Happy New Year, Mudslingers!

Past and Present Officers Meeting to Discuss The New Year!

Happy, New Year, Mudslingers! We have had a lot going on and we are not done with January yet.  We had our first officers' meeting two weeks ago and had a smooth changing of the guards. Everyone shared goals and  objective and game plans that are sure to keep the energy flowing for our group. Here is the updated list for the new officers. 

President - Art Leuterman

Vice President of Education- Stacy Franks

Vice President of Membership- Kathy Leu

Vice President of P.R.-  Carolina Little

Secretary-Treasurer- Meghan Riley

Sergeant of Arms- James Stark

Thanks again to the outgoing officers.  It was a great term with great results!  We saw our membership grow from 23 to 30 members. It was exciting to see our new members begin to tackle their goals by delivering speeches and conducting roles or by attending meetings and being an active audience. We had several members gain CC's and CL awards. Each individual accomplishment helped us earn, once again, Distinguished Club status. We are well on our way to earning the Select Club status. 

Our next meeting will be this Thursday in the Knowledge Center at 12:05 p.m. It is going to be another good meeting. Please be sure to sign up for roles and remember to starting planning your speaking schedule and having your CL books signed. 

All of us will help each other keep our New Year Resolutions of becoming our better selves. 

Bye, Bye 2011

Hi, Mudslingers!

Thanks to all who came out yesterday to close out the New Year! It was a special time and really fun just hanging out. Thanks to all who made it such a success.

A special congratulations to all who won the Cheesy Christmas Collectibles and the gift cards for the incentive drive. Sashi won a $25 gift card to Chili’s and Patrick won a $25 gift card to AMC movie theaters.

It was great seeing everyone have such a good time and hearing laughter is always uplifting.  For those of you who could not attend, you were missed.

Here is the announcement of the new officers:

President: Art Leuterman

Vice President of Education (after two run-offs and a close tie-breaker): Stacy Franks

Vice President of Membership: Kathy Leu

Vice President of Public Relations: Carolina Little

Secretary/Treasurer: Meghan Riley

Sergeant at Arms: James Stark

Congratulations to the new officers!  Very exciting to see new blood in the regime.

Here is the following calendar of events for the Mudslingers:

Dec. 22^nd, 29^th, and January 5^th- No TI Mudslingers Meetings

January 5^th-Officers’ Meeting at time of regular TI meeting

January 12^th-First TI  Mudslingers Meeting of 2012

January17th-Incentive dinner at TBA

We had a good year this year. I have no doubt we will get even better next year! Every member get your New Year’s Toastmasters resolutions ready. We are going to make it happen in 2012!

Happy Holidays and Have a Wonderful New Year,

Carolina

p.s.- get a head start on the New Year and sign up for roles today for the first meeting of 2012. 

Mudslinger Spotlight: Kathy Leu, ACB, CL

Toastmaster Kathy Leu, ACB, CL

When you are involved in a club such as Toastmasters where individual involvement is key for every meeting to be successful, you are happy to have a strong member like Kathy Leu.  Kathy Leu is the kind of coworker and club member who makes a strong interpersonal connection with every one she meets. Her magnetic personality combined with a very calm, laid-back demeanor almost belies her natural ability to lead and support when needed.  She is the kind of strong member that carries a club, rallies its members, and can be counted on to rise to the occasion. For these reasons, I chose Kathy Leu to be my first featured member for the Monthly Mudslinger Spotlight. 

 Please help me welcome Kathy Leu to the Spotlight… (Applause).

Carolina:  Hi, Kathy. Thanks for sitting down with me today. First things first, how did you hear about Toastmasters?

Kathy: I had seen the signs that promoted Toastmasters. At first, I decided that I could not make it because of the days.  I always had something that was going on and thought I should not join a club when I could not attend most of its meetings. Then, when I moved up to Supply Chain (M-I SWACO Department), my coworker, Monty, who was already a member dragged me to the meetings any way (chuckles). Ok, he did not really drag me, but I went with him. I attended a few meetings and sat in. Then, I decided to join.

Carolina: So you had never been in Toastmasters before?

Kathy: No. Never.

Carolina: That surprises me, because you have been such a strong member from the get-go. I thought you must have been involved with it before.

Kathy: (chuckles).

Carolina: So what do you enjoy most about being in Toastmasters?

Kathy: Just getting to know about people.  Meeting other people outside my own department. In my job, I do not have the opportunity to move around much to meet other employees. In Toastmasters, I have been able to meet many people from other departments that I would not have otherwise been able to meet.

