Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Igniters Christmas Party 2014!


Igniters gathered at Marion's home (VP of Membership) for our yearly Christmas Party. Everyone brought pot luck items. Marion went out of her way and made us all delicious lasagna, punch, deserts and salad. Thanks so much for all the work you went to to provide us with a great environment for our party Marion!

We finished the evening with a White Elephant gift exchange. In an interesting twist we were all required to participate in a round of table topics before we could choose a gift. Marvin and Nandini also brought a series of sticky notes for our backs and we were required to try to deduce who we were by asking questions of each other.

All in all I believe everyone enjoyed a fantastic evening together. We will enjoy a short break and then we will reconvene in January.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Communication Award and New Member Induction

Congratulations Chris on achieving your Competent Communicator Award! This is a wonderful achievement - first ten speeches! The first speech manual covers various objectives including organization, get to the point, vocal variety, body movement, and using props.

Some of the benefits he gained from joining Toastmasters was more confidence, a willingness to take more risks, and practising new skills. Chris has now started his own business!

Igniters celebrated with standing ovations, President Nandini gave a speech honoring Chris, and Mona the Mentoring Coordinator baked treats for us all to celebrate. For every award, a member brings treats on behalf of the club to show our support!

Marion our VP of Membership gave a warm and welcoming induction to our newest member Michael. Great to have you at Igniters and looking forward to your first speech in January!

The theme was Movies and the members munched popcorn and every time the challenge word of director was used the members would knock on the tables. It was a fun evening of learning.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Daryl earns his Advanced Communicator Bronze.


President Nandini and VP Public Relations Chris congratulate VP Education Daryl on completing his Advanced Communicator Bronze award. Daryl works hard for Igniters every week by completing our agendas. Daryl often routinely fills in two speech slots which really helps us to keep our meetings engaging.

Congratulations Daryl on your accomplishment. You bring a lot with you to Igniters.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Toastmasters can inspire a leap of faith.

A year and a half ago I joined Toastmasters. I quickly jumped into writing speeches and participating in table topics. I realized that I was speaking a lot about not enjoying my work. A friend of mine had a health issue and I knew I needed to change.

When you are working full time it is sometimes hard to make a change without feeling overwhelmed. During the course of gaining my CL I realized that over the last several years I had only been setting financial goals for myself. The CL showed me again that I needed to start working toward something bigger, and that I could only eat an elephant in small bites.

I formed a plan to start a home based business. In the format of the CL manual I started to list the steps required to make the change. I worked on a business plan, took out a business licence, created a website, printed business cards. I started to promote myself and before you know it I had a viable side business worked up. I worked on building a bit of a safety net and I was almost ready to jump.

All I needed now was some confidence. During my work for my CL and CC I had done some work that garnered more results than I expected. I realized that this business venture may be the same. That's all it took -- I became self employed.

Toastmasters provided me : a framework to work from, a peer group to bounce ideas off of, built in cheerleaders, coaches and mentors. Most importantly it allowed me believe in myself again.

I was inspired to take a leap of faith by being involved in Toastmasters. I know others will be as well.


Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Induct Michael


VP Membership Marion completed an induction ceremony tonight to welcome our newest Igniter Member Michael!

We are looking forward to learning more about Michael in January when he completes his Ice Breaker speech.

Micheal is a new addition to the Toastmaster arena and we are very happy that he chose to join Igniters. Welcome Micheal. we know you will learn a lot from being a member of Igniters!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Spirit of Success Communication and Leadership Award.

Congratulations Gio for earning the Spirit of Success Communication and Leadership Award!

Gio worked very hard for Igniters as our VP of Education. Gio was instrumental in ensuring that our contests and club events went off without a hitch!

Club president Marvin presents Gio with his trophy.

Rookie of the Year - Chris G.

Chris G. had a very busy Toastmaster year. Chris competed in the club contest for International speech and advanced to the Area Level. He also completed his Competent Leader and is very close to completing his Competent Communicator and his Advanced Leader Bronze.

Chris received the award for Igniters Rookie of the Year. Chris and also won the Area level Rookie of the Year award.

Congratulations Chris on the great showing this Toastmaster Year.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Igniters Induct our newest member!

Igniters VP of Membership Marion inducts our newest member Stephen! Stephen was a member of Bantrel Innovators Toastmasters Club for 2.5 years. Stephen has found it difficult to meet at noon recently but enjoys the Toastmaster's experience.

