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

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.