The July 1st, 2002 ACTS Meeting was,
as always, very enlightening and exciting! Sam Sampat (Sgt-at-Arms) called
the members to assemble and be seated at 6:19 P.M. This meeting was unique
and very special, partly because it was new Officer Installation
night. The underlying theme for the evening was very appropriately
entitled, "Officer Installation/Excellent Leadership" by the
evening's Toastmaster extraordinaire-- Jim Raney.
Before the Pledge of Allegiance,
Sam's inspirational message depicted, "What are the qualities of
great Leadership," it was most heartedly received. He then introduced
President Steve Smith to the lectern to welcome the members and special
guests. Steve commented on how well the club has done over the past year,
and now with 26 members, this next year (July 2002- June 2003) promises to
be even more grand!!!
Present were: Bob Neary (New Area
Governor), Sam Sampat, Kim Rhodes, Susan Hannon,Tadd Small, Teresa Tayag,
Lura Harrison, Ed Mihalka, Steve Smith, Jim
Raney, and Lauren Bailey.
Robert (Bob) Neary was then called to
conduct the Officer installation ceremony. One by one, each new Officer
was called to the front to hold the highly-coveted Golden Gavel as Bob
swore them in to thoughtfully execute the duties of their specific office.
Each Officer eagerly and most reverently accepted their appropriate duties
for the 1-year term.
Jim Raney (Toastmaster) took control
from there and soon introduced Susan Hannon as the General (Chief)
Evaluator.
Jim then introduced Speaker #1-
Steve Smith.
Steve's project was a Personal
Dramatic Story entitled, "A lesson from crisis to recovery." He
dramatically took the group through his near brush with death when he was
caught up in a terrible fire at his former office building. Steve was
reported as being dead by the local media after this all-consuming blaze
was extinguished. But thankfully for Steve and all of us, Reports of his
death were greatly exaggerated. Just like the mythical Flight of the
Phoenix, Steve arose ever renewed from the burning ashes to fly high
again.
Speaker #2 was the Godfather
himself-Ed Mihalka.
Ed's selected project was, "The
ROAST."
He entitled it, "Here are your just
rewards Steve."
Now I've been to a roast or two in
years gone past, but never experienced anything quite like this. Instead
of the usual Shake and Bake of the person on the receiving end, Ed saw fit
to deep fry and fricassee poor Steve. It was obvious during this short but
very pointed exercise that Ed was thoroughly enjoying himself ever more
following each verbal blow. Thankfully, Steve is always a good sport,
but vowed that sometime soon the tables will be turned, and then the
Godfather will be sitting squarely on the Hotseat for a dose of his own
medicine. I Can't wait...
Next on the hit parade, it was time
for the PS Trainer:
Teresa Tayag, equipped with
her colorful assortment of markers, illustrated techniques and skills used
in remembering person's names.
She drew a happy face on her flip
chart, and in mind-mapping style, drew 4 lines emanating from the happy
smiling eyecon. Each of the 4 lines was given a capital letter- F-A-C-E.
On the second page of her trusty flip
chart, Teresa then had the 4 letter acronym written in vertically.
F- Focus on the person. Find out
something unique about them.
A- Assume value. Ask him/her
questions (proper spelling, heritage, etc.)
C- Comment- Categorize- Complement.
E- Employ. Use the name directly and
indirectly, such as introducing
the person by name to others.
These techniques of repetitive use of
their name will help to leave a lasting impression in our memory about
them.
As Dale Carnegie once wrote in his
best seller, "Making friends and Influencing people," the proper use of a
person's name shows caring, respect, and fosters trust. It brings a strong
warm and fuzzy bond between you and the other person. (Teresa was very
expressive!)
Thank you so much Teresa for that
all-important interpersonal training. It's easy to see how you can do
technical training for a living. You are a great communicator and have the
knack for making it look so easy!
Before the Roundtable evaluations,
Susan Hannon (Gen Eval) asked each designated Speaker Evaluator to start
the Evaluation process.
Lura Harrison was the designated
Evaluator for Steve Smith.
Lura gave Steve a resounding thumbs
up for his subtle use of surprise as he skillfully interjected himself as
being the person the local media described as being a victim of the
fierce fire. She said she wished the dramatic story could have been
longer, as most of the roundtable Evaluators eventually did.
Ed Mihalka's Evaluator was Lauren
Bailey.
Lauren started out by laughing
profusely at Ed's very pointed roast of Steve. She was complementary of
Ed's heartless performance, and made the comment that it might have been
nice for this 3-minute Roast to have been extended a bit longer...
I don't know about that Lauren, I
think 3-minutes was more than long enough for Ed to cook Steve's
goose...
After the Roundtable evaluation of
Teresa's great training, Susan Hannon did an evaluation of the meeting.
Her very energetic superlatives made us all glad we were there. Her
closing comments were short and sweet: The words Susan used to describe
the meeting were- "Most Excellent and So Much Fun." She ended with a very
hearty, "BRAVO!!!
The Meeting was Adjourned at 8:44
P.M.
