Gniteem Sdrawkcab (Backwards meeting)

All in all it was a memorable meeting for all.  I look forward to my second backwards meeting  . . . in about 5-10 years J  

TM Craig signing off…

Oh woops, I was still in backwards mode.  Backwards mode you say… why is that, read further and find out:

Last week we had 4 guests and about 10 members who all had about the same amount of experience with a backwards meeting.  It started with President Mike ‘closing the meeting’ and making a few comments about how this was a great meeting.  We all appreciated his fortune telling abilities.

We then had the evaluation portion of the meeting.  Steve Wilcox and his team reported on how well (or poorly) each of the speakers did “before they spoke”. 

Table topics was interesting!  The speaker was called on (based on the ah counters list of who ‘spoke’) and gave their TT speech, then TT master Eric created a question.  Very interesting  :)

We continued with Speaker 2, Ashley who gave a very interesting speech about responding too quickly with thoughts or issues with a person.  She provided an example of how jumping to conclusions almost caused a dual between Abe Lincoln and an advisory.  Lincoln learned to think about the consequences of a response … prior to sending it.  Ashley gave a similar story about not responding to a person while angry.  A good lesson for all of us.

Speech #1 was given by Sarah Mammon about the sub-conscious mind and how it controls many of the things we do without thinking about them or even realizing we are doing them.  Things like breathing or driving from one place to another and not remembering making the turns . . .

This was very appropriate for the backwards meeting where we all had to THINK about each part of the meeting with our conscious mind!!!  Little things like the tense of a verb while describing a speech we hadn’t yet heard.

All in all it was a memorable meeting for all.  I look forward to my second backwards meeting  . . . in about 5-10 years J  

TM Craig signing off…

While the backwards meeting might have tested some of us, we are hoping to spice up the meetings a bit every quarter and do a different format.  We will let you know when the next alternative format meeting will occur… stay tuned!

"Sarah's Challenge" - We did it!

Sarah's Challenge Winners: Mike, Jason, Ania, Craig, Sarah, Jeff celebrating their awards

Doesn't it feel great to get to the peak of a mountain you've climbed? A sip of water tastes like heaven, and the views from the top are amazing.

Six of our club members can attest to that. The end of June marked the closing of the Toastmasters 2011/2012 year and they all achieved their speaking and leadership goals, receiving anywhere from Competent Communicator awards to the Advanced Communicator Gold Award. Impressive!

It all started with an innocent challenge proposed by Sarah: "Let's finish up our goals by the end of this year," - she said to Jeff. Jeff took a deep breath: "End of  the Toastmaster's year? You betcha!" -  before Sarah had a chance to explain she meant the end of 2012. The ambitious challenge was born and others were invited. Even better: everybody finished up their projects and nobody lost the bet!

All the individual successes added to the club's total success: at year-end (June 30th), Toastmaster's World Headquarters calculates the number of goals the club achieved and recognizes it as either a Distinguished Club (at least 5 of 10 goals met), Select Distinguished Club (7 goals), or President’s Distinguished Club (at least 9 goals) based on the number of goals achieved and the number of members it has. Electric Toasters were awarded the President's Distinguished club for the year 2011/2012! Amazing job everybody!

Where are you with your book today? Do you want to finish it by June '13? Are you ready for a Sarah's Challenge 2?! Leave a comment or email!

Posted by: Ania Osińska-Bulloff

Meeting Location

Hello Electric Toasters and Visitors!  We meet every week in the 2 World Trade Center building (the Conference Center).  The meeting room is posted outside the building doors near the elevators.  We also set up the banner outside the room to help make us easy to find.

See you soon!

Mike Fajen
President, Electric Toasters

An Electric Summer...

Happy Summer! 

Finally, we can bask in the sunlight and not excuse the wasted days in pajamas on the couch watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy in June because its raining.  With the coming of sun, we can relish watermelon in the backyard, outdoor concerts, secret river spots, impromptu picnics on Mt. Tabor and anything else you relate to summer in Portland.  Also, it is the time when Electric Toaster officers past the baton to their successors.



To celebrate Portland's true summer arrival date, July 4 (a little late I know), I thought we would get to know some of our new officers and their favorite past times and sentiments about our nation's birthday.   


