Meeting recap greetings from 5775 Glenridge Drive! Monday, September 28th found Speakers Roundtable settling in to our new meeting location, courtesy of GMAC and the wonderful online directions from our one-and-only Paul Johnson. In spite of the recent heavy rains and flooding, twelve members and nine guests were present. Four of the guests were repeaters! Our new meeting room is large, set up classroom style, and has many hi-tech electronic enhancements which can only add to the quality of club speeches. President Bill Kovach welcomed everyone and later in the evening introduced Rich Hart who also welcomed us and explained the many meeting room amenities we now have available.
Toast Master Iris Grimm kicked off the program with a wonderful Keith Harrell quote which added inspiration and depth to the entire meeting. Our first speaker of the evening was our immediate past president, Claudia Brogan. Her speech was aptly titled, “The Wonder of Words.” She inspired us to reconsider our word choices and uses (not usage) through the inclusion of puns, six word memoirs and being word alert. Claudia included fun samples of each. The oral evaluations gave evidence that her message had definitely been well received.
Jon Schwartz presented “Vinny Vents. Episode 11: The Martini.” With cocktail glass, shaker and imaginary liquor, Vinny discussed, as only Vinny could, the lost art of making a perfect martini. Aside from entertaining us in his comedic style, he educated us on the history of the martini, what a dirty martini is, how to prevent dilution via melting ice, and stirring versus bruising. One oral evaluator suggested that he show more anger, wear more gold bling, and display some chest hair. Let’s watch Vinny Vents Episodes on You Tube to see if he incorporates these visual suggestions.
Following nine minutes of snacking and visiting, we returned to our seats for the last speaker, Rui Li. Rui is competing in the District Evaluation Speech Contest representing Division I. She had not heard the oral evaluations for Claudia, but proceeded to capture both the positive strong points of the speech and then elaborated on the areas needing additional polishing or shortening. The District 14 Fall Conference 2009 will be held October 16 and 17 in Duluth, GA. The deadline for Discounted District Conference Registration is October 9. If you can be there, do be there! Rock on Rui!
General Evaluator, Paul Johnson, called for a timer’s report from Donna Satchell. Kelly Vandever recorded both Jon’s speech and Rui Li’s evaluation speech. Merrilee Morris reported that five folks had used the word of the day, fortuitous. Our speakers and evaluators had a fairly flawless evening, which is as it should be in an advanced club. Paul’s overview was brief, ending with well deserved accolades for our Toast Master, Iris.
President Bill called on our guests to give brief comments on what they thought of the meeting. The quality of the evaluations and the speeches; the camaraderie; and the caliber of fun learning were all mentioned. The guests were encouraged to return. Next week’s program is as follows: Remember,
We meet next week!
October 5, 2009
5775 Glenridge Drive (See Paul’s videos on our web site)
Toastmaster: Merrilee Morris
Speakers, Paul Johnson, Rui Li, and Keith Shroder
GE: Steve Cohn GR: Claudia Brogan TR: Bill Kovach CP: Paul Poodt