February 21, 2013 International Speech and Table Topics Contest

OPS Toastmasters Club - First Contest of the Year

Our first contest of the year was held at El Tapatio, the meeting was called to order order by SAA Phillip Sweat.

OPS President and Contest Master -Janet Krenn warmly welcomed guests and members giving a brief explanation of the evenings agenda and introduced the Chief Judge for the evening Naomi Lewis.

Official Timer: Teddy Clancy
Ballot Counter: Rick Boyer
Jugdes: Phillip Sweat, Frank Gillerlan, Barbara Basabilbaso

Our meeting quickly got under way starting with the Table Topics speeches.

Table Topics Contestants: Magda Brugos and Zach Fauver  

Table Topics Subject: If you opened a fortune cookie that read: “You probably won’t live long enough to complete them all” how would you find the silver lining in this otherwise seemingly dark cloud of a fortune?
The votes were cast, ballots quickly tabulated and our second portion of the meeting International Speech began.

International Speech Contestants: Sumit Aurora and Jean Smith

Sumit Aurora speech title: The happy realization through a tough route. 
Jean Smith speech title: Just do it, aspiring to your dreams.

Contest Winners:

Table Topics: Zach Fauver

International Speech: Sumit Aurora

 

 

Announcements:

After a quick show of hands it was voted that our new venue for OPS meetings beginning March 2013 will be El Tapatio.

 

The winners of this club contest will be competing in the Area 43 Contest to be held March 14th 2013 @ 6:45 pm - Yorktown Library, 8500 George Washington Memorial Hwy. Come out and encourage our contestant winners to another victory!!!

 

Our fist trial meeting at El Tapatio, Mexican Restaurant

Oyster Point Speaker’s Club Minutes
Thursday, February 7, 2013


Phillip Sweat, Sergeant at Arms, called the meeting to order at 6:48pm.
Tim Tonkovic was our Toastmaster of the Evening and he welcomed the group to El Tapatio—a new potential venue for our meetings. The room was festive and our spirits were high as we began another successful Toastmaster’s meeting. Regina Gilliam, General Evaluator, introduced her team and they explained their roles which serve the purpose of putting structure around the meeting.

Tonight’s speeches were about life experiences.
Sumit Arora gave his 5th Competent Communicator speech about his brief experience as a tarot card reader which began in the Winter of 2005 when he received a set of tarot cards from a friend. While he was learning the art of tarot card reading, Sumit was challenged to look at life more closely for the “little things” that people aren’t often aware of.

Daniel Dillon, one of our newest members, gave his Icebreaker speech about the life journey that lead him to Newport News where he works in children’s ministry at Bethel Baptist Church. Daniel is on the road to becoming a confident leader and he’s excited that Toastmaster’s will play a role in his development. We look forward to supporting him!

An entertaining round of Table Topics was then lead by Tim Tonkovic with the help of his trusty Table Topics App.

Ribbon Winners
Best Table Topics Speaker: Rick Boyer
Best Evaluator: Christy Gardener
Best Speaker: Daniel Dillon (pictured)

Guests: Kylee and Sameer
Return visitors: Marilyn and Donna

Concluding Announcements
Acting President Christy Gardner
• Leadership Training is this Saturday the 9th from 8:30am-12:30pm at the ODU Workforce Development Center
• Our Area Contest will be at Angelo’s Steak and Pancake House at 6:45pm on March 14th
VP Public Relations Zach Fauver
• “Talk Up Toastmaster’s” Membership Drive is kicking off this month
o Spread the word to your family, friends, co-workers, and church members
o There are two exciting prizes available for those who engage their Facebook network in this Membership Drive

5th Thursday Special Event: Networking Workshop

Last night, Toastmaster Lauren White led us in a fantastic special event: a networking workshop!

The workshop featured presentations on constructing elevator pitches (Sumit Aurora), building your network (Rick Boyer), and tips for how your everyday Facebook activity can be used to create your personal brand (Zach Fauver).

By the end of the meeting, guests and members had a toolkit of ideas as well as a first draft of their own personal elevator pitch they can use when introducing themselves to new contacts.

Unlike our regular meetings, 5th Thursday Special Events are meant to provide additional professional development opportunities to members, and yesterday's event did not disappoint!

Important Announcements

• LOCATION CHANGE - Next week (February 7) we'll be meeting at El Tapatio (615 Thimble Shoals Blvd, Newport News, VA 23606). As always, we'll be starting our meeting at 6:45p.m. 
• ADVANCED TRAINING - Officers' Training will be on February 9 (Saturday) at the ODU Peninsula Workforce Development Center. Training covers important leadership skills, such as delegation and organization, and is open to any Toastmasters Member. You can find directions to the Workforce Development Center here:http://www.napmseva.org/directions_odu_hampton.htm
• CLUB CONTESTS - On February 21, our 3rd Thursday meeting, we'll be having our club speech and table topics contests. Guests are welcome, and location is TBD.
• NEW MEMBER FEE STARTS IN APRIL - Oyster Point Speakers voted to start including a one-time new member fee to cover the costs of giving all new members official name badges. We won't start collecting this $8 fee until April. So if you or your friend was thinking about joining Oyster Point Speakers, join between February and March to avoid this fee.