Igniting Spirits - July 21

Our club banner with it's many awards is a great centerpiece to circle around for a picture.
Once aga in we had a large group in attendance for our July 21 meeting with Marion, our VP of Membership, acting as Toastmaster.  We had excellent participation with three speeches, table topics ,and  a joke of the day. 
The three evaluators presented their views of each speech with skill and the general evaluator, Nandini , shared her thoughts with enthusiasm.  Reports from the ah-counter, grammarian and timer were followed by Ayanna leading us though the Quizmasters questions. Everyone eagerly participated.

Happy Birthday Chris

Congratulations to our new President, Chris for celebrating his birthday with us. 

We had a large group of twenty plus members and guests to chat about "summer food" and even some discussion about our favorite cool down drinks during this past heat wave.   Mark did an tremendous job as Toastmaster, keeping us on task and time, and adding humour throughout the July 14 meeting.

Welcome to Three New Memebers

Marion arranged the new members induction with Ayanna presenting a short history about Marmadou, George,  and Vic and Marion presenting the pledges for new and old members to agree.

We are excited to have three new members with varying backgrounds to add interesting speeches to our agendas.  We look forward to their Ice Breaker presentations.

Either/Or Method of Table Topics

Glen lead us through a excellent table topics as he explained his conception of an either/or demonstration with a three part answer. Chris G. talked on "ice cream or popsicles" , Mona discussed "spit or don't spit watermelon seeds, Chris C had to decide between "handles or no handles on corn on the cob" and last but not least we had Marvin tell us his preference between "fruit smoothies and frozen yogurt." We had excellent answers, whether truthful or not, the idea was to pick a side and validate your choice.  Our four experienced members did a superior job of showing us Table Topics at it best.

Table Topics - A Blast From The Past

We enjoyed the presentation that were given after speakers chose a prop from the bag that Michel kept hidden until Laura, Lisa and Edward picked them, for Table Topics.  The speakers were asked to describe their pick as if they were talking to a five year old. Although most of us have used a floppy disk, VHS tape, and a cassette tape,  it was fun to look back to the 80's and remember.  Michel is holding a Walkman that remained in the bag.

New Member Induction

Marion, our VP of Membership, lead us through the induction of two new members, Lisa and Laura.  She also welcomed Sterling back to Igniters as he has been away.  It is terrific to watch our club grow in numbers. 

We had a rip-roaring meeting on July 7, 2015 as we celebrated with a Stampede Theme.  Many members dressed the part with hats and boots as we brought some country to the Parkdale Community Centre.  Sheriff Stephen did an excellent job keeping the cowpokes on schedule and filling in interesting Stampde trivia throughout.  Introductions moved around the room with talk about our favorite parts of the Calgary Stampede and I was amazed how often food was mentioned.  I was nice to have our guests, Mamadou, Kenneth and Jasmine participate and share their feedback on us.

 

 JianLi and Julie entertained us with well prepared speeches, How I Came To Be Here (CC#1) and Plan For Your Future (CC#2) respectively. 

 

Marion did an excellent job of our two new member inductions.  I am pleased to say that Igniters has received a  Talk up Toastmasters ribbon for achieving 5 new member in Feb & March 2015. Come for a visit as we have even more guests who have joined as they see the value of Toastmasters!

 

We rounded out our meeting with excellent evaluations and reports from our volunteers.

 

 YaHoo see you next week. 

 

Meet Our Two New Competent Communicators

Way to go Stephen and Marion! District 42 (AB & Sask) recognized them for achieving their Competent Communicator. This is the first manual of ten speeches. Thanks to Nandini for an awesome presentation explaining their successes  and what new-comers need to do to achieve this accomplishment.

 

 

 

 

2015 Presidents Choice

Criteria: 

This award is at the discretion of the President.

Marvin is a dedicated member who is always willing to go the extra mile to help, very supportive, and has a fantastic wealth of ideas and advice

Achievements:

• Stepped into the role of Treasurer when Abhinav had to take personal leave.
• Attended all the Club Executive Meetings and J41 Area Council meetings and shared supportive ideas and information
• Achieved his High Performance Leadership – led a team for a terrific 10^th Anniversary and helped to raise funds
• Always willing to help – in meeting roles, putting up posters, signing up new members, helping with the blog, making deposits, and recruiting judges for contests.

Congratulations Marvin on being nominated for this award!

Igniters 2015 Spirit of Success - Communication and Leadership Award.