We are pleased to welcome Stephen to our club and hope that he is able to achieve the goals he sets for himself with Igniters.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Celebrating at the Fall Conference

Congratulations Glen! Glen was honored at the Educational Luncheon with the highest educational award DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster) Glen received this honor from District 42 Governor Doris Henn and visiting Toastmasters International President Mohammed Murad. Igniters cheered and were very proud!

Later at the luncheon, President Murad was given a special presentation by Mayor Nenshi who gave him the honorary white Stetson cowboy hat. Yahoo!


At the Fall Conference, Igniters celebrated with President Murad. We celebrated 90th Anniversary of Toastmasters and the 60th Anniversary of District 42. Mona organized the Past District Governors activities, Marvin was SAA, and Nandini gave a toast to honor leaders & members.

An inspiring weekend of contests, awards, and leadership. Our next  convention will be in Lethbridge in May. Hope to see you there!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Division Contest and Club Updates.

Hi Igniters,
Last week at the meeting - I shared information about the District Reformation that will be discussed at the Conference Fall Conference (Nov. 7 -9) at the Business Meeting.
The club voted for the District Reformation - the dividing of our District 42 into two Districts. If you would like to read more information. reformation.d42tm.org/
 
The Division Contest:
Chris G is the J41 Rookie of the Year. Marvin is J41 President of the Year. Wow!
Come cheer them both on at the Division.

Division J Contest Thursday, October 30th
Suncor Energy Centre, 17 th. Floor
Registration 5:30pm, Contest 6:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
* You can register at the door.
 
Glen will be honoured at the Educational Luncheon for achieving his DTM. Fantastic! If you have received any other educational award this will be acknowledged in some way at the Conference. Mona as a Past District Governor is involved with the Fall Conference Committee and planning some fun events!

Nandini

Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Making a Difference Award won by Nandini


Our current president Nandini accepts her Making a Difference Award from Marvin. Nandini wears many hats in our club and works really hard to Make a Difference! Congratulations Nandini on your award.

Saturday, October 04, 2014

Value session hosted by Mona this Tuesday!

Three Cheers for Value!!! Value sticks in the mind whenever you are making a decision of being involved in organizations or deciding is this a fit for me. Igniters love to challenge themselves. So here is the challenge, you are being challenged to be really honest with your input and bring all the energy you can muster to have a lively discussion. Tuesday, October 7, 2014, Mona is facilitating a session on Value and testing our club to see how we are doing. All you have to do is give your opinion, thoughts and insights. It may even surprise you what you will learn about Igniters. See all of you Tuesday!!!!

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Attend the Area Contest and cheer on Igniters!

Area Contest Details:
Date: Friday, October 3, 2014
Location: Calgary Technologies Inc. 3553, 31st St. NW. by U of C.
Fee: Contest is a potluck; all attendees (except contestants) must bring food or drink. Small items are acceptable.
Doors open at 6pm, Be there by 6:45pm, start at 7pm.
Come and cheer on our fellow Igniters  Marion and Chris.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Igniters Club Contest Results

Bren and Chris were our contestants for our Club Table Topics Contest! Both contestants did a great job of responding to a question about wether they would like to be on a reality show and why. Chris finished in first place and will be representing Igniters at the Area contest. Congratulations to both contestants for a great showing.







Marion was our entry in the Humorous speech contest. She entertained us with a speech she wrote about embarrassing moments in her life. We all learned from Marion that as you go through life you are embarrassed less easily. Congratulations Marion on your speech and good luck with the delivery of your speech at the Area contest.

We also were able to enjoy a social time over a finger food potluck. Thanks to all of the volunteers, judges and contestants that made this a successful night!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Spirit of Success New Member - Marion

Marion joined TM in Nov., 2013. When I asked Marion about her experiences with us last year she said:

I needed something, at this stage in my life, to help me still keep my mind active and remain socially active. Speaking in front of people was always a fear I had. After attending a few meetings, I thought - if there is a will, there is a way. The manuals (with excellent instructions for speaking in public), the support from Igniters members and knowing they were in the same boat as me at one time, that I could succeed at being a better communicator and leader. I really enjoy practising and being a leader with the roles we are assigned each week. Each time I take on a role I gain more confidence. I am proud of myself for getting up and attempting to give speeches. My friends and family say they are proud of me too. Even though it is lots of work, it can still be unnerving getting up in front of people to speak.

Joining TM is the best step I've taken in my life and I enjoy attending the meetings each week. My motto is – practice makes perfect.

Congratulations Marion on your achievement!

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Mental Flexibility workshop was a great success.

Glen of Igniters hosted a very fun and entertaining evening on Mental Flexibility. We had a very good turnout with members from several different clubs in attendance. We are all more aware of the effect on our life of having more Mental Flexibility.

Marion organized a delicious pot luck that consisted of several different types of items. Thanks Marion for you hard work to ensure variety and suitability for all different types of requests.

As always Chris C did a fantastic job as our Sargent at Arms having the room set up for us well in advance.

Vanessa and Marion won door prizes that had been donated by Glen, and Marvin and Nandini.

We all wish to thank everyone who helped to make this a great night!

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Join us September 9, 2014 to Increase your Mental Flexibility!

Building Your Thinking Power: Mental Flexibility
Tuesday September 9, 2014
6:30 to 9:00 P.M.
Parkdale Community Centre
Founders Hall
3512 5th Ave NW

$5 to cover costs and refreshments

Building Your Thinking Power is a workshop designed to help participants develop their creative thinking abilities. Mental Flexibility is one of the hallmarks of the effective thinker. To be mentally flexible means to be able to adapt; to appreciate various points of view; to be open to new possibilities; to change your ways when necessary and to be willing to learn and grow continuously.

Glen Brown, ACS, ALS will be conducting this workshop.

Glen has been an active Toastmaster for many years. Last year:
As Area Governor:

  • Glen encouraged Area J45 to achieve President’s Distinguished Status.
  • As Club Mentor to a new club, he coached the club to Distinguished Status within 8 months.
  • He organized Club Officer Training and Toastmaster Leadership Institute for his High Performance Leadership Project
  • Glen started and finished a CC.


Glen is thrilled to have the opportunity to kick start this year by facilitating this workshop on Mental Flexibility.

Please register at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZKLNW56

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Igniters and Miracles enjoy another fantastic joint meeting!

Igniters and Miracles enjoyed a fantastic joint meeting this week.

Toastmaster Marvin led us in an evening filled with three prepared speeches and an educational session. A rousing table topics session followed. Our evaluators provided some fantastic feedback to help all of our members grow.

The linchpin of our meeting was a fantastic potluck where we were all able to gather and mingle. We are looking forward to many more meetings with our sister club Miracles.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Amazing meeting August 19th 2014.

Igniters had a very busy and successful meeting on the 19th! We inducted 4 new members and celebrated two birthdays this month, as well as recognizomg Dianne for her hard work completing her Advanced Communicator Gold! We celebrated together with some home made muffins filled with cream cheese and cherries.

We are looking forward to celebrating each other's achievements this week during our annual joint meeting with Miracles Toastmaster Club. Please come and join us for a pot luck and camaraderie on August 26, 2014 at 6:30 PM.

Igniters Induct four new members!

We held a very exciting meeting this week. We inducted four new members! From left to right: Jason, Bren, Chris, and Sylvia.

Our club is getting stronger as a result of our new members. We are able to hold our skills well we help them to grow. Marion and Marvin were available to complete a formal induction ceremony for our new members. We have welcomed them into the fold, and we know that they will be as happy with their choice to join Igniters as we are to have them!

Spirit of Success President's Choice won by Abinav.

Abinav is a very busy treasurer for our club. Marvin is shown here presenting the Spirit of Success President's Choice Award to Abinav for 2014. Congratulations Abinav for your achievement!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Glen wins the Spirit of Success Igniting Spirits Award.

Congratulations Glen for winning the Spirit of Success Igniting Spirits Award! Glen is a very active member of Igniters. Some of Glen's other accomplishments the past year include :
  • As Area Governor, Glen encouraged Area J45 to achieve President’s Distinguished Status.
  • As Club Mentor to a new club, Glen coached the club to Distinguished Status within 8 months.
  • Glen organized Club Officer Training and Toastmaster Leadership Institute for his High Performance Leadership Project.
  • Glen started and finished a CC.
Please join us in congratulating Glen on all of his accomplishments over the past year.

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Susan wins the Spirit of Success - Speech Achievement Award for 2014!!

Susan worked exceptionally hard at Igniters Toastmasters this year. Susan's speeches were all linked by a common theme -- her love of cooking, and her love of science. You might think it is a stretch to be able to link these two passions into a series of speeches, but Susan did it!

We all learned how to cook from Susan this year, and we also all learned a lot about the science and mechanics of cooking. Susan even used scientific methods to explain why certain foods pair well together, and how to choose the best kitchen equipment.

Congratulations Susan for completing all of your projects, teaching us so much about cooking, and also for earning this prestigious award!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Adam is awarded Toastmaster of the Year 2013


Here is the response from Adam after winning Igniters' "Toastmaster of the Year" award:


I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of the Igniters Toastmasters Club for selecting me for this award. The truth is that anyone in our club could have won the Toastmaster of the Year. Our club is made up of experienced, dynamic, and knowledgeable members, and it has been a privilege to learn from them since joining Toastmasters in February 2013.


The mission of Toastmasters International is to empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. This calling is greater than any one individual. Someone once said that, “First we make our habits, and then our habits make us.” I challenge all of us to live the vision of Toastmasters International by developing the habits of effective leadership and communication.

Thank you for this award.


Adam

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Igniters Summer Open House a smashing success.

Our open house was a great success!

We included 16 members and guests in an evening of inspiration led by our guest speaker Iris. Iris encouraged us all to climb aboard the Toastmasters train by convincing us all of the benefits of Toastmasters.

Our Igniters speaker Daryl spoke about how technology, Toastmasters, and people relate.

Our past president Marvin let us in a rousing Table Topics session, we were fortunate to have two of our guests take part as speakers! Our Toastmaster Chris presented awards and passed out door prizes that were  donated by our members. Nandini, our president closed the meeting by inviting comments from our members, and leaving us with an inspirational quote.

We also enjoyed some commaraderie over a potluck.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Year End Celebration a great success.

Igniters enjoyed time together tonight for camaraderie and to celebrate each other's accomplishments over the past year. We started out the evening with a delicious potluck. Outgoing president Marvin led us in an Awards night celebration. Thanks Marvin and your helpers for putting on such a great night!

Keep an eye on the blog over the next couple of weeks as we share details about the awards and our accomplishments.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Come one, Come all to Igniters open house!

Igniters Toastmasters will be hosting an open house at the Nifty Fifties Hall at the Parkdale Community Center on July 15, 2014 6:30-8:30 pm.

We plan to have guest speakers, a table topics session and of course ample time for a potluck and some camaraderie.

Please mark your calendars and save the date!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

June 17 meeting recap.

Nandini led us with a rousing evening of talk surrounding restaurants and eating out.

Marion, Daryl, and Marvin took the stage for our speech section of the meeting. Marion spoke about her experience in a hurricane in the United States, Daryl spoke about how to find the best burgers, and Marvin provided us some background for our year end social.

Diane (l) surprised Mona (r) with a Thank You for purchasing  timing lights for the use at our club meetings.

Everyone is welcome to attend our year end social next week.


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Tuesday June 10th meeting recap.

Our Toastmaster Chris C. began our meeting with a three point introduction, which gave us all a challenge to start.

Marvin gave us a great educational session about how to improve the opening for speeches. We all had a chance to explain how we have successful incorporated some of Marvin's ideas during our Toastmasters careers.

Michel led us in Table Topics with his "Book of If". All 6 members in attendance took a turn at speaking, with Nandini taking home the Table Topics Trophy.

The best part of our meeting tonight is that we managed to have a fun full meeting with only 6 members!


Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Meeting recap.

We had a fun meeting with our members joined by our newest Igniters Adam and Sylvia.

Diane shared in her inspiring speech 3 key tips from Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut.
Going  after your dreams.
1) Attitude - be prepared.
2) Be a 0!
3) Negative Thinking
What do 2 and 3 mean?! Come to meeting next week and talk to Diane or an Igniter. :)
The New District 42 Prairie Horizons newsletter is out. Link below. Great tips and fascinating Toastmasters.

Igniters are in the issue. Picture of Michel who along with another Toastmaster Dave who helped during the flood. Michel kindly nominated Dave for an award.

http://issuu.com/district42/docs/ph_-_volume_3_final_copy

Check the link to read Inspirations 2 by Shaila- stories and tips about Toastmasters achieving their DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster). We were honored to be included.
Marvin  - great tips for new toastmasters among other stories
Nandini - how joining TM helped her as a leader and lessons along the way.
Hope to see you next week!
Nandini
VP PR Igniters

The most recent member to join Igniters.

Please help us at Igniters to extend a warm welcome to our newest member Silvia!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Incoming Executive Members.

Please welcome our incoming Executive members for 2014! From left to Right :

President : Nandini
VP Education : Daryl
Treasurer : Abinov
Past President : Marvin
Secretary : Diane
Seargent at Arms : Chris C
VP Public Relations : Chris G
VP Membership : Marion


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Adam is presented with Ribbons.

Awards:

We had an award ceremony with Adam receiving his CC and CL ribbons from club president Marvin.

Election:

We had two dynamic campaign speeches during our election for VP Membership. Congratulations to our winner Marion, and thank you to Charter Member Michel for making every day a membership campaign!

Announcements:

Nandini announced a new member Adam which to give us a total of 20 members. Igniters qualifies for the Distinguished Club Program! One more member completes goal 8 to lift Igniters from the bronze status in the DCP to silver status.

We would love to add one new member!


Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Igniters have our new sandwich board.

We would like to thank Marion for completing work on our sandwich board. We are sure that this will increase our membership due to increased foot and car traffic stopping by.

Great job Marion!


Friday, April 11, 2014

Mona places second in the Division Speech Evaluation Contest!

Igniters is very proud to announce that Mona has won second place at the Division Speech Evaluation Contest!

Congratulations Mona on your amazing achievement!

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Look at these Lucky Igniters Leprachauns!

Igniters wear green to show their St. Patrick's Day Spirit in fine form! Our Toastmaster for the evening Mona wore her best brilliant green tie.

Nights like these show why we have such a vibrant club. Thanks to all who went the extra mile to make this a fun night!

Back Row : Gio, Glenn
Center : Marion, Marvin, Nandini, John, Mona, Diane, Adam
Front : Chris

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mona wins the Area Speech Evaluation Contest!

We are excited to announce that Mona has won the Area Speech Evaluation Contest! Mona moves on to the Division contest. Congratulations Mona on your amazing accomplishment!

Right: Area Governor for J41, Chris
Middle: Mona
Left: VP Membership Adam

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Igniters International Speech Competition results!

Our Club Contest included an International Speech Competition. Chris G took first place with his speech entitled "Great at 98!"

Mona won second place with her speech "Beastly Contests". Congratulations to both Toastmasters! Chris will continue at the Area Contest March 25th.

Igniters Evaluation Club Contest results!

Igniters held their Speech Evaluation Club Contest on March 11. Adam and a great group of volunteers worked very hard to pull off a very successful evening! We were also fortunate enough to enjoy socializing around the potluck table.

Mona finished in first place and will continue on to the Area competition! Chris G finished in second place and Chris C finished in third place.

Congratulations to all of the finalists!

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Susan achieves her half Competent Communicator Award.

Congratulations Susan for completing your half Competent Communicator award! We know you will continue to work hard toward your Competent Communicator Goals.!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Chris achieves his half Competent Communicator Award

Congratulations Chris for completing your half Competent Communicator award! We know that you will continue to work toward your goal of Competent communicator!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Adam is awarded his competent communicator award.

Conratulations Adam on being the latest member to complete your Competent Communicator goals!

We are all sure that you will be continuing to grow within the toastmasters umbrella.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Giovanni Chajon completes his Competent Communicator Designation.

Gio has completed his Competent Communicator Designation. Club president Marvin is pictured with Gio at our last club meeting February 12, 2014.

Congratulations Gio on the hard work you put forward to complete this milestone! We look forward to seeing you complete the next goal in your Toastmaster journey.

Gio also puts a lot of work into solidifying our weekly meetings, and for that our entire club is thankful!

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

February 4th. Meeting

It was a cold, cold night on February 4, 2014. We had a rousing meeting complete with 2 speeches and of course Table Topics. Gio gave a great speech about dreams that landed him in the winner's circle this week for Table topics. Congratulations Gio!

We have a lot of events coming up. Keep watching the blog for the details.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Igniters Role Checklists

I have shared a Google Document to aid in preparation for Igniters Toastmaster meetings. It is my hope that by using a check-list approach we can all be better prepared each week, allowing us to focus more on great content!

After clicking the link you may copy and paste the portion that you need and edit anything you wish. Some of the formatting will be lost, but you should have no problem fixing the formatting in a word processor.

If you use one of the check-lists please take time to suggest an improvement or addition. I will make edits and your suggestions will make future meetings even better!

Link to Google Docs

Chris

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Amazing joint meeting between Igniters and Miracles Toastmasters.

On Tuesday January 14th. Igniters and Miracles Toastmasters enjoyed a joint meeting at the Unity Church. Our evening matched the word of the day - Camaraderie!

After enjoying a pot luck meal we quickly got down to business. Four very passionate Table Topics speakers got us off to a great start!

Our intermission was filled with some Didgeridoo music graciously supplied Trevor from Miracles TM.

Prepared speeches were next on the agenda followed but a great chance for everyone to rekindle old relationships as well as to forge new ones!

We also welcomed Nicholas from Bedstone Olympics Toastmasters club and a couple of guests into our fold.

I hope we will be able to make this joint meeting a yearly event.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Igniters have returned from our break.

Igniters returned from our Christmas break with our first meeting on January 7th, 2014. We are looking forward to a joint meeting next Tuesday.