Meeting Minutes September 25, 2006

Greetings Roosevelt Island Toastmasters,

The meeting of September 25, 2006 was called to order at 8:00 P.M. by Club President Arlene Stock, and thanks to the improvisational skills of the very able Sue Brown, our Toastmaster for the evening, things went quite well in spite of some last minute changes in the agenda. Guests in attendance were Melissa, Marcus, Bart, Anna, and Elaina. We also welcomed the return of Janet Schoene, who was in good form after her recent knee surgery - she served as General Evaluator. Arlene served as Timer, and I (Woody) was the Word Master. I challenged the audience to use the word "rambunctious" in their presentations. The first speaker was Ana Alba, who skillfully presented Speech #2 (Organize Your Speech). Ana provided us with plenty of interesting details about her favorite vacation, from a turbulent airplane ride enroute to scenic San Francisco, with its famous cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge she has fond memories of. Her well organized presentation allowed her an opportunuty to make excellent use of visual aids (photographs), hand gestures, body language, and she demonstrated a good knowledge of her subject. Speaker #2 was Anna Doumnova, who also made great use of colorful visual aids, and her masterful demonstration of the principles of making and launching an airplane fashioned out of a sheet of paper reminded many of us of our childhood years. We were comfortable with her topic - Get Comfortable With Visual Aids -the title of Speech Project #8, and she did a fine job of it. Speaker #3 was Marlene Flom, who spoke from the Advanced Storytelling Manual, Speech #4, entitled Deja Vu. She started by defining the adjective, which is derived from French and literally means already seen. Then she shared a fascinating story about a deja vu feeling she experienced during a trip to China. Webster's Dictionary speaks of the illusion of remembering scenes or events when experienced for the first time, but Marlene's telling of the story with an interesting deja vu twist and a bit of drama at the end, made it all seem so real. She took Best Speaker honors. Al evaluated Ana Alba, Doris evaluated Anna Doumnova, Jim Luce evaluated Marlene, and Janet evaluated the evaluators and the meeting in general. Jim won Best Evaluator honors. Don, Malcolm, Doris, Bart, Elaina, Al, and Marcus participated in an extemporaneous commentary session that was not in the usual Table Topics format - Bart was honored for his performance in this session. After the Officers report and other Club business was completed, Arlene adjourned the meeting at around 9:30 P.M.

RITM extends a hearty welcome to the four new members who have joined during the past month.

The next meeting is October 9, 2006 at 8:00 P.M. - Rivercross Community Room.

Submitted Respectfully,

Woody Deas, Secretary

Meeting Minutes for September 11, 2006

Meeting Minutes from September 11, 2006

Greetings Roosevelt Island Toastmasters,

The first meeting of the semester was called to order at 8:00 by Club President Arlene Stock, who also served as Toastmaster for the evening. Malcolm Cohen served as Table Topics Master for a very special table topics session, and Immediate Past President, Jim Luce, served as General Evaluator for the evening. The special format of the Table Topics session included a tribute to founding member Bernie Silverman, who recently passed after an illness. With Malcolm leading the way, Mr. Silverman was remembered warmly as a long time member of the Roosevelt Island community, and he was praised as a dynamic public speaker, an influential figure, and an inspirational leader by Marlene, Sue, and Jim, who shared some of their memories of him with the audience. There were 5 guests present, with at least one of them a probable new member. The remainder of the Table Topics session centered on speaking about sources of inspiration and influence in our lives, and everyone present participated. Anna, Al, Simi, myself (Woody), and each of the guests accepted the opportunity to speak, telling us something about themselves and sharing a variety of experiences in the context of career influences and inspiring people or situations. Thanks to Elaina, Anna, Bart, Breana, and Jason - the honored guests for the evening- we had an especially interesting meeting, and thanks to the able leadership of Malcolm, the table Topics session went without a hitch. Jose Ortiz was the only speaker scheduled, and he completed Speech Project #5 (Your Body Speaks) with a speech titled "Memories of Wrestling." Sue evaluated his speech, and Jim Luce evaluated Sue and the meeting in general. Al served as Timer, and I (Woody) was Ah counter. Arlene had explained the timing rules at the beginning of the meeting, and it seems that everybody conformed to the rules. I was amazed that there were no "Ahs" during the tribute to Mr. Silverman, and only a few Ahs by the guests who introduced themselves. After a brief business session, Arlene adjourned the meeting at around 9:40 P.M. with a brief period of socializing afterwards.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 25 at 8:00 P.M. in the Westview Community Room.

Submitted Respectfully,

Woody Deas,
Secretary