Meeting Minutes October 6, 2015

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues, October 6, 2015

Attendees:    Don Ostertag,  Charlie Hubert, Danielle Payne, Heather Turner, Bill Sullivan, Hollie Rose, Gaia McDermott, Andrew Watt, Michael Brillas, Sheetal Patel, Jeevan Kale, Rob Dale

Guests: August Wolf, Maribel, Terry, John, Vishruti Patel

Business Meeting

Crystal had her baby – a boy Zachary. Congratulations Crystal

Welcome August Wolf- Area Governor

Area Contest

Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm.

Manchester

Good luck to Rob Dalo and Gaia McDermott

Sheetal Patel will go as our judge

Area Contest Winners Move onto Division Contest

Division Contest
Monday, October 26
Colchester

District 53 Conference
November 21

Fishkill, NY at the Ramada

Keynote Lance Miller - 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking

Toastmaster Bill Sullivan

Invocation Heather Turner-   

Albert Einstein quote

Table Topics Heather Turner

• [Andrew] 2:00 Strage bone-What is it?: It is a vertebrae from a dragon… or marine sea creature.. maybe a shark. During a storm on the beach there was a skeleton left similar to this. (it was actually from a dolphin)
• [Rob] 2:15 You are a space man or woman on the international space station. What does this circuit board go to and how do you fix it? I used to work in an amplifier factory and looked at the quality of the solder. We had to test this with our own music. I spent a lot of time working with circuit boards.
• [John] 1:17 You are a space man or woman on the international space station. What does this circuit board go to and how do you fix it? Circuit boards are like life. We start with a blank slate and each take a different path.
• [Don] 1:16 This is your wand from Harry Potter. What house are you from? I watched the first Harry Potter movie come out and got into it. I like seeing how the actors grew up. My nephew went to Florida and brought back a tee shirt and wand for me. I really enjoy the movies.
• [Charlie] 1:48 This is spider from Amazon. What do you use it for?
  This reminds me of Halloween. I think Daddy Long Legs are friendly. If you are a spider fan this is what one would buy.
• [Bill] 1:39 Shiny half sphere – What is it? This is part of something from a security package from my house. What else could you use this for? This is so basic and simple. It would be cool if this could fly around you. It would go to class for you. It could deaden the sound while you play alto sax.  Or it could be a door stop.
• [John]  2:27 This is a hard drive. What’s on it?:  Megabytes were huge when I was growing up. This could hold any secret, anyone’s secret. It could hold anything you could think of. My kids skype with Grandma/ Grandpa all the time and think it is the same as seeing them in person.

Speaker # 1:  Danielle Payne : 5:25

Manual/Project Competent Communicator, #1

Title: Settle Down, Class Has Begun

I teach at a small private school for children with autism. One of my students ran out of the room when I first meet him because he didn’t like change. Eventually, I began to spend more time with him. This job has taught be patience and understanding.

Speaker # 2:  Andrew Watt: 10:52

Manual/Project: Speaking to Inform: #4
Title: Font in Graphic Design

Fonts say things about us that we didn’t know they said. Helvetica is something everyone uses since 1957. You may not want to use it. Times allows you to use the most words with the least ink and paper. Courier is used to show that we are using code. One page of courier equals one minute of screen time on film. All of the letters occupy the same amount of space. Names in different font look very different.

Speaker # 3:  Hollie Rose: 18:10

Manual/Project: Specialty Speeches: #4
Title: The Quartzsite Trip by William Hogan

This project is to read outload so I am just going to read the beginning of The Quartzsite Trip by William Hogan. This takes place in 1962 which was very different from life today. Deeter Moss was getting ready for the school time off for Easter and was planning was going on the Quartzsite trip. PJ Cooper, a teacher, started the Quartzsite Trip. Only seniors were invited, 36 of them. The invitations were given on Monday two weeks before the trip began. The trip was the ultimate status.

Evaluator # 1: August Wolf 3:19

 I loved your energy and how you talked about the challenges. The speech was easy to follow. You should slow down. The conclusion was great.