Note that some did send thoughts in and others did not have the chance... for those non-respond-ers, well any Electric Toaster actually, I invite you to respond to the post and let us know what inspires and excites you about summer and/or July 4 or what is your fondest memory of the 4th of July:

• President – Mike Fajen: The 4th of July has always been kind of magical to me.  The anticipation of slightly unpredictable fireworks - shared by friends and family makes for a memorable moment, but the point of Independence Day also reminds me of some things I appreciate about our country.  Our country is a full spectrum:  On one end, our freedom creates opportunity for corruption and greed.  But on the other end, our freedom creates opportunity for immeasurable good.  As we seek to improve our communication skills, we're better equipped to improve our world, to tap into immeasurable good and find ways of extending good to others.  For that and other opportunities, I celebrate our freedom! 
• We see Mike's eloquence flows from his speeches to his writing.

• VP-Public Relations – Jeff Brooks: Jeff and his wife tied the knot on July 5th, so the 4th always helps remind him not to forget his anniversary!  (Good call on setting that wedding date) The morning of the 4th is typically spent outside doing something fun (this year water-skiing is planned) and then usually BBQ with family & friends in the afternoon / evening.  

• Secretary – Kat Latet: You might have alluded from my opening paragraph some of my favorite summer pastimes.  On top of these, I would partner my watermelon with a healthy portion of BBQ, brisket, chicken, pork shoulder, I am not picky and a great local Oregon beer.

• Sergeant-at-Arms – Joanne Neavoll: What she enjoy most about the 4th of July is baseball, not Beaver baseball, but Red Sox baseball,  the coast and ice cream...my favorite is Ben & Jerry's New York super fudge chunk.

Just for your records, our other electrifying, Electric Toaster Officers are:

- Wei Chiang, VP of Education

- Angela Mahoney, VP of Membership

- Craig Jones, Treasurer

Here's to the next year of Electric Toasters and here's to summer!

Tip of the Week: Be the VP-Ed!

Here’s my recruitment pitch!  VP-Education is a very important role for our club.  The VP-Education helps members achieve their goals, guides the club to meet its goals within the Distinguished Club Plan, and is an active member of the Electric Toasters Officers (ETO) committee.  The role also sets the weekly club schedule and submits member educational award applications to Toastmasters headquarters.  If you step up to fill this officer position, I will be available to answer questions and to mentor you as you grow into the role.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this very important position!

Which one resonates best with you?

Dear Electric Toasters,

Which one resonates best with you?

Check all which apply

I care about:

• Authority and decision making
• Career gain and competitive edge
• Immediate results
• Prestige and ability to influence others
• Freedom from routine
• Sharing ideas that benefit everybody
• Socilizing
• Clear goals and expectations
• Opportunity to help others
• Support and cooperation
• Improving quality
• Control over critical issues
• Objectivity and fairness
• Systematic planning

All of these can be fulfilled if you want to become one of the Club Officers! The Electric Toasters Officers (ETO) Crew is happy to announce June 13^th as the Electric Toasters Elections Day – a unique chance for you to step into a VP (VIPJ) role, sharpen your leadership skills, learn how to run a successful organization and have a true impact on our club’s future.

The following roles are available on the 2012-2013 ETOs Ballots:

President: 1 candidate interested, open to more sign ups!

VP-Education: open to sign ups!

VP-Membership: open to sign ups!

VP-Public Relations: 1 candidate interested, open to more sign ups!

Treasurer: 1 candidate interested, open to more sign ups!

Sergeant-at-Arms: open to sign ups!

All are open to those who care about any of the above!

Please email/talk to any of the current ETOs if you are interested or want to learn more. If you want to find out about the roles and responsibilities check out the Toastmasters International website. Also, you will be provided plenty of guidance at the compulsory Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) on June 23^rd (Wilsonville High School, 8:00-11:30 AM training).

Being an ETO is about leadership and addressing our growth needs. It is an opportunity to improve ourselves!

Don’t waste your time and let us know today!

Ania, Jason, Sarah, Jeff, Steve, Mike

Tip of the Week: Your Best Evaluator…

…is yourself!  When you rehearse for your prepared speech – especially if you rehearse alone – video record or audio record your speech (free apps are readily available for smart phones), play it back, and give yourself some feedback.  We all are our own harshest critics, so rest assured your feedback will be very helpful!