Friday, January 29, 2010

Meeting, Thursday, January 28, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340


The roads were pretty slippery tonight with the light snow coming down, so understandably a number of people were unable to make it to the meeting.

For those of us that did, it was a GREAT meeting! We played "fill in the roster" with all kinds of changes from our original program, and had lots of fun nonetheless.

Meeting Theme: Properly Set Goals Aid Success

We had 10 members attending: Amy A., Tom A., Ana B., Craig F., John K., C. Mason, Murali P., Pete P., Kim P., Rob S.

Toastmaster: Cheryl Mason

Opening Remarks / Business Meeting:

Welcome to Amy Alvord, our newest Middlesex Member! Amy was presented with a Toastmasters pin and a warm round of applause.

Cheryl talked about some of the highlights from the District 53 Jan Jam event in Hartford last weekend, including the fun music (our own Tom Alvord provided entertaining performances -- check these links to see more!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzqH1o9HlTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3x-Pkuxb0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2S351BzGtQ
Mary Cheyne gave her International Speech Contest speech as well as a motivational 45-minute speech about her journey to the international stage as well as some very useful lessons she learned along the way.
Flyers were provided for the District 53 Spring Conference, & DTM guide (will bring copies again next meeting).

DCP Status -- Middlesex Club has earned 8 of 10 Points (2 remain, and are quite achievable -- we need only 1 more new member and 2 more CCs!)

Upcoming Club Events:
Feb 2nd - Officer's Meeting (feel free to send any comments or suggestions to any of the club officers, for discussion at the meeting).
Feb 6th Bowling Event (sign up using the on-line roster)
March 11 - Club Speech Contest, March 25 - Open House with Guest Speaker Jerry A.

Upcoming District Events: May 22, 2010 Spring Conference, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, CT

Table Topics - Craig Fresher. Table Topics were related to the goal oriented meeting theme and were lots of fun.

Word of the Day - Pete Plotica, curmudgeon, a difficult, bad-termpered person, a grump!
Invocator - Tom Alvord
Humorist - Murali Pemmaraju
General Evaluator - Pete Plotica
Timer - Pete Plotica
Grammarian - Kim Price & Amy Alvord
Ah Counter - Amy Alvord

We had 4 excellent speeches given:

Speaker 1 - Tom Alvord, "Shet" -- A Truly Captivating Story about a Man's Best Friend
Speaker 2 - Ana Bowman, "The Family Map" -- Informative Speech About Technology & How It Helps Her Family
Speaker 3 - Rob Schaff, "Goal Setting & Planning" -- a Leadership Excellence Series Speech, Given With Practical Tips
Speaker 4 - Kim Price, "Grampy" -- All About The Great Experience of Welcoming Baby John Michael Chapin, His Grandson Born Yesterday Morning. CONGRATULATIONS, KIM!

Speech Evaluators:

Evaluator 1 - Kim Price
Evaluator 2 - John Keppler
Evaluator 3 - Craig Fresher
Evaluator 4 - Tom Alvord

Everyone did such a great job being flexible and adjusting the agenda, including Tom & Kim who agreed to give speeches tonight, John and Tom who jumped in as Speech Evaluators, Amy who helped to cover both Ah Counter & Grammarian roles, and Craig who put together engaging Table Topics! It turned out to be a great meeting.

Meeting ended approx. 8:45 p.m.
Meeting, Thursday, January 14, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340


Our 1/14 meeting was the first one of the new year at Middlesex College, and was well attended and lots of fun!
The room dividers were down, so we had a very large meeting space to work with. We set up the large round tables close to back wall, and acoustics were not a problem at all. It was a nice change.

Meeting Theme: Creating an Extraordinary Career Path

We had 20 attendees.
Members attending (12) - Tom A., Ana B., Jennifer C., Craig F., Charnaie G., John K., C. Mason, D. Nason, M. O'Brien, Murugan P., Kim P., Rob S.
Visitors attending (8) - Amy A., Seth G., Jay B., Sharon R., and from Mass Mutual: Michael L., wife Virginia, Jon Toner, Richard Chang

Mass Mutual visitors participated in the meeting and successfully captured gavel Drew from our Club.

Toastmaster: Charnaie Gordon

Opening Remarks: Given by Cheryl Mason, included comments about the successful Speech-a-Thon held on 1/7 at the Cromwell Town Hall, which was an event that combined both the Middlesex & Cromwell Community Toastmaster Clubs. At the Speech-a-thon, speeches were given by Charnaie G., Pam M., Ron Reeve, Murali P., Rob S., and Murugan P. The event was very successful, and Cheryl gave thanks of appreciation to Charnaie Gordon for all her efforts with coordinating the event.
DCP Status -- 4 officers attended training in December, Middlesex Club has now earned 8 of 10 Points (2 remain, and are quite achievable -- we need 2 more new members and 2 more CCs!)
Upcoming District Events: Jan 23rd is the Jan Jam, and our own Tom A. gave us some info about the event, and he will be performing!
Upcoming Club Events: Feb 6th Bowling Event (sign up using the on-line roster)
March 11 - Club Speech Contest, March 25 - Open House with Guest Speaker Jerry A.

