Igniters 10th anniversary an amazing success.

The organizing committee for Igniters organized a fantastic 10th anniversary celebration this past week. We had people from many different nearby clubs join us for the celebration. Including: Our sister club Miracles, Literally Speaking, SAIT Sayers, Smart Speakers, CTI Techtalkers, Speakmasters and To The Point.

On entry, our guests entered a door prize draw, enjoyed a slideshow, and well organized potluck. A silent auction was planned with many items up for bid, and attendees had an opportunity to bid. Of course there were a lot of chances for camaraderie and socializing.

Mona and Diane long-term Igniters members started the festivities, complete with boas and dancing.  The founding members of Igniters were introduced along with an explanation of some of the many places that the club has met over the years. Our toastmaster Marvin continued the fun by sharing past highlights. He organized this event with his High Performance Leadership team. 

Division Governor Doris spoke about her experiences with Igniters and some of the more long term members of the club. She then presented a Competent Communicator ribbon to Stephen, who had completed his first ten speeches for our tenth anniversary. Stephen's CC also gave us a perfect triad with our club completing all ten of our goals for the year as a result. Congratulations Stephen!

Charter Member Anthony then took the lecturn and led us in a very motivational talk about the power of an idea when you have many people to help bring it to life. Anthony had us all participating and clapping as he married his speaking skills with his singing.

Our club president Nandini, then led us in a toast to some past and current members -- and a tribute for Jane a charter member who had recently passed away in March. Jane had written a special message to honor Igniters on their anniversary. Keith Past District Governor and past member had written a poignant message to honor members and his special memories of Igniters. Thanks to all who sent messages!

Bob who is the longest term member of Miracles, spoke next about the impact that Toastmasters has had on his life. Bob is now no longer afraid to speak in public and feels more confident as a result. Pat (past Igniter Member) took the lecturn next and shared stories about fond memories of joining Igniters, meeting members, and giving Table Topics.

Glen led us in a fun table topics session which featured several guests and past members. All of our speakers explained the value of toastmasters to them. We were all very inspired.

We finished the evening by lighting the candles on a big chocolate cake and gathering around for a great group photo.

Congratulations to all who contributed to make this evening such a success!

Exciting meeting this week.

We had a fun filled evening at Toastmasters this week. We began with a speech by one of our newer members Michael. Michael made sure to let us know the best ways to save money for our retirements. As usual Michael used very logical and well organized thoughts and suggestions that we can all benefit from.

Next up, our Past President Marvin shared his vision for our Igniters 10th anniversary party which is only a few weeks away. Marvin incorporated a well crafted call to action to solicit some volunteers for our celebration. For more information on our celebration please visit : https://calgarytoastmasters.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/igniters-toastmasters-10th-anniversary/

Mona our mentoring coach was up next with a speech to inspire us each one of us to "Be Yourself". Mona wove in some very funny and personal stories for us to learn from while being entertained. Chris C organized a very creative group evaluation for Mona which gave many of us a chance to try our hand at evaluations as well as provided Mona a wide range of feedback.

Our club president Nandini organized a MMM Membership contest as a project toward her Competent Leader Manual. Each member who promoted the club by blogging, tweeting, passing out membership cards or magazines was entered into a draw. Our mentoring coach Mona baked us a basket of goodies as a prize. Chris G is the lucky winner of the basket, although expect to see a few extra pounds on Chris in the next couple of weeks!

Make sure to join us in our meeting next week. We're sure that it will be an amazing evening.

Powerful Leadership Skills!

Another great meeting of Igniters on April 14 with three very different speeches and enthusiasm from everyone in attendance. The word of the day was skills and the challenge word was powerful.  

Nandini started the meeting helping us understand the "Competent Leadership" manual and teaching us about the leadership track. The manual has ten different projects including critical thinking, feedback, time management, motivating people, mentoring, and team building. 

Julie gave an excellent CC #1 presentation by sharing her life with us by comparing her past and present to a "fish in a pond".  

Mark and I presented our second speech with Mark entertaining us with his wit and humor by talking about the hurdles we encounter when driving and the fact that our journey through life is as important as the destination. I practiced a speech that I will be presenting at a fund raiser for Grace House of Recovery in Drumheller.  

The evaluators went into detail stressing our achievements and then helping us understand how we could improve.  

Our Quizmaster had us competing loudly to be the best at listening. The questions were answered so quickly we did not need to hear the whole question!

