May 10, 2017 Minutes

President Jim Cyganek expertly served as Toastmaster to the 13 members and 4 guests present at the May 10th meeting of T-Toasters of Vinings with a theme of Atlanta Traffic.  The meeting was called to order by Sergeant-At-Arms Justin at precisely 6:00 p.m.  Justin shared that he learned how to perform CPR that day, so we are all in good hands in case of a medical emergency!
Jim prepared several interesting tidbits about the epic Atlanta traffic we all deal with, including the fact that I-85 was scheduled to reopen after the recent collapse.  That portion of I-85 typically sees a quarter of a million cars per day, so the impact has been massive.
 
Carin acted as General Evaluator and presided over a team which included Beverly who served dual roles as both Ah-Counter and Grammarian, first time guest George who jumped right in and served as Timer, and guest David, who served as Ballot Counter. 
The first speaker who came to the lectern was Marcus with his 4th speech entitled “Snowpocalypse Now!”  Marcus had lived in Atlanta for 8 ½ years when the infamous Snowpocalypse of January 28 and 29, 2014 hit.  He received a text from his boss around noon to cancel all other stops, but was on a couple of stops he wanted to finish first.   By the time he had finished, it already looked like a winter wonderland. After spending hours in traffic, and only making it ½ mile, Marcus received help from people pouring kitty litter on the road.  Still, he had to spend the night in his truck just 1 exit from home! The next day he ended up parking a mile and half from home and travelling the rest of the way on foot.

The second speaker was Theresa, the evening’s Best Speaker winner.  Theresa’s speech, “Runaway Another Day” served as her 2nd project from the Advanced Storytelling manual.  Theresa entertained us with the story of her son, Richard, and his perpetual desire to run away several times in his childhood, beginning at age five.  Finally, Theresa helped him pack his bag and snacks, reminding him not to forget about going to kindergarten.  Richard capitulated (nice Word of the Day usage, Andrea!) his plans to run when he realized, “Mom, I forgot my pillow!”

Kristina, as the third speaker, completed project 2 from the Competent Communicator manual.  It was entitled “The Best Me”.  Kristina asked the crowd to ask themselves, “What makes me happy?” and “How do I qualify happiness?”  She listed career, family and travel as possible answers, and encouraged the crowd to take steps to make themselves happy.  Kristina suggested planning things, networking, joining professional organizations, taking classes, meditation and therapy as possible stops on the path to happiness.

Josue was the final speaker, and he gave his third speech entitled “Cars of the World”.  Josue told us hr is a self-diagnosed car nut, and his passion for automobiles has been around since he was nine years old.  Speaking with enthusiasm and humor, Josue let us know that cultural differences and automobile manufacturing standards are one of the reasons that Americans are unable to experience cars that the rest of the world enjoys, much to his dismay.  Requirements like certain colors for taillights and specific allowable wiper lengths are things most of us wouldn’t think about, but these things limit availability, as do cultural influences such as seatbelt usage. 

Ray filled in as the evening’s Topics Master with some fantastic questions and a great introduction to that segment of the meeting.  Greg was up first, and he gave his reasons behind thinking that New Yorkers are to blame for Atlanta’s traffic woes.  “If we control the New Yorkers, we control traffic!” Lori, the evening’s winner, said she thinks living where you work would be the most helpful traffic law to put on the books.  David felt we should consider both flying cars and underground tunnels to help the congestion. 

Best Evaluator Suzanne evaluated Marcus’s performance, and complimented his warmth, use of humor, engaging style, vocal variety and gestures.  Greg, as Theresa’s evaluator, loved her great entrance, and said her opening instantly captivated the crowd.  He liked her build-up of stories, motions and fantastic ending.  Justin pointed out that Kristina’s topic selection and voice quality were both top-notch.  Andrea, evaluating Josue, said that his personality really came out with his speech, and she applauded his amazing growth, connection with the audience, flow and use of words, and enjoyed how he seemed to flawlessly adjust his opening to include the topic of the day.
With a hefty dose of humor, Beverly’s Grammarian report noted Marcus’s use of “eerily silent” and “scene from the Walking Dead”.   

Towards the end of the meeting we heard from our guests.  George had thought the meeting might be boring, but was pleasantly surprised to find out it was not.  Shawnee enjoyed the humor and the good energy of our group.  Leanna and David commented on the benefits of having all levels of speakers and our ability to roll with the punches, then announced their intention to join us officially, which, of course, was met with a round of applause. 

Jim reminded us that the conference will be held this weekend, and said he felt we’d had a great evening. 

Please note that there are many open roles over the next several weeks.  Serving in these roles is crucial to obtaining your Competent Leadership Award, and the skills you gain by doing so are very valuable.  Please sign up early, confirm your role, and do your part to make T-Toasters the amazing group it is by fulfilling your commitment to serve, communicating in a timely fashion with meeting leaders and by arriving prepared.  We appreciate your efforts.  T-Toasters would not be what it is without its members!

​Special thanks to Andrea for filling in for me by taking notes for the first portion of the meeting!