The members of Northgate Sunrise reconvened for the first meeting after the Seattle snopocalypse. A total of 11 people attended including one guest. Ray led the meeting under the theme “Snow Stories”. Here’s what happened:
President Ray R opened the meeting by reflecting on Seattle’s response to snow in comparison to his home town of New York City. In short, New York City doesn’t blink in the face of snow.
Ray F gave his first speech titled “How I took control over my life”. He shared details of how he lost it all in Vegas and bounced back in Seattle. His speech was motivational and challenged prejudices about homelessness.
Stephen also delivered his first speech. The title was “Fishing” and he spoke about how success in public speaking is like success in fishing. In order to do well, it is necessary to know what appeals to the audience; just like selecting the right lures when fishing.
Dave presented on the topic of chaos theory and explained why it’s important in the business world. In addition to presenting an interesting topic, Dave’s talk was his last speech needed to achieve the designation of “Advanced Communicator”. Congratulations, Dave!
Our table topics winner was Tammy who told us of her favorite snow memory: the time it resulted in a cancelled final exam! She sat down to take the test and the building facility manager burst into the room to announce that school was closed. Amazingly, there wasn’t even a make-up test!
Nicole, Scott, and Mary all served as evaluators, providing feedback to the three speakers. Amara provided a review of the meeting as a whole and commented that she appreciated that each evaluator provided a healthy balance of positive comments and suggested improvements.
At the conclusion of the meeting, president Ray R announced that the club had registered five new club members between Nov 24 and Feb 3, meeting the challenge set by District 2 to gain five new members in that period. As a result, we’ve won a new club banner with the new Toastmasters logo! The club voted to change its name to “Seattle Sunrise” before the banner is printed. This will prevent confusion in case the club ever relocates out of the Northgate area.
The next meeting is scheduled for February 25th (barring another snowstorm).