Criteria: 

Awarded to a member whose achievements, leadership and enthusiasm represents the spirit of Igniters club as defined in its mission statement

Achievements :

• Completed Competent Communicator.
• Competed in the Club Humorous Speech Contest and represented Igniters at the Area Contest
• Attended contests, workshops, and District Conventions to support members
• Took on executive role of VP Membership and gave friendly inductions
• Friendly and encouraging to guests and members
• Planned and hosted Christmas meeting
• Key organizer for several potlucks and assisted with set up and clean up.
• Action Committee for Marvin’s High Performance Leadership – 10^th Anniversary.

The winner of the Spirit of Success Leadership and Communication is Marion!

2015 Spirit of Success -- Speech Achievement award goes to Stephen!

Criteria: 

Awarded to a member whose outstanding presentation and speaking achievements are an inspiration to Igniters members to continually improve and hone their skills.

Achievements :

• Achieved his Competent Communicator (10 speeches)
• By completing his educational achievement he helped Igniters achieve 10/10 goals
• Inspired other members with his humor in speeches and roles
• Used his Toastmaster experience in sharing advice and encouraging members
• Valuable ideas shared as Action Committee Member for 10^th Anniversary

The winner of the Spirit of Success Speech Achievement is Stephen! Congratulations Stephen on all your achievements in 2015!

Drum roll please! The winner of 2015 Toastmaster of the Year award for Igniters is Glen!

Toastmaster of the Year: to recognize a member within the club for their achievements, enthusiasm, dedication, helping others, and success within the club and community.

Glen is a very inspiring member at Igniters Toastmasters. He has shown an experienced Toastmaster at any time can decide to pursue goals and encourage others along the way. Glen is a dedicated mentor, leader, and role model at Igniters and in the Toastmasters community.

Educational Goals

Early in the summer, Glen sent a note to the VP of Education Daryl to share his upcoming plans and goals to receive his DTM for the Fall Conference. He then signed up roles on the advanced agenda for the next few months. This was not only helpful it encouraged some members to sign up beyond the weekly goals. Daryl was very inspired and planned his own educational goals. I too was inspired and used Glen as an example for other members to sign up for roles and how planning and determination could help you achieve your dreams. Glen mentors a few new members at the club and shares his experiences and feedback.

Glen achieved four educational achievements this year and earned a triple crown! He achieved his CC in July, Advanced Silver in August, Advanced Communicator Gold in September and also his DTM. Mission accomplished! One of the highlights is Glen received his DTM from the President of Toastmasters at the Fall Conference.

Charter Presentation:

Groundswell Group celebrated their Charter Party Nov 20, 2014. Glen was the Club Mentor for Groundswell the previous year.

Special Events

Glen helped at the Igniters 10^th Anniversary by being a friendly Table Topics Master, contributing to the silent auction, and assisting with the set up and cleanup of the event. He has helped to support members by judging at Club and Area contests and giving useful advice.

Conducted Education/Training session Area event:

In September, Glen presented “Building Your Thinking Power, Part 1: Mental Flexibility” module. The event was attended by members from other clubs from at least two other areas as well as Igniters. This was also a fundraising event for Igniters.

Conducted Club Officer training:

Presented VP Membership three times this year. Dec 13, 2014; Jan 24, 2015; Jun 13, 2015

Helping Other Clubs

Glen Brown assisted his wife Club Coach Diane Fox to help To the Point. He was the VP of Education and helped members plan and achieve their goals. By the end of the year the club had successfully reached 22 members.

Glen, DTM deserves to be Toastmaster of the Year for all his achievements and contributions to the club and the Toastmaster community.

The 2015 Making a Difference Award for Igniters.

This is an individual award given to one member in a club who has made a difference in their club.

The nomination of each club member will be displayed on the District 42 website.

Making a Difference Award

On behalf of the executive, we would like to nominate Chris C. for his ongoing dedication and support for many years in his duties as Sergeant at Arms at Igniters Toastmasters. He is usually the first person to arrive to unlock the door, set up tables and chairs, distribute evaluation forms and creates a well-organized room for welcoming guests and members. This contributes to a strong first impression for guests. Chris is always on top of greeting guests, being friendly and making sure they have a name tag. He is very dependable and no matter what the weather Chris is at the meeting! He never complains and just does it even if he isn't feeling well.