Carolina: I agree with you. That is still one of my favorite things about Toastmasters, too. We learn so much about the members through their speeches whether they want us to or not.

Kathy: YES, I know! Like learning about Sara (Brunner) and how she struggled here after moving to America, being thrown into a second language and starting a new life. And hearing Nathan (Rife) sing in his speech.  I was so impressed.

Carolina: (laughing loudly) I know. Who knew Nathan could sing?

Kathy: Also, I was timing his speech and I was so into it that I lost track of timing him. 

Carolina:  Yes, I remember you saying that at the meeting. Very funny. How do you think Toastmasters has helped you recently?

Kathy: It helps me form my thoughts better. It really has helped me in my volunteer position with the Boy Scouts and presenting the benefits of scouting to new parents and helping them become familiar with the program.  I want to persuade the parents that we can all do this together (scouting). It does not have to be so overwhelming. We can all take a piece of the pie, and it will be a lot easier instead of one person doing it all.

Carolina: Why would you recommend Toastmasters to your coworkers and friends?

Kathy: Simply to gain more confidence.  Whether it is speaking to someone one-on-one or just being able to express a thought. It is easier in your head, but actually, speaking out loud is a lot harder, especially keeping your grammar and tenses in line with your train of thoughts.  I have a lot of great speeches in my head (laughs). 

  

Carolina:  Okay, now we are to the part where we get to know Kathy Leu. What are a few things left on your BUCKET LIST?

Kathy: (laughs) I don’t have a BUCKET LIST. In fact, the first time I ever heard of it was in the movie (The Bucket List), but I personally don’t have one.  

Carolina: Do you at least have one non-official thing you would like to do?

Kathy: There is a running joke I have with my husband. One year while he was in college, he toured Europe after a big breakup with a girlfriend.  He went with a buddy and they road trains, lived in Hostels, and backpacked through Europe. He was able to see Europe and I’m like when will you take me to see the Eiffel Tower? When do I get to see the Eiffel Tower? Of course, we have been married for over 35 years and I still haven’t been to France. I tell him, when are you going to take me? You promised. Of course, I am going on a cruise for our anniversary.

Carolina: Yay! Ok, next question: what is your favorite movie?

Kathy: Oh, Sound of Movie would be one.  My Fair Lady would be another. Now you get to see what types of movies I like. Another, not well known, is The Flower Drum Song. I can identify with this movie. It is sort of like West Side Story, but the Chinese- coming- to- America. I can see my grandmother, my mom, and myself in it. It’s my story.  It came out the same year as West Side Story, but was overshadowed by it.

Carolina: Well, you know, Natalie Wood and all…. (Laughter).

Kathy: oh, yeah, and The Joy Luck Club.

Carolina: I LOVE The Joy Luck Club.

Kathy: Again that movie I can identify with. It is very true, the cultural clashes of generations. Very much like The Flower Drum Song.

Carolina: What is your perfect getaway?

Kathy: Anywhere I can relax and cross-stitch, not the pattern cross-stitch, but COUNTED cross-stitch.

Carolina: In a few sentences, give me a mini-autobiography of yourself.

Kathy:  I am a first-generation American. My parents are from China. I couldn’t speak English. When I went to elementary school, I failed first grade! They actually failed me. In Junior High, I went to summer school to get back to my original graduation date (before I failed first grade).  I was born in San Francisco born in the Chinese Hospital. That is the actual name of the hospital. It is in the middle of China Town. That is always a cool thing to say. A lot is expected of the first born, which I am. I never got to participate in a lot of school events. I always had to go home and help out at the family grocery store. The plan was to go to school, graduate college, and continue to help out with the family business. My fist date was an arranged date by my mother and the guy’s mother (not her husband) to go to the prom. I met my husband (Leeland) during my last year of high school at a city-wide picnic for Chinese in Houston. Back then in Houston, the Chinese community was small. We all knew each other. We met again in college at University of Houston. Our circle of friends overlapped, so we got to meet each other, see each other, so we were friends first. I am a wedding coordinator. I have done 35 weddings.  I have three sons. I am officially old because I am a grandmother.  I have a grandson and a granddaughter from my oldest son. My second son is working after graduation. My third son is in his last year and a half of college.  So that is my life in a nut shell.

Carolina: So you are still involved in Boy Scouts even though your sons are out of it?

Kathy: Oh, yes. We are still involved because we have a connection with people. Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and become Eagle Scouts – the highest rank in Scouting! We know there are parents out there who share the same value system as we do and want the same things for their kids, so we keep helping out for that reason and because we are still having fun.

