Category Archives: club business

Vacations: August 2, 2016 Meeting

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August 2, 2016 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 15 souls braved the torrential downpour, including 1 guest

Meeting Theme:  Vacations

Presiding Officer Michael M. led us through the pledge, club mission statement, and Toastmasters moments before introducing Toastmaster Casey.

Toastmaster Moments:

  • Emi B. did her one hour presentation at ITT Tech again and this time deliberately left her notes at home (the last time it was by accident). She skipped one small section but overall was happy with how she did.
  • Mike B. was called upon to give a last minute presentation at his networking group last week. He did very well, as we knew he would.

Guest:

  • DSCN0883All other prospective guests were scared off by the storm, but Steve, a guest from Mike B.’s networking group, was brave enough to make it.

 Speeches:

  • Michael M., “Becoming a Distinguished Club”
    Successful Club Series Module
    Michael reviewed what it will take for Maverick to continue its legacy of being a President’s Distinguished Club. He included a lot of great personal anecdotes.
  • DSCN0885Rahul I., “Car Trouble”
    Interpersonal Communication Advanced Manual, Project #2: The Successful Negotiator
    Rahul’s speech had 3 parts: a brief speech on the skill of negotiating and the different types of outcomes, a role play with Mike H. where one was a dealer maintenance customer service representative and Rahul a customer with a car with a failing transmission; and a Q&A on the role play scenario.
  • Table Topics:
    • DeeLynn S. was asked what her dream vacation would be if neither time nor money were factors. She talked about a trip she had heard of about 30 years ago – going to Turtle Island and being cooked for by a personal chef, having a private bungalow and private beach… all for the bargain price of $20,000 for two weeks.
    • Liz S. was asked whether she would take a 30 day trip to Europe or the far East. She said that she had always wanted to visit Scotland and Greece, but economic conditions being what they were, she’d opt for Scotland. She envisioned herself staying in a castle, perhaps one that was haunted. She concluded by letting us know she’d been saving up for a trip to Ireland but she was going to change that to Scotland.
    • Karen R. was asked what the worst vacation she ever took was. She started off teasing that it was a trip she’d taken with “Uncle Mike B.” but quickly confessed it was a trip to Green Bay, WI she’d taken as a college student where everything went wrong from having to shovel snow to get out of their driveway, to being late getting the airport, to having to turn the plane around as it approached the airport in Green Bay, and even more.
    • Deb M. was asked what the biggest surprise she’d ever gotten while on a vacation was. She talked about a trip from Orlando to St. Martin by way of San Juan. They ended up not being able to catch a flight out of San Juan and ended up just hanging out at the airport when a stranger suddenly greeted them with enthusiasm and engaged them in conversation.  It was a pleasant surprise.
    • Our guest Steve took on the question of whether he would choose to visit Southern Europe or Scandinavia. He said he would choose to go back to Scandinavia and told us a fun story of his last visit where, even though his physical features resembled the locals, he was clearly “the runt of the litter.”

    Functionaries:

    • Toastmaster – Casey B.
    • Topicmaster – Mike B.
    • General Evaluator – Emi B.  ….wow, power to the B’s!
    • Wordmaster – Deb M.
      Word of the Day: Terminus (noun) – the end of a travel route (e.g. bus or train); final goal or finishing point; a post or stone marking a boundary
    • Grammarian – Sheryl R.
    • Ah Counter – Angel Y. & DeeLynn S.
    • Timer – Paul F.
    • Word of Wisdom – Angel Y.
      Angel talked about the teamwork utilized by a flock of geese.
    • Jokemaster – Mike H.

    Awards:

    • Most Effective Evaluator: Rob M.
    • Best Table Topics Speaker: Our guest, Steve
    • Speech of the Day: Michael M.
    • Spark Plug Award: Angel Y.

    Business & Reports:

    • Emi asked everyone willing to please complete a photo release form and submit it to her so that she can post photos on the blog and on Facebook. She will not post photos of those who do not submit a release form.
    • Emi also announced she has openings for Assistant Area Director, as well as for Contest Manager and Chief Judge for the September 19th Area T6 Contests. Contact Emi for more information or if you are interested.
    • Karen announced and distributed flyers for the August 23rd club humorous speech and table topics contests.
    • Karen also announced she will be leaving us soon since her husband has gotten a job in Florida. She will continue in her role of VPE for as long as she can, but the position will become available soon, so please consider volunteering for the role. We will most definitely mourn the loss of Karen as a member of our club.

