Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Way To Go Toastmasters!

On January 30, Igniters hosted the Division E Of The Year Awards. We had a fun evening on the virtual red carpet with over 40 Toastmasters celebrating! Igniters President Jeff won Area Toastmaster of the Year and Fola won Division Rookie of the Year!

Current Division E Director Chelsea and Past Division E Director Mary led the recognition for the Area and Division awards. Program Quality Director Daisy shared a speech about the importance of the colour red.



Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Toastmaster of the Year - Donna 
Rookie of the Year - Fola 
Public Relations - Sheri 
Division E President - Val 
Area Director - Wendy 




Thursday, January 04, 2024

Tall Tales

“We learn best in moments of enjoyment.” – Ralph C. Smedley

 

Igniters had a short but sweet December. Diane and Glen hosted a Christmas potluck on December 8th and Igniters ran a fantastic Tall Tales tournament on December 12th. All in all, a fun-filled way to finish the calendar year.

 

As there was no district speech contest this year, Igniters held its own, featuring highly exaggerated and improbable stories. As our current club president, Jeff, said, speech contests “create a different environment in which to test and develop your skills ... and also make for great entertainment for the spectators as we watch each other aim to perform our best.” 

 

A huge thank you goes out to the tournament organizers: Jessica, Geetha, and Ksenija. And a special thank you to the tournament officials and volunteers.

Congratulations to all the participants: Glen, Lenore, Darlene, Trevor, Marvin, Jeff, and Nandini.

 

A round of applause for the contest winners:

 

1st Place: Jeff

2nd Place. Nandini 

3rd Place: Darlene 

 

Looking Ahead

 

After a holiday break, we hope you are energized for a new year.

 

This year’s “Of The Year” Awards will be held as an online event hosted by the District team on January 6th. Fola was nominated for Rookie of Year and Jeff was nominated for Toastmaster of the Year from our Club. Details of the event are below:

 

January 6th, 2:00 PM (MST) / 3:00 PM (SK)

Special guest speaker – Sheryl Roush, DTM, Accredited Speaker

Registration Required – Click HERE to register.



Monday, November 06, 2023

Halloween with Igniters

We had a terrific Halloween meeting led by Pirate of the Caribbean Toastmasterrrrr Marvin and his motley crew! The word of the day was Trick or Treat. It was indeed a treat to hear Speakers Darlene and Jessica. Yes, Table Topics can be a bit scary, but Jeff, Rebecca, and guest Chris all got chocolate for being brave! It was fun to see all the creative costumes and Mark aka Alice Cooper won best dressed!!




Saturday, October 14, 2023

Congratulations and Effective Evaluation

Meeting themes in late summer and early fall were Recovery, New Beginnings, Gratitude, Values & Virtues, and Orcas! 

Congratulations 


The following club members completed pathways in the past month:

 

Trevor - Level 4 of Persuasive Influence

Ellen - Level 4 and Level 5 of Dynamic Leadership

Mona - Level 5 of Engaging Humor


Kudos as well to Elaine on leading her first meeting at Toastmaster, club members who signed up in advance for roles, and those who stepped up to fill vacant roles each and every week. A big thank you as well to Jessica for helping with the agenda last month.


Effective Evaluation

 

On Tuesday, October 17, at our in-person meeting, we have a dynamic guest speaker to help strengthen our evaluation skills. Christina Kruis, DTM is a passionate and inspiring leader and evaluator. She is the Past District 42 Director for 2020- 2021 and an enthusiastic member of the Feedback Team for the D42 Circle of Gold. She has competed in many contests including winning the D42 Evaluation Contest in 2008.

 

Through evaluations we support and help people improve as communicators and presenters. Effective evaluation can inspire speakers to success. It is worth spending time to learn how to give valuable feedback and be a part of the success of others.

 

Sign Up!

 

It’s always a great time to book a speech or role. Challenge yourself by committing to a role you’re less familiar with or set a date for your next speech and work towards your goal.

 

Go Igniters!

Sunday, August 13, 2023

District 42 Champion and Circle of Gold

On Tues July 25, Igniters hosted and VP Ed Nandini organized a Circle of Gold for Molly Hamilton. A huge thank you to all of the Igniters who helped out! Molly inspired us with two speeches, for the Int Speech Contest in the Bahamas Aug 16- 19. 

In the first half of the meeting Our own Devon and Christine stepped up to shine as speakers as they stretched their comfort zone and worked on their skills.

In the second half, two feedback teams, offered helpful suggestions, including the awesome Blue Team Harvey, Diane, Ksenija, and Laura Chambers. Fabulous Red Team with Val Erickson, Rowena Romero, Darlene Dafoe Davies, and Nandini. 

A huge thank you to all the Toastmasters who came for support. Molly appreciated all the Feedback and looking forward to competing in the Bahamas, Aug 16 - Aug 19. 

Monday, July 31, 2023

Year-End Recap

Congratulations Igniters! We achieved President's Distinguished Club status again in 2022-23!

 

We had a wonderful celebration to wrap up the year at the end of June. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our End-of-the-Year Party on June 27th at Mona and Ted Cooley's. Many thanks to Mona and Ted for hosting a fantastic event. For those who missed it, here is a quick recap: 

 

Award Winners


District 42 Awards

  • Toastmaster of the Year: Jeff
  • Rookie of the Year: Fola

 Igniters Club Spirit of Success Awards

  • New Member: Mark
  • Communication and Leadership: Nandini
  • Speech Achievement: Mona
  • Igniting Spirits: Trevor
  • President Choice: Vicky, Jeff, Jessica
Education Awards
  • Completed Motivational Strategies Path: Jessica
  • Completed Presentation Mastery Path: Nandini

Igniters members received a total of 17 awards! Way to go, members! Our members continually succeed in the pursuit of their goals through the support and encouragement of fellow members and our strong mentoring program.


Thank you to Fola and her committee for organizing and presenting the awards.

 

New Executive Induction


The incoming executive for July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 was inducted at the year-end party. Good Luck to the new executive and best wishes on a fantastic year ahead!


Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Motivating Leaders!

 

Great turnout for another in person meeting for Igniters! We had a fun night of learning. We had two guests visit. Marvin was the Toastmaster with the Theme Leadership and the word of the day Motivate. Ksenija, Division F Director helped organize an inspiring training with inspiring speakers for Toastmasters across the city to attend. Yvonne the grammarian picked Galvanize as the challenge word. The competition was on to develop your vocabulary.

Trevor our first speaker shared tips on reading and the value of a first line of a book will help you decide if it is the right book for you. Other tips were to stop if you don't like a book and the value of skimming. Christine spoke next and shared a humorous speech about trying to achieve consensus in her family about a family vacation. Diane shared the value of her changing leadership styles and how she helped colleagues develop their skills and knowledge. Evaluators Ksenija, Nandini, and Jeff gave tips on their strengths and ways to be more effective. Petra helped members learn to speak spontaneously and clearly with entertaining questions on leaders. Every week is an opportunity to develop your skills!