom also announced that member, Akshay Dhote, will be moving on to California and would be leaving the club after tonight. In an attempt to help him achieve his goal of completing his CC aaward, Akshay would give 2 speeches this evening, one during the meeting, and one after the meeting. Tom encouraged members to stick around to hear his final speech immediately following the adjournment of the meeting.

Cheryl Mason, our current Club Vice President of Education, congratulated everyone of achieving the President's Distinguished recognition this year. Cheryl displayed the DCP poster and went over the 9 of 10 goals we reached over the year. Cheryl also thanked the club for a successful year and passed on the new DCP poster to the newly elected, Vice President of Education Crystal Storo.

Meeting Roles:

Toastmaster: Heather Turner

Invocation: Charlie Hubert

Word Master: Elizabeth Landeen

                        Word of the day: Fantast - Noun - Meaning: A visionary or dreamer

Table Topics Master: Crystal Storo

                                     Theme: Off-The-Cuff Occasions

                                     Amy Ansah - Highschool Reunion

                                     Jay Polke - Neighbor's 50th Anniversary

                                     Charlie Hubert - Best Friend's Wedding

                                     Danny Strong - Newbie at the Office

                                     Rob Dalo - Congratulating your Daughters

                                     Bill Sullivan - Scary Campfire story

                                     Don Ostertag - Gas station robbing, News Van

Speaker # 1: Mary Talbot

                      CC Project # 6, Vocal Variety

                      Title: Charles Russell, The Artist I grew up on

Speaker # 2: Akshay Dhote

                      CC Project # 9, Persuade with Power

                      Title: Save the Tiger

Speaker # 3: Linda Campbell

                      CC Project # 2, Organize your speech

                      Title: The Homestead Act

General Evaluator: Crystal Storo

Evaluator # 1: Sharon Roth

Evaluator # 2: Cheryl Mason

Evaluator # 3: Elizabeth Landeen

Grammarian: Bill Sullivan

Ah Counter: Phil Mason

Timer: Elizabeth Landeen

Ceremony:

Tom Alvord recognized and presented Akshay Dhote with a Certificate of Appreciate for his participation in Cromwell Community Toastmaster. Tom reminded everyone to feel free to stay at the end of the meeting to hear Akshay's final speech.

Tom and Cheryl Mason also recognized each current Officer for their contributions over the past year. Each Officer was presented with an award and a handy Toastmasters International tote bag.

Cheryl also recognized Tom and presented him with a unique Toastmasters plaque congratulating and thanking him for a successful year serving as Club President.

Tom gave a brief story of reminiscence of how he first met Cheryl and his time getting to know her. He also recognized Cheryl and presented her with a special gift and framed award thanking her for amazing leadership, guidance and support to this club and serving as Vice President of Education.

Tom and Cheryl also called up and presented each of the newest members of the club with a TI pin. They also called up and presented a pin to all members who had not gotten one in the past.

Noteworthy:

~ Akshay Dhote gave his last speech, Project # 10 Inspire Your Audience. His speech title was The Only Constant. Rob Dalo evaluated his speech and we all congratulated him and wished him much success in the future. Akshay promises he will keep in touch with us and potentially look to join a new club in California.

Prepared by: Crystal Storo, Club Secretary 6/24/12

Meeting Minutes for June 5, 2012

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908 Meeting Minutes for June 5, 2012

The Cromwell Community Toastmasters met on Tuesday, June 5, at the Cromwell Town Hall. In attendance were fifteen members and four guests.

Members present: Tom Alvord, Louis Nizet, Sharon Roth, William Sullivan, Heather Turner, Crystal Storo, Akshay Dhote, Robert Dalo, Elizabeth Ostertag, Phil Mason, Mano Rudravajhala, Charlie Hubert, Jay Polke, Angie Ondrick, Linda Campbell

Guests present: We were honored to have four guests in attendance tonight:

Donald Ostertag ( Elizabeth's Dad) hails from New Britain and presently conducts a monthly meeting as commandant of the Marine Corps League.

Sissy Simpson, from Meriden, is an OSHA trainer who is looking to perfect her speaking style. She learned about us via an ad in the Hartford Courant.

Amy Ansah, while now living in New Britain, is originally from Great Britain, and has been a guest several times.

Cassie hails from Middletown and joined us for the first time tonight. Her goal is to feel more comfortable sharing information and speaking publicly before large and small groups.

Sergeant at Arms: Phil Mason

Business Meeting: Tom Avord ACB ALB

Toastmaster: Sharon Roth ACB CL

Word of the Day: Linda Campbell - 'imbroglio' meaning: a difficult or intricate situation, an entanglement,

an embarrassing misunderstanding, an intricately woven plot/set of

circumstances

.

