HANK'S MINUTES 1/11/17

​Matt hosted the 19 members (including newest member Alyssa Gagnon) and five guests with a theme of “David, Elvis, Steven, Kim, and Blair”.  Throughout the meeting he presented some interesting insights into the lives of David Robert Jones (a.k.a. David Bowie), Elvis Presley, Steven Hawking, Kim Jong-Un (Supreme Leader of North Korea), and his own son Blair.  A rather unusual potpourri of individuals.  Word of the day was Magnanimous – Generous, understanding, & tolerant; Noble & generous in spirit.
 
Mary-Catherine was the first of three planned speakers with “Get a Job”.  She provided clues and insights for a successful job hunt such as a resume written to accommodate scoring by management software; the role of recruiters in first line filtering; and the importance of networking and keeping your network up to date.  Today’s methods and strategies are markedly different from just a few years ago.  Lee, the evening’s winner followed with “Diamond in the Rough”.  She led us to believe that she had cashed in all of her assets and invested them in a diamond ring which she lost.  A fisherman found a ring which may or may not have been hers and it provided the means to significantly change his family’s life.  What would you do if you found a diamond ring?  The story teaches one to consider what’s really important to them.  Really, what would you do?  Jim batted cleanup with an improvisational speech entitled “What’s a Speech Contest”.  It was meant to educate all on the four annual Toastmaster speech contests and their importance in helping each of us to take our speaking abilities to the next level.  He challenged all members to step up and compete.
 
Carin directed Table Topics.  This evening’s session had the most participants that I can remember.  Gregg H. figured that his ongoing ability to inspire others would be key in the hiring process.  Anne talked about the value of public speaking.  Justin says that passion speaks to him more than anything.  Guest David B. talked about is interest in flamenco guitar and developing a local Spanish translation service.  Guest Andy Wu opts for cruises as his favorite type vacation.  Guest Kevin Watts job goal would be something that benefits both him and his family.  Guest Zeal Okogeri, the evening’s winner is writing a book on kindness which is literally love in action.  Guest Marcus James diplomatically responded to the dust up between Meryl Streep and Donald Trump.
 
General Evaluator Greg P. lead the last portion of the meeting.  Lori assessed Mary-Catherine and Chad, the evenings winner critiqued Lee – Jim’s speech was not evaluated.  Andrea addressed the grammatical apogees and perigees, Sharie reported on the timing, and Bev enumerated the shilly-shallies.
 
Annual Table Topics contest next week followed by the International Speech contest on January 25th.