Today's meeting was JAM PACKED with members and visitors experiencing the banging of the gavel right at 12 noon.
Our Club President, John Kacher, welcomed one and all and invited
President John Kacher, ACB,ALS
Keith Engelke, DTM to deliver the Invocation and Pledge.
Keith Engelke, DTM
We had a couple of NO-SHOWS today but that didn't really matter because, in that illustrious San Antonio Toastmasters spirit, we also had some unassigned members who were ready, willing and able to fill in where necessary.
Unassigned (and sleeping) Members
Before the Toastmaster of the Day was introduced John Kacher requested that the Word Master come forward and present us with a memorable Word of the Day. Only problem was the Word Master was curiously ABSENT! Thankfully, Claudine Loyd saved the day with her "PROMPT" volunteer excitement and "PROMPTLY" presented a Word of the Day that all in the room "PROMPTLY" utilized for the rest of the meeting.
Claudine Loyd, Word Master/Grammarian
Time was of the essence so our Presiding Officer "PROMPTLY" introduced one of our newest members, Alan McNamee, who "PROMPTLY" made corrections to the Meeting Agenda and introduced his Theme for the meeting, "You'll See It When You Believe It!".
Alan McNamee, Toastmaster of the Day
Alan explained that professional athletes always see their goals accomplished in their minds before they actually reach them.
He was very "PROMPT" in his presentation of the Theme and since we didn't have the 90 Second Education and Joke Master roles filled Alan "PROMPTLY" accomplished the Program Introduction.
In incredibly "PROMPT" fashion Alan asked the Ah Counter to explain his role. Bill Greenham,our VP of Public Relations, proceeded in a very "PROMPT" manner to explain why he had a BELL and what he would be DOING with IT.
Bill Greenham, CC, CL - The AH Counter
Then our Queen of Club 9434, Carol Jeannin, explained her use of the stopwatch and her desire to "PROMPTLY" flip those LIGHT SWITCHES as our Timer for the meeting.
The Timer - Carol Jeannin, ATM
Claudine had already "PROMPTED" us on the use of the Word of the Day so there was no need for her to appear redundant.
I wasn't asked to explain my role because I apparently am not "PROMPT" enough in my recitation of responsibilities.
I - Jack Hathaway, DTM
Alan "PROMPTLY" asked Evaluator #1 Keith Engelke,DTM to introduce Speaker #1 who was busily preparing his HEADDRESS so that his entrance to the front of the room would be carried out in a "PROMPT" manner.
Our first Speaker was Humberto Vela who was presenting Project #5 from an Advanced Manual. He chose to call it, "The Dark Side", and he came prepared with his most promptand efficient "DarthBerto" impersonation.
DarthBerto
The helmet was quickly removed after a few "PROMPT" words and low and behold we had to look at Humberto for the rest of the speech.
Speaker #1 - Humberto Vela, ACB,CL
Humberto went on to explain that less than 10% of the matter in the universe cannot actually be seen and that Sir Isaac Newton discovered the Law of Gravitational Attraction to prove the point. He even used the Winter Olympics as an example of The Dark Side versus the Wimps and promptly provided an acronym. W- weakly, I- interactive, M- massive, P- "PROMPTS". The speech proved to be quite hilarious in part because he couldn't resist yet another opportunity to take a slam at Jack. But then again.........it wouldn't really be a Humberto speech otherwise.
Our second Speaker was introduced by Al Schwab,
who had "PROMPTLY" awakened from his slumber at the sight of "DarthBerto",
Al Schwab, ACB,CL
and in an intriguing change of pace the Evaluator remained at the front to assist the Speaker, Trey Peters, in his opening remarks.
Very inventive indeed. Trey presented Project #6 from the Basic Manual and called his presentation:
"A Return To A Love Of The Game".
Speaker #2 - Trey Peters
Trey reminded us of how much he loves BASEBALL and "PROMPTLY" related the story of a former Pro Baseball Umpire by the name of Jim Evans.
Trey explained that Mr. Evans had umpired in All Star Games, Playoff Games and even World Series Games during his illustrious career.
Trey had the honor of meeting this gentleman at one point and listening to his story of meeting a boy by the name of Jerry who was dying of Cancer. Mr. Evans gave the boy a tour of the Old Tiger Stadium and presented him with some gifts before the game began that day and then looked for Jerry up in the stands while he was working the game.
A few days later Mr.Evans wrote Jerry a letter to let him know how great it was too meet him only to later discover that the young boy had succumed to his Cancer just a day after the game.
