TMV Spring 2024

The National Association of Toastmasters

TOASTMASTERS’ VOICE TMV SPRING 2024

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

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Hello everyone,

luck to you all.

I hope this Spring edition of the TMV finds you and your families well and I do hope that business is picking up as it is the beginning of the Wedding Season.

Since the last Publication we have had our Social Weekend at Dunston Hall and there is a report and photos in this Edition of TMV. A fabulous weekend and my thanks to everybody involved. I had the greatest pleasure in appointing Ian Haskell as our newest Honorary Member on our last night.

He has supported the NAT for many years at Christmas and social functions as our official photographer and DJ. As he is now hanging up his “vinyl” it only seemed right. Many thanks Ian and hope to see you at an NAT function in the not too distant future.

I would like to welcome our newest Member, Alex Murphy, who passed his Associate exam with flying colours in February. Well done Alex and welcome to the NAT family. Also, many congratulations to Brian Lee, Ian Lloyd and last but certainly not least, our hard working Editor, Richard Mitchell, who also passed their exams with flying colours and are now Members. My congratulations to their Trainers, Tony Forward, Paul Deacon and Howard Robbins.

Whilst we are on the topic of Training, I would like to pass on my thanks to Paul Deacon, who is stepping down from Training to concentrate on other things. If there is anybody reading this who feels that they would like to offer their experience as a Trainer, please get in contact with me. As it stands we only have 3 Trainers and there is certainly room for more.

I am delighted to say that we have another Board of Examiners organised, hopefully to admit 2 new Members and one to sit the Membership exam. Good

I am looking forward to this year’s Christmas luncheon as our VP, Robert Persell, has shared his intentions with me, which will be publicised as soon as it is all finalised.

And finally, in closing, I hope you all have a fabulous Spring and Summer and whatever you are up to - holidays, working or just sitting back and enjoying life, “May you enjoy the warmth of your family and sunshine on your face” 😊 Best wishes Tom Reddy President

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TMV Contents

08 - Paul Deacon stands down as trainer

26 - Delve into the Archives - 2006

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02

Message from the President

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Editor introduction and information

24 I Was Afraid of Dogs - Janice Dorn - TMV Story

26 Delve into the Archives from 2006

10 Cyber Security - David Tinney

14 Norwich NAT Social Weekend

20 Upping the Sales Game - Michael Brunker

22 Did He Make a Difference - Geoff Harris

14 - Norwich NAT Social Weekend

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Welcome to the Spring edition of the TMV. As ever, my sincere thanks go to those who have taken time to contribute to this issue.

Listening to the news you will be fully aware of all the problems and pitfalls around computer, smartphone and iPad technology. I am delighted that David Tinney has again agreed to share his vast knowledge in a bite-size, understandable and useable fashion. Once again, I would strongly recommend reading his article and acting upon his advice.

A very welcome addition to this issue is Michael Brunkner, sharing his thoughts and experience regarding ‘upping’ the chance of gaining a client from a Wedding Fair. There are many very experienced toastmasters amid the Association and I am sure there will be many of us who would appreciate your thoughts in this area and/or

many other ones linked with ‘toastmastering’.

A massive thank you to Neal Laver, a wedding photographer, who took time out of his busy schedule to judge our photo competition.

As I have said before, we are such an eclectic group that I am sure there are many more fascinating articles to be had - please, please send them in.

If you have any thoughts about what you would like to see in the TMV please contact me at richard@ cambridgetoastmaster.com with your suggestions.

Happy reading!

Richard Mitchell Editor

Blue Sapphire Wedding Anniversary!

A very happy Blue Sapphire Wedding Anniversary, 1959-2024, to Pauline and Ken Tappenden.

Sixty-five very happy years together is a remarkable feat. A huge congratulations to you both from all of us at the NAT

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Pauline and Ken Tappenden

Ray Bonnard - a true Gentleman.

1947 - 2024

The NAT has been notified of the death of Raymond (Ray) Bonnard aged 77. Born in Birmingham and working mainly as a Toastmaster in the Wirrall. He joined the NAT as an Associate in November 2002 and became a Member in November 2004.

Ray was also a Life Member and Past-President of the Northern Guild of Toastmasters. He was regarded by all as a first-class Toastmaster. He resigned from the NAT and retired in January 2014.

Ray’s daughter, Helen May wrote on behalf of herself and her sister Rachel - Dad was the kindest, most quick witted and honest person I knew. He had time for everyone and a laugh that could be heard for miles. He had such a strong moral compass and I was privileged to have him as a dad. He told me that I had taught him so much, but dad it was seriously the other way around. You were so loved by all your family. If I can be half the parent/ person that you were then I will have done well.

Past President Stephen Sanders said of Ray - He was a first class Toastmaster and a very

highly regarded Christian Gentleman Ian Lloyd, NAT member, wrote - I had the pleasure of working with Ray for 10 years at Wincham Hall Hotel in Cheshire, where he served as the resident Toastmaster. Ray was always there when I was working on weddings, offering couples his consummate professionalism and unwavering support.

His quick wit and charming anecdotes always brought a smile to my face and left me in awe of his memory.

Even after Ray had retired from his role as a Toastmaster, I would often run into him and his wife, Valmia, at Christmas flower demonstrations I hosted at their local garden centre on the Wirral. Upon learning of my interest in becoming a Toastmaster myself, Ray was incredibly supportive. I will fondly remember his ever-cheerful demeanour and miss his presence dearly.

We at the NAT offer our sincere condolences to Ray’s wife Valmia, daughters Helen May, Rachel and all his family and friends.