Charnaie led the meeting with inspriational thoughts related to the meeting theme, and introduced each of the roles for the meeting. At the end of the meeting, one of our guests commented that he really enjoyed her opening remarks!

Table Topics - Tom Alvord. Table Topics were related to the Career theme, and questions involved many of our guests, a great way to encourage their participation and (hopefully) future involvement with our club!

Word of the Day - Kim Price, who provided lots of entertainment with his unveiling of the special word
Invocator - Michael Lavery
Humorist - Jon Toner
General Evaluator - Jon Toner
Timer - Craig Fresher
Grammarian - John Keppler
Ah Counter - Murugan P.

We had 4 excellent speeches given:

Speaker 1 - Craig Fresher, "Energy Game Changers"
Speaker 2 - Jennifer Cimilluca, "When Molasses Ran Fast in January"
Speaker 3 - Deborah Nason, "Perfect Pitch"
Speaker 4 - Michael O'Brien, "First Day on the Job"

Speech Evaluators:

Evaluator 1 - Rob Schaff
Evaluator 2 - Ana Bowman
Evaluator 3 - Richard Chang
Evaluator 4 - Cheryl Mason

Meeting was ended promptly at 9 p.m.

Gavel handover to our visitors from Mass Mutual concluded the meeting.
Click here for the picture and story on the D53 website!
http://www.district53toastmasters.org/index.php/traveling-gavel/travelin-gavel-news

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Winter Speech-A-Thon was a Great Success Packed with Humor!

Middlesex and Cromwell Toastmasters joined together for a Speech-A-Thon on January 7, 2010 at the Cromwell Town Hall. The Speech-A-Thon meeting format is a variation of the standard meeting format, and is organized from time to time by toastmasters’ clubs around the world to facilitate the completion of speeches by members so they can achieve their educational goals.

There were 7 well-prepared, entertaining speeches given by 7 ebullient speakers. Humor overflowed in speech after speech. The audience was greatly entertained by each of the fascinating, personal stories told. Speech topics were varied, and included unique vacationing experiences with the in-laws, being trapped in a chimney, the day Neil Diamond Called, the challenges of communication between women and men, time management, and an inspirational informative speech titled "That's the Spirit" among others. All speakers captured the audience by the powerful use of real-life stories in their speeches, and also received constructive feedback from other toastmasters that served as their evaluators.

Be a guest at an upcoming club meeting and explore your communication and leadership potential! Visitors are always welcome.




Sunday, December 13, 2009

Meeting, Thursday, December 10, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Another Great Meeting!!

Middlesex Toastmasters held our final meeting of 2009 last night.
As usual it was full of growth, leadership and inspiration.
Our theme was "THE SPIRIT OF GIVING"!
In spite of the fact that our last meeting was just a week ago and members are busy preparing for the holidays twelve members and one guest attended:

Amy Alvord (guest)
Tom Alvord
Ana Bowman
Anne Marie Cannata
Craig Fresher
Charnaie Gordon
John Keppler
Cheryl Mason
Pam Mulready
Ramesh Padavala
Murali Pemmaraju
Pete Plotica
Arun Sodani

Everyone had a chance to participate:

Our able SAA Pete opened the meeting on time and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance
President Cheryl inspired us with humor, a pep talk and announcements.
VP Ed Charnaie Gordon enlivened us with details of upcoming events and
Toastmaster Arun Sodani introduced everyone, kept the meeting moving in his famous well organized style and shared his friendly smile with all.
As the invocator Arun also got us started with a wonderful message in keeping with the giving theme: that "we are blessed by our history"

Our Wordmaster Cheryl introduced us to the Word of the Day: LACONIC which was used by four people during the meeting.

Table Topics Master Craig had us all talk about giving and receiving

Humorist Tom had us laugh about a goat.

We were treated to outstanding Icebreakers from two of our newest members.
Ana Bowman presented "Sweet Potato Pie" about growing up with her big family and surviving and thriving as the only girl among 9 brothers and Murali Pemmaraju fascinated us with his stories of growing up in India , his thrill at being accepted as a Mechanical Engineering student at Texas A & M, designing meat processing machines at Jarvis in Middltown, and his joy that he doesn't have to see the meat since he is a vegetarian.

Charnaie treated us with her speech about the competition between her two favorite loves: dog and husband. (Which is first? She didn't say)

Cheryl inspired us with her third Ice Breaker about valuable insights she gained from an interview with a young woman who came to her for advice.