Do you want to be a more effective leader? Come and find out how you can improve your skills to be a better leader. Next meeting - learn how to give feedback to help others improve.

Bren 

Passionate Igniters!

We had a fun filled passionate meeting! Marvin, the Toastmaster shared his passion for the environment.  Sharing how we each do our part to "Save the Earth" was very informative. Hopefully we will apply at least two of our fellow Igniters tips into our own households.

Stephen's speech, CC #9 "Let the Music Move You" allowed us to "feel" exactly what the music meant to him. Stephen wore a shirt with guitars and played music to add impact to his speech! We all felt the power of music!

Nandini presented amazing tips for Table Topics. She shared tips from Toastmasters from other clubs. Smile, Make a Choice, Structure – The Power of Three, Share a Message – Two Key Ideas to Support, and Volunteer.  Our guest Iris, evaluated her presentation and for those that missed it ask others about the acronym SD3TV.

Marion, VP of Membership guided us through the Induction of two new Igniters, Julie and Anne. Great to have you both as Igniters!

What are you passionate about? Every week, opportunities are knocking! You can practice your communication skills to share your ideas more effectively and have a greater impact. 

Bren

Not Just Yet

Our president Nandini represented Igniters with passion at the Division Contest. Nandini delivered her speech "Not Just Yet" to a full house at the Division Contest. Six members of Igniters came to support her. The competition was fierce, and Nandini delivered her speech with gusto.

Congratulations Nandini for your hard work and your well written and rehearsed speech. You have shown all of us at Igniters the way to the top!

April Fools Prequel meeting.

Igniters held an exciting April Fools prequel meeting on Tuesday. Toastmaster Chris started the evening by asking all the members to share some of their funniest April Fools experiences.

We moved quickly into an exciting icebreaker from one of our newest members Ayanna. We learned a lot about her origins, and her interests. Ayanna spoke very clearly and confidently. Fantastic job on your Icebreaker Ayanna! 

Daryl our VP of education was next with an educational speech about the Competent Communicator Manual. Daryl used his usual casual relaxed style to teach us a lot about what we needed to know.

President Nandini was next up to present ribbons to Chris and Daryl to celebrate their educational achievements. Daryl has been hard at work completing his Competent Communicator, Competent Leader, Advanced Leader Bronze. He also completed his Advanced Communicator Silver! Amazing job Daryl.

Chris also had a busy year completing his Competent Communicator, Competent Leader and Advanced Leader Bronze. 

Our president Nandini will represent us at the District Contest on April 10, 2015. We hope that everyone can attend and help to cheer Nandini!

We are looking for to another exciting meeting next week.

Stretch your Skills!

I attended the J41 Evaluation and International speech contest at SAIT.  If you didn't attend you missed out on a very enjoyable event. It was great having Glen, Marvin and Margaret there Igniting Spirits in their contest roles.

Congratulations to Nandini our Club President, who won the International speech contest. She presented poised (with her beautiful smile) and confident.  She owned the stage and the passion flowed throughout her speech about - Not Just Yet! There were 5 other contestants who did really well too, but I knew Nandini was the winner. Way to go girl!

Way to Go!  Chris G. our VP of Public Relations, who was flashing a suntan from his trip to California, presented his Evaluation for the test speaker. The test speaker only joined Toastmasters four months ago - brave soul.  Chris did a very good job - outlining the method of his evaluation and shared strengths and helpful tips for the speaker to improve. He said he was very nervous but he didn't appear to be. He came in 3rd out of 6 Evaluators. Congratulations Chris!

It is always nice to sit back and enjoy others speaking.  I sat beside two contestants(whom I didn't know were speaking)and they didn't appear the least bit nervous. I was surprised when they got up and spoke. Toastmasters can really help members learn ways to be more confident. Practice makes perfect!

You will have to plan to attend next time. There are many opportunities for contestants, judges, and contest official to keep learning. Division J Contest is on April 10. Go Igniters!

Marion
 

Igniting with Ice-Breakers!

We had another awesome meeting!  Mona, the Queen Toastmaster for the night prepared cards to help us understand the Leadership and Communication Tracks that are available in the Toastmasters program.   She was able to explain the process in a fun and educational manner that required participation by all members. What communication and leadership goals do you have this year?

Mark and Bren both gave their Icebreaker speech, the first

speech, and were able to share parts of their lives with the group. Both Mark and I truly appreciate our mentors who helped with our Icebreaker and all the encouragement they have given us though the writing and modifying those speeches.

