May 21, 2007 Minutes

From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)

Balcones Toastmasters May 21, 2007

Chapter 3407 District 55

Minutes of Meeting

The May 21th meeting was opened about 10 minutes late by President Jake North. We had a new visitor, Clark Schubert. Steve Levering returned for his second meeting

• Jim Comer enthusiastically served as Toastmaster. "Traits we like and dislike about ourselves" was the theme. We got to know each other better.

• For Prayer & Pledge Darlene North lead us in a moment of silence. She effortless fill the duties of Sergeant at Arms.

• Timer was Frank Peters. Everyone stayed within their allotted times.

• John McMillen was Grammarian and chose "eloquent" for the word for the day. It was used by Jim, Jonathan, Jack, Hollis, Phil and Sonny. He noted Scott "world's worst idea", JD's "a confusion of roles" and counted a couple "you know"s.

• One Minute Toastmaster was Jonathan Huizingh - Jonathan encouraged us to participate in the group by congratulating the speakers and providing feedback.

Table Topics Master was Jack Frick. Jack asked participants to describe what activity makes then feel alive.

• Scott Perry - Scott knows his purpose is to be a father to Julia (6) and Christian (4). He enjoys time spent with them including when being snagged by fish hooks.

• Rick Bradstreet - Retirement allows Rick to see other universes like the Cat Show universe and the universe of Band Parents.

• Hollis Baker - Hollis feels like he's pulling an anvil behind him until he submits his weekly Liberty Hill newspaper article. Then he feels great.

• Priscilla Oehlert - winner - Priscilla buddy, Joe, is the heart monitor that tells her when she's at her target heart rate when she's spinnng. She knows she's working to be healthy in the years ahead.

Speaker #1 Anne Child - most improved - "Living with MS" - Anne told the story of her husband Garry's battle with Multiple Sclerosis. The symptoms come and go and are varied but the uncertainty is a constant.

Speaker #2 - J.D. Stewart- "A Ring and a String" - J.D. entertained us with wit and wonderful magic tricks with a metal ring and a long shoelace. Darlene was the lovely audience participant.

Speaker #3 Phil Hallmark - winner - "Managing your Nest Egg" - Phil advised us on how to prepare for our future 1) Invest in broad market index funds and bond funds and keep them balanced for your desired risk level. 2) Mind your burn rate - watch where the stream of your money is going and build a reservoir. 3) Invest in your physical and mental health.

General Evaluator was Jake North.

Table topics evaluator was Jon Beall - Jack presented a topic we were all interested in. Scott has a smile that shows what he's about. Jon could relate Rick's "Universe of Retirement." Hollis is so animated it doesn't matter what he's talking about. Priscilla better watch out because "a duck thinks a duck is pretty good looking."

• Evaluator #1 for Anne was Glenn Nielsen - winner - Anne kept everyone's attention by telling a story. She should have told about Garry before M.S. Her gestures were good but could be more natural and she could move around more.

• Evaluator #2 for J.D.was Steve Gonzales - J.D. was entertaining and fun. His gestures, though planned looked very natural. J.D. could have finished with a stronger more surprising ending.

• Evaluator #3 for Phil was Diane Graden - Phil took a dry subject and spoke from experience so made it interesting. She felt he was getting off topic with his point on health but tied it back together in the end. She loved his dam analogy.

Timer and Grammarian gave their reports. Dan Naden observed that even though he has been gone for awhile, the club has not missed a beat. Steve Levering enjoyed Priscilla's spinning pitch and Jon's duck response. Matt Carlin's take away lesson from this meeting is Diane's comment of "dam analogy"... he uses too many analogies in his sales. Jennifer Wagner enjoyed not having a role in the meeting so she could enjoy observing. Sonny Sonntag was glad to be in a group of eloquent speakers. Visitor Clark Schubert said it looks like fun!

There will be no meeting next Monday May 28th - Memorial Day. Jake reviewed the schedule for our next meeting on Monday June 4th.

Future schedules are available at http://www.balconestoastmasters.org/schedule/ . We adjourned just a minute past 8:00 which is great given our late start.