Invocation: Elizabeth Ostertag - 'The Law of Detachment' by Deepak Chopra

(handout was provided)

Table Topics Master: Heather Turner ACB

Table Topic 1: What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail. Jay Polk said he would like to feel confident by having advance knowledge only available to him in his business dealings.He also mentioned it would be great to know the Daily Number ahead of time!

Table Topic 2: What store would you want to be stuck in when the zombie apocalypse hit? Rob Dalo

chose Home Depot!

Table Topic 3: If you could live the life of a favorite book or movie hero, who would it be and why? Phil

Mason chose Steve McQueen!

Table Topic 4: If you could live forever, would you or wouldn't you and why or why not? Mano

Rudravajhala said he would not, stating that life is a cycle in which you live, leave your

mark and go back. He mentioned a character given such a choice from a favorite book.

Table Topic 5: If you could be stuck in a store for one hundred years without food being a problem,

which store would you want to be stuck in? Donald Ostertag chose Carvel or Dairy

Queen as he would enjoy having a hot fudge sundae everyday.

Prepared Speeches:

Speaker #1: Sharon Roth ACB CL

Manual:INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS

Speech: The Coach

Title: The Challenge to Coach

Time: 10-14 minutes

Sharon Roth gave us some excellent insight on how to coach anyone. She divided her speech into three parts; a discussion on how to coach (provided us with a handout delineating five tips on evaluation), a role playing segment with the assistance of Phil Mason in which she further discussed the value of the 'sandwich approach' to evaluation of a speech (something positive/one thing a person could do better/something positive), and a segment asking the audience for feedback.

Speaker #2: William Sullivan ACB ALB

Manual: PERSUASIVE SPEAKING

Speech: Conquering the 'Cold Call'

Title: Selling the Invisible

Time: 10-14 minutes

Bill Sullivan has been in the healthcare field for twenty-one years and has recently been asked to get into sales. His speech explained how to sell the invisible ( a service, especially one that is expensive). Bill listed the qualities of a successful salesperson and provided us with the following excellent and insightful quote: "Philosophy drives attitude, attitude drives action, actions drive results, results drive lifestyle'. A cold call scenario was role played with the assistance of Crystal Storo. Bill also recommended the book entitledLittle Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Speaker #3: Marlyn Jess (via Skype) DTM

Title: How to Conduct a Phone Interview

Marlyn Jess shared three tips that make phone interviews successful: manage technical aspects (minimize background noise, silence extraneous devices, use a headset, use a mirror and smile), manage yourself (be as relaxed as possible, be well hydrated, go into your personal 'green room'), manage your resources (prepare for the question, have your resume handy, have stories of personal success ready). She advised the importance of pausing for benefit of both speaker and listener during a phone interview. Further, she explained the value of a cell statement ( listen to what the person needs most, that's the problem you want to solve) and reminded us not to forget the after-work ( call, write a letter, or visit).

Evaluations:

General Evaluator: Crystal Storo guided us through the evaluation portion of the meeting.

Evaluator 1: Tom Alvord ACB, ALB evaluated Sharon Roth's speech.

Evaluator 2: Charlie Hubert evaluated William Sullivan's speech.

The Ah Counter (Angie Ondrick), Grammarian (Rob Dalo), and Timer (Akshay Dhote) reviewed their reports for the meeting.

Closing:

President Tom Alvord presided over the election of club officers for the new year which begins July 1. Installation will be held on June 19, 2012 and officer training on June 23.

Meeting Minutes for 4/17/2012

On 4/17/2012 The Cromwell Community Toastmasters Club held their meeting at 5:30 PM at the Cromwell town Hall.

Ten Members and 3 guests attended.

Toastmaster was TOM ALVORD. He presided over the meeting and began with a review of A Toastmaster's Promise.

Invocation was presented by HEATHER TURNER. She referred to John Zimmer's discussion of "The Ripple Effect", and urged us to consider this powerful effect as we prepare and give our speeches.

Word of the Day was selected and presented by our guest AMY ANSAH.  "Carpe Diem" was used numerous times during the meeting with BILL SULLIVAN incorporating it most frequently.

Table Topics was led by BILL SULLIVAN. He used questions asked at Google job interviews to spark unwitting members give fun impromptu speeches.