At any open house, special event, or meeting Chris is always willing to arrive early and help with set up and clean up. This is very helpful as it allows other members to connect with the guests, spend more time talking with newer members, and allows the executive to meet and discuss issues. Chris is always willing to step up and fill in any roles and if necessary even take on two! We really appreciate Chris for all his dedication and help at Igniters Toastmasters and he deserves the Making a Difference Award.

Congratulations Chris on Making a Difference in 2015!

Public Relations of the Year award for Igniters 2015.

Criteria:  Recognizing a member for promoting and marketing of the club. The winner will go on to compete at the Area level.

Chris G. is a dedicated member who is organized, dependable, and has done an excellent job in promoting Igniters Toastmasters.

Achievements:

• Delivered three speeches from the Successful Club series to bring other members in promoting Igniters.
• As VP of Public Relations, he organized a distribution plan of posters, magazines and business cards for members
• Igniter blog – updated with Toastmaster branding, wrote articles and photos promoting members and club activities
• Encouraged members to participate in D42 incentives and marketing contests
• Worked with other PR committee members to leverage twitter, summarize meetings, and recruit guest speakers
• Chris completed his Competent Communicator, Competent Leader and Advanced Leader Bronze this year, earning him a triple crown.

The winner of the PR of the Year is Chris G.! Congratulations on your success in 2015 Chris!

Winner of Igniters Rookie of the Year 2015!

Rookie of the Year Award

Criteria: 

Presented to a member who has been with Toastmasters for less than 18 months to honor their achievements and success. The recipient will move on to compete at the Area Level.

Bren is a dynamic member who is supportive, enthusiastic, and has brought a real energy to the club.

Achievements

• New member entered into Club Table Topics Contest. Placed 2^nd.
• Willing to take on any role and support others
• Helped to write articles and take photos for Igniters blog.
• Action Committee member for 10^th Anniversary – helped with registration, honored new members, and recruited volunteers
• Spoke at fundraiser to raise awareness for drug addiction and empower other families
• Taken on new executive position as VP of Public Relations

The winner of the Rookie of the Year is Bren! Congratulations Bren on your hard work and success in 2015!

Spirit of Success -- Igniting Spirits for 2015

Criteria: Club vote

Nandini has been the spark plug to get our club roaring this year. Motivational and encouraging during meetings as well as outside the club. I feel the executive has been extremely effective this year under her guidance as President.

Specifically - the agenda creation/distribution had issues that Nandini was able to resolve in a quiet but effective manner.

-- Glen

Nandini did a lot of work for all of us in the background -- covered a lot of roles (VP Ed etc.) that there was no one to cover for and still managed to be really involved in all manner of other Toastmaster events. Nandini did well in the club, area and district contests as well.

-- Chris

Thanks for all the support and encouragement given by Nandini. She truly make Igniters a welcoming place.

-- Margaret

I will vote for Nandini for the Spirit of Success of the Club because I like her presentation and the spirit to say "never too old to try new things".

-- Julie

Nandini led Igniters to President Distinguished with 10/10 goals. She inspired her team to succeed to perform at a higher level in their roles. She led by example and a role model to us all. Nandini is a dedicated leader and demonstrated fantastic leadership skills.

--Marvin

Congratulations Nandini on your award!

Three speakers including a guest speaker this week.

Igniters enjoyed a very full meeting this week. Our Toastmaster Mona brought in a list of different animals and their personality traits. We each were asked to choose an item from the list that we felt we could identify with. The animals were also used to explain different portions of the meetings, and were even easy to refer to during the meeting. Very original approach for Mona.

We then headed into the speeches. Ayana warned us about possible web based scams and how to spot and avoid them. Bren entertained us with a speech about a vacation that started out well but took a turn for the worse. Bren was able to find a silver lining in her misfortune which we will all remember. Next we had a guest from another club Samarjit share his experiences with retail show rooming and the effects it may have on our lives and the lives of several of the businesses we like to shop at.

To top it all all we were lucky enough to have more guests join us this week. It must be our energy that is bringing them in in such numbers lately.

If you were not able to attend this week, you really missed out. We hope that you will be able to join us this Tuesday!

Marion inducts our newest member Edward.

Our Vice President of Membership Marion, completed an induction ceremony on Tuesday for our newest member Edward.

Edward brings with him a lot of interesting experience having lived and completed schooling in China, and applying for work and having children in Canada.

We are very happy to have Edward join our club and hope that he will find the resources he needs in Igniters to reach all of his goals!

Welcome Edward.

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.