New Officer Induction, June 28, 2007

Today's meeting covered a vast territory from new officer induction to a speech on "where speaker Mike Angel is from" to table topics on passionate pursuits.

Past officers--thank you for your leadership in making 2006-07 a stellar, Distinguished (and beyond) Club year! Past officers: President Gary Fuller, Membership VP Connie Pshigoda, Treasurer Mike Angel, Public Relations VP Deron White, and Education VP Mike Biggs.

Wecome and congratulations, new 2007-08 Triskelion Toastmasters club officers!

President - Eric Peterson

VP-Education - Deron White

Secretary/Treasurer - Mike Angel

VP-Membership - Nick Samoylov

VP-Public Relations - Dave Trzupek

Sergeant at Arms - Mike Stablein

Also, a warm welcome to our newest members Karen Lang and Tracy Goodman.

Toastmaster Eric Peterson commenced the meeting with today's word of the day, "commence" (to initiate, start), which most participants managed to use.

In his entertaining speech, Mike Angel told us "Where he's from" starting in 50 BC to present day, all in 8 minutes! His two-year-long search for his family tree culminated in his speech.

John Wierzba evaluated Mike's speech, drawing on what Mike learned from giving his first 10 speeches. Mike scored an "A".

Karen Lang presented table topics, prompting us to talk about our passions. From the Denver Broncos to Nascar, to horseback riding, synchronized swimming and singing, our members are interesting people doing interesting things. Nathan Wilkes's sky diving drama won best table topics award.

General evaluator Nick Samoylov reviewed the meeting and made suggestions for next time. Tip: Before you leave the lecturn, shake hands with the presiding toastmaster, table topics master or general evaluator. This will ensure there's always someone at the lecturn.

As always, our meeting was filled with a lot of variety and laughs while we applied our public speaking skills.

Next week, July 5, there will be no meeting due to the July 4 holiday. Our next meeting will be July 12, 11:35 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

July 12 meeting roles:

TM: Deron White
Speakers: Dave T., Mike S.
Evaluators: Gary Fuller, Eric Peterson
Table Topics: Nick S.
General Evaluator: Mike A.
Word of the day: Tracy G.
Timer: open
Grammarian, ah-counter: open

See you July 12!

Meeting Notes - June 14, 2007

My most favored speech from the CC manual is the Icebreaker speech. It’s always a joy to learn about our new members. The first speech is often a portent of things to come. Everyone has some natural positives in their speaking style. Our speakers of June 14th were not an exception to this rule.

The first speech was by Cindy Castelow, and the second by Nathan Wilkes. Cindy displayed a natural gift for descriptive language and a nice sense of humor. Nathan demonstrated strength in speech construction, and very good composure behind the lectern. We look forward to many more speeches from Cindy and Nathan.

Father’s day was the theme for the Table Topics. Janet Reese plied us with her Table Topics questions about fathers, fathering, parents, and father’s day. The responses weren’t zany, but tended towards well-articulated personal stories about our fathers and ourselves.

Next Week...

We are currently in need of: a general evaluator, an evaluator, an “ah” counter, and a timer.

Next weeks meeting will be lead by Karen Lang with speeches by Nick Samoylov and Deron White. Eric Peterson will evaluate Nick.

June 7 Meeting Minutes

June 7th Meeting Minutes

Lead by: Eric Peterson, President Elect
Speakers: Deron White and Nick Samoylov
Evalutors: Janet Reese and Dave Trzupek

Fellow Toastmasters:

Today Nick wowed us with a death defying tale of mountain climbing. Every experienced climber has to start somewhere. Nick recounted his first climbing trip. He and two other rather inexperienced climbers took an "easy route" to the summit. "Experience" is often the best teacher and the three soon learned that "easy" was a matter of interpretation. In a climactic moment the three were stranded! They hung, suspended on a cliff face in the dark! As night fell and cold set in the three wondered if they would survive. They were, momentarily, trapped as the lead climber's strength began to fail him.

The third climber, Nina, took the initiative and climbed to safety. Unbeknowst to her other climbers, she had unhooked her safety belt in a selfless act. She did not want to take the other two climbers down with her if she fell. Fortunately for Nick and his companion, Nina soon found her way to safety on a geological shelf. She guided her companions down and the rest, as they say, is history.

Deron gave us a taste of Scotch - poetry that is! In an interpretive poem, Deron read the work of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Burns is the well known author of "Auld Lang Syne" and many other favorites. Nothing like a dash of literature and culture to spice up a speech.

Coming next week - Two ice breakers by Cindy and Nate!

In other club news, we're looking to fill our VP of PR slot. Interested parties should contact Eric.

Good speaking!

Mike
Secretary
Treasurer

Meeting Notes - May 31st

Eric Peterson stepped up to fill in as Toastmaster and brought order to the melee that began our meeting. The meeting was an unusual one as we took some time to elect new officers. Prepared speeches still took their place at the core of the meeting, and we were treated to two speeches.

Mike Angell gave his final speech from the Competent Toastmaster's Manual, and has achieved the designation of CTM. We congratulate Mike on his achievement. The awarding of each new CTM reminds me that it takes a good deal of dedication to achieve this goal. Mike's speech was on words that a fathers should pass on to their sons, or elders to kin if taken broadly, that might make for a less foolish world.