Pioneers: July 26, 2016 Meeting

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July 26, 2016 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 18 in attendance

Meeting Theme:  Pioneers

Presiding Officer Michael M. led us through the pledge, club mission statement, and Toastmasters moments like a pro before introducing Toastmaster Karen.

Toastmaster Moments:

  • Karen attended Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) and found the training to be better than she was expecting. Her greatest take-away was that the founding members of Maverick (including Emi, Liz, and Rob) put practices into place early as to set the club up for success and she was very thankful for that.
  • Michael H acknowledged how Toastmasters had helped him in varying aspects of communication, including becoming at reading and writing email messages. Toastmasters is not just for public speaking!
  • Liz told us how she had spent 30 minutes on the phone today with a pregnant heroine addict who her program wouldn’t serve, but she was able to get her into a detox program to help her and the baby.
  • Pablo was asked to put a presentation together three months ago that he’s had to present multiple times and he has been getting a lot of positive comments about it.
  • Michael M agreed with Karen that TLI was great and he is happy he is improving his leadership skills.

Guests:

  • Wanda, a visiting Distinguished Toastmaster from Florida
  • Keyester, Wanda’s daughter, first time visitor
  • Jay, first time visitor
  • Lily, returning visitor
  • Dominic, returning visitor and Angel’s son

Speeches:

  • Emi B., “Officer Installation”
    Competent Communication Project #3: Get to the Point
    Emi ran through the responsibilities of the officers (who were present) and officially installed them into their roles.
    Officer Installation
  • Pablo R., “Aged Out”
    Competent Communication Project #7: Research Your Topic
    Pablo talked about the 600 or so teens who age out of the Arizona foster care system without being adopted. He shared some of their challenges (50% of girls end up pregnant by 19 and 25% of boys end up fathering a child by 19) and how we can help (for information about making a tax-deductible donation or on how to become an adoptive parent, visit www.azdor.gov).
  • Mike H., “Fork ‘Em”
    Competent Communication Project #2: Organize Your Speech
    Mike talked about being a Sun Devils football fan, about the 1996 season, the 4th game 19-0 shut-out of #1 ranked Nebraska, and the heart-breaking loss to Ohio State in the 1997 Rose Bowl game.

Table Topics:

  • Angel answered the question of what should be invented in order for NASA to take the next step in the space program by talking about building a space ship and space program that would enable the Average Joe to be able to go into space.
  • Angel’s son Dominic talked about how the next generation of gaming should involve holographics that could be operated within the home without the use of special visors in reply to the question of what advances should be made in the gaming industry.
  • With regards to the medical field, Sheryl would like to see us better able to define optimal treatments for each different type of cancer, rather than the simple “let’s cut it out” generalized treatment.

Functionaries:

  • Toastmaster – Karen R.
  • Topicmaster – DeeLynn S.
  • General Evaluator – Michael M.
  • Wordmaster – Michael H.
    Word of the Day: Incipient (adjective) – beginning to exist or appear in an initial stage
  • Grammarian – Angel Y.
  • Ah Counter – Deb M.
  • Timer – Liz S.
  • Word of Wisdom – Rob M.
    “Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.”  ~ Deepak Chopra
  • Jokemaster – Sheryl R.

Awards:

  • Most Effective Evaluator: Rob M.
  • Best Table Topics Speaker: Dominic
  • Speech of the Day: Pablo R.
  • Spark Plug Award: DeeLynn S.

Business & Reports:

  • Liz S. distributed the budget for 2016-2017 for review and approval by the membership. The proposal had been approved by the executive committee and was ready for adoption by the club. One comment made was that it did not include a likely venue fee for the upcoming Spooky Tales Contest since Renee’s facility was not available.  A motion to approve the budget was made by Rahul I. and seconded by Rob M. The motion passed with no opposition.
  • Karen R. mentioned she would be adding the role of videographer to the schedule, assigning one of the week’s pinch-hitters. If there are no pinch-hitters on a given week, the videography responsibilities will be assigned to the night’s jokemaster.
  • Emi B. was reminded to take the timing lights home for repair.

Executive Committee Meeting – July 2016

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Meeting called to order at 8:41 pm.

Attendance: Michael M., Mike B., Casey B., Emi B., Liz S., and Rahul I.

