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.

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.

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!

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 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!

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!

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

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!