Dave Trzupek took first prize for his second speech from the the CTM manual. The speech focused on organization. Dave spoke on the topic of being positive, and the benefits that accrue to the positive person.

An election replaced table topics for the meeting. Speeches were given. A ballot was formed and the following officers elected:

• Eric Peterson - President
• Deron White - VP of Education
• Nick Samoylov - VP of Membership
• Still open - VP of Public Relations
• Secretary & Treasurer - Mike Angell
• Sergeant at Arms - Mike Stablein

Elections - Vote Early, Vote Often

It is the time of year that we need to elect new officers. A ballot has been formed, but there is still space for members to get involved.

Here is the ballot as it currently stands...

President....................... Eric Peterson
VP of Education.............. Deron White
VP of Membership........... Position is open to volunteers
VP of Public Relations..... Nick Samoylov
Secretary & Treasurer...... Mike Angell
Sergeant at Arms............ Mike Stablein

No electioneering will be tolerated outside the voting room. Electioneering inside is acceptable. Anyone not in attendance risks nomination and confirmation. Anyone wishing to take on a leadership role is welcome to toss their name into the hat.

Table Topics for the upcoming meeting will be used to allow the prospective officers an opportunity to explain why they should not be elected.

Meeting Notes - May 25

Paul Sadowski stepped in and led the meeting as the day's Toastmaster. We listened to two speeches both from the advanced manual, Speeches by Management.

Guido Sullam gave his first speech with our club. Guido's presentation was on Risk Management. The presentation outlined an approach to measuring and prioritizing risk, followed by methods to address the risks.

Cary Bradley gave a speech on social responsibility standards. International Organization for Standards is developing the standards for social responsibility under topic number ISO 26,000.

The contestants for best speech received equal votes. Votes were split equally for the best evaluators as well. Everyone did an equally good job.

Eric Peterson split the prizes into equal parts and distributed to the co-winners.The TableTopics challenge was to support or defend such feckless propositions as, "Luster improving shampoo's should be banned from pet show competitions," or "Prize monies should be equal between winners of cat shows and dog shows." Mike Biggs took first prize for his argument supporting, "Cameras should be installed in Wash Park to stop speeding joggers."

What's On My Bookshelf - An Ice-Breaker

What's On My Bookshelf?

Imagine you found yourself alone in a stranger's house, and you want to know about the people who live there. What would you look at?

My wife, Serena, would look at the pictures. She always notices the pictures. My son and daughter would look for toys, or substitutes. Myself, I would look at the available reading material. One can learn a lot about people by what they read. Here is what you would learn about me, if you were to peruse the books in our family room.

First, you will notice that we are not the tidiest people. Scattered on the floor are children’s books, The Poky Little Puppy, Good Night Moon, and others. There are children here, which is my excuse for the sloppiness. I am the dad of Charlie and Ainsley; both share their parent's enjoyment of books. Neither has learned to pick up. As long as the kids continue to exhibit an interest in reading however, we are willing to tolerate a few books lying around.

Neater, but not quite tidy, are two stacks of books occupying opposite ends of the couch. At one end of the couch, you will find a neat stack of books with titles suggesting matters of romance, child rearing, and education. The romance novel gives away the owner of this stack. It belongs to Serena, who is, a teacher, a dedicated mom, and a fabulous wife.

At the other end of the couch is my stack of books. On top, for pure pleasure there is a copy of, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornsby, a hilarious book about a soccer fanatic. This is a fitting book for me because I am a huge soccer fan. I am a sports fan in general, but Soccer holds the top spot since I started playing when I was six and stopped at 35. I have since filled the void by coaching, participating as a Director of a local youth club, and by becoming an even more rabid fan.

Next in line, is a book entitled, A Short History of Nearly Everything. A work of pop science, it combines several of my interests. I have always loved ideas for their own sake, and their influence on events in history. I spent my undergraduate years tailoring my studies to the “intellectual history” niche of historiography. Science fascinates me. As with my interest in intellectual history, I am fascinated with how the progression of science affects society. This book scratches all those intellectual itches.

The third book is, The Bootstrapper's Bible. I manage a small mortgage company that my father started in 1991. Accounting, marketing, technology, and personnel all compete for space on my schedule. Sometimes it is the best job in the world. Other times it is misery. It is always a lesson. That is best part.

The final book is untitled. It is my notebook. Flipping, through the pages we find: to do lists, lists of goals, grocery lists. We also find, memories and the remnants of story ideas. I live a simple but evolving life. Inside my notebook, plans for the future compete for space with admonishments to, “Fix the disposal.” Many of the plans will never see the light of day. Sometime they do. For instance, inside, there is a resolutions-list containing the line, “Join Toastmasters. Learn to speak.”

Taken all together, I think, these books paint an accurate picture of me. I am: a father, a husband, a reader, a sports fan, perhaps a bit of a geek, a professional, and a learner. It is not a complete picture. I know. I, myself, am still watching, and waiting, for much of the rest to fill-in.

~2005