Treys' masterful telling of this emotional story no doubt affected everyone in the room since the silence was noteworthy.
Unfortunately relating this story "PROMPTED" Trey to run a bit long and fail to qualify for the Best Speaker Ribbon.
After experiencing such a profoundly moving speech it was time to "PROMPTLY" lighten things up a bit with a session of Table Topics. Our Table Topics Master was our VP of Education, Ron Graves and he came prepared to entice four victims to improve their impromptu speaking skills.
Ron Graves, CC, CL
First up was Rick Garza who was asked for his take on March Madness. Rick "PROMPTLY" responded with his lack of interest in College Basketball but he did indicate that he follows the Spurs intently.
Rick Garza
The second presenter was Bill Greenham who was asked if he celebrates St. Patrick's Day. Bill stated that his favorite recognition of the holiday is drinking the green beer. Being Australian, he "PROMPTLY" informed us that FOSTERS is BETTER. He was dressed in the appropriate COLOR.
Bill Greenham, CC,CL
The third participant was our VISITOR, James McGuire who was asked for his impressions of the best aspects of Toastmasters. James was quite "PROMPT" in his response that Toastmasters is very supportive and that he enjoys checking out our website. He is hoping to work on avoiding those AAH'S and UMM's in his future presentations.
James McGuire - Our Visitor
Our last victim of the day was our Sergeant at Arms, Joseph Ndesandjo who was asked if Coaches in College Sports should be subject to limitations on $alary. Joseph "PROMPTLY" explained that one of his favorite instructors at Trinity University was his Tennis Coach, Butch Newman. Joseph feels that all Teachers $alaries should not be restricted including Athletic Coaches.
Joseph Ndsandjo
The General Evaluator yesterday was perennial favorite Dan Jackson, DTM and he "PROMPTLY" reminded us that the word "CRITICISM" should never be used in evaluations. The proper term that should be used is "FEEDBACK" and he encouraged us to remember that.
Dan Jackson, DTM - General Evaluator
He then introduced Evaluator #1, Keith Engelke, DTM who had the..........well.........pleasure of evaluating "DarthBerto" ..........I mean, Humberto Vela's presentation on, "The Dark Side versus The Wimps".
Keith Engelke, DTM
Keith complemented Humberto on his great introduction and the "PROMPT" use of the Word of the Day. He emphasized that the speech was very funny but the jokes were a bit of a distraction since the manual didn't really call for any humor in that particular speech.
Keith also mentioned that the complex ideas presented required more time for us to absorb, so some pauses during the speech would have been beneficial. He also stated that including the audience in your presentations is always a good idea as long as it doesn't tend to be redundant..........you know.........the Jack references.
Evaluator #2 was Mr. Al Schwab and he was greatly appreciative of the story that Trey Peters wove into his presentation.
Al Schwab, ACB,CL
Al indicated that he now has a much better appreciation for Baseball after hearing Trey's effort. He liked Trey's use of vocal variety and the emotions that he emitted while telling of such a memorable event. His only suggestion was that Trey should have incorporated a little more movement and gestures.
With the voting completed and the reports presented it was time for the RESULTS.
Alan "PROMPTLY" presented those colorful, coveted, treasured and much envied Ribbons of Distinction to James McGuire for Best Table Topics, Al Schwab for Best Evaluator and by default, Humberto Vela for Best Speaker.
The sign-up sheet "PROMPTLY" went around the room and apparently next week Claudine Loyd will attempt to "PROMPTLY" keep us on the straight and narrow with a "PROMPT" direction of the meeting as Toastmaster of the Day. I understand that we might have a role or two left to fill so please let Claudine know "PROMPTLY" of your interest in participating.
On Saturday, 20th March (a day after our meeting), I witnessed two of our accomplished members competing in the
Area H-83 International Speech and Evaluation contests.
Scott Avery, CC and Joseph Ndesandjo were superb in their efforts and Dan Jackson, DTM and Bill Greenham, CC,CL presented memorable speeches.
I was hoping for a better turn-out of members from our club but the weather was sketchy and it was the last weekend of Spring Break so evidently there were some conflicts.
Hopefully we will enjoy the "PROMPT" arrival of many of our members next Friday as we continue the process of improving our communication and leadership skills within a 60 minute timeframe.
It's All About Toastmasters from Noon to 1:00 or else!!!
All the Best,
Jack Hathaway, DTM
