by Jodi Michael Horner
Public Relations Officer
*for videos of each speech please click on the links embedded in the speakers’ paragraph.
Our weekly meetings have yielded abundant results in numbers. First, our attendance has increased. Last Thursday’s meeting sported 16 in attendance, including one new guest (and now member) Shari Beaudette. Secondly–speaking of new members–the additional meetings seem to be harkening to Parker area residents to join our Parker Toastmasters community. There certainly seems to be some appeal to the shorter time frame that weekly meetings provide as well as the mere fact that more meetings assumes more opportunity to attend and for speakers to deliver their speeches.
Toastmaster of the evening, Bruce Ekins, worked hard in advance to ensure the maximum number of three speakers were on deck. He also did some last minute agenda adjusting as in: “oops I can’t get the regular agenda document to work!” For future reference: it is perfectly alright to use the online sign-up sheet if nothing else is available for the agenda, which is what Bruce did. The motto of the Toastmaster for an evening is: “Whatever it takes!”
Martin Cobb did some pinch-hitting to ensure there were three speakers. His speech bordered on patriotic (in my view!) by calling out the need for our deserving veterans to be employed as they are relieved of active duty. Statistically it seems things are not in their favor. Martin directed us to two important web sites for further information and assistance: h2h.jobs and
Eric Dunham got dirty as he delivered an “impromptu” speech on Project Management. He had his evaluator for the evening, Nikita Kazakov, select a card from several pre-printed topics cards. Eric drew “Project Management” and ran with it. We heard a horror story of a backed-sewage line due to a failure in project management at the time of hook-up for that particular home during its construction.
Newcomer Ashley Jones showed off her strong speaking chops right out of the gate. Her Icebreaker utilized her experience in performing dance, competing in debate, writing poetry, and inspiring people. She not only stood tall in her delivery but she used these experiences to illustrate her passion for inspiring others here in the land of her sojourn.
Table Topics were led by Marcy Brack, who–naturally–did a stunning job. We had the pleasure of listening to many memorable vacation stories. And Marcy was not above putting some of us on the spot this time to ensure participation and growth for all members. (Kudos on you there girl!)
The other key cogs to our machinery for the evening were:
Nina Minary: General Evaluator
Matt Martinez: Vote Counter
Raani Varma: Grammarian
Martin Cobb: Timer
Jodi Michael Horner: Videographer