Sunday, November 13, 2011

Fall Conference

Wow.  Busy weekend.

Drive to Fayetteville Friday afternoon.  Evening filled with evaluation contest, buffet dinner, and a Roast of former District Governor Sharon Hill.  I volunteered to be a judge, and I'm happy to state that my votes as a judge were spot on with the eventual 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.

After the Roast, I drove back to Cary, arriving about 11:40pm.  6 hours of sleep would have been enough, but the dog decided that she needed to wake me up at about 3:30am.   I wasn't able to immediately get back to sleep, and by the time the alarm woke me at 6:00am, I had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep.  This made Saturday interesting.  In spite of a big cup of coffee, and repeated cups during the day, I was dragging by the time I made it home.

Saturday morning started with the Parade of Banners, followed by a series of classes, Lunch, the District Business Meeting, the Humorous Speech Contest, Dinner, and presentation of Awards.  The only other thing of significance was the Silent Auction of gift baskets created by some of the clubs.  I bid on two baskets:  the first, a basket with assorted bath lotions and stuff, quickly exceeded my cost range.  The second, full of assorted goodies, I bid on a few minutes before the close of bidding.  $55 I ended up purchasing this basket for, with a posted retail price of about $190.  Fortunately, Pam wasn't too pissed off, since I gave it to here when I finally got home at 11:00pm

Friday, November 11, 2011

Meet the President

Last night, I attended the TechTalk Toastmasters club meeting.  In attendance was Toastmasters International President Michael Notaro.

I had a chance to speak with Mr. Notaro before the meeting, and I observed his interactions with other Toastmasters through the evening.  What struck me was the ease with which he displayed an interest in as many of the Toastmasters that he was able to, asking pertinent questions, and interacting appropriately.  I guess that if what enables one to become a leader.