Agenda

Officer Reports:

Vice President Education (Karen absent)

  • Liz appreciated how Karen has scheduled out the entire year, planning for quarterly speech-a-thons following three-day weekends
  • There will be an emphasis on presenting modules this year, which benefit the club by instructing members on how to improve meetings (Successful Club Series), the basics of public speaking (Better Speaker Series), or leadership skills (Leadership Excellence Series), and it benefits the presenters by earning credit toward Advanced Leader awards. To date, Michael H. and Michael M. are scheduled to present module speeches. Karen will be approaching others with this opportunity as well.
  • Karen will need to present upcoming non-meeting dates (for example, December 27th) to the club membership for a vote of approval to cancel the meetings for those dates.
  • Liz will talk to Karen about creating a “videographer” role, or perhaps assign that task to the jokemaster or wisdom master. Emi will assume responsibility for uploading the video files to the YouTube channel.

Vice President Membership (Winona absent)

  • Emi recently purchased large quantities of folders from Staples at a good price and will assemble guest packets and orientation packets to be ready next Tuesday as we are out of both.
  • Need to recruit a back up for the VPM role for dates Winona is unable to attend.
  • Note Smedley Membership Campaign will be August 1 – September 30. This is a great opportunity for a member to earn credit in the Competent Leadership manual, project #8. We’ll need to open this up to the membership to discover who needs to complete this project.

Vice President Public Relations

  • Mike issued a heartfelt public apology for the tardiness of his report.
  • Mike’s equipment was stolen and with is the headshots he took a few months back. He plans to retake photos the end of August.

Vice President Mentoring

  • Casey also issued a public apology for the tardiness of his report but one-upped Mike by doing some pushups for us.
  • The question was posed of what the qualifications of being a mentor were. Emi suggested someone who has given the first three speeches and has cycled through each of the functionary roles, but also someone who displays confidence and a willingness to serve in this capacity.  Those who currently have no assigned mentee may definitely be approached for recruitment as a mentor.
  • The possibility of Casey publishing a club newsletter article about outside events was raised.

Treasurer

  • Liz just received the treasurer supplies and will be reviewing everything. It was already noted that the checkbook was missing and Michael will get that to her.
  • Michael’s and Liz’s roles need to be exchanged at the bank. They will need to print out an officer list to take with them to the bank.
  • Liz will send out last year’s budget. Requests for changes to line items need to be submitted to her by Sunday, July 24th so she will be prepared to present the budget to the club next week.

Secretary

  • Working on uploading the officer reports for the last year to the website. Emi asked Liz if she still had agenda files she could email and will ask Sheryl for minutes.

Sergeant At Arms

  • Needs to recruit an assistant for those days Rahul is either unable to attend or won’t be able to arrive early, and someone to prepare as successor.

Meeting adjourned at 9:22 pm.

Cool Places: July 12, 2016 Meeting

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July 12, 2016 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 17 in attendance

New presiding Officer Michael M. led us through the pledge, club mission statement, and Toastmasters moments like a pro before introducing our Toastmaster.

Michael M.'s first "real meeting" as President of Maverick

Michael M.’s first “real meeting” as President of Maverick

Toastmaster Moments

  • Audrey D. has a new job (whoo-hoo!) and is looking forward to leaving for her vacation soon.
  • Renee R. ended up being hired as a care giver after having a conversation with another resident of her retirement community.
  • Michael M. experienced his first non-Maverick Toastmasters meeting by visiting Blu at their recent anniversary party. He found it to be a very eye-opening experience.

Guest:

  • Dominic, a returning guest

Speeches

  • Deb M., “Deborah”
    Competent Communication Project #1: The Ice Breaker
    Deb told us about her jobs, her movement around the country and world, and much more.
  • Casey B., “Living with ADD”
    Competent Communication Project #7: Research Your Topic
    Casey presented a very educational speech on ADD. He provided facts on the brain, qualities of individuals with ADD, and challenges those with ADD face. He provided a lot of personal examples.
  • Mike B., “Why Zoos are Important to a Community”
    Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual Project #1: Impromptu Speaking
    Mike provided his evaluator with five different topics to choose from and she chose to hear why zoos are important to a community. Mike proceeded to present an impromptu speech highlighting five different breeding programs active at the Phoenix Zoo, leading listeners to understand that zoos serve to preserve species.

Table Topics

  • DeeLynn S. answered the question of what the most extreme thing she’d ever done to get cool by describing living in northern California and going to beaches there and visiting Anchorage, Alaska during Christmas week, after admitting she hates the cold. We learned that there is, in fact, such a thing as “a dry cold.”
  • Karen R. answered the question of what the coolest place she’d ever gone to as a teenager by talking about going to camp during her teenage years.
  • Renee R. answered the question of how to dress for the heat by talking about regularly wearing cut sleeves and short pants.