As General Evaluator Pam Mulready lead us through reports and evaluations:
Craig evaluated Ana's Icebreaker
Pam evaluated Murali's Icebreaker
Cheryl evaluated Charnaie's speech
Pete evaluated Cheryl's Icebreaker

Pete provided the Grammarian report, Charnaie the Ah counter report and Ramesh was our Timer.

Arun invited our guest Amy to comment on the meeting and she said it was the best one of the four she's attended.

A great time was had by all!

Upcoming events:
· Dec 24 - The 4th Thursday of December - Christmas Eve - no meeting.
· January 7 - Speech-a-thon with Cromwell Community Toastmasters Club.
· February 6th Bowling – Use the duty roster to sign up!
· Club Contest: March 11
· Open House: March 25

Tom Alvord – substitute secretary December 11, 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Meeting, Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Luther Ridge, 628 Congdon Street, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340



Our meeting last night was held at Luther Ridge in Middletown; all were warmly greeted and welcomed by the staff. A hearty thank you to Tom Alvord for making this arrangement possible for our club!

Members in attendance: Ana Bowman, Ron Brunelle, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyaplan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason (Area B2 Governor), Pam Mulready, Deb Nason, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff (Area 5 Governor), and Arun Sodani. Guests: Paul Randolph (C2 Area Governor and member of the Air Line Club in Colchester), and Paul Rice (a friend of member Ann-Marie Cannata).

President Cheryl Mason began our meeting with the introduction of “Drew” the traveling gavel, which was recaptured Wednesday at the Stag Club Meeting in downtown Hartford by Charnaie, Cheryl, Michael O'Brien, and Arun.

Other announcements by Cheryl:
· Saturday, December 12th will be the Officers’ Training in Manchester
· Take a look at our Middlesex club website, freetoasthost sites have had new formatting changes.
· Take a look at the District 53 website; there have been changes made in the format giving it a new look and feel

Vice President of Education, Charnaie Gordon also mentioned some upcoming announcements:
· Our Club is holding a Speech-A-Thon in conjunction with the Cromwell Club on Thursday, January 7th from 7-9 pm. We currently have 5 speakers from our club signed up. Pizza will be served (a small donation will be asked).
· The Club Speech Contest (International and Tall Tales Contest) will be held March 11th. Speakers, evaluators, judges, etc. will be needed
· Club Open House Event will be Thursday, March 25th at Middlesex Community College. Keynote Speaker will be Jerry Aiyathurai, winner of the District 53 Fall Conference.

Meeting
Kay Jeyaplan was the Toastmaster; her theme was “Unleash Your Potential.” She inspired us with readings and quotes taken from the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

TableTopics Master, Charnaie, led us with the theme, “Maximize Your Potential.” Mini speeches were given by Kim, Arun, Ana, Pam, John and Ramesh. In addition, both of our guests, Paul Randolph and Paul Rice also participated.

Speakers
It was wonderful to listen to the speeches and see the development of all the speakers.
Rob Schaff did an unusual “off the cuff” speech in which he submitted a list of 5 possible speeches he could do and his evaluator randomly chose one of them at the beginning of the meeting. He did one entitled, “Time Management.”
Deborah Nason spoke on “A Day Trip to France”, with a descriptive speech that made you feel like you were there.
Ron Brunelle spoke with authority on “Our Economic System, does it work?”
Cheryl Mason let her body speak out with her speech “Tuesday Afternoon.”

Evaluators
General Evaluator, Arun Sodani
Speech evaluators were as follows:
Dianne Olsen for Rob (her first evaluation)
Cheryl Mason for Deb
John Keppler for Ron
Ana Bowman for Cheryl (her first evaluation)

Arun Sodani gave an exceptional overall evaluation of the meeting. John commented that it was the “most complete general evaluation” ever done at our Club.

Other Roles
Invocator: Charnaie
Humorist: Murali
Word of the Day: Pam, “MNEMONIC”
Grammarian: Pam
Ah Counter: Deb
Timer: Pete

Toastmaster, Kay, made a final comment on an article that was in the December Cromwell/Middletown Chronicle about Cheryl receiving the Triple Crown at the District 53 Conference! If you get a chance, read it!

President Cheryl closed by asking our two guests to give us their impressions of the meeting, and they provided very positive feedback. We hope to see them again! The meeting was closed on time.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Gavel Drew back at Middlesex

Drew, the Division D Traveling Gavel, has been captured from the Stag Toastmasters Club #2908! Four members of the Middlesex County Toastmasters Club participated in the Stag Club Meeting on Wednesday 12/2 at noon in downtown Hartford. The meeting was a lot of fun!


Shown here l to r: Charnaie Gordon, Cheryl Mason from Middlesex, Christina Dzenyuy from Stag, Michael O'Brien, and Arun Sodani from Middlesex.