Glen's scary yet humorous storytelling kept us in suspense until the last line. Glen was working on an advanced humorous speaking manual. Sylvia and Chris both did an excellent job of the Table Topic questions that Marvin asked regarding "spring" and flowers. A fun way to think on your feet and practice a mini-speech.

See you next week - a great place to grow!

Bren

 

 

Luck of the Irish at Igniters!

 

Our St. Patrick's meeting on March 17 was very "festive". Marion our Toastmaster for the evening, started out with some interesting history regarding the holiday and that was followed up by two awesome speeches by Mona from the entertaining manual and Nandini was getting helpful feedback from the members.

 

Green was definitely the lucky color for the night with Margaret winning the best dressed prize! A supply of green vegetables!

Tip: from our VP Education Daryl. Your first speech or IceBreaker Speech is all about introducing yourself to your Toastmaster's club, it can be a personal, general or humorous story but it is yours.

The main point is structure developing an opening, body and close. Maybe 3 main points for the body, a dramatic opening and something we can take away as members to summarize your points and a call to action.

 

Let's all wish Nandini  and Chris G luck in the upcoming J41 Area Contest.

 

Bren

 

Mentoring Makes A Difference!

Mona Cooley, DTM did an awesome workshop and Webinar tonight about Mentoring.  Our members and many guests left with new ways to approach our strengths and challenges in life and Toastmasters.

Do you want support to achieve your personal goals? Let us help you find your strengths and identify your challenges.

We were delighted to have District Governor Doris Henn, DTM (oversees clubs in Alberta & Sask.) visit and we all had an opportunity to sign and have a photo with the Distinguished District banner. The banner will be displayed at the International Convention in Las Vegas in August.

See you next week. Lots of opportunities to grow!

Bren
 

 

 

Club contest results.

Our club contest was a success again for 2015. On the left Chris G and Chris C went head to head in the club evaluation contest. Both contestants evaluated a fantastic speech by a member of Westhills club. Chris G will be representing Igniters at the Area contest.

On the right we had Nandini competing with Daryl for the International Speech contest title. Both contestants took different approaches to their presentation, however Nandini will be representing Igniters at the Area Contest.

We had lots of time for a potluck and some social interaction during the contest. We were very happy to welcome many guests for our contest as well.

Join Igniters in an Innovative Mentoring Webinar on March 10, 2015!

Igniters Sizzle This Week!

You could feel the energy! Great turnout! Marion VP of Membership - inducted three new members Ayanna, Margaret, and Mark in a warm and friendly ceremony. Igniters pledged their support to help our new members grow!

Two more members had a great time and are also joining! Diane as Toastmaster radiated warmth, smiles, and energy. Members had fun with her theme on authors and actors. The members couldn't wait to share their favorite books made into movies. Bren gave a heartwarming tribute to Robin Williams.

Guest speaker Asghar from Westhills Toastmasters shared "My Recipe for Peace" through the 3 P's - Plan, Play, Persist. Who knew we would find the recipe for peace tonight at Igniters?!

Creative Marvin brought props and new members sizzled sharing 1 - 2 minute impromptu speeches. Bren picked the stuffed dog and gave a touching story. Silvia wore colorful leis and  shared her love of dance. Cat wore a sports helmet and creatively related to being a nurse. Margaret used a lantern  as mediation lights up the soul. Newest member Anne used a magnifying glass to share her passion for geocaching and looking for treasure.

This week - a twist with two evaluators giving them feedback. Chris G gave helpful tips on their introduction, body, and conclusion. Michel gave tips on delivery on body language and movement. Thanks Bob for visiting from Westhills and sharing helpful tips. Michael had two teams to see who were the better listeners! Imagine leaders who could listen better?!! Looking for a fun place to work on your goals and learn. Igniters is the place to be!

This week's meeting was a Barn Burner.

We had four speakers to start the Barn Burning at this week's Igniters Meeting. The first speech came from Marion who delivered her Competent Communicator speech #10 to earn her CC! Next up was Michel who delivered his first project toward his ACB. Nandini was next with a project from her ACB manual to "fan the flames" a bit more and congratulate Marion on her accomplishment.

We were very happy to have a full house this week and you could feel the excitement in the room from the moment you walked in. We were very happy to have 6 guests join us this week! We took a short break to enjoy some delicious cake that was baked for us by Mona. Thanks Mona for the delicious treat!

