Monday, December 20, 2010
Club Calendar
The 2011 Club Calendar (Jan-Jun) has been posted, available from the main menu on the website and at the following link: club calendar
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Meeting Notes December 9
The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, December 9th.
Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Jeanette White.
Guests Present: Gopala Krishna.
Business Meeting: Charnaie announced that Cheryl has earned another Competent Communicator Award, which along with Jen’s CC in August, will give the Middlesex County Toastmasters another point towards the Distinguished Club Program (congratulations and thank you, Cheryl!) Rob, in his speech that night, would be completing the Interpretive Reading manual and earning the Advanced Communicator Silver Award (for another point). The total for the year so far is seven points, out of a possible ten.
Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, which will be held January 29, 2011, from 12-6pm. This event will be held at The Hartford, 690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT. (A note from the District 53 website: Admission is free but you must RSVP. Contact janjam@district53toastmasters.org. )
Meeting:
Our Toastmaster for the evening was Murali Pemmaraju, and he did a great job in his first time as Toastmaster.
Siva presented the invocation, thought-provoking words from St. Francis of Assisi that he first read when he was young and then re-discovered as an adult.
Our Wordmaster was Jeanette, who challenged us to use the word “intimate” (with a long a), meaning to communicate indirectly, subtly, to hint.
Prior to our prepared speakers, our Toastmaster Murali spoke of the importance of goal setting, reminding us that it’s not enough to have goals, but that we have to keep pursuing them. He asked, “What is your goal?” and “Are you doing enough to achieve it?”
Because of the length of the prepared speeches, the Table Topics session was held after the prepared speeches.
There were four prepared speeches:
Tom entertained us with “Twelve Angry Pigs”, a play he read for the Advanced “Interpretive Reading” manual. He read all the parts himself (at least 15!) Sally evaluated his speech.
Kay presented a briefing as part of the “Speeches by Management” manual. She briefed us on the “TLE Program on December 4, 2010” and made those of us who weren’t there really wish we had been. Kay’s speech was evaluated by Charnaie.
Charnaie gave an acceptance speech, “Don’t Lose the Lesson” for her project from the “Special Occasions” speeches manual. Jackie evaluated Charnaie’s speech.
Rob read a scene from “Glengarry Glen Ross” (Act I, Scene II), reading two characters’ parts. This was Rob’s fifth project from the Interpretive Reading manual (earning Rob the Advanced Communicator Silver award, it's worth repeating!)
For Table Topics, Michael gave “What would I do if” questions to Cheryl (what if her computer crashed, which has happened to her); to Jeanette (what if she won the lottery, sadly that hasn’t happened yet); to Sally (what if her car broke down in the desert with no cell service, sadly that has happened); and to Siva (what if he was lost on a hike with no cell service, yes, that has happened too).
Jen was our General Evaluator. Rounding out the evaluation team was Ramesh (Timer), Jackie (Grammarian), and Cheryl (Ah Counter).
Jen noted that this was Murali’s first time as Toastmaster, and lauded him for an excellent job. The meeting planning began early and the agenda was very well laid out, with the prepared speeches’ projects as well as titles. Tom and Rob chose their material well for the “Reading a Play” project in the Interpretive Reading manual. Kay gave very astute observations about the district training she attended, our club, and the club she evaluated as part of the training. Another excellent speech by Kay, and by Charnaie as well. (If Jen didn’t say so during her evaluation, she thought that Ramesh did a great job as timer with long speeches and unusual lengths. She also thought that Michael’s Table Topics questions were terrific, far better than her own questions were the week before.)
The meeting concluded shortly after 9pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club
Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Jeanette White.
Guests Present: Gopala Krishna.
Business Meeting: Charnaie announced that Cheryl has earned another Competent Communicator Award, which along with Jen’s CC in August, will give the Middlesex County Toastmasters another point towards the Distinguished Club Program (congratulations and thank you, Cheryl!) Rob, in his speech that night, would be completing the Interpretive Reading manual and earning the Advanced Communicator Silver Award (for another point). The total for the year so far is seven points, out of a possible ten.
Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, which will be held January 29, 2011, from 12-6pm. This event will be held at The Hartford, 690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT. (A note from the District 53 website: Admission is free but you must RSVP. Contact janjam@district53toastmasters.org. )
Meeting:
Our Toastmaster for the evening was Murali Pemmaraju, and he did a great job in his first time as Toastmaster.
Siva presented the invocation, thought-provoking words from St. Francis of Assisi that he first read when he was young and then re-discovered as an adult.
Our Wordmaster was Jeanette, who challenged us to use the word “intimate” (with a long a), meaning to communicate indirectly, subtly, to hint.
