Meeting Minutes for October 8, 2007

Greetings Roosevelt Island Toastmasters,

The meeting of October 8, 2007 was called to order at 8:00 P.M. by Club
President Anna D., with
Sue presiding as Toastmaster. Jill was Table Topics Master, and Malcolm was
General Evaluator. As Word Master, Luigi challenged us to use the word - ad
maiora - in our presentations. He explained that it meant - to greater
things- when he introduced us to the term, but most of us were not familiar
with it, and only three people actually used it. Upon returning home, my
first year Latin text book wasn't much help, but with a little internet
research, I discovered that "ad" is a preposition that means - to or towards
- in English. In Latin, maiora is an adjective (or noun depending on usage)
that means - greater. One usage example is the Latin motto: A magnis ad
maiora, which can be translated as - from great things to greater. An entry
in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is the Jesuit motto: ad majorem
Dei gloriam - to the greater glory of God. Luigi's word choice was a great
learning experience, which is the goal of the Word Master.

Jill started the Table Topics session with a question for Elena to justify
her million dollar CEO salary when her company has just experienced at $100
million loss. A variety of equally challenging questions followed, with
Doris, Rena, John, Lucille (a guest), Marlene, Luigi, Woody (me), Malcolm,
Anna D., and Sue rising to the occasion. All 10 Table Topics speakers spoke
within the Toastmasters 2-minute time guidelines. Jill cleaverly summed up
the session before returning control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.

The first scheduled speaker, Don Guan, completed Speech Project #8, Get
Comfortable With Visual Aids. He demonstrated his knowledge of the subject
and his computer skills to an eager audience gathered around a table as he
employed a laptop and explained aspects of the applications software he was
using and 6 Sigma, the title of his speech. Elena was his evaluator, and I
think most of the audience would agree that is was a dramatic and
well-organized presentation. Speaker #2 was Anna D. who completed Advanced
Project #3 (Speaking to Inform) titled, Suggestions for Overcoming
Nervousness in Public Speaking. Janet was her evaluator. Malcolm did the
general evaluation, and pointed out the highs and lows of the meeting. After
evaluating the evaluators, and acknowledging the guests in attendance -
John, Jenny, and Lucille, control of the meeting was returned to the
Toastmaster. After a brief business session, the meeting was adjourned at
9:30 P.M.

The next regular meeting is October 22, 2007 8:00 P.M. at Westview Community
Room.

The Green Market Membership Recruitment Drive is Saturday, October 20,
starting at 9:00 A.M.

Submitted Respectfully,

Woody Deas, Secretary