Evaluator # 2:  Hollie Rose 2:53

The title was more general than it could have been. The title could have been The History of Fonts. Saving ink and money was brilliant. Delve more into the subject. Explain more about serif. You introduced culturally sensitive fronts at the end without getting into it.

Evaluator # 2:  Heather Turner 3:30

This is the hardest evaluation I have had to give. This speech is perfect for another manual. The speech should be shorter with a beginning and end. There was not much in terms of interpretation. If you do this again summarize the first 8 minutes.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Maribel  Ubiquitous - existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent:

Charlie Hubert: 1
John: 1
Bill Sullivan: 1
Andrew Watt: 2

Timer:  Gaia McDermot times given, see above

Grammarian:  Don Ostertag  
Charlie -  gentle warning to wrap it up.
Tom - wee wee referring to a radio.
John there will be no raisins
August- Toastmasters was a spring board.
Marci- pumpkin ice cream on a hot day turning to fall
Andrew- used a the word catch with a picture of a fish. 
Gaia - branches crackling, Chaos retreated Gaia came through

Ah Counter:  Terri

18 ahs and 22 ums for the group

Grammarian:  Don Ostertag

Andew Whatt: Big big fish, mind your ps and qs, outside and full of swashes

Bill Sullivan: These little dudes

John: Going to some place, boggle the mind

Danielle Payne: Communicate and interact

Hollie Rose: Hootin nanny

General Evaluator: Andrew Watt

The signs were great. Thank you.

August: Thank you. You are a happy, healthy club. Area contest is next week.  Divison and district contests will follow. There are advanced clubs if you have your CC and are ready for the next step. There is one 5-6 miles from here.

Area 44 contest in one week the 13^th in Manchester briefing at 6:30
Sheetel will go as our judge.

We can look into virtual attendance. We as a club would need to buy the equipment. Heather has offered her equipment. We will discuss this at the next meeting.

Next meeting: October 19, 2015

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

September 15, 2015 - Fall Speech Contests

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues, September 15, 2015

Fall Speech Contests - Table Topics & Humorous

Table Topics
1^st Place - Rob Dalo
2^nd Place – Danielle Payne
3^rd Place – Peter N. Davis

Humorous
1^st Place – Gaia McDermott – How to Curb Your Cursing
Charlie Hubert – You Too Can Be a Cook

Cromwell Community Contest Winners Advance To:
Area 44
Table Topics & Humorous Speech Contests
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
7:00-9:00 pm
Hosted by: Nathan Hale Club in Manchester at the Manchester Church, 595 Tolland Tpk

Thank you to
Contest Chair – Donald Ostertag
Contest Master – Andrew Watt
Chief Judge – Hollie Rose
Refreshments – Rob Dalo
And all the volunteers and club members who helped make this possible

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

Meeting Minutes September 1, 2015

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues, September 1, 2015

Attendees:    Don Ostertag,  Gaia McDermott, Danielle Payne, Hollie Rose, Charlie Hubert, Rob Dalo, Donald Ostertag, Phil Mason, Peter Davis, Andrew Watt, Tom Alvord

Guests: August Wolf, Marci, John

Call to order - Charlie read Toastmaster’s mission statement.

Business Meeting - President Hollie Rose

Welcome August Wolf Area 44 Director
Contest is next meeting – table topics and humorous
Dues are due this month- please pay by the next meeting- $84 for the year, 42$ for 6 mos.
We received the President’s Distinguished Ribbon for last year – Hollie presented it to last year’s President, Phil Mason.

