Our emperor, Albert, led us in a thought-provoking meeting centered on the theme of “The Commons”.  In modern society, there are many pieces of our day-to-day lives that are influenced by how we use our shared resources.  Shared resources include public education, transportation, social security, healthcare, and the list goes on.  Albert was inspired to bring this theme to Capital City Toastmasters, because as he put it “the future leaders of world are right here,” so what could be a better place to discuss topics of such importance.

The ever awesome and glowing, Ms. Rey of Sunshine was Table Topics Master.  She picked out four victims: Wendy, Becky, Patrick and Amy.  Wendy shared her thoughts on public rail transportation – she made Erin, the resident transportation engineer, so happy and proud by spouting off all of the great economic benefits rail can bring to a city.  Becky told us about her suffocating carpooling adventures with smoky Shirley and her husband – Becky drew the line at serving as a car seat for Shirley’s niece. Patrick synched a slew of ribbons the moment he handed his chewed gum to Rey.  He went on to give an enthusiastic rant about the need for more character and attitude in the Austin skyline.  Amy confessed she is the problem neighbor: a front door with paint and dried tomato (or was it egg) peeling off of it, a lawn tall enough to hide a decades worth of Easter eggs, and spirited, lively, inspirational dogs.

Li and Louis were the day’s speakers.

Li gave her second speech from the Competent Communication Manual; she titled it “Real People, Real Case”.  From Li we learned about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the real people influenced by SSDI.  Li told us about a memorable case she handled (she is an agent that reviews claims made in Texas).  We heard about the five-step process cases go through to determine whether the individual applying for SSDI is eligible.  We also heard about some of the heartbreaking plight in some individuals’ quest to obtain SSDI benefits.  Li’s take home message was to remember there are people and stories behind the snippets of statistics we see each day.

Louis gave a speech from an advanced manual, the Interpersonal Communication Manual.  The title of the project and speech was “The Coach”.  Louis did a nice job of introducing us all to the topic of coaching in a business atmosphere.  Essentially, considering how to effectively and positively influence an employee’s job performance.  The speech was organized into some introductory remarks, which flowed into a role-play with Robin serving as the employee with potential to improve.  The speech closed with a summary by Louis and a question and answer session with the audience.  Corky even pitched in his words of wisdom when it comes to coaching employees – managers/owners should approach the subject from the perspective of wanting to help the employee make more money, succeed beyond his or her current company position or another similar angle where the employee can see the clear benefit to himself or herself.

Ribbon Winners:

Best Table Topic – Patrick

Best Speaker – Li

Most Enthusiastic – Patrick

Best Evaluator – Darron

Best Humor – Patrick