September 8, 2008 Minutes

From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)

Mary Buker, Madam President, opened the meeting with guest introductions of Judy Davidson (Kyeli's mom), Meagan Morris and Sylvester Lavario. I humbly apologize for any misspelled names.

• Jim Comer, our resident PS (professional speaker) served as Toastmaster and warmed our hearts with "Friendship" as the theme of the day.
• Stephen Finos arrived in time to lead us eloquently in Prayer & Pledge.
• Timer Harry Savio prepped speaker with expected time limits and reported precise executed times.
• Grammarian Charlie Cole introduced the word of the day "amiable" (generally agreeable) and reported its use by Jim, Kyeli and Pace. He also precisely tracked uses of filler words and incorrect use of English, which his mom taught!
• Jonathan Huizingh's succinct One Minute Toastmaster speech reminded us to keep a list of potential topics handy for moments of writer's block.

Vladimir Garner (yeah he's back!) asked his Table Topic victims about various aspects of friendship.

• Glenn Nielsen - tied Best Table Topic - 2:00 - Glenn has used technology (webinars) to teach classes but this short-changes teacher-student connections. He is amazed what you can find out about people at PeopleFinder.com. It's scary. Please do not Google Glenn.
• Priscilla Oehlert - tied Best Table Topic - 1:45 - She is reminded of long out of touch friends by signs along the road and believes true friendships are forged through shared experiences. As there are seasons to life, there are phases to relationships.
• Jerry Barrett - 1:50 - His circle of friends has entropy (it keeps growing bigger). When dealing with friends with mental BO, your solution may be to move!

Kyeli Smith - Best Speaker - 6:50 - Icebreaker - For a month or so Kyeli didn't feel well after pushing her car across 4 lanes of traffic and hurting her knee moving. It wasn't food poisoning but instead a baby. Was it twins, not just one big boy. She had 3 great baby showers (boy friend's side wins for weird, her side wins for useful gifts). Dru was late in arriving but his birth was the most powerful and beautiful event of her life.

Tanya Martin-McClellan - Most Improved - 5:00 - Icebreaker - Tanya is a - MBA student by nights and weekends and really enjoys the program - Mom of a 9 year old who loves anything Japanese - Marine (one of only 6% female Marines) and is proud of the leadership shills she learned there - Manager of a development group in India for a product sold in Indonesia. All these are just labels that only begin to describe the full individual she is.

Pace Smith - 7:58 - Icebreaker - Pace grew up with a bronze (not quite silver) spoon in her mouth and was fortunate to go to school at Carnegie Mellon University. There she studied Logic & Computation, specializing in Artificial Intelligence, specifically logical deduction. She got a good job in Austin she enjoyed doing interesting things with computers. Then she met, fell in love with and married Kyeli, Then something extraordinary happened (details to be told later?) and now she really cares about helping people. Their Usual Error Project exposes people to their assumptions that others think and react just like you. She is going to put her whole heart into this and quit her job today.

Anne Child was General Evaluator and appreciated Jonathan's concise One Minute presentation, Harry's precise timing, and Charlie's informative counts.

• Dan Naden - Table Topic Evaluator - Glenn told a personal tale with an abrupt conclusion. Priscilla could develop the people in her stories more completely. Jerry grappled with content and could talked about what he wanted to talk about instead of answering the question.
• Karen Bondy - 2:50 - Evaluated Kyeli - Kyeli used one story to tell her tale. The story was punctuated with humor and unexpected twists that could be accentuated with "pregnant" pauses. She wondered who "we" was then realized it was Kyeli and her boyfriend. Great first speech without notes!
• Cathy Lovelady - 2:30 - Evaluated Tanya - Tanya organized a great speech with 4 points/roles. we learned more about Tanya. She has great eye contact and was relaxed with her hands comfortably at her side. Tanya could have use more power in her voice.
• Mary Buker - Best Evaluator - 2:45 - Evaluated Pace - Interesting beginning "Hi, I'm Pace." She told us she'd quickly take us through her life and leave holes. The conclusion was powerful. Pace uses her hands well for gestures and returns them naturally to her side. She did pace a bit. She used the word of the day, good eye contact but Mary was irritated Pace didn't tell us about the astonishing thing that happened.

• Judy Davidson questioned why we shake hands before and after speaking (and got a few responses).
• Meagan Morris likes friends to challenge and engage her.
• Sylvester Lavario is excited at the opportunity to learn skills he witness at our meeting.
• Sonny Sonntag is glad to be in an amiable group.
• Antoinette Griffin enjoyed the icebreakers.
• Steve Gonzales handed out Balcones Toastmasters business cards to all.
• Veera Nallam learned a lot about how to do an ice breaker.
• Jon Beall is intrigued and entranced by the diversity of Balcones Toastmasters.
• Jim Comer has a list of new partners / guests over the last month. Please let him know if you invited them in order to be eligible to win the movie tickets.
• Dan Naden will be sending out individualized emails stating how much you owe in dues. Please pay your dues at next week's meeting.

And with so many attendees, it's no wonder we adjourned a few minutes after 8:00.