Toastmaster Peter Davis

Invocation Tom Alvord-   

The Rabbit and the garden- Mark Nepo

Word of the Day - Devise-   

See report below

Table Topics Hollie Rose

• [Tom] 1:55 What is the first music you remember having an impact on you?: I don’t remember the exact music but we had a lot of music growing up in the 1940’s.. we made our own music…the jingle from the donut shops sticks out
• [Rob]  1:19 What is your favorite movie?  I do not have a favorite but I recently watched and liked the Godfather for the values… the guy wanted to protect his family
• [John] (guest) 1:49 What food are you grateful for?  My favorite food is what I like to cook…oatmeal cookies -no raisins!... I like to give them to people to enjoy
• [Danielle] 1:25 What person has made an impact in your life? My brother has been an inspiration to me. We have been able to support each other.
• [August] (guest) 1:51 What is your life in 2 minutes?  I will answer why I am grateful for Toastmasters…Toastmasters has been a springboard.. I have been involved in voice overs, theater and radio work
• [Marci] (guest) 0:47 Tell us the most enjoyable part of your last week:  Going with my significant other to get a pedicure and a nice meal…getting a pumpkin pie Blizzard at Dairy Queen
  
  
• [Andrew]  2:15 Tell me about a stranger who made an impact on you:  I don’t meet many strangers as a teacher… we were on a trip and a woman was injured and couldn’t participate… at the end I was also injured and was able to stay with the injured woman... she ended up being a Buddhist monk and she said you don’t have to teach something to everyone you know

Speaker # 1:  Andrew Watt : 10:57

Manual/Project: Speaking to Inform, #4

Title: Color, Opacity and Hue in Graphic Design

Today was the first day of school. The eight graders have to design a yearbook. One can use CARP – contrast, alignment repetition and proximity. Using the three primary colors plus white and black you can make most of the colors you can find.  It looks like computers can generate thousands of colors. Computers don’t know color so someone had to make a program for that. Computers use black, red, blue and green instead of the three primary colors. Each color has a number associated with it. This can create 125 colors and then uses different pixels to show thousands of colors. Unlike the computer, the printer gives something that does not look like something on the screen. The printer uses different technology. Printers use cyan, yellow and magenta. When these colors are combined they form the primary colors. Printers work by subtracting away the colors you shouldn’t see. You can create a beautiful image on the computer and see crap when you print it.

Speaker # 2:  Gaia McDermott 4:38

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator #1 Icebreaker
Title: What’s In a Name?
My name is Gaia Barbara McDermott but my birth name is Barbara McDermott. Everyone has very Irish names except for me. Barbara means foreign and strange. I devised the name Gaia legally. I had paralyzing depression after having my son. Depression is like winter with no hope and I was able to come out of chaos. Chaos retreated and Gaia came through.

Evaluator # 1: Donald Ostertag 1:46

You did a good job holding and showing the computer. All of your visuals were good. Your voice was nice and even. I found the numbers of each color very interesting. You had good hand movement. You did your homework and did a nice job.

Evaluator # 2:  Andrew Watt 3:53
You did a great job. The first speech is always hard. You had a good visual aid. You had almost no notes. You were able to think on the spot and use the word of the day -  devise. There as a beginning, middle and end. You talked about your divorce like it was like spring. I liked chaos retreated and Gaia came out.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Andrew Watt  Devise, to plan  or invent (a complex procedure, system, or mechanism) by careful thought

Tom 6, Charli 3, Hollie 3, Rob 3, Phil 1, John 3, Danielle 1, Marci 1

Timer:  Charlie Hubert times given, see above

Grammarian:  Rob Dalo
Charlie -  gentle warning to wrap it up.
Tom - wee wee referring to old radio static.
John - there will be no raisins
August- Toastmasters was a spring board.
Marci- pumpkin ice cream on a hot day turning to fall
Andrew- used the word catch with a picture of a fish. 
Gaia - branches crackling, Chaos retreated Gaia came through

Ah Counter:  Donald Ostertag
Andrew 0, Gaia 4, john 4, Danielle 4, Marci 3,  Peter a few

General Evaluator: Phil Mason

Andrew you had to come up with out the projector and you did a great job. It is great to have guests and the Area 44 Director. The signs were great.

In closing:  The word of the day winner got the paper. Gaia thank you for doing your icebreaker. Don’t forget the contest on the 15^th. Dues are due!

August: Giving the person who used the word the most the WoD paper is a good idea. Maybe they should get to be WoD person next meeting.

The Area contest will be in Manchester on October 15^th.