5 prepared speeches were given and evaluated: 

SPEAKER : SHARON ROTH                                            

EVALUATOR: BILL SULLIVAN

SPEAKER : HEATHER TURNER

EVALUATOR: MARY TALBOT

SPEAKER : LOUIS NIZET      

EVALUATOR: CHARLIE HUBERT

SPEAKER : MARY TALBOT    

EVALUATOR: HEATHER TURNER

SPEAKER : JACQUELINE KIRWIN (guest from Middlesex Toastmasters)

EVALUATOR: JOSEPH LENART

LOUIS NIZET provided a general evaluation of the meeting. DANNY STRONG, AKSHAY DHOTE, CHARLIE HUBERT and MARY TALBOT filled the many other important roles and presentations that structure our meeting in the unique way that supports our having fun while we grow in our ability to stand up and speak confidently.  Our guest ANGIE ONDRIK joined our ranks at the end of the meeting. WELCOME TO ANGIE.

Minutes Respectfully submitted,

Mary Talbot

Our Area 34 Spring Contests were held this evening April 11, 2012 at 7:00.

They were held in a very nice room called the auditorium at Northeast Utilities in Berlin.  

There were seven contestants from four clubs.

Three Tall Tales and Four International contestants

from...

Cromwell

Cedar Hill (Newington)

Central CT Advanced Toastmaters

NorthEast Utilities Toastmasters

 

Results:

(They announced two places in each contest):

International:

1st place - Kevin Finn - gave a speech about "Dave", an man who is confined to a wheel chair.  He gave part of this speech at a Middlesex open house - maybe the one with Walter Beveridge?

2nd place - Nathan Jaycox - a very well organized speech about an "unseen mentor" - a relative of his who inspired Nathan years ago and who he only realized recently as a mentor.

The other two contestants were our own Louis Nizet and Helen Taylor.

There was one disqualification for time.

Louis gave a great presentation of the "I Believe" speech he gave at our club contest.  This time no notes, and he had all the items for each letter of "I B-E-L-I-E-V-E" down cold.  It was very interesting and educational, even inspiring! 

Tall Tales:

1st place - Patricia Martin from Cedar Hill who treated us with a very animated Tall Tale about witches, crab apples and fire.

2nd place - Richard Franz Jr. from CCAT - who was also very animated. 

Charlie Hubert and our own Sharon Roth (and Division C Governor!) were in attendance as was Nancy Green - a former member of Middlesex Toastmasters and a guest at Cromwell last fall!

Sharon gave a very inspiring speech at the end of the contest about the exciting Toastmasters club she is helping start in a prison!

Identity Theft Notes from a recent speech

This past week my speech was from one of the advanced manuals; Speaking to Inform, the title was Reputation Management and Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft in the Online World. I thought it would be helpful to post my handout online as Identity Theft can happen to anyone, toastmasters included.

Tips on Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft

§         When using online banking or any other sites (like Amazon.com) always type in the address or use a bookmark in your browser. Never click on a link received in an email.

§         Don't use obvious or the same passwords

§         When ordering online, make sure the site has an SSL certicificate, it will appear as a lock in the URL on a PC and down in the corner on a MAC. If the lock has a slash through it is insecure.

§         Keep antivirus and anti spyware software active and up to date

§         Check your credit report yearly

§         Sign up for online banking and if you use credit cards, online pay, check often at least weekly

Signs you might have a problem.

§         Bills that do not arrive as expected

§         Unexpected credit cards or account statements

§         Denials of credit for no apparent reason

§         Calls or letters about purchases you did not make

More information here as well: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/idtheft/idt04.pdf

The three major consumer reporting companies are required by law to give you a free copy of your credit report each year if you ask for it. The companies are: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.

www.AnnualCreditReport.com is a central website, run by these three companies,

From the FTC website:

• Place a "Fraud Alert" on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for placing an initial 90-day fraud alert; a call to one company is sufficient: 
• Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

Placing a fraud alert entitles you to free copies of your credit reports. Look for inquiries from companies you haven't 
contacted, accounts you didn't open, and debts on your accounts that you can't explain.

• Contract the security or fraud departments of each company where an account was opened or charged without your okay.

o                        Follow up in writing, with copies of supporting documents.

o                        Use the ID Theft Affidavit at ftc.gov/idtheft to support your written statement. 

o                        Ask for verification that the disputed account has been dealt with and the fraudulent debts discharged. 

o                        Keep copies of documents and records of your conversations about the theft.

• File a police report. File a report with law enforcement officials to help you correct your credit report and deal with creditors who may want proof of the crime.
• Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission. Your report helps law enforcement officials across the country in their investigations.
• Online: ftc.gov/idtheft 
• By phone: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) or TTY, 1-866-653-4261
• By mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580