(End of Interview)

Kathy has come a long way from the little girl who did not speak English and failed first grade.  She has earned her Competent Leader certification though Toastmasters International and recently her Advanced Communicator Bronze.  She successful served as Vice President of Education for the club in 2010 and early 2011, a position that is both challenging and demanding.  I often go to her for advice and guidance.  Kathy is a very strong supporter of Toastmasters. She is a PR machine in her own right. She also is a mentor to all of us. Her absence is felt at meetings when she cannot attend (which is rare), so you can imagine what our club would be like without her.  Luckily, we will not have to know what that is like if Kathy has anything to do with it. By the way, her favorite color is purple. After seeing the write up of this article, she requested that her answers be in her favorite color purple. 

HalloWEen Mudslingers Event

Hi, Mudslingers!

What a great time we had this past Monday hosting the company to Halloween fun with hot dogs, costumes, and camaraderie. It was great to pick up the tradition from past years of throwing  a Halloween shin dig including good times, good food, and good people. We even got to showcase our club.

It was awesome to see how we all pulled together to pull off the event. It had a rocky start, with no electricity to heat up the dogs and other what-nots, but we managed  to get  started in the nick of time. A lot of Toastmasters leadership training shone through from planning and implementation to organizing and delegation with public relations and time management thrown in.  As busy as we all are, we made time to successfully throw an event and kept smiling through it all! That is what we are all about.

I would like to give  special shout outs to:

• Sara Brunner who headed up the decorations committee  and made sure to decorate even though she was sick and working on a priority project that day! True grit. 
• I would also like to specially thank Stacy Franks who came in on her day off to help. Now, that is dedication. 
• Thanks to Kathy Leu  from getting away from her pressing end of the month work to set up and serve the food and drink station. She was quick to help head up the hospitality committee when asked knowing that would be a crazy time for her. We had a good time shopping for the food!
•  Thanks to Patrick Tyczynski and Martina Chambliss for being awesome and buying much needed extras for the event in their limited spare time. 
•  A HUGE thanks to Art Leuterman for all his help setting up and breaking down. 
• James Stark and Nathan Rife were instrumental in helping Sara start decorating early for the event. This was a big undertaking considering how hard it is to get away from work.
• Stella Zepeda, Autumn Lewis, Rosemary Mayo, Tamesha Wells, and Carol Lowry  significantly helped out with last minute details in order to help our club have a successful event. They are not even members but wanted to help out any way. Thanks so much, ladies! 
• Facilities was reliable and responsive in helping us out in a pinch and making sure we had plenty of tables and chairs for our guests and setups.
• Eric Ngo you rocked the camera! Thanks for taking on the task when asked last minute :-)
• A big thanks to all who helped bring in coolers and slow cookers for the event; Min Liu, Stacy Franks, LaShaunda Johnson, Stacy Franks, and Sara Brunner. 
• Thanks to our sponsors who contributed generous gift certificates to award as prizes: Tracy with Double Daves, Karen with Houston Adventure Boot Camp, and Antonio with Corporate Retreat  Car Spa.

Thanks to everyone for helping in whatever way they could from attending to passing on by word of mouth to pitching in some elbow grease at the event or taking down signs afterwards. We had a wonderful time and I  look forward to next year's main event.

Rocktober

Hi, Mudslingers,

We  had another good meeting yesterday with a full agenda and roster. A HUGE thanks to all those who stepped in last minute to fill roles and did so with a big smile.

I would like to give a shout-out to the new members who did a great job filling in for their “first-time” roles:

Meghan Riley delivered a very thorough report as ah counter, grammarian, and WOD . She was no-holds- barred in her evaluation, even with the guest speaker. Way to go!

Tor Palmgren was very calm, laid-back, and precise with his time keeping. He is always the gentleman even with  a stopwatch in his hands.

Eric Ngo gave a very solid first evaluation of Nathan Rife's speech, So You Chose Not to Listen To Me. Eric remembered to select things to share with the speaker to improve upon, as well as, what was good.

James Stark made us all laugh. As humorist, he really helped to start the meeting off on the right note.  Not many first-timers fall to the ground to prove a point.

Not to be outdone, the seasoned-members shone yesterday, too. Our brilliant and elegant, Sara Hinkley, delivered a strong evaluation of our guest speakers’,  Lt Governor of Education and Training, Andre Romeo, inspiring speech, The Prescription. Sarah  proved  once again that she belongs among the best. Sashi Mettath,CC, also had the honor of evaluating our star of the day, Kathy Leu, who earned her Advanced Communicator Bronze with the speech, Life Can Be Funny. Sashi echoed our sentiments as a club on just how much we appreciate and have enjoyed Kathy as a speaker.