Prior to our prepared speakers, our Toastmaster Murali spoke of the importance of goal setting, reminding us that it’s not enough to have goals, but that we have to keep pursuing them. He asked, “What is your goal?” and “Are you doing enough to achieve it?”
Because of the length of the prepared speeches, the Table Topics session was held after the prepared speeches.
There were four prepared speeches:
Tom entertained us with “Twelve Angry Pigs”, a play he read for the Advanced “Interpretive Reading” manual. He read all the parts himself (at least 15!) Sally evaluated his speech.
Kay presented a briefing as part of the “Speeches by Management” manual. She briefed us on the “TLE Program on December 4, 2010” and made those of us who weren’t there really wish we had been. Kay’s speech was evaluated by Charnaie.
Charnaie gave an acceptance speech, “Don’t Lose the Lesson” for her project from the “Special Occasions” speeches manual. Jackie evaluated Charnaie’s speech.
Rob read a scene from “Glengarry Glen Ross” (Act I, Scene II), reading two characters’ parts. This was Rob’s fifth project from the Interpretive Reading manual (earning Rob the Advanced Communicator Silver award, it's worth repeating!)
For Table Topics, Michael gave “What would I do if” questions to Cheryl (what if her computer crashed, which has happened to her); to Jeanette (what if she won the lottery, sadly that hasn’t happened yet); to Sally (what if her car broke down in the desert with no cell service, sadly that has happened); and to Siva (what if he was lost on a hike with no cell service, yes, that has happened too).
Jen was our General Evaluator. Rounding out the evaluation team was Ramesh (Timer), Jackie (Grammarian), and Cheryl (Ah Counter).
Jen noted that this was Murali’s first time as Toastmaster, and lauded him for an excellent job. The meeting planning began early and the agenda was very well laid out, with the prepared speeches’ projects as well as titles. Tom and Rob chose their material well for the “Reading a Play” project in the Interpretive Reading manual. Kay gave very astute observations about the district training she attended, our club, and the club she evaluated as part of the training. Another excellent speech by Kay, and by Charnaie as well. (If Jen didn’t say so during her evaluation, she thought that Ramesh did a great job as timer with long speeches and unusual lengths. She also thought that Michael’s Table Topics questions were terrific, far better than her own questions were the week before.)
The meeting concluded shortly after 9pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club
Friday, December 10, 2010
Mid-year Report from the President
Hello Everyone!
We have officially completed the first 6 months of the 2010-2011 Toastmasters year and what a year it's been so far! Staying true to our theme this year, our club has really "branched out" since July 1, 2010.
We started the year with a bang in July:
• Cheryl Mason received her DTM award and another CL (Competent Leader) award
• We added 5 new members to our club! (Michael Nicastre (referred by Sally Nicastre), Anthony Elder, Christina Johnson, Gary Torello and Erik Jarboe (returning member)
• All 7 of our club officers were trained!
In August we had one new member: Jacqueline Kirwan.
In September we added two more new members: Murugan Pachaiyappan (returning member) and Yolanda Lowe. Also, Jennifer Cimilluca earned her CC award (Competent Communicator).
In November we added yet another new member: Brian Burness (referred by Anne-Marie Cannata)
Up until last night our club had 5 out of 10 DCP (Distinguised Club Program) points completed. However, last night we received two additional points bringing us to a total of 7 DCP POINTS! Rob Schaff earned his ACS award last night (Advanced Communicator Silver) and Cheryl Mason earned another CC award (Competent Communicator) - excellent job Rob and Cheryl!
It is so great to see the growth that has taken place within our club over the past few months. I couldn't be more proud!
We also had some great events that took place:
• District 53 Hiking Club started - Tom Alvord is the coordinator
• Guest Speaker Jerry Theodorou - "Use Your Voice" (September)
• Guest Speaker Isaak Gelbinovich - "Storytelling Secrets of the Masters" (November)
• Movie Night - "Magic Moments" DVD (Thanks Michael O'Brien!) (December)
• Rob Schaff made it all the way to the District 53 Humorous Contest!
• Rob Schaff, Michael Nicastre and Anthony Elder won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Humorous Contest
• Rob Schaff, Michael O'Brien, and Anne-Marie Cannata won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Evaluation Contest
As we embark on the next 6 months of the Toastmasters year, let us continue to grow and learn as communicators and leaders. If you're an active member and haven't attended a meeting in a while we'd love to see you soon!
We have some exciting events lined up for the next half of the year including:
• January 13th - First meeting of the new year!