Next meeting: September 15, 2014 – We will have a contest. Don will be the chair for our contest. We have a table topics and a humorous contest. We will have 4 people for each

Table topics: Rob, Bill, Peter and Danielle

Humorous: Charlie, Phil, Gaia, and Andrew
Hollie is the chief judge.

Don’t worry about going on the next level.

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

[Posted by Hollie Rose]

Meeting Minutes August 18, 2015

Cromwell Community Toastmasters

Club 5908 ~ District 53

Tues, August 18, 2015

Attendees:    Don Ostertag, Crystal Storo, Bill Sullivan, Danielle Payne, Hollie Rose,  Charlie Hubert, Sheetal Patel, Gaia McDermott, Rob Dalo, Peter Davis,

Guests:  Amy, Maribell

Business Meeting

4 officers have been trained in this first training period: Andrew, Don, Jen and Hollie

This gives us our first point for the Distinguished Club Program.

Toastmaster Andrew Watt

Invocation Don Ostertag 

Table Topics Rob Dalo

• [Bill] What is your dream vacation?: I spent time in Old Lyme shores and was able to disconnect from everything... looking at the sunset, crabbing, fishing on a kayak,.  2:05
• [Gaia]  What is your favorite trip from childhood?   Ireland. Mother and father are from Ireland. Spent time with relatives. 1:13
• [Danielle] What would be your dream vacation?   I was going to take a road trip to Arizona but ended up working instead. 0:48
• [Amy]  What vacation did you go on with your Dad?   Camping in Canada. We explored muscles, shells and had a great time. 0:59
•  [Mirabel]  Tell us anything you want:  We wanted to drive from Illinois to Nevada. It took two days longer than expected.   We got to see the Rocky Mountains.  2:02
• [Sheetal]  Tell me about India?  The town in India is like Connecticut compared to New York. It is near the water.  One of the biggest festivals lasts 9 nights full of dancing. 2:44
• [Don]  Tell us about visiting your daughter?  He was going to see his daughter in Vegas. He was on medication for a respiratory infection and just slept and relaxed the whole time. 1:13

Speaker # 1:  Andrew Watt 7:51

Manual/Project: Speaking to Inform, #3

Title: Contrast in Graphic Design

I have a presentation about graphic design without a projector. I will be teaching graphic design.  Graphic designers use CARP which stands for Contrast Alignment Repetition and Proximity. We as humans like sameness. There was an article on diversity with everyone the same age, same ethnicity, same clothing. People need to think about diversity. Different fonts also can represent diversity. Good graphic designers think about contrast.

Speaker # 2:  Peter N. Davis 4:17

Manual/Project: Competent Communicator #2
Title: Why I joined Toastmasters
I feel I am swimming against the current. I want to be a teacher but there are some things I need to work on. Number one, I get nervous in front of a group. Number two, my voice goes from high to low tone. Number three, I have a lisp that comes out when I annunciate my “S’s.” Number four, I wrinkle my face when I am thinking. These issues create a lack of self-confidence. I joined Toastmasters to help me reach my career goals. 

Evaluator # 1:  Crystal  3:59

The speech was open and honest. Thing didn’t go as planned but you did well. You made the computer visible to all and we were able to connect with you. You had a good sense of humor. You also used examples other than the computer. The examples with the bad and good choice of diversity were interesting. All in all good, maybe a little a little longer next time.

Evaluator # 2:  Bill Sullivan 3:14

Good visual… swimming against the tide.  You told us what you were going to tell us and then you told us. Good organization by numbering your points. Maybe more detail now. Make the speech about you more than your advisor. Again you mentioned turning against the tide at the end and you brought it back to the beginning.

Officials’ Reports:

WordMaster: Charlie Hubert  Prodigious, marvelous or enormous.  Rob 2, Andrew 1, Peter 1, Maribell 1

Timer:  Amy Hubert times given, see above

Grammarian:  Don Ostertag  Gaia- “I’m an extension of America.” Maribell used coincide very well. Peter to “embark on my career and turn the tide in my favor.”