Immediately after our short break we got back into the prepared speeches with another Competent Communicator speech number 10 from our guest speaker Jennifer who joined us from the Westhills Club.

The fire just kept building as we moved into our evaluation portion of the meeting. Our General Evaluator Chris G. lead us into four great evaluations led by four very experienced Toastmasters. First up was Glen evaluating Marion's speech, Chris C. took the lectern next to evaluate Michel. Iris (Guest Evaluator) gave a very effective evaluation of Nandini's speech by also echoing Nandini's opening. Our last evaluator Mona evaluated Jennifer's speech. Since the theme of this meeting was evaluations, we held a contest for the best evaluator. Mona and Iris received an equal number of votes to make a tie in the evaluation "contest" for the week. Adam W. our area governor joined us and led us as our Quizmaster at the end of the meeting.

Congratulations to all of the participants who helped to make this week's meeting such a great success. The fires are going to just keep burning more brightly in the weeks to come. We are going to continue to see great turnouts and excitement at every meeting!

You don't want to miss any of it!

Chris is recognized for achieving his ALB.

Michel makes a presentation to Chris as Chris achieves his Advanced Leader Bronze designation. Chris has worked hard this year and has completed his CC, CL and ALB.

Congratulations Chris on your achievement!

Diane receives her Advanced Communicator Gold Ribbon!

Club president Nandini presents the Advanced communicator Gold ribbon to Diane. During the presentation ceremony Nandini informed us that in completing this goal Diane completed over 40 speeches!

Congratulations Diane on your achievement!

Igniters group for our Feb 3rd meeting.

Igniters gather around the Toastmaster banner at our February 3rd. meeting. We were very fortunate to have 3 guests in attendance tonight!

Way to go Igniters.

Daryl is recognized for his Advanced Leader Bronze.

Stephen presents Daryl with a gift as recognition in his completion of his Advanced Leader Bronze designation.

Daryl delivered his second speech from the "Successful Club Series" entitled "Finding New Members for your Club."

Congratulations Daryl on your achievement!

Igniters / Miracles joint meeting a Great Success.

Igniters and Miracles enjoyed another evening of camaraderie. We held our second joint meeting of the year, lead by Michael. The roles were split between the two clubs with many of us stepping up to make this a great meeting.

Glen lead us in table topics with a twist. Each speaker was required to begin and end his/her speech with a word that began with the letter M.

We then had a short break where we had a chance to mix and mingle -- and of course we were able to eat more delicious food!

After our break we moved into the prepared speech portion of the meeting with two Igniters and one member of Miracles taking to the stage.

Our meeting ended with Michael from Igniters reminding us that no matter if we reached our personal best tonight, we showed up and gave it our best shot!

Our two clubs always have a fantastic evening together. I believe that we have similar feeling clubs and above all we are all very supportive.

Thanks Miracles for hosting a fantastic night of camaraderie once again. You can tell by the smiles on the faces of our members that it was a success.

Igniters and Miracles are holding a special joint meeting January 20th!

Tuesday January 20th, 2015
2035 - 26A Street SW

Meeting will be held in the Unity Church

Potluck starts at 6:30 PM

Come Join us for an amazing evening of camaraderie.

Surprise DTM party for Glen!

On January 13th we held a surprise party for Glen to celebrate his DTM and it was indeed a complete surprise to him! Nandini and Diane had worked behind the scenes to invite fellow Toastmasters, and a fake agenda was sent out to look like a usual meeting. In fact, the whole agenda was roasts and toasts for Glen! People who could not attend sent messages that were read aloud to him. There was lots of food and a big chocolate cake with "Congrats Glen DTM on it. We took a group photo and had a photo frame for everyone to sign, so Glen will have a memento of the event for years to come.

Congratulations Glen on your hard work in achieving your goal!

-- Diane

Igniters are visited by Division J Governor.

We had a great meeting this week despite the inclement weather. We started out with an ice breaker speech from one of our newest members Michael. Michael did a great job for his first speech and we all know a lot more about him. Stephen delivered his competent communicator project #8. We then had Nandini pass out ribbons to Igniters who have completed their goals.

Division J Governor Grant paid us a visit this week. He delivered an inspirational speech about what winning really means. This table topics trophy is filled up with names, so it was presented to Igniters for posterity since our club won this trophy 4 times. Way to go Igniters!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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

Registration Link: www.surveymonkey.com/s/DivJFallContest2014

* 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

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.

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!!!!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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.

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!

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