Monday, November 29, 2010

Meeting Notes November 18

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had an exciting “speech-a-thon” meeting on Thursday, November 18th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests Present: Brian Burness, Deb Flynn.

Business Meeting: Charnaie welcomed our guests, Brian and Deb, and announced that Brian would be joining the club.

Our next meeting will be held on December 2nd. It will be a special meeting in the “Show Room” at the Village of South Farms (645 Saybrook Road), a “movie night” with two speeches followed by an hour-long DVD with a series of speaking skills. Charnaie and Kay will be bringing popcorn.

Charnaie reminded us that members with any concerns about their mentoring partnership should see Pam Mulready, our mentoring program coordinator.

Prepared Speeches: John Keppler was our Toastmaster, and we had five prepared speeches:

Michael Nicastre gave his fourth speech from the Competent Communicator Manual, “Everything I learned in Life, I learned from vacations.” His speech was evaluated by Tom.

Charnaie gave a speech from the Special Occasions Manual, “Born to Lead”, and gave well deserved kudos to our Immediate Past President, Cheryl, a Distinguished Toastmaster and a club role model. The members present gave Charnaie a “round robin” evaluation.

Jackie gave her second speech from the Competent Communicator Manual, “Find the Joy in Your Life; Live a Life with No Regrets.” Jen evaluated her speech.

Kay’s speech was called “The Three P’s of Power Introductions” and used examples from her own introduction of Isaak Gelbinovich during last week’s meeting to illustrate her points. Murugan evaluated her speech.

Rob gave a practice run of the speech “Good Evening, Sir”, that he would be presenting at Saturday’s District Humorous Contest, followed by a “round robin” evaluation.

Kay was our General Evaluator, assisted by technicians Charnaie (Ah Counter), Ramesh (Timer), and Jeanette (Grammarian).

Kay mentioned that she liked Charnaie’s speech and how she used someone from the club as a speech subject. The meeting’s logistics went well. John added that as usual, people stepped up to the plate with Ramesh volunteering to time the meeting and Murugan volunteering to evaluate Kay’s speech.

The meeting concluded on time. Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Meeting Notes November 11

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had a terrific meeting with a dynamic guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, on Thursday, November 11th (Veterans’ Day).

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Pamela Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests Present: Brian Burness, Christopher Cargnel, Doug Compton, Dorothy Goertz, Krishna Kumar, Jenn Maynard, Abhijit Mhetre, Sowmya Ramasamy

Business Meeting: After welcoming our guests, Charnaie reminded us that our next meeting will be on Thursday, November 18th, at the Village of South Farms. It’s an extra (speech-a-thon) meeting with no meeting on November 25th (Thanksgiving Day).

The District 53 Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 20th, at the Holiday Inn in East Fishkill, NY.

In her “Mentoring Minute”, Pam reminded any members looking for a mentor to let her know, also anyone in a mentoring partnership with any questions or concerns should seek her out.

Meeting:
Our Toastmaster was Kay, who took a moment before starting the meeting to remind us that December 2nd is a special meeting at the Village of South Farms, a “movie night” with just two speeches followed by an hour-long DVD with a series of speaking skills (thanks to Michael O’Brien for providing that to us). December 9th will be our last meeting of the year. On January 20th, we will be having a joint “speech-a-thon” with the Cromwell Community Toastmasters.

Kay read an excerpt from the book, Tips to Becoming an Effective Presenter, by Frank S. Adamo.

Our invocator was Anne-Marie, who on this Veterans Day gave us some very moving and appropriate thoughts on the meaning of freedom.

Tom offered us the Word of the Day—actually, in honor of Veterans’ Day he gave us two—“Armistice”, and “truce.” Using “armistice” would give a speaker two points, and using “truce” would give a speaker one point.

Our Humorist, Michael Nicastre, brought a golf club and ball so he didn’t just tell his joke, but acted it out for us.

