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Highlights from Jan12, 2011 |
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM Jan 12, 2011
By Stella Zhang
Meeting Minutes
Date: Jan 12, 2011
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Zhaolong Hotel, Beijing
Words have power
Thanks to tonight’s open-meeting chair Steven, it’s my first time to know why we cannot talk about 4 taboos in Toastmaster meeting. 1) Taboos are inclined to be involved with legal disputes. Toastmaster will not have money to pay for lawyers because we are non-profit organization 2) Taboos are not good for educating members since we are educational organization.
Tonight I learnt a lot of things from VIP team. As an AH counter, you can be informative as Yucheng. He not only helped you count unnecessary words but also convinced you reason why we don’t need Ahs in your speech as well as shared with you how to remove AHs. As a timer, you can be kind as Alpha. He gave 6 minutes more to Excom to make various announcements. He is even kinder to praise Yucheng for his improvement by exceeding the time limit only by 36 seconds as a Ah counter.
I was very impressed by lovely Vivian’s prepared speech “25=0”. Wish you have a very fresh start both in work and in love. After tonight, when you mentioned “better man”, the first thing came to my mind will not be the song by Robbin Williams any more, but the speech given by CHIC “better man” Gale. He advocated being a better man by being good husband and good father.
From the story of two frogs, Toastmaster tonight Connie inspired us that words have power. In related to the toastermaster meeting, she advised the evaluators to be gentle to ladies. If you want to be tough, please evaluate Caesar. Our evaluators tonight followed Toastmaster’s advice very well. Though Luca got the speech # of Vivian wrongly, he quickly adapted his comments to her speech. Charlie provided his serious but professional evaluation to “Better man” Gale. He passed on Hubert’s feedback to him to Gale. “Repeat the sentence why necessary, which can make the speech much stronger”. Nice evaluators, great evaluations.
Table Topic Master Joyce brought us an enjoyable table topic session. Speakers shared with the audiences on the powerful celebrity, book, teacher, motto and turning point in your life. Steven, Na, Stella, Yi, John, and Bowen participated in the session. Bowen, a cool girl won the best table topic award for tonight. Although she claimed that she didn’t have any motto in her life, she did leave us the strong motto written by her “be confident and believe in yourself”.
If you don’t want to be mistaken as a guest, please come to the meeting more often. This is not the notice posted by President, but the joke told by Loose. It’s his true story.
Lisa shared with us the next episode of bengbeng cart. This time, she waited in the cold night to search for a handsome driver, but the driver cheated her. If you are curious what’s the ending of story and whether this joke is true or not, do ask Meco (Chic evaluator) or anyone who were present in tonight’s meeting.
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Highlights from Jan05, 2011 |
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM Jan05, 2011
By Joyce Zhou
Meeting Minutes
Date: Jan 05, 2011
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Zhaolong Hotel, Beijing
It was CHIC's 2011 first meeting on the night of Jan. 05, 2011. Outside it was really windy & freezing, in contrast our Zhaolong hotel meeting room was extremely warm and cozy. More than 20 members showed up and we filled the room with laughter and joy!
Our guest chair Alpha arrived quite early, he stood beside the door and said hello to all the members as they arrived. Observing him talking with the guests, I strongly felt his sincerity and passion for CHIC. He set a good example for me on how to take care of the members that day.
Our new President, Jennifer started the meeting by asking the audience, “What was your biggest improvement in 2010.” She shared two stories with us, which will encourage us to face challenges, continue to progress, and have the confidence to be ourselves even when we try to satisfy others.
Connie shared her unforgettable and valuable moments with CHIC and working with us on her Project 3. I can feel her joy in making improvement over the past year. I also enjoyed her stories which about growing up. Her evaluator, Charlie said that her speech would be even better if she could work on the transition between the stories and use vocal variety and an expressive energized voice to keep the audience interested.
One of our best speakers, Lisa reviewed 2010 by sharing three stories with us.
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She took a Bengbeng motorcycle equipped with modern radio to the car shop without asking the price, and she insisted on paying only 5 Yuan instead of the 10 Yuan asked by the driver. – Moral: Do ask things clearly, don’t assume.
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She bought a big bowl for her father, yet it was actually too big and heavy for him. – Moral: Know the receiver’s needs before you give a gift.
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She tried to take some luluo and got caught by the camera in her new company. – Moral: Never steal anything no mater how small it is.
Lisa’s humor along with her strong delivery skills entertained us a lot, and I couldn't stop laughing over and over. Leo as her evaluator suggested she pause when giving the punch line to enhance the humor's impact.