Ah Counter:  Sheetal Patel Hollie 1, Andrew 2, Rob 6, Bill 2, Gaia 3, Danielle 8, Amy 4, Maribel 3, Don 2, Peter 12, Crystal 5.

General Evaluator: Hollie Rose

Thank you Charlie and Don for the signs. Hollie: “The president seems disorganized.” Thank you Rob for doing table topics.

In closing:  

The fall contest topics are humorous and table topics. Our fall contest will be September 15^th.

Next meeting: September 1, 2014 – Area 44 Director August Wolf will be joining us

Respectfully submitted by

Danielle Payne, Secretary

[Posted by Hollie Rose]

District 53 Recognition Potential for all clubs in the District

Here's a note our President recently got about potential ways Clubs can win gift certificates from the District.
This is pertinent to every club in Toastmasters District 53.

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Here are some incentives for you:

New Club Incentive: Any club that charter by June 30th will receive a $100 Toastmasters International (TI)  gift certificate and recognized at our next district conference. Click here for details on how to start a new club.

Spread the Word Incentive: Any club where a member suggests a lead that results in a demo meeting, the member will receive a $25 TI gift certificate and if the club chartering by June 30, 2016, the member will receive another $25 TI gift certificate and the club will each receive a $50 TI gift certificate. and be recognized at our next district conference.

Moments of Truth Incentive: Every club that conducts the Moments of Truth module, submits the assessment and action plan to our District 53 Program Quality Director will receive a $20 gift certificate to the District 53 bookstore and will be recognized at the next district conference.

Early Bird Dues Incentive: Every club that has paid dues for at least the same number of members as at the club's member base on July 1st and documented as received by Toastmasters International by October 1st  will receive a $25 TI gift certificate and be recognized at our next district conference. Clubs with less than 8 members at the start of the Toastmasters’ year must pay dues for at least 8 members to qualify.

Distinguished STAR Club Incentive: Any club that achieves Distinguished or higher, has a 2% increase in membership over the base number of members in July 2015 and increases their educational DCP points by 1 will receive $100 TI gift certificate and be recognized at our next district conference.

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So there you have it - some things you or your club may want to shoot for...

Connecting for Toastmasters Around the World

Today, our club website on Facebook got an interesting note. There was a private message from someone who wanted to visit our club and attend the very next meeting.  At first, our Facebook webmaster was deeply excited.  But something struck him as odd: the few visible photographs of the person messaging were filled with pictures of mountains.

Distinctly non-Connecticut-like mountains.

If you search for "Connecticut" and "Mountains" on Google images, you will seem some wooded hills, and some photographs of mountains that turn out to be a Norwich or Norfolk couple planning a 5,000 mile-long hike... in the Rockies.  Mountains like these mountains in this visitor's image don't really happen in this part of the world.

And we know it.

So our webmaster did a little more investigation. And it turned out that this person was looking for Cromwell, New Zealand toastmasters, not Cromwell Community Toastmasters in Connecticut.

Now, thanks to the Toastmasters International website, our webmaster was able to look up the possible clubs for a Cromwell, New Zealand visitor, and find two clubs close by: Queensland Toastmasters, and Wanaka Toastmasters, both of which are a little less than 25 miles from Cromwell, New Zealand.  We got this person the right information, at the right time, so that they could in theory make the meeting that's just a couple of nights from tonight.

So once again, we're a Connecticut club.  But this little bit of international goodwill and cooperation — achieved simply by a little attention to detail, and some web-search skills — proves again how Toastmasters is a place where leaders are made.

Minutes: 21 July 2015

The following account should give both absent members and guests a taste of what a typical meeting looks like:

Business

Charlie called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm sharp. Seven were in attendance: five members and two guests, a typical number for a summer meeting on a beautiful evening.  Charlie (Sergeant at Arms), Don (VP Membership), Crystal (Division Director), Andrew (VP Education), John A.  Guests: Warren and Ed.