Charnaie was our Table Topics Master. She set up teams of speakers for an “improv” session by giving an opening line and letting the speakers take it away. And taking it away were Pam and Jay; Ramesh, Murali, and our guest Abhijit; Anne-Marie and our guest, Doug; our guest speaker Isaak, and Kim; and Sally, Jeannette, and John.

We had two prepared speeches:

Siva’s speech, “How to Read a Brain” was his third, #3 in the CC manual, “Get to the Point.” His speech was evaluated by Jackie.

Tom’s speech “On the Battlefield: On Flanders Field” was from the Interpretive Reading manual, and was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

We were then treated to a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, who presented “Storytelling Secrets of the Masters.” He told a wonderful story about his first experiences on the ski slope, and walked us through the elements of the story (structure, dialog, conflict, and message) one by one, to help us learn how to craft our own stories.

Rob was our General Evaluator.

Our technicians were Yolanda (Ah Counter), Jackie, (Grammarian), and Jen (Timer).

Rob’s evaluation of the meeting recognized Jackie and Michael O’Brien for their excellent evaluations and suggestions for Siva and Tom. He also noted how a speaking slot or role on the agenda could be used to introduce a theme to the meeting (as Tom did with Veterans’ Day).

The meeting concluded on time. Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Friday, October 29, 2010

Oct. 28 Meeting Minutes

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, October 28th, at the Village at South Farms.

14 Members Present: Tom Alvord, Charnaie Gordon, Erik Jarboe, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Jeanette White.

Business Meeting: Charnaie put out a call for Toastmasters for our upcoming meetings. If you have never been Toastmaster for a club meeting, or haven't been Toastmaster in a long time, please take this opportunity to sign up.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, November 11th, at Middlesex Community College. We will have a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, offering “Storytelling Secrets”.

Club Meeting:

Michael Nicastre was our Toastmaster for the evening. Our invocator was Charnaie Gordon. Jeanette White provided the word of the day, "pensive". Rob Schaff was our humorist.
Jackie Kirwan was our Table Topics Master. She provided a Jeopardy-style table topics sessions, complete with buzzers and prizes for 6 volunteers.

Prepared speeches:

John Keppler, "The Good Ol' Days", evaluated by Pam Mulready.
Sally Nicastre, "The Mother's Group", evaluated by Tom Alvord.
Michael O'Brien, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", evaluated by Murali Pemmaraju.
Rob Schaff, "Concluding Your Speech", a presentation from the Toastmasters Better Speaker Series. Evaluated by Erik Jarboe.

John Keppler served as our General Evaluator, and pointed out the preparation that went into this well-organized meeting, and the people that stepped in to fill roles. Our technicians were Erik (Ah Counter), Charnaie (Grammarian), and Jackie (Timer).

The meeting concluded on time.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Schaff, VPPR
Middlesex County Toastmasters

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Division C Contest Results

Evaluation Contest

1st – Wendy Holleran, Valley-Shore Toastmasters
2nd – Suzanne DeMerchant, Energy Toastmasters
3rd – Abhijit Mhetre, Nathan Hale Toastmasters

Humorous Speech Contest

1st – Rob Schaff – Middlesex County Toastmasters
2nd – Lynnea P. Mahlke - Niantic Toastmasters
3rd – Larry Savage - Nathan Hale Toastmasters


Udaya Neelam, Rob Schaff, Cheryl Mason, and Dave Wheeler

District 53 Website Contest Results

Division C Contest Report

From Cheryl Mason, Division C Governor:

Hi Everyone,

The Division C Speech Contests were held at Eagle Club in Wallingford tonight, and Middlesex County was well represented with Michael O'Brien as the Area C5 Evaluation Contestant and Rob Schaff as the Area C5 Humorous Speech Contestant. We're so very proud of both of them making it to the Division level contests! Murali served as the primary timer, and Michael Nicastre, Tom Alvord, and John Keppler were also present to cheer on our contestants!

The speeches were all great and the competition fierce! It was a fun filled evening, and Eagle Club did a great job as the host club!

Drum roll please . . . .

Rob Schaff placed FIRST in the Humorous Contest, and will move forward to the District 53 Conference on November 20th!

