Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order, welcomed guest Tracey (guest until next meeting) and visitor Chris R. She then read us the mission statement.
President Gail H was called to the lectern to open the meeting and remind us of the two upcoming events: 50th anniversary dinner on April 30 and District Conference from May 3-5.
It was Toastmaster Liz who told us how the theme came about and what it means to her.
She passed on to the Vice President Education (which we later learnt is responsible for the program) - herself - to announce that there were no changes.
Next, Ben gave us the toast to "inconvenient rain".
VPE Liz had scheduled for the three remaining club officer roles to be explained, so she took the lead and yes, spoke about the programming, but also about organising the contestants for the yearly contests as well as being on the voting committee all the way to District.
Vice President of Membership Arun told us about how gratifying it is to welcome guests and get their details, just to see them join and hand all the paperwork of to the treasurer.
Vice President of Public Relations Christiane mentioned her core being the Facebook posts as well as writing this blog :) for which she needed to take photos during meetings.
As Round Robin Master, Arun gave us plenty of opportunity to use either or both words when asking about our most memorable holiday experience. Three members even admitted to being tourons themselves while holidaying (in their younger years).
Answers ranged from "honeymoon gone wrong" to many regions over the world (Canada, Cambodia, Sydney, Ayers Rock, Philippines, Italy, Melbourne, Canberra and Amsterdam). They included stories of naughty children, bears, broken-down cars and planes, a river cruise, a farm stay and the infamous Contiki tour (yes, we all know that Contiki and obnoxious tourons is one and the same expression).
After memory lane, Liz pulled us back to the present and the prepared speeches:
- Rosie demonstrated being a spotter as a railway worker in a speech titled "Orange People" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 1, project 1: Icebreaker). Gail W had very constructive feedback to a well-gestured, humorous speech.
- Visitor Chris R presented his speech "Because Love is not Enough" with which he won at the Moreton Division Conference. With a changed opening, he wanted to gauge the audience. Shaun was evaluating a brilliant performance and we all wish Chris R the best at District!
- Trish relived her own business journey (from
2006 to now) and how social media has help her. Her speech "Get Known to
be Seen" (Visionary Communication, Level 4, Project 3: Building a
Social Media Presence) was evaluated by Chris H who was commenting on Trish's facial expressions (note from the author: he isn't half-bad imitating them)
Chris H also gave us the raffle of the evening: a long weekend survival kit: extra tent pegs, a rain poncho, chocolates and beer (when the bottle shop isn't open).
Timer Elizabeth reported that we were running slightly behind because of the enthusiastic responses of the Round Robin (and some longer speeches).
We still were able to enjoy a nice supper break with supper provided by
Amy with self-made Easter treats. We also had opportunity to purchase
raffle tickets, pose in work/wedding gear, catch up with each other on
the news of two weeks as well as give Chris R our own feedback on his
speech.
The second half started with Table Topics which Christiane had prepared. She was inspired by Duolingo (app to learn languages) since she was asked to translate weird sentences which the speakers were meant to put into context.
- Marlene
with "This snake is in a taxi." who took us on a taxi ride which she
cleverly intertwined with the red light of the timer.
- Ben
with "Sara dances while she plays chess." who compared Sara to his own
life with loving to play chess with his wife, but his break-dance moves
are out of sync.
- Gail H with "That mouse is eating
breakfast." who shared a holiday return by finding the mouse having
chewed through the plastic of the cornflakes container.
- Shaun
with "The elephant often cooks." who impersonated said elephant and
expanding his cooking skills from fish to tourons who come too close for his
liking.
- Elizabeth with "He is not drinking oil." who told us
about her daughter helping with the cooking and getting close to
drinking the yellow substance.
- Helen with "We need his cat." who took us to an Italian restaurant to order a strange meal.
- Chris
H with "We are listening to that cat." who shared his experience with
the timid shelter cat who now meows loudly every morning.
- Gail W with "That fish is eating a sandwich." who reminisced about her cleaning the fish bowl filter after fish food and how different it would have been if her fish would have eaten sandwiches.
The Table Topics were evaluated by Narelle and Arun.
While Helen collected votes, Liz shared some past holiday experiences and what she had learnt to never, ever do on holidays again.
Trish was called back to the lectern to report on the word usage of "obnoxious" and "touron". All members had used the words between one to five times, with Helen (11) being runner-up to Shaun (16).
The General Evaluation was conducted by Rosie who commented on the raffle being so enticing that Chris H looked a lot at the items rather than at the audience. Even that comment couldn't fate destiny from Chris R drawing Rosie's ticket to win.
A final timers' report revealed we were running slightly behind.
In closing, Gail awarded:
Best Speech - Rosie
Best Table Topic - Marlene
Best Evaluation - Shaun & Marlene
Most Improved - Rosie
Thank you to Marlene and Ben for taking photos during the meeting.
The next meeting will be held on April 9.
Narelle would like to thank those members who have already brought along raffle prizes for the 50th anniversary dinner. She is suggesting to collect "Chocolate, chips and drinks" for the next meeting.
