Hats off to the Spring Conference!

Teresa and LaShawn in their hats!

This past weekend, several Afterburners members attended the District 25 Conference “The Road to Success.” On Friday night, Sergeant at Arms Gary Chiu proudly carried in both of our club banners during the Banner Parade. Toastmasters International President-Elect Michael Notaro presented us with a ribbon for accomplishing our Dream BIG commitment of President’s Distinguished.

The hat ladies — Pat, Teresa and Linda

Our very own Brenda Daniels was the Friday night Chair and Toastmaster. She opened the weekend’s festivities with “Toastmasters Start Your Engines” which was taken from the NASCAR-themed decorations. The “HATtitude” contest was so much fun, with ladies and gentlemen donning all different types of hats. Linda Coleman, Teresa Wilburn, LaShawn Carter, Gary Chiu and Pat Quick all got into the spirit by wearing some great hats; some fashionable and some downright funny.

Gary interviews LaShawn

The Table Topics contest, presided over by the busy Gary Chiu, was kicked up a notch when Afterburners member LaShawn Carter competed on the district stage. She did a fantastic job and made every member present proud at how poised she was and how articulately she spoke.

District 25's Outstanding Club Officers

On Saturday during the Awards Luncheon, our website, afterburners.us, was chosen as the Best Club Website, Jodie Sanders was named the Outstanding Vice President Public Relations and Gary Chiu was named Outstanding Sergeant-at-Arms. Everyone at Afterburners knows that Jodie and Gary are outstanding, but now so does everyone else. Congratulations, Jodie and Gary!

George and Pat

After hearing the incredible speeches given during the International Speech Contest, it was time to dress in our best for the Saturday night Installation of Officers and DTM Ceremony. Cheers were shouted as George Arndt escorted Division A Governor Pat Quick in the Dignitary Parade and all members in attendance were all smiles as Setma Maddox received her DTM and Brenda Daniels received DTM number two.

Pat, Gary, Brenda and Setma

You would think that we would be just exhausted after all that fun, but we still had strength to make it to the Hospitality Suite hosted by Rose Timmons and Linda Coleman. They put out a spread of food that would make any restaurant jealous. I heard people talking about the delicious fare and the warm welcome they received from Linda and Rose. Kudos to both!

Steven and Rose

Also, a big “you done great” to Steven Timmons who assisted with Registration and did all the badges and tickets, behind-the-scenes work that was essential to a smooth member experience.

If you missed this year’s conference, you can make the next one. Mark your calendars for November 18-19, Fall Conference, “Let it Shine.” I’m already making plans to attend and I hope you will join me.

Pat Quick

See more pictures of Conference attendees and the DTM ceremony.

May 16: Thinking on our feet

We had a Table Topics Night — it was more unusual and challenging than any other normal meeting night we have had. You were missed if you weren’t there. It was a spectacular, educational, fun night! The theme was "Fly by the Seat of Your Pants."

The Toastmaster was Ryan Gallagher. There were two teams, one named X and the other one named O. Each team member was provided a topic and each member of the team did "rock paper scissors" to determine who got to go first. Each member of a team spoke either pro or con about the topic given by the toastmaster.

The Toastmaster provided topics such as: Donald Trump, is his hair the real deal? Is Texas the best state? Does money buy your happiness? Everyone shared their opinion and experiences and "thought on their feet."

It was an awesome night! Everyone spoke well and we learned a great deal on different topics.

Holly Trinh

Dream Big — by the numbers

The numbers are in and they have been crunched. I would like to share a few facts with you.

Afterburners had 41 commitments, more than twice as many as any other club in District 25, in all areas with the exception of High Performance Leadership (HPL) projects. This was 8.5% of the 483 member commitments made across the entire district.

Our 25 completions, again more than any other club, comprised 12.14% of the 206 completions made across the district. We stacked up an impressive 61% completion rate against the district's 43% completion rate. Our club outperformed District 25 by an 18% margin. This speaks to the commitment of our club members to meet the challenge and succeed.

I would like to thank each of our members who participated in the Dream Big Challenge:
George Arndt, John Bacon, Tammy Bailey, Ron Baker, Tom Brents, Gary Chiu, Brenda Daniels, Linda Coleman, Ryan Gallagher, Saraí Garcia, Greg Geis, Mike Kelly, Joyce King, Rodney King, Setma Maddox, Pat Quick, Jodie Sanders, Antoinette Silas, Phillip Silas, Dámaris Thorn, David Thorn, Rosita Timmons, Steven Timmons, Teresa Wilburn. Every one of you made a difference.

I would especially like to recognize Jodie Sanders and Ryan Gallagher for all of their hard work keeping track of the completions and the website reporting.

Steven Timmons, CC, CL
Chairman of the Club Dream Big
Public Relations Campaign

Incoming Officers Elected

Last night's business meeting resulted in the election of officers for the 2011-2012 Toastmasters year. Please welcome the following Afterburners to their new positions:

President: Linda Coleman, CC/CL

VP Education: Steven Timmons, CC/CL

VP Membership: Rose Timmons, CC

VP Public Relations: LaShawn Carter, TM

Secretary: Dawn Mercer, TM

Treasurer: Antoinette Silas, TM

Sergeant at Arms: Phillip Silas, TM

Holding an office in Toastmasters is an awesome responsibility. In a rocking club like Afterburners, it's an even bigger deal because we expect much more than the average club. Pledge your support to these officers, and do all you can to help them succeed. After all, they're working for YOU!

Ryan is the star of the show!

Caitlyn and Ryan

He did it! He did it! Ryan Gallagher completed his Dream Big challenge Friday evening at his parents’ home. It was really befitting for such a large feat Ryan was questing to accomplish. He actually gave two back-to-back speeches in one setting. That completed his 10 speeches. Simply amazing!

When Ryan greeted his fellow Toastmasters at the door, he seemed a little nervous. You know, the icebreaker kind of nervousness. In my opinion, anyone giving two speeches in one night should be nervous.

In attendance were myself (Antoinette), Phillip Silas, Steven and Rose Timmons, Jodie Sanders, Gary Chui, Teresa Wilburn and Joyce King. Ryan’s sister Caitlyn was a guest; we all thought she was his girlfriend and she assured us that she wasn’t. 

Timing equipment

Steven called the meeting to order. Jodie wore many hats: toastmaster, table topicsmaster and general evaluator. Rose was timer and improvised with a cell phone for the stopwatch and 2 books (green and yellow) and a red DVD case for the lights. Gary and Phillip were evaluators.

Phillip and Gary did some GREAT evaluations!

Ryan’s first speech was titled "A Matter of Survival." He talked about zombies. I am not into the scary things but everyone else got a kick out of it judging by the robust laughter. Gary’s evaluation of the speech was excellent. He chuckled and laughed through the whole evaluation.

Before the second speech, Ryan provided us with pizza and cheap & nasty beer (Ryan’s words). Then Jodie hit us with great table topics.

Ryan’s second speech "The Dullest Speech You've Ever Heard" was just that, dull. Phillip assured Ryan that he achieved the mission of the title. Ryan talked about paint, and the intricacies of its makeup. Yes, it was very dull, but wonderfully delivered. He proved from this speech that you can give a speech on anything.

What a wonderful unofficial/official meeting. It was a priceless evening. Good job Ryan! Congratulations on achieving your Dream Big commitment!

Antoinette Silas