District 53 Evaluation & Humorous Speech Contests
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Holiday Inn Fishkill
542 Route 9
Fishkill NY 12524
Phone: 845.896.6281

Hope you'll join us in supporting Rob at the District Conference!

Registration information

-Cheryl

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Oct. 14 Meeting Notes

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, October 14th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Stacy Davis, Debra Flynn, Jessica Maxan, and Ashley Oliver.

Business Meeting: Charnaie presented a new member pin to Yolanda. She updated us on the club’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program. We have five points so far, and have earned Distinguished Club status again.

The Area C5 contest was held in Cromwell on October 7th, and we have a lot to be proud of. Rob won the Humorous Contest, with Michael Nicastre coming in 2nd place. Michael O’Brien won the Evaluation contest. Rob and Michael O’Brien will next compete in the Division Contest on Monday, October 18th at the Eagles club in Wallingford.

Charnaie mentioned some updates from the club officers’ meeting on October 5th. To sign up for a 5th speaking slot, see Kay or Charnaie. Also, the backup speaking slot might be an opportunity to get a speech in, if a scheduled speaker is unable to attend a meeting. She brought up the possibility of selecting a particular individual to evaluate your speech, if you would like to do so.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, October 28th, at the Village of South Farms (in the Show Room).

Our VP of Public Relations, Rob, gave us a club calendar for the next few months. Upcoming highlights: November 11th – we will have a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, offering “Storytelling Secrets”. There will be an extra, “speechathon” meeting on November 18th. The District 53 Fall Conference will be on November 20th, in Fishkill, NY. There will an extra meeting (a movie night) on December 2nd. On January 20th, there will be an extra meeting, a joint speechathon in Cromwell with the Cromwell Community Toastmasters.

Tom Alvord offered a hike recap. On Sunday, October 10th, Tom, Anne-Marie, Ramesh, Murali, and several friends (12 people altogether) hiked up to the Hublein Tower on Talcott Mountain in Simsbury. More dates to come!

Kay presented Tom with a certificate of recognition to Tom for all his efforts in putting the hikes together. She also presented certificates to Michael O’Brien, Michael Nicastre, and Rob for representing our club and doing so well in the area contests.

Club Meeting:

Rob was our Toastmaster. Our invocator was Anne-Marie, who gave us inspiring words from John Lennon, from his song, “Imagine”. Lennon would have been 70 years old on October 9th.

The Word of the Day was offered by Michael Nicastre. He gave us “Extemporaneous”, meaning impromptu, off the cuff, given without notes. In addition to posting the word, he gave us a handout to help us keep the word in mind.

Our Humorist, Siva, gave us three political anecdotes including an exchange between Benjamin Disreali and William Gladstone, and words from Mohandas Gandhi.

Tom was our Table Topics Master. He gave autumn themed questions to John; our guests Ashley, Stacy, and Deb; Arun; and Kim.

We had four prepared speeches:

Charnaie gave a speech from the Special Occasion Speeches manual, “Mastering the Toast”. Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Jackie presented her Ice-Breaker, “My Search for Meaning: What I have Learned from My Favorite Book.” Rob evaluated Jackie’s speech.

Kay presented “The Toastmasters Educational Program” from the Successful Club Series. Her speech was evaluated by Murali.

Anne-Marie gave a speech, “Proper Flossing,” that was evaluated by Mike O'Brien.

Jen was our General Evaluator. Our technicians were Ramesh (Ah Counter), Siva (Grammarian), and Charnaie (Timer).

Jen’s evaluation of the meeting noted that as usual, club members were very supportive of each other. There were signs and banners congratulating Rob, Michael O’Brien, and Mike Nicastre for their performance in the Area Contest. Members stepped in to fill in roles, as Anne-Marie and Siva stepped in to fill a speaking slot and the grammarian role, respectively. Members were willing to evaluate each other in speaking roles and for the CL manual.

Comments from our guests: Stacy said she enjoyed it. Ashley thought it was great. Deb just loved it, and said that she will be back.

The meeting concluded on time.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club