Functionaries

  • Toastmaster – Audrey D.
  • Topicmaster – Liz S.
  • General Evaluator – Rahul I.
  • Wordmaster – DeeLynn S.
    Word of the Day: Vortex (n, plural vortices) – whirling mass of water, air, or flame
  • Grammarian – Paul F.
  • Ah Counter – Mike H.
  • Timer – Angel Y.
  • Word of Wisdom – Pablo R.
  • Jokemaster – Pablo R.

Awards

  • Most Effective Evaluator: Emi B.
  • Best Table Topics Speaker: DeeLynn S.
  • Speech of the Day: All 3 speakers went overtime!
  • Spark Plug Award: DeeLynn S.

Business & Reports

  • Toastmasters Leadership Institute (officer training) will be on Saturday, July 23rd
  • Executive Committee (club officer) Meeting will be held next Tuesday following the club meeting. Please submit officer reports to Michael M. by Sunday at 6:00 pm.
  • Contests: Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests
    – Club Contest will be held in August. Contestants and Functionaries will be needed; contact Karen to volunteer.
    – Area Contest will be held on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Monday, September 19th, at 6:15 pm. Emi will need volunteers for functionary roles.
  • Karen will be sending out Member Interest Surveys soon; please complete and return in a timely manner.

Adjourned 8:27 pm

October 13, 2015 Club Meeting Minutes

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October 13, 2015 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 14 in attendance

Presiding Officer Liz Shaw masterfully led us through the pledge, club mission statement, and Toastmasters moments before introducing our first-time Toastmaster.

Toastmaster Moments

  • David DeCelles used his table topics skills during a couple of phone interviews over the previous week.
  • Rahul Iyer used his Toastmasters skills to secure a new job!
  • Emi apologizes if she missed anyone else’s “moment.”

Guests (Our guests were all first-timers to Toastmasters!):

  • Steven T. – a student of CGCC instructor and Toastmaster Diane Shipman
  • Max D. –
  • Allan H. – a guest of our guest, Max

Speeches

  • Rahul Iyer, Speaking To Inform Project #2: Resources to Inform, “When Automobiles Go KaBoom!”  Rahul educated us on the inner workings of an essential part of all of our vehicles – the airbag.  His speech was evaluated by Emi Bauer.
  • DeeLynn Southwick, The Entertaining Speaker Project #4: The Dramatic Talk, “Children. They Keep Life Interesting!”  DeeLynn Shared some amusing anecdotes inspired by some of the children in her life. Her speech was evaluated by Rob McLeod.
selfie

“High school dropouts” take a selfie during Michael Millan’s motivational speech

Table Topics

TopicMaster Liz Shaw had the Maverick members assuming challenging roles as the audience members (some of them may even have gotten a bit too rowdy!):

  • Michael Millan gave a motivational speech to high school dropouts, titled, “Actions Speak Louder Than Words.”
  • David DeCelles gave a motivational speech to cancer patients, titled, “It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn.”
  • Michael Heier gave a motivational speech to prisoners, titled, “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.”
  • Emi Bauer gave a [not-so] motivational speech to pregnant teens, titled, “You Can learn to Swim Without Getting in the Water.”
  • Audrey Dieken gave a motivational speech to refugees, titled, “Fake it ‘Til You Make It.”
  • Mike Becko gave a motivational speech to homeless vets, titled, “Go the Extra Mile.”

Functionaries

  • Toastmaster – Pablo Rodriguez
  • Grammarian – Michael Millan
  • General Evaluator – Mike Becko
  • Timer – Michael Heier
  • Ah Counter – Audrey Dieken
  • Wordmaster – Emi Bauer, channeling Sheryl Ross, with prerogative – a special right or privilege that some people have, which EVERYONE used!
  • Word of Wisdom – David DeCelles
  • Jokemaster – Michael Millan – Pirates who have hooks for hands should be careful rubbing their eyes!

Awards

  • Most Effective Evaluator: Emi Bauer
  • Best Table Topics Speaker: Audrey Dieken
  • Speech of the Day: Rahul Iyer
  • Spark Plug Award: Michael Millan

Business & Reports

  • DJ McMurray gave a post-meeting table topics speech about why all Toastmasters should attend the District 3 Fall Conference in Wickenburg, AZ, November 20-22, 2015.
  • Rob McLeod talked about the upcoming (in just 2 weeks!) Spooky Tales event.

Adjourned 8:30 pm

September 22, 2015 Club Meeting Minutes

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September 22, 2015 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 14 in attendance

Presiding Officer Liz Shaw thoroughly wet from Microburst as we entered!