And how wonderful was it to see our very special guest, Glenda, yesterday? She is a Mudslinger Alum who brings smiles to everyone’s faces when she walks into a room.  She is iridescent - our WOD. 

We had almost half of our membership absent yesterday and we missed them, BUT the encouraging part was that the show still went on AND goals were reached.  Not many clubs can accomplish that. We have been on a roll!

Yesterday, we as a club earned a newly-branded banner! But as a Distinguished Club looking to go Select and even Presidential this year, that is just the first of many accomplishments our group will see come to pass.

Congratulations, Mudslingers! You ROCK!!! NOW, let’s keep it going.  Please remember to sign up for roles today for next week’s meeting.

Happy Weekend!

Keep The Date:

Monday, October 31, 2011 - Toastmasters International Mudslingers Halloween Event

Change It Up!

Happy Monday, Mudslingers!

Last Thursday we had another full meeting filled with a lot of good stuff. The word of the day was languid and the theme of the meeting was CHANGE.  Certainly, our club has not been languid in our attempts to move forward in the midst of change. Here are some examples: 

 1) James Stark, our new member, made his debut as the Table Topics Master this past Thursday and did a great job! The topics were really creative and  interesting which made for a very entertaining Table Topics session. In the end, there can only be one Table Topics winner  and the trophy traveled to Eric Ngo’s office.

2) Nathan Rife,  Sara Brunner, and Eric Ngo were recognized for delivering their 8^th (9^th in manual), 1rst (Ice Breaker), and 2nd speeches respectively. 

Eric Ngo (left), Nathan Rife (center), and Sara Brunner (right)

3) While Doug Graves presented the Distinguished Club ribbon sent from Toastmasters International recognizing the Mudslingers’ accomplishments over the past year.

Past President, Doug Graves, and Past Vice President of Education, Kathy Leu

4) The new members have also brought in new energy that have helped to add zest to our meetings and they have really taken the bull by its horns and have jumped right in.   

I would also like to thanks every member for stepping up and making the meetings successful, not only by volunteering for roles, but by being an engaging audience.   I would also like to thank everyone for being on top of their CL and CC manuals.  It is great to see goals being met.

Don’t forget to sign up for roles today. We have a guest speaker this week and two members delivering speeches. Therefore, we  may not be able to do Table Topics, but will have them in our back pocket just in case. The theme is ROCKTOBER. Let ‘s have fun with it!

See you, Thursday!

Quick On Your Feet

Photo provided courtesy of VietnamFreeLancer.Info

Table Topics™ can be fun. For most of us, they are even more fun when others are taking them on.  Usually, there is an awkward silence that follows the Table Topics Master (TTM) when he or she asks for someone to come up to the front for a topic. Then, there are the members who are willing to bail the TTM out and go up to the front. We all appreciate those members! 

But, if we only listen and enjoy as spectators and not participants, then we are not reaping the full benefits of conducting Table Topics in our meetings.  The Table Topics segment was designed to keep us in practice for thinking and speaking quickly on our feet. According to Toastmasters International, 

That’s why the “Table Topics” portion of the Toastmasters club meeting was developed. Table Topics provides you with the opportunity to practice impromptu speaking. By answering brief Table Topics questions, you learn how to present your thoughts clearly and convincingly, with no more than a few seconds of preparation. You also learn to listen constructively, and to think flexibly.

 We can even think of Table Topics as exercise for the mind. The more repetitions we do, the stronger we become at delivering them.  By achieving this goal, we also gain more confidence which helps us when we are put on the spot or know we may be asked to field questions during a meeting or presentation. 

However we push ourselves into participating in Table Topics, we are moving ourselves in the right direction. By taking on Table Topics, we are well on our way to becoming better thinkers, listeners, communicators, and Toastmasters. As Toastmasters we know that no one in the audience is waiting to throw a tomato at us, at least not in the meeting. We also know that we are wishing success for each other, especially at impromptu speaking. More importantly, we have all been there. Yes, at one time or another, we have all been asked something out of the blue or had to wing it. 

At the next Table Topics segment in our meeting, let’s go ahead and take the plunge.  Let's raise our hands and go to the front and prove to ourselves and to the world (cue Chariots of Fire to play in the background) that we can do it!  We can answer the topic:

What was your strangest date ever?

And everyone would love to hear it.

Plus, rumor has it; there is a pretty nifty award we can win for being the best.