• January 20th - Joint speech-a-thon with our sister club - Cromwell Community Toastmasters (Please contact Kay if you'd like to volunteer or bring refreshments)
• March 10th - International and Tall Tales Speech Contest
• March 24th - Spring Open House w/ keynote speaker Ruby Parker
• April 28th - Guest Speaker - "How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes" w/ Walter Beveridge
• June 23rd - Last meeting of the 2010 - 2011 Toastmasters year! Keynote Speaker: Nana Danso
We will not meet again until January 13, 2011 (that's a 5-week stretch!). I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the year.
Thank you all for your efforts. Here's to having another successful 6 months in 2011!
Cheers!
Charnaie
We have officially completed the first 6 months of the 2010-2011 Toastmasters year and what a year it's been so far! Staying true to our theme this year, our club has really "branched out" since July 1, 2010.
We started the year with a bang in July:
• Cheryl Mason received her DTM award and another CL (Competent Leader) award
• We added 5 new members to our club! (Michael Nicastre (referred by Sally Nicastre), Anthony Elder, Christina Johnson, Gary Torello and Erik Jarboe (returning member)
• All 7 of our club officers were trained!
In August we had one new member: Jacqueline Kirwan.
In September we added two more new members: Murugan Pachaiyappan (returning member) and Yolanda Lowe. Also, Jennifer Cimilluca earned her CC award (Competent Communicator).
In November we added yet another new member: Brian Burness (referred by Anne-Marie Cannata)
Up until last night our club had 5 out of 10 DCP (Distinguised Club Program) points completed. However, last night we received two additional points bringing us to a total of 7 DCP POINTS! Rob Schaff earned his ACS award last night (Advanced Communicator Silver) and Cheryl Mason earned another CC award (Competent Communicator) - excellent job Rob and Cheryl!
It is so great to see the growth that has taken place within our club over the past few months. I couldn't be more proud!
We also had some great events that took place:
• District 53 Hiking Club started - Tom Alvord is the coordinator
• Guest Speaker Jerry Theodorou - "Use Your Voice" (September)
• Guest Speaker Isaak Gelbinovich - "Storytelling Secrets of the Masters" (November)
• Movie Night - "Magic Moments" DVD (Thanks Michael O'Brien!) (December)
• Rob Schaff made it all the way to the District 53 Humorous Contest!
• Rob Schaff, Michael Nicastre and Anthony Elder won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Humorous Contest
• Rob Schaff, Michael O'Brien, and Anne-Marie Cannata won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Evaluation Contest
As we embark on the next 6 months of the Toastmasters year, let us continue to grow and learn as communicators and leaders. If you're an active member and haven't attended a meeting in a while we'd love to see you soon!
We have some exciting events lined up for the next half of the year including:
• January 13th - First meeting of the new year!
• January 20th - Joint speech-a-thon with our sister club - Cromwell Community Toastmasters (Please contact Kay if you'd like to volunteer or bring refreshments)
• March 10th - International and Tall Tales Speech Contest
• March 24th - Spring Open House w/ keynote speaker Ruby Parker
• April 28th - Guest Speaker - "How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes" w/ Walter Beveridge
• June 23rd - Last meeting of the 2010 - 2011 Toastmasters year! Keynote Speaker: Nana Danso
We will not meet again until January 13, 2011 (that's a 5-week stretch!). I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the year.
Thank you all for your efforts. Here's to having another successful 6 months in 2011!
Cheers!
Charnaie
Monday, December 6, 2010
Meeting Notes December 2
The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had a fun and educational night “at the movies” on Thursday, December 2nd, thanks to the video “Magic Moments”.
Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Brian Burness, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.
Guests Present: Ashley Mason, Paul Randolph (from the Air Line Trail Toastmasters Club in Colchester).
Business Meeting: Charnaie presented Brian with his new member pin and officially welcomed him to the club.
Rob competed in the Humorous Contest at the District 53 Conference on Saturday, November 21st, in East Fishkill, New York. That was just one of the conference highlights, which included educational workshops and the keynote speech from Dana LaMon, the 1992 World Champion of Public Speaking.
Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, a kick off to the new year, which will be held January 29, 2011. This free event will be held in Hartford – more details to come. The Spring Conference will be held on May 21, 2011, at the Clarion Conference Center in East Windsor, CT. There will be a club officer training session on 12/4 in Manchester, with other sessions to follow for those officers unable to make the 12/4 session.
Our club’s final meeting of 2010 will be at Middlesex Community College on Thursday, December 9th.
Two club members were mentioned in the current issue of the Middlesex/Cromwell monthly newspaper, The Chronicle. Anne-Marie was pictured on the front page of the paper, as Executive Director of The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown. An article on the Middlesex County Toastmasters mentioned Rob’s success in the club, area, and division Fall Humorous Contests.
There will be a meeting for club officers on Tuesday, January 11th, at the Russell Library.
Meeting:
Our Toastmaster for the evening was Michael O’Brien.
