Meeting, Thursday, August 27, 2009 - Village at South FarmsMiddletown, ConnecticutMinutes of the Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Here are some highlights from the Middlesex club meeting Thursday, 8/27.
It was a great meeting, and thanks to everyone that helped to make it a success!

*****

Attendance -- total of 16

Members: Charnaie G., Craig F., Tom A., Cheryl M., Emily O., Jennifer C., Rob S., Pete P., Pam M., Ramesh P., John K., Kay J., Ron B.
Guests: Kristen Chenette (Editor of the Chronicle), Amy (Tom's daughter), Francis (Charnaie's mother-in-law)

We hope our guests will consider joining! A visitor info packet (including a TM application) was provided to each one of the guests (thanks, Michael!)

Special thanks to Kay for arranging for Kristen Chenette to speak at our club!

Our toastmaster for the evening was Craig Fresher, a first-time Toastmaster, who did a superb job and lead us through a very well planned meeting, which included 5 prepared speeches!

Humorist: Ramesh P. (Ramesh told 2 very funny jokes!)
Ah Counter: Tom A.
Grammarian: Emily O.
Timer: Jennifer C.
General Evaluator: Cheryl M.

We had five prepared speakers:

Charnaie - Inspire Your Audience Speech #10: Defining Your Purpose to a "T"
Inspirational speech, included challenges to "design your destiny," "fulfill your purpose; what is it?"
Kristen - After describing her background as both a radio news anchor and editor of the Chronicle,
Kristen talked about the role of community newspapers with a local level focus,
and she included an informative Q&A session with us at the end
Pete - Speech # 4 Deja Vu, The Speech You May Think You've Heard Before
We learned lots of information about Deja Vu experiences!
Pam - Speech # 3 The Benefits and Detriments of Taking the Circutious Route Between Point A and Point B
Pam shared the secrets of getting her father distracted, and how to "not get to the point" !!!
Ron - Speech # 3 Government Foolishness
Ron gave a thought provoking speech; where has all that stimulous money gone?

Table Topics were given by Kay, with a fun theme of giving introductions for the esteemed fruits and vegetables she brought along!

Excellent speech evaluations were given by Rob, Charnaie, John and Tom

Our guest, Kristen Chenette's commented at the end of the meeting that she was impressed that the speech evaluations were such high quality, and that the group was very supportive and respectful of one another. (Guess we made a great first impression) !!!

We also received very positive comments from Amy and from Francis.
We do hope our guests will attend again!

** Congratulations to Charnaie for completing her 10th speech and finishing the CC manual!
She did this in 5 months, and included speaking "outside her comfort zone" by speaking at other clubs in the area.

If anyone else is interested in speaking at other clubs, please let me, Charnaie, Tom, Rob, or Michael know -- we have a number of contacts at other clubs and can help facilitate the process. Rob mentioned that the Aetna club in particular is looking for experienced prepared speakers to visit their meetings! This is a great way to earn credit in the manuals as well as gain valuable experience.

Business News:

* Our Fall meeting location is at MxCC Chapman Hall Room 808D -- starting NEXT MEETING
When you enter the building, proceed up the stairs (either side, left or right). Once at the top of the stairs, proceed through the doors down the hall as far as you can go. The rooms you pass on the left are all meeting rooms that are part of one big open space, or with the floor-to-ceiling partitions in place, create separate rooms (808A, B, C, D). 808D is the last meeting space at the end of the hall on the left.

* Giving Back to Middlesex Community College:
At our Aug. 10th executive committee meeting, we discussed ways of giving back to the college to show our appreciation for having such a great meeting location for our meetings! A $50 donation to the college from our club treasury was approved. Through Kim's contacts and Dianne and John's follow-up, we have been referred to Greg Kline, the Director of Institutional Advancement and Staff Liaison to the MxCC Foundation. Greg provided this information: "The Middlesex Community College Foundation, a non-profit organization, is the vehicle whose mission is to raise support for students and programs at the college. An unrestricted donation sent to the foundation would give the college the most flexibility to assist students, including emergency situations. We appreciate your thoughtful support!"
We are proceeding with a $50 donation to the college, along with any small contributions that any individuals would like to make. We will collect small donations at the next meeting. John K. suggested individuals can write a check to the Foundation, so there is a record of the tax deductible contribution. John will consolidate all our contributions and send them to the Foundation by mid-Sept.

* Our NEXT MEETING is the Sept. 10th club contest, Evaluation & Humorous. Our target speaker will be Udaya Neelam from the Wallingford Eagles Club. Volunteers are needed to help with contest role(s)! Please let Charnaie or me know if you can fill a role or have any questions.

* A Fall Variety Show on Oct. 15 is planned for the Village at South Farms -- please let Tom know if you can help with anything such as coordinating light refreshments, reading a short poem, providing some other entertainment. Looking for volunteers to help!

* Oct. 8 Guest Speaker: Kevin Wortman, Speaking of Evaluations. We are very much looking forward to Kevin's visit!

* Nov 7th - District 53 Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY

* Nov & Dec club meeting schedule will include an extra meeting early in the month, since the holidays will supersede our normal 4th meeting. More info to follow.