Beloved Toastmasters,
Last night proved to be an enlightening meeting for everyone who attended. All twelve of us... We decided to spice things up a little but noticed we were all out of coriander, so we had a panel discussion instead. The discussion was led by the illustrious Scott Mochinski as part of his journey towards his "Competent Communicator" certificate. Scott is a hop, skip and/or jump away from obtaining his DTM sometime next year. All he needs now is to kill a werewolf with his bare hands and find the Maltese Falcon before the vernal equinox.
On the panel, were three of our favorite and most knowledgeable members: George Alexandrov, Adam MacMillan and our president Janelle Carson. Each member briefly presented a topic affecting the club and at the end answered questions from the audience.
George took this opportunity to do speech # 8 out of the manual: Working with Props. Using a great color handout, George described the features and benefits of our new website in detail. It was a wonderful walkthrough for people who are having trouble navigating the site.
Adam spoke about the mentorship program and the immeasurable benefits a speaker can gain by working with an experienced member. These mentors will encourage and motivate newer members. But what about the "not so new" members? People who have attended a few meetings here and there but have yet to give a speech? Well, this program is perfect for them. Admit it, we can all use a little motivation to get up and do a speech. If it came natural to us, we probably wouldn't be here in the first place. See Adam for more details on this exciting new program available to ALL members.
Lastly, Janelle gave a "State of The Union" for our club. One of the issues discussed was the waning attendance in recent weeks and what the officers were going to do to address the situation. A suggestion was brought up to record attendance at each meaning for the purpose of identifying trends throughout the year. Does the weather play a part in people coming to meetings? What will happen when the NFL starts playing games on Thursday?
Overall, it was a great meeting as usual. Very informative and yes, still fun and entertaining.
While it wasn't brought up in the meeting, I know it was supposed to be mentioned: Our Holiday Party is tentatively scheduled for NOVEMBER 30th. Come out and celebrate Barbados' Independence Day. That doesn't float your boat? How about we celebrate the official end of Hurricane Season? Winston Churchill's 132nd Birthday? Look, I'm grasping for straws here because, let's face it...we're having a holiday party on November 30th.
Until Next Time...