Table topic master Gale made alphabet letters and let each member choose one, then Gale presented each person with a question beginning with the letter of the alphabet they chose.
CCTMC's new president Cathy’s Career Goal is to be a marketing specialist. She is now an super assistant in the office but plans to never give up her dream.
Cicsy’s dream for the next 10 year is to travel all over the world to her favorite places, to make her family happier and have a baby.
JiaJia’s favorite comedy star is Zhou Xing Chi, she is a big fan of his movies.
Neo thought failure is just the ladder of getting success and he didn’t come up a big failure he made in work. He was willing to share his prepared story with us but unfortunately time was limited and Steven dinged him out off the floor before he could make it.
Gemini’s Talent was to encourage others to be motivated and to get involved, to reach their goals.
“My biggest weakness iiiiiiis …. I am still thinking…” Charlie’s strong point was overcoming his fear of facing difficulties, so he made a perfect motivational speech even though he couldn’t figure out what his weakness was on stage ….this evidently was supposed to be his speech topic.
Our kidnapped table topics evaluator Lynn gave her thoughtful suggestions to the impromptu speakers.
First timer Steven did a great job in the last meeting, he was very strict with rules and even reflected overusing the 1 min during the break, his organizing skills brought praise from our general evaluator Yucheng that night, Yucheng got off the stage immediately when Steven rang the bell, even before he finished the rest humorous evaluations.
Our lovely, Italian sunny boy Luca made fun of himself sharing some embarrassing childhood moments with us. We all laughed out loud about his childhood naivete.
We finished the meeting right on time and we said farewell to the first time guests Sally, Cathy and Derek. See you guys next Wednesday night!
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Excerpts from the Book of CHIC |
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Preface
In the beginning there were rules, regulations and standardizations. The Toastmasters world was without color. It was not good. And so, it was spoken: “Let there be Light.” A Messenger was sent to prepare the way for a new world. That Messenger was born into CCTMC, the most powerful kingdom of the land, and quickly rose in ranks to become the President. He then followed his destiny, and in December of 2009, began the split of CCTMC to create a new kingdom.
Chapter 1: The beginning
January 6, 2010, the Messenger carries good news. The chosen people will begin the sacred journey to bring creativity, humor and imagination to the world, and peace on earth. It was a red-letter day. Even the Messenger’s wife came to witness the birth of the kingdom. To serve along side him are the Knights of the Roundtable: Laura the VPE, Lisa the Treasurer, Crystal the VPM, Ashley the Scheduler, Yucheng the Secretary, Malina the VPPR, and Jeff the SAA. Our people were armed and ready, for the perilous road ahead: along with Connie, Ivy, Jessie, Jennifer, Lynn, Jonah, Ludivine, Phil, Leo, Snow, Vicky, Molly, and Cindy the Negotiator, we called ourselves the CHICers.
Chapter 5: The Humor
February 10th, the Kingdom spent its Chinese New Years with a 春节晚会。 It was symbolic of the humor that would bring color to the world of Toastmasters. Who can forget Hubert and Jessie as the host of the show? Who can forget the discovery of 黑玉断续膏, the magical cream that can cure hemorrhoids and piece back together a decapitated head. Laughter and Humor shall have a holy place in the hearts of our people. This is CHIC. The message will spread to the entire world.
Chapter 6: The Creativity
The people of CHIC have a calling: depart from the old way of doing things. Try something new and explore the untapped potential in all of us. We CHICers have been faithful to this purpose. We found new roles such as opening chair, the humor sessions, the Jokemaster, and CHIC evaluator. We started the duet evaluations and group evaluations. We even have a CHIC member song. Our people believe in breaking away from tradition and embracing the unknown. This is CHIC. The message will surely travel to the ends of the earth.
Chapter 13: The darkest hours.
In the months of March through May, only a handful has visited the kingdom. The weekly gatherings are sparse and few. Will the word spread? Will they come? The messenger sometimes feels discouraged. But he, along with the people of CHIC and the knights of the Roundtable find strength and faith in one another. Our fellowship will carry us through these dark hours, and the dawn of a new morning will soon arrive.
Chapter 14: The new knights:
Starting in July, the messenger continues his role as the President. We also have Lisa the VPE, Vivian Xu the Scheduler, Jen the VPM, Jeff the Treasurer, Jessie the SAA. Stella and Luca assume the role of Secretary and VPPR mid way through the term. These new Knights of the Roundtable continued to expand and solidify the foundation of the young kingdom. The sun will rise again.