Jay presented our Word of the Day, assiduous (meaning “constant; unremitting: assiduous reading; constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive: an assiduous student.
Charnaie presented our invocation, reminding us that life is not a race, and giving us inspiring words to help unleash the greatness within each of us.
For Table Topics, in honor of our movie, “Magic Moments”, Jen gave the choice of either a movie related or a Harry Potter related Table Topics question. Answering questions were Brian, Yolanda, Michael Nicastre, our guest Paul, and Murali.
There were two prepared speeches:
Jackie gave her third speech from the Competent Communicator Manual with the objective, “Get to the Point.” Her speech, “The Transformative Power of Toastmasters: Reflections from My First Toastmasters Conference”, was evaluated by Tom.
Cheryl gave a speech from the Competent Communicator manual (Project #5, Your Body Speaks), “The Good Wife.” Her speech was evaluated by Kim.
Kay was our General Evaluator, and our technicians were Rob (Timer), and Charnaie (Grammarian).
In her evaluation of the meeting, Kay commented how effective the comments were by our two evaluators. The meeting went smoothly, starting on time and running on time up to that point. She brought Rob up to present him with a certificate marking his accomplishments in the District Humorous Contest.
The last hour of the evening was devoted to the DVD, “Magic Moments”, provided by our Toastmaster, Michael O’Brien. The narrator David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, introduced 29 video clips from Toastmasters speech contests held over 11 years. We saw examples of gestures, body language, timing, humor, excellent writing, and the use of personal stories from some of the best Toastmasters speakers in the world.
For more information, see the attached transcript from the “Magic Moments” video, and see David Brooks’ website, http://www.DavidBrooksTexas.com
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club
Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Brian Burness, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.
Guests Present: Ashley Mason, Paul Randolph (from the Air Line Trail Toastmasters Club in Colchester).
Business Meeting: Charnaie presented Brian with his new member pin and officially welcomed him to the club.
Rob competed in the Humorous Contest at the District 53 Conference on Saturday, November 21st, in East Fishkill, New York. That was just one of the conference highlights, which included educational workshops and the keynote speech from Dana LaMon, the 1992 World Champion of Public Speaking.
Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, a kick off to the new year, which will be held January 29, 2011. This free event will be held in Hartford – more details to come. The Spring Conference will be held on May 21, 2011, at the Clarion Conference Center in East Windsor, CT. There will be a club officer training session on 12/4 in Manchester, with other sessions to follow for those officers unable to make the 12/4 session.
Our club’s final meeting of 2010 will be at Middlesex Community College on Thursday, December 9th.
Two club members were mentioned in the current issue of the Middlesex/Cromwell monthly newspaper, The Chronicle. Anne-Marie was pictured on the front page of the paper, as Executive Director of The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown. An article on the Middlesex County Toastmasters mentioned Rob’s success in the club, area, and division Fall Humorous Contests.
There will be a meeting for club officers on Tuesday, January 11th, at the Russell Library.
Meeting:
Our Toastmaster for the evening was Michael O’Brien.
Jay presented our Word of the Day, assiduous (meaning “constant; unremitting: assiduous reading; constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive: an assiduous student.
Charnaie presented our invocation, reminding us that life is not a race, and giving us inspiring words to help unleash the greatness within each of us.
For Table Topics, in honor of our movie, “Magic Moments”, Jen gave the choice of either a movie related or a Harry Potter related Table Topics question. Answering questions were Brian, Yolanda, Michael Nicastre, our guest Paul, and Murali.
There were two prepared speeches:
Jackie gave her third speech from the Competent Communicator Manual with the objective, “Get to the Point.” Her speech, “The Transformative Power of Toastmasters: Reflections from My First Toastmasters Conference”, was evaluated by Tom.
Cheryl gave a speech from the Competent Communicator manual (Project #5, Your Body Speaks), “The Good Wife.” Her speech was evaluated by Kim.
Kay was our General Evaluator, and our technicians were Rob (Timer), and Charnaie (Grammarian).
In her evaluation of the meeting, Kay commented how effective the comments were by our two evaluators. The meeting went smoothly, starting on time and running on time up to that point. She brought Rob up to present him with a certificate marking his accomplishments in the District Humorous Contest.
The last hour of the evening was devoted to the DVD, “Magic Moments”, provided by our Toastmaster, Michael O’Brien. The narrator David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, introduced 29 video clips from Toastmasters speech contests held over 11 years. We saw examples of gestures, body language, timing, humor, excellent writing, and the use of personal stories from some of the best Toastmasters speakers in the world.
For more information, see the attached transcript from the “Magic Moments” video, and see David Brooks’ website, http://www.DavidBrooksTexas.com
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club
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