Andrew brought news from our Club President, who was away on other business.  The International Conference is in Las Vegas, NV in mid-August. If any club member is attending, please be in touch with our president, as she would like to assign the club's proxy votes to you, so you can have the pleasure and honor of voting them at the Conference.  Otherwise, they will be assigned as is customarily done to the District Director. Andrew turned the meeting over to Crystal who acted as toastmaster.

Speeches

The word of the day was Flanerie, meaning "idle, aimless behavior."

Crystal helped our functionaries and officials for the meeting explain their roles, and then she called up Andrew as Table Topics Master for a round of impromptu speeches.  

Table Topics revolved around giving a traffic report for the state of Connecticut, and the condition of roads and obstacles on I-91, I-95, and I-84 — with the added complication of disasters both natural and fantastic.

• Charlie's report helped motorists escape the ravages of ten thousand Toastmasters converging on Hartford; he urged taking secondary roads to avoid the traffic on I-91 north and I-95 east, with some slowdowns on I-84.
• Don reported from New Britain on the challenges of dealing with a local alien invasion, and urged motorists to head east or south, but to avoid western routes so as to bypass the giant green men.
• John urged motorists to abandon their regular commute and head south and west to avoid the rapidly-advancing glacier that had already covered Springfield, Enfield and the northern reaches of Hartford.
• Ed, our guest, agreed to take on the role of traffic correspondent, and helped our intrepid commuters trying to get to work in the face of volcanic eruptions in the area of Meriden.
• Crystal advised motorists on how to avoid the meteor strikes that had taken out parts of I-91 and I-95, and suggested that central Connecticut was to be avoided entirely, but that route 9 and route 17 south were both still open.
• Andrew, at the insistence of members, helped the morning rush-hour commuters avoid the dragon lately perched on the ruins of the statehouse, the orc horde demolishing houses in Fairfield county, and the faeries who had overrun New Haven. 

Most of the speeches clocked in at about a minute and a half, which is about right for the typical traffic report.

We had three speeches in the Prepared Speeches section of the meeting.

1. Crystal went first.  Working from the Specialty Speeches Manual, she gave a sales talk on why Toastmasters is a great buy if you want to learn to be a better speaker and leader.  She spoke about her own experiences, and how she came looking for leadership training, but grew to value the public speaking experience equally.  It was a great sales pitch.
2. Don gave the second speech, on the Iwo Jima Memorial in New Britain, Connecticut.  Don is rising into a leadership role in the Marine Corps League here in Connecticut, and part of his work with them will be involved in providing docent and interpretation services at the Memorial.  His love for the Memorial and for the men it commemorates shone through. Don is working on the advanced manual, Speaking to Inform.
3. John gave the third speech, How to Become a Lutheran Pastor, outlining the procedures he is going through in order to become a pastor in the ELCA.  It was John's last night with us, and it was enlightening to hear how he has made Toastmasters part of his eight-year-long education process to be ordained.  This was John's second speech out of the Competent Communicator Manual.  We wish him the best as he returns to Minnesota, and we hope he continues with Toastmasters!

Evaluations

The meeting continued with evaluations. Andrew served as General Evaluator; Ed was our timekeeper, and Warren served as both Ah-Counter and Grammarian.

• Charlie delivered a warm and encouraging evaluation of Crystal's speech; he spoke fondly and memorably about watching Crystal's first speech five years ago, and noted some of the many ways that she'd improved over the course of her time in Toastmasters.
• John delivered a positive evaluation of Don's speech, while noting some areas for improvement, notably in learning to let the speech flow out, rather than getting too bogged down in missed details.
• Andrew evaluated John's speech.  He noted how the structure of the pastorate process lent itself well to organizing a speech, and how the recognition of an underlying structure allowed for the use of extemporaneous asides.

Andrew asked for reports from the meeting officials.  Warren reported that we spoke with good grammar, and that we had relatively few ummms and ahhhs, but that we tend to repeat words and re-start sentences too frequently.  Ed reported that most of us were exactly in our time windows for each project (with the exception of Andrew, who is a bit of a windbag?)  

Closing

After a formal good-bye to John and some closing remarks, Andrew closed the meeting with his first-ever bang of the gavel at 7:00pm exactly.