Chapter 15: The New Blood
I am glad to see new CHICers joining the kingdom. These are miracles to be celebrated.
February: Alpha.
March: Ouyang and Stella.
April: Luca and Lawrence
May: Meco and Zhao Peng
Aug: Charlie, Joyce and Gale
Sept: Iris
Oct: Vivian Li
November: Tim and Coana
Chapter 23: The battle of the speech-contests
In September, in the head-to-head competition against the other kingdoms, the CHICers did very well in our first year. Janet and Lisa made it to the division contest, while Lisa made it to the district level for the evaluation contest. The CHIC people are proud of their achievements. It is a sign that this kingdom shall flourish for years to come.
Chapter 32: The achievements
Information is missing. We must find the sacred scrolls to recover the lost records of who have achieved CC and CL, and when. These records will be a testament and an inspiration for all CHICers to improve and grow.
Chapter 38. The Departures
The first year of the Kingdom saw the departure of two elders. Ashley, the first term scheduler left in June and Laura, one of the co-founder of the kingdom, and former VPE, left in August. They brought to our people the CHIC spirit, served everyone with their passion and unselfish heart. They are a model for us all, and we will forever remember them in the history of CHIC. The city doors will always be open for their return.
Chapter 44: End of an era
In November, the CHIC kingdom seeks to have new Knights of the Roundtable. The era of The Messenger is ending. We will have Jennifer the President, Ivy the VPE, Charlie the VPM, Stella the Secretary, Luca the VPPR, and Gale the SAA to lead the way. The people of CHIC will continue its expansion and spread the good news: In Toastmasters, Humor, creativity, and imagination are not only possible, but essential!
Chapter 45: Beginning of a new chapter, to be written in 2011.
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Highlights from Dec29, 2010 |
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM DEC29, 2010
By Steven He
Meeting Minutes
Date: Dec 29, 2010
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Zhaolong Hotel, Beijing
The theme of Today’s meeting is “Celebration and Reflection”.
Firstly, Hubert, as tonight’s Toastmaster and the father of CHIC [Note: Hubert, it is not your fault to be so masculine and productive, but it is really against the Chinese Birth Control Policy for you to have so many babies], brought us back to the sacred, glorious, difficult and epic journey of CHIC. Hubert shared us with the establishment of CHIC by him and the Knights from scratch, injection of the theme “Creativity, Humor and Imagination” into CHIC, the departure of some members and the darkest time of sparse members, the injection of new blood and the achievements of CHIC in respects of the speech contest and its members’ achieving CC and CL. CHIC cannot live without the combined effort of all the founders, members and guests.
Secondly, we had the open floor session “members sharing their memories, lessons and achievements”. Gale shared his top five unforgettable events in 2010, including buying a car, admission to Toastmasters and having a new job. Charlie shared his relocation to Beijing and making new friends in the CHIC family. Lynn indicated she had never participated in the Table Topic session before since her admission to CHIC , and fulfilled her wish by an impromptu sharing of his memories in CHIC and expressing her admiration as a fan for Hubert.
Then, Alpha addressed a prepared speech titled “Chinese People”. Alpha indicated that the typical traditional Chinese are too conservative, good at observation but not addressing a public speech. There is no even one Chinese world champion of public speech so far during the past Toastmasters speech contests. Alpha also encouraged us to practice and improve in this regard.
Followed is the Table Topic session. We have some heavyweights to help our members and guests realize their wishes tonight. Both Phil and Crystal’s wish is to achieve CC in 2011. Jennifer’s wish is to have more time for physical exercise. Bill Gates will help Charlie find a desirable girl friend.
After that, Lisa hosted the fun and games session. During the “You indicate, I guess” riddle session, Hubert and Vivien's team won the first place by hitting seven answers, followed by Jennifer and Jeff team hitting six answers. 男女搭配, 干活不累. They are really matching partners.
Finally, Hubert hosted the “Installation of New Officers” session. Hubert passed CHIC’s torch to the new officers. As part of the ceremony, Hubert required each of the new officers to kiss his right hand (咸猪手). However, Gale kissed it, Charlie bit it, Jennifer flapped it and Lynn clapped it. Each of the new officers consummated the ceremony in a humorous, imaginative and creative manner. Hubert committed to continue to encourage, challenge and joke with the CHIC members in the future. All of us will miss you, Hubert. As the new officers, each of Jennifer, Charlie, Lynn and Gale then expressed their enthusiasm to serve and take care of all the members and guests during their respective inauguration speech. During the Q&A session, the new officers committed to try to provide enough educational trainings and video reflections in the future.
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