Hello,

It was a resplendent meeting tonight. 9 members were present. Only one role was unaccounted for at the start.

Our SAA, Keith Schroeder welcomed us and we pledged our allegiance. Paul Johnson, our acting President of this month welcomed us and introduced himself.
Claudia Brogan was our Toastmaster, and adeptly kept us interested and on time.
GE: Merrilee Morris
GR: Deborah Hill
Timer: Rui Li
Camera Person: Keith Schroeder

Our speakers:
Peter Gibson eloquently informed us about the poor state of our children’s health, due to poor diet. He used prose and stories, photographs, as well as statistics to deliver his point. And, we got to meet his adorable and useful wellness wombats.

Mike Himelstein spoke and exemplified his tips on how to be memorable when networking. Even the most experienced networkers had new information to take home.

Paul Johnson did a remarkable demonstration on the use of props, as well as give us important tips on how to title our speeches.

Think about ways to get more members and guests to visit. PR stories about us moving to the church may be helpful (”Speakers Roundtable Goes to Church” for example). Send stories and suggestions to Paul.

Again, we are each going to call the people on either side of us on the list to see why they didn’t attend. We hope to find out where people are and why they’ve been out. . . and how to bring them back.

We had several snacks tonight, and a very short break due to the time limit.

We started on time. Ended a tad late (remarkable considering the scheduled length of the speeches), and were warm (until Peter turned down the heat}. The British must be warmer than us thin skinned Americans.

See you next week.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

Hello,

It was an enjoyable meeting tonight. 10 members were present. Only one person who had a role no-showed.

Our SAA, Keith Schroeder welcomed us and we pledged our allegiance. Paul Johnson, our acting President of this month welcomed us and introduced himself.
Peter Gibson was our Toastmaster
GE: Keith Schroeder
GR: Paul Johnson
Timer: Bill Hoskin
Camera Person: Rui Li

Our speakers:
Vicki Willard made us laugh with her tongue-in-cheek evaluation of the process control (economics, sort of) of duck hunting. We heard how it’s done by her husband (and others) and how a Dunwoody housewife goes about it. This is one case where the Dunwoody housewife actually spends less money.

Kelly Vandever gave us a preview of her upcoming speech for TLI this weekend entitled: District 14 Speakers Bureau. Kelly will give an overview of the bureau and its benefits, and several excellent suggestions for improving it.

Merrilee Morris eloquently discussed Alzheimers. She gave us shocking statistics, telling stories and several tips for how to work with people who have it.

We are each going to call the people on either side of us on the list to see why they didn’t attend. We hope to find out where people are and why they’ve been out. . . and how to bring them back.

Thanks Rui for the delicious potato pancakes, and Merrilee for the peanut butter pretzels.

We started on time. Ended a bit late, and were warm the entire time!

See you next week.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

Hello,

It was a viable meeting tonight. Very cheery. Our 14 members were rested up and ready to go. The speeches and evaluations were superlative and . . . viable.

Our SAA, Keith Schroder had the room in order when we arrived. He welcomed us with his New Years story. BTW, has anyone seen the peach drop? We pledged our allegiance and Paul Johnson, our acting president welcomed us.

Merrilee Morris was our Toastmaster, asking us to look forward to 2008 with curiosity and interest. Who will be the person of the year? Who will win the Nobel Peace Prize? What will the Olympics be like in China? She kept things moving smoothly. The roles were:
GE: Vicki Willard
GR: Claudia Brogan
Timer: Donna Satchell
Camera Person: Rui Li stepped up to the plate

Our speakers were:
Kelly Vandever showed us through an exemplary display how we are affected by others thoughts of us. More importantly, notice how we affect others and watch what you think. Her speech had great information and was cheerfully and humorously presented.

Bill Kovach was the master of “viable” tonight, as well as a great speaker. He gave a timely speech about the importance of making worthwhile resolutions that you can keep. He followed up with a great example of how he kept his weight loss resolution from last year.

Keith Schroder gave a delightful “conversation” about two topics: His upcoming photo op in Cosmopolitan magazine, and how he’s using Toastmasters skill to promote his business this year.

Our break was well stocked with all sorts of goodies.

It was brought to my attention that Jon Schwartz has moved north. I’d like to say how delighted we are with his presence and participation at our meetings and how much we’ve learned from him about humor and speaking. I and others sincerely appreciate his efforts to still come to the meetings.

We ended on time and everyone pitched in on the clean-up.

See you next week.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

Hello,

Great meeting tonight. 13 members and 1 soon to be member. Everyone assigned a role (except the SAA) WAS THERE! How easy. We had a stimulating and entertaining evening.

Our acting SAA, Mike Himmelstein welcomed us and we pledged our allegiance. Paul Johnson, our acting President of this month welcomed us and introduced himself.
Paul Johnson was our Toastmaster
GE: Deborah Hill
GR: Peter Gibson
Timer: Claudia Brogan
Camera Person: Bill Hosken

Our speakers:
Paul Poodt opened our hearts to his daughter and to the love of a child with Downs Syndrome. We learned what family was all about, and life. A very moving and fascinating story.

Steve Cohn eloquently and humorously explained why and how we need to use our words appropriately. He then pointed out how important it is to say “Merry Christmas” when you mean to tell someone to enjoy the holiday celebrating Jesus’ birth. Say, “Happy Holidays” or some other greeting when referring to the season’s holidays.

Cindy Light delighted us with her story about Cindy and her light. We traveled to China, came to the U.S., married, took up hobbies . . . But, most importantly, we saw and heard how Cindy lives a positive, joyful life of Light.

We voted Cindy in as a new member. We also voted to eliminate the regulation that prohibits members who are new to the club to vote in all matters of the club, including voting in members.

Thanks Mike for the delicious potato latkes and sausages. We also shared cookies and other goodies.

Next week our party is at Vicki Willard’s home on Dec. 17 around 6-6:30 pm. Our next meeting will be January 7 at the Church.

See you next week.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

Hello,

I think we broke a record tonight. Everyone assigned a role, except for the GE and Speakers, was a no-show or was replaced at the last minute. Tenacious as we are, we pulled it off and had a great meeting. 13 members and 1 guest were present. The evaluations were awesome! Seriously great speeches, information and tips tonight.

Our acting SAA, Claudia Brogan welcomed us and we pledged our allegiance. Claudia stood in for Paul Johnson, our acting President of this month.
Deborah Hill was our Toastmaster
GE: Linda Love
GR: Merrilee Morris
Timer: Jon Schwartz
Camera Person: Rui Li

Our speakers:
Bill Hosken gave a thought provoking speech on the benefits of being in Toastmasters. His speech summed it up well, and gave us some fascinating stories to back his material up.

Claudia Brogan gave a speech from the Better Speaker Series. She eloquently gave us tips on how to conclude our speeches well.

Iris Grimm had us on the edge of our chairs as she passionately told us how she found her passion in life.

Our break was filled with conversation and some yummy food.

Merrilee Morris passed out a sign up sheet for our party, which will be held at Vicki Willard’s home on Dec. 17. We’re not certain about the time, but we think it will be at 6 pm. It will be a potluck with heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts. If you haven’t already, please email Merrilee to tell her if you’ll be attending or not, how many guests you’ll have with you and what food you’ll bring. The club will supply wine and soft drinks. Bring your own beverage if these don’t suffice.

Next week Cindy Light will do her Ice Breaker in hopes of becoming a member. Come one, come all. It’s your last chance to attend a meeting until Jan. 7, 2008.

We ended on time and everyone cleaned up, hung out and talked.

See you next week.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary