Area 41, Division J District 42 Spring Contest

Anne, Mona, Diane, Nandini,  Chris G, Marvin, Brenda and Marion attended the Area 41, Division J District 42 Spring Contest on March 31, at the Brentwood Co-op to cheer on our competing Igniters -  Margaret, Ellen, Glen and Chris C. as they participated in the International Speech and Evaluation Contests.

Check out the rest of the blog to see how our Igniters placed. 

Congratualation to Ellen and Glen 1st Place Award Winners

Kathy, the contest chair, for the Evaluation Contest, Area 41, Division J, District 42 presented Glen with the first place award for his assessment of an amazing test speech


Chris, the Toastmaster for the International Speech contest and Helen the Toastmaster of the Evaluation   contest assisted with the presentations.

Kathy, the contest chair, for the International Speech Contest, Area 41, Division J, District 42 presented Ellen with the first place award for her speech "You Can't Always Get What You Want"

Story Telling Workshop

Visitors welcome to our Story Telling Workshop!!!

We at Igniters are very excited to have Darlene Davies, DTM, come to our meeting on April 12, 2016 to share a workshop on storey telling.  Darlene is a retired Business Advisor and Strategic Planner who has used stories to capture the audience’s attention with great success in her career and in Toastmasters. In 2012, she was the District 42 International Speech Contest Champion and a world semi-finalist

Stories can ignite understanding, touch hearts and inspire action. Have you ever wondered where to find stories, when to use them or how to make stories come alive? In this 20 minute educational workshop, Darlene Davies will share tips and stories that demonstrate how to ignite your audience with stories.

Good Luck Igniters

Let cheer on Igniters at the Area Contest. Margret and Ellen are competing in the International Speech Contest. Glen and Chris Crooks are competing in the Evaluation Contest.

 

30 People - Excellent Turnout

Eggcellent turnout for our Easter themed meeting as we had 30 individuals, 24 Igniters and 6 guests on March 22, 2016. 

Rick, our first speaker did an awesome job of his CC #1, Icebreaker speech, titled “It’s About Time”.   Speaker two, Julie presented great visuals and great enthusiasm for her CC #8 speech “Chinese Characters” that taught us the meaning and how to write a few Chinese characters.  It was great to hear Ellen’s club competition winning speech ‘What You Want, What You Get”.  We are very lucky to have such a variety of presenters and splendid evaluators to share their skills with us. 

St. Patrick Day

Marion, our Toastmaster brought the luck of the Irish to our meeting, by celebrating St. Patrick Day two days early.  Julie was an excellent Sargeant at Arms.  During our round table introductions we answered the question, "Can you relate a time when you felt lucky or luck was on your side"? With that as a topic we had varied responses, but as we circled the table, I realized how lucky to have each other and be members of Igniters.
Once again our agenda was complete with a few minor changes. The tables, which were arranged in a new configuration,  were full and we had two guests to give us feed-back at the end of the meeting. 

IGNITERS - International Contest Winners

 Chris presented the International Contest first place winner, Ellen, with her certificate. Her very enthusiastic speech, You Can't Always Get What You Want, expressed the ideas that occasionally what we want may not always be what is the best for us.

Margaret received a second place certificate from Chris for her speech A Case For Crying,  about the ability of tears to heal.  

Igniters Evaluation Contest Winners

Nandini presented Glen with his first place certificate for the Evaluation Contest.  He will be representing our club at the next level of competition. 









Chris C. did an excellent  job of evaluating Keith's speech , Howling Mad, and will also represent Igniters at the Evaluation Contest.

IGNITERS - International Contest

Clemens acted as Sargeant at Arms for the International Contest and introduced Chris, the International Contest Toastmaster.  Chris outlined the contest purpose and the speaking order.  Marvin our Chief Judge reviewed the contest rules and procedures.  Glen, Margaret and Ellen gave us three very different speeches that were very personal to each of them.  Their titles express the feeling they had for their subjects, I Will Remember, I Can't Always Get What I Want, and A Case for Crying.

Margaret and Ellen will be moving on to represent Igniters.

IGNITERS - Evaluation Contest

First, I would like to thank Keith from the Westhill's Toastmasters Club for his very interesting speech "Howling Mad".
 
Stephen, the Sergeant at Arms introduced Nandini the Evaluation Contest Toastmaster. Nandini outlined the contest purpose and speaking order. The Chief Judge,  Marvin reviewed the contest rules and procedures.
Kieth's presentation about the less than sinister wolf, gave Clemons, Glen, Chris and Anne an opportunity to show their skills at evaluation.  They each gave their evaluation, using a variety of methods and then it was left to the judges.

                                                                               

IGNITERS - Evaluation and International Contest

We had a full slate of contestants and a large audience to enjoy our Evaluation and International Contest.  Our Contest Chair, Stephen and the Chief Judge, Marvin worked together to ensure everything ran smoothly. Once again Marion organized a delicious spread for all to nibble on throughout the evening. Thanks to those that brought food.  Timers Frode and Rob kept us moving and helped the contestants understand their allotted time.  Thanks to all of our volunteer judges and to the ballot counters, Rick, Kenneth, Paul and Marion.   We could not run a contest without the contestants and the many volunteers.                                               THANKS TO EVERYONE INVOVLED. 

 

More Evaluation and International Contest Pictures

 

Thanks Rick for sharing these pictures.



Timers hard at work!!
Rob and Frode

                                      

             Chief Judge, preparing for the contest.        
Marvin








The contestants in action -
Chris, Glen, Ellen, Clemens, and Margaret

The BUFFET, thanks Marion

 

BEST DRESSED at our Oscar Themed Meeting

Thanks to Stephen for sending me this great photo of Marvin, as he dressed the part of  the host (toastmaster) for our Oscar themed meeting on March 1.  He did a superb job of sharing Oscar information while keeping our meeting on schedule 

Marvin you win the "BEST DRESSED" category.

Rob created Jeopardy Table Topics with selection rules that enabled Igniters to choose their topic and difficulty level.  We were enlightened by Toast Mastery, World Politics, Science & Technology and Life.  There are many more questions for next time!

February Open House

Tonight Chris picked the theme  "February Open House"  and encouraged each of us to bring guests to the meeting to share the Toastmasters opportunities. 
Once again our tables were full. We all enjoyed Julie's CC#9 , "What Makes You Happy and Healthy" as well as the cookies  and drinks  that Marion and Chris supplied.

Four New Igniters

Rob, one of our newer members, did an excellent job introducing Matt and Frode and helping Marion, our VP of Membership . It was exciting to hear Paul share his story before Marion lead us through the three Toastmasters Inductions.
We are pleased to welcome Ellen back to Toastmasters and are thrilled that she has decided to join Igniters.

Full House for February 2, 2016 Meeting

As the second month of 2016 began, we filled our tables with members and guests.  Our agenda ran with a full slate, which included our new members, Kenneth and Paul filling two of the positions. 
Our Toastmater Glen, expertly introduced our speakers - JianLi (CC#1), Stephen (ACB#2), and Rob (CC#4).  The speakers entertained us with totally different approaches to three diverse but informative subjects. We left the meeting with an appreciation for the clean air we have in Alberta as well as a better understanding for the problems we can have when we attend staff elevations.  Stephen's poetry presentation  took some of us back a few years with the lyrics of songs by the  Beatles and Joni Mitchell. 
 

Great Meeting

Our meeting on Jan 26 was informative and fun.  With the theme - Movie and Theatre, many of our members and guests were able to bring the Word of the Day and Challenge Word create and composition into their Round Table Introductions.
Michael's, speech number 8,  "How to be a Foodie with a Bad Loonie" gave us ideas on how to save money on groceries as well as how to preserve the fresh food for a longer duration.  By using  props to help us understand he made the presentation very enjoyable. 
Our SAA,  JianLi and Toastmaster Nandini ensured the meeting ran smoothly while at the same time allowing each of the volunteers filling a position to complete their tasks.  With many new members taking on roles, our club is learning and sharing.  THANKS IGNITERS for another awesome evening!!

New Members for 2016

Our VP of membership Marion, inducted two new members at our meeting on January 19, 2016. We are very pleased to call Kenneth and Yvonne Igniters and look forward to their first speeches. 

CC#6 My Vegas Vacation

Anne went to Las Vegas and told us about it.  There were death defying magic shows and late night Black Jack games.  The fireworks on New Years Eve were spectacular to watch with friends to celebrate the beginning of the year ahead of us with the same amount of new adventures, fun and friendship that we had during the trip.









We were delighted to have Division J Director Poorna visit us. She came to give the engraved Division J Table Topics Trophy. She also gave an inspirational speech about being a Toastmaster in Dubai and attending other Conferences in the Middle East. It is always great to have guest speakers share their ideas and passions! Thanks for your encouraging words about the friendly, fun, and creative meetings at Igniters!

TABLE TOPICS AWARD DISTRICT 42

Carolyn Kaldy, DTM, and the Program Quality Director (South), attended our meeting on Jan. 5th to present Nandini with her trophy for winning the Table Topics Award for District 42.
With her usual altruism, Nandini asked us a question about how “one new member can inspire others and what happens if you try. If you jump in and act spontaneously with a smile, imagine the ripples that you can make in a year.” She talked about what each of us have done to make Igniters a great club. 
               Congratulations Nandini – you are an example for the rest of us.
 

2015 Christmas Party

We gathered at Mona and Ted's house for our Christmas party.  Those in attendance ate well on a delicious roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and gravy, main course supplied by our hosts. Guests brought potluck that included cheese and dip appetizers, salads, bacon and beans casserole, mashed potatoes which were following by decadent desserts of apple crisp, cookies, squares and fruit for the healthy diets.
After the meal, we moved downstairs to the Christmas tree for the gift exchange that allowed the brave to thieve their choice gift from others.  The port and homemade butter tarts seemed to frequently travel around the around the room.

Nandini and Anne - Another year wiser

We had great fun celebrating Nandini's and Anne's December birthdays with Mona showing her usual enthusiasm by presenting them each with their desserts with numbered candles that added up to their alleged ages of 29+. The apple crisp aka birthday cake was delicious and was enjoyed by all.

New Member Induction - Welcome Clemens

The members of Igniters were excited to welcome Clemens to our club.  Marion performed the inductions and we stood recited the oath.  It was great to come to the meeting and see the room decorated so as to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Congratulation to Nandini from Igniters'

Igniter's president, Chris  was ecstatic to share the news that Nandini, one of our founding members,  had won the District 42 Table Topic's competition in Saskatoon this past week-end. 

Thanks Iris - Your Voice, Your Message

Members and guests were thrilled to hear Iris Talbot, our guest speaker,  share her presentation, "YOUR VOICE, YOUR MESSAGE".   Those in attendance left our meeting with a new appreciation of how the voice works and different ways to use this amazing gift to improve our message. Iris had our complete attention from the moment she started to share her message with us,  by asking for audience feedback and having us practice different vocal techniques.

Chris, Igniter's president, is seem here with Iris thanking her for sharing the information with us.

Thanks again Iris!

NANDINI is District 42 Table Topics Winner

Congratulations Nandini!!

 

Nandini was one of 12 contestants from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and she had people excited as she answered the following Table Topics question "If you have to take one photo of your life what would it be?"

 

Nandini won the District 42 Table Topics contest!

Thanks to Carolyn Kaldy, DTM for sharing her photo with us.

We are all very proud of her as she Ignited Spirits at the Conference in Saskatoon.

Distinguished Club Program

Our President, Chis, was excited to share the letter and information we received from "District 42 Incentive Team.   The letter contained the pins and ribbons that Igniter's qualified for during the months of June through September, 2015.  We are working as a club to maintain our DCP(Distinguished Club Program) for the currant year.  Thanks Chris for sharing this information with us.

I am inviting anyone reading this blog to come to one of our meeting and enjoy our relaxed but enthusiastic group.  We have fun as we learn all about what Toastmaster's has to offer. 

Welcome to Igniter's Deborah

 Marion, our VP of Membership,  had the pleasure in inducting Deborah to our club.  It is always exciting to have new members and we are looking forward to Deborah's icebreaking speech.


Deborah surprised us by bringing tasty muffins for all to share. Michel, our VP of Education is seem here helping to pass them around.

Welcome to Igniter's Deborah

 

Spirit of Success Award

Nandini presented our Spirit of Success award to Michael.  Michael represented the awards criteria  by being energetic and enthusiastic in all the roles he was willing to take on    His five CC  speeches were entertaining and passionate, as were his evaluations.  His friendlyand keen manner made guests comfortable and relaxed.

Congratulation Michael, we are excited to have you in the club and look forward to hearing more speeches.

Good Luck Nandini

We are all thrilled to wish Nandini  the best of luck
in the Table Topic's Competition at the District 42 Fall Convention in  Saskatoon this week-end.  The Igniter's in Saskatoon and those still in Calgary are sending you positive thoughts.

          GOOD LUCK NANDINI

Iris Talbot - Your Voice, Your Message

                        IRIS TALBOT
               Your Voice, Your Message
                 Nov. 24, 2015. at 07:00 PM

Whether singing or speaking how well you use your voice makes a definite impact when giving a speech.  Your voice should be the last thing that ages when used correctly.  Iris Talbot is living proof of that as she received her Bachelor of Music degree over forty years ago and still has a youthful exuberant voice.  
Distinguished Toastmaster Iris Talbot joined Toastmasters in October 2006. She currently serves as the President of Absolutely Fabulous Toastmasters and is a member of CREBtalkers as well.  She is a voice coach for speakers and singers, a full time Realtor and trainer with the Calgary real estate board.   
Iris hopes that today’s brief introduction to the voice will stimulate your curiosity about your own voice. A healthy voice is a beautifully expressive one which is essential when communicating with others.  Learn tips for improving your voice as Iris shares with you her insights from her years of experience as a voice teacher.  

We at Igniter's are excited to hear Iris speak and invite you to our weekly meeting at the  Parkdale  Community Association, 3512  5th Ave. NW

Division J - Public Relations of the Year Award

Marvin, Margaret, Nandini, Diane, Brenda, Marion,and Glen were happy to stand beside Chris when he received his award for Division J  - Public Relations  of the Year for  from the Past Division J Director Grant.

                               

Division J Area Table Topics Competition Award

Toastmaster Poorna, Division J Director, presented Nandini with the certificate and trophy for winning the Division J Area Table Topics  Competition.   Nandini's enthusiastic response to the question "If you could change your name to any name, what would it be and why?" was entertaining and interesting.  Thanks to those who organized the completion and those that volunteered so that everyone enjoyed the evening.