Thursday, February 26, 2009
Blankenship completes Advanced Toastmasters Manual
The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 2-5-09 at the Virden Area Community Center. Club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship, John Davidson, Liz Mollett, Casey Tom and Bill Watkins.
Liz Mollett served as the meeting’s master of ceremonies. >Bill Watkins served as the Topicmaster, conducting the impromptu speaking portion of the program. Each participant then gave a 1 to 2 minute impromptu response to his or her particular question.
The evening’s prepared speaker was Jim Blankenship. Blankenship owns a financial planning business in New Berlin, but is originally from Nokomis. His humorous presentation which was about “Acronyms” was the fifth and final project from the Toastmasters Advanced Manual on “Humorously Speaking”. After completing 10 projects in the Basic Manual, members have 14 different Advanced Manuals to choose from. Dr. Todd Austin from Virden was assigned to evaluate Blankenship’s talk.
The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday February 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center. Todd Austin is scheduled to be the prepared speaker at the next meeting. For more information about the Toastmasters program, or about joining or attending a club meeting, please call (217) 965-3100 or send e-mail to draustin@royell.net.
Liz Mollett served as the meeting’s master of ceremonies. >Bill Watkins served as the Topicmaster, conducting the impromptu speaking portion of the program. Each participant then gave a 1 to 2 minute impromptu response to his or her particular question.
The evening’s prepared speaker was Jim Blankenship. Blankenship owns a financial planning business in New Berlin, but is originally from Nokomis. His humorous presentation which was about “Acronyms” was the fifth and final project from the Toastmasters Advanced Manual on “Humorously Speaking”. After completing 10 projects in the Basic Manual, members have 14 different Advanced Manuals to choose from. Dr. Todd Austin from Virden was assigned to evaluate Blankenship’s talk.
The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday February 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center. Todd Austin is scheduled to be the prepared speaker at the next meeting. For more information about the Toastmasters program, or about joining or attending a club meeting, please call (217) 965-3100 or send e-mail to draustin@royell.net.
// posted by Jim @ 2:17 PM
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Central IL Toastmasters Attend Officers Training.
Members of both Montgomery County & Tri-County Toastmasters Clubs received officers training at the IDOT building in Springfield on Saturday 2-14-09. Officers trained were (from left): Mont-Co. President Jackie Rakers; Ashley Lawrence; Bill Guthrie; District 8 Governor Tony Gartner; Tri-Co. V.P. of Public Relations Todd Austin; Tri-Co. Secretary/Treasurer – Jim Blankenship; Mont-Co. V.P. of P.R. – Kim Noyes.
Todd Austin, a veteran Toastmasters officer and member of the Tri-Country Club, was one of ten scheduled speakers at Saturdays Toastmasters Leadership Instutute. Austin gave a 50-minute PowerPoint presentation entitled “How to be an Effective Vice President of Public Relations”
Both Tri-County and Montgomery County Toastmasters club officers attended the Division C Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) at the IDOT building in Springfield on Saturday 2-14-09. Officers from approximately 15 Division C attended the training sessions. Division C, also known as the ‘Prairie Division’ is made up of a large area that includes 42 Illinois counties.
Dr. Todd Austin from Virden served as one of ten scheduled presenters at the TLI. Austin, the first President of the Tri-County Club and a former Area 1 Governor, has been a member of five Toastmasters clubs dating back to 1994, has been a founding member of two clubs (including Tri-County), and has served as Vice President of Public Relations in two different clubs for a total of 12 years (the past 10 with Tri-County).
Jim Blankenship, a financial planner from New Berlin, is a veteran officer with the Tri-County Club. He is also a founding and current member of the AIG (Company) Club in Springfield.
Also attending the TLI were Bill Guthrie, Ashley Lawrence, Brenda Masters-Stout, Kim Noyes & Jackie Rakers, who are all current officers of the new Montgomery County Club which meets in Hillsboro twice per month on Tuesday evenings.
The Tri-County Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday February 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center. The Montgomery County club meets on the first and third Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. at the Red Rooster Inn in Hillsboro. For more information about the Toastmasters program, or about joining or attending a club meeting, please call (217) 965-3100 or send e-mail to draustin@royell.net.
// posted by Jim @ 7:56 AM