Speeches

Sheryl Ross, REP Path G Managing Change Project 4, titled “Change Anyone,” presented her AstraZeneca merge observations .   Evaluated by Michael Heier.

Liz Shaw, AC Specialty Speeches – Project 5 “Introduce the Speaker,” shared her personal experience in getting to know Emi.  Winning evaluation by DJ McMurray .

Emi Bauer, REP Path G -Level 3 Focus on the Positive, “It’s been a Wonderful Couple of Weeks” won with her journaling.  She shared honest observation on what has been the harder parts of being positive during the past two weeks. Evaluation by Michael Fritz.

Table Topics by David Douglas with an unusual twist on “Online Education.”

  • Pablo Rodriquez intriqued us through his Skype Dog Training course
  • Michael Fritz won with his expensive Spy Training expansion models
  • Karen made us smile with her Mafia training on How to Rob a Bank
  • Rahul Iyer made a stab at helping parents with training on handling hostile teens

Functionaries

  • Toastmaster – Emi Bauer
  • Grammarian – Mike Becko
  • General Evaluator – Leks Dominion
  • Timer – Renee Russo
  • Ah Counter – DeeLynn Southwick
  • Wordmaster – Casey Block
  • Word of Wisdom – Michael Fritz
  • Jokemaster – Rahul Iyer with Bulletin Bloopers

Business & Reports

Sun Valley High School request of Facebook “Likes” was presented by DeeLynn Southwick

EC 9/18 minutes were read and approved.  Motion by Renee Russo with second by Casey Block

Adjourned 8:26 pm

September 15, 2015 Executive Committee Meeting

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Executive Committee Meeting minutes and officer reports from the September 15, 2015 meeting are available on the club website under Member Resources > Officer Resources > Officer Reports.

All members are invited to attend Executive Committee meetings and contribute to the discussions. The next officer meeting will follow the October 20, 2015 club meeting – feel free to attend!

August 18, 2015 Executive Committee Meeting

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Executive Committee Meeting agenda, minutes, and officer reports from the August 18, 2015 meeting are available on the club website under Member Resources > Officer Resources > Officer Reports.

All members are invited to attend Executive Committee meetings and contribute to the discussions. The next officer meeting will follow the September 15, 2015 club meeting – feel free to attend!

July 21, 2015 Executive Committee Meeting

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Executive Committee Meeting minutes and officer reports from the July 21, 2015 meeting are available on the club website under Member Resources > Officer Resources > Officer Reports.

All members are invited to attend Executive Committee meetings and contribute to the discussions. The next officer meeting will follow the August 18, 2015 club meeting – feel free to attend!

August 4, 2015 Club Meeting Minutes

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August 4, 2015 Maverick Club Meeting at Sun Valley High School – 16 in attendance

Presiding Officer Liz Shaw

Speeches

Michael Milan, AC Entertaining – project 2 on Resources for Entertainment,  “The Unspoken Do Not Touch Policy,” regaled us with the winning tale of baseball superstitions and rituals.  Winning evaluation by Winona Petersen.

David Douglas, CC project  5 How Your Body Speaks titled “Little Things Mean a Lot” encouraged us to not discount the small thanks.  Evaluation by Renee Russo.

Table Topics New Horizons by Michael Fritz

Michael set the stage with a report from the New Horizon which had resulted in Pluto being changed to a dwarf planet.  Speakers debated related issues.  Emi Bauer told the winning Talk ending the debate of the Dwarf Pluto’s status.

Guest appearance of David DeCelles

Functionaries

  • Toastmaster – Rahul Iyer
  • Grammarian – DJ McMurray
  • General Evaluator – Michael Heier
  • Timer – Rob McLeod
  • Ah Counter – Liz Shaw
  • Wordmaster – Emi Bauer brought us “emprise – an adventurous, and daring enterprise”
  • Word of Wisdom – DeeLynn Southwick
  • Jokemaster – Mike Becko

Business & Reports

Secretary Sheryl Ross presented the Maverick Club EC minutes for July 21st.  Corrections were brought forth.  Request made to include names of those submitting a written report. Rahul Iyer made the motion to accept and Renee Russo seconded it.

New Business

Liz Shaw announced as correction to EC minutes that the Humorous Club Contest was set for August 25th.  Also reminded people of Spooky Tales set for 10/27.

DJ McMurray motioned we spend TI money certificate on 8 ice breaker pins and one pack of First-Timer Ribbons.  Seconded by Rob McLeod.