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Top Toastmaster Trainer has Timed-out his Tutoring

Paul Deacon I am advising the Executive committee that I am looking to give up training Toastmasters. I was overjoyed when LV-P Howard asked me to join him in training courses and over the last 10 years it has been a genuine pleasure to teach excellent Toastmasters who have all chosen to join the NAT having passed the exams they entered. I congratulate again: Secretary Michael Myers Simon Styles Ken Negus Jez Druce Lee Taylor TMV editor Richard Mitchell Ian Lloyd Tim Podesta Peter Sumner Michael Brunker Stuart Lugg Ross Sullivan Rory Windass Alex Murphy However, I now want to develop other skills and, not only have I trained as a wedding celebrant, but I am also taking lessons to become a jazz drummer. With the regular need to keep a 8

large library of training notes up to date and a commitment to many hours of training, I must give up my training role.

Having seen Richard Mitchell and Ian Lloyd pass the senior exam recently, and helped Brian Lee with a revision course, following his pre-pandemic training with Tony Forward, I have undertaken to complete the membership level for all our existing trainees who want to become full members. Howard and I will be delighted to train anyone who wants to move forward from Associate level and develop their skills but, with my long holidays planned to Vancouver, Costa Rica and Portugal, I intend to finish training around the end of this year. If anyone would like to shadow me at an event in the meantime, please ask me.

A couple of friends have asked if I am stopping my Toastmaster work but with over 60 events in my diary this year and 30 more already booked for 2026 that is definitely not my intention.

A sincere thank you to Paul from all of us who have benifitted from his support and guidence.

Apologies from the Secretary “In my recent email following our recent Associate and Member exam, I mistakenly said that Brian Lee had been trained by Paul Deacon and Howard Robbins. In fact, he was trained by Tony Forward. I have apologised for this error to Tony and am more than happy to put the record straight.”

Photo Competition Acclaimed wedding photographer Neal Laver very kindly agreed to judge our photo competition – photo entries can be seen in the Winter 2023 edition of the TMV. Neil selected the photograph ‘Hat and Hangover’ taken by some bloke called Richard Mitchell.

The winner will receive a bottle of champagne.

Here is Em mental Introduction A bride asked Paul Deacon if he could make some jokes about the couple’s cake of cheese.

He offers the following for general information in case a colleague is asked to do the same.

“This is going to sound cheesy but please do not cheddar tear. It’s a very gouda cake of cheese, with e dam fine collection of brie-lliant choices which will give pleasure still ton ight and make you stronger and feta to let you look in the mirror tomorrow and say (guests join in) Hallou me!”

Dates for the diary Annual General Meeting Sunday 6th October 2024

Executive Committee Meeting Monday 10th June 2024 Monday 9th September 2024

NAT Christmas Lunch Monday 25th November 2024 9

Cyber S This year phishing is becoming more prevalent and continues unabated.

Please please please do Not click on any links on an email or mobile phone unless you have requested it or confirmed the source sending it to you. Even then use your trusted route or app. If a bank says there is a message for you click here, go into your app and the message will be there, if it is real.

Set up a trusted route into all your apps and communications.

The same now applies to attachments and QR codes. These give permission for your computer to let downloads in and they may contain a virus.

Have you heard of ChatGPT! Machine Learning or AI Artificial Intelligence are the big buzzwords at the moment in the tech fields, but what are they.? To keep it short, I am going to describe them as the next generation of predictive processing. Many in the industry will shoot me for this and say they are more than that but my take is they produce output based on their knowledge of you and all the input in their learning engine (often that is just the internet).

I spoke with a Cyber expert recently who said they carried out an experiment with one of the big AIs. They fed into the AI “I am going to .....” and it responded with the action that it has been declared most people do, but it was wrong. They then provided some context. I love tennis. “I am going to ...” yes you guessed it a tennis related activity. They continued to build the context and the answer kept being narrowed down. Was it thinking!! Not really.

Samsung famously asked one of the engines to write its minutes of the meeting they just had. They uploaded their notes and out came the minutes. Job well done. The notes were added to their learning engine... can’t get anything back!!!

The meeting was a session to discuss their new future product enhancements.

Then, the unthinkable. One of the competitors asked the AI what are the ideas Samsung has for its new products and guess what! Yes, you guessed it! Wonder where they came from.

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Security So, what are the risks to you. Pretty minor if you keep personal data and Intellectual property away. I have written 3 books over the last 10 years. If, and I did not, I had asked Chat GPT to write some of it who owns the intellectual property? Me or Chat GPT? There are a number of solicitors gearing up for hearings in 5, 10 or even 15 years time. Who wrote the music, the film, the story etc?

Now, for us as Toastmasters, the main issue will be Personal Data and relying on the engine for the truth. If you allow personal data on ChatGPT and it carries out profiling (not permitted by GDPR unless you are expressly asked permission to carry out a specific profiling activity) the Personal Data has been shared with everyone who has access to the engine in the case of ChatGPT, that could be the world and you cannot get it back.

I recently could not remember how often you can take Lemsip. I knew it was either every six or eight hours. I put the request on a normal search engine but somehow it went to an AI Engine. The answer came back….great… “Every 2 hours”. Now I may be paranoid but are they out to get me? It certainly is not every 2 hours!

Companies will start to use this technology and, combined with some other new technology that can reproduce your voice, it will appear you are talking to another human being. Next time you talk to a call centre! How are you going to fool it to establish whether it is human? What can you ask that is not in that body of knowledge (the internet) or an internal engine or that you have shared with the company already? - Good luck!

I have mentioned this before but it has come up to my automatic antivirus renewal.

It was quite a lot more than our TM membership! I cancelled the Autorewal and bought the same product from Amazon. A new code for the same package £19.99 was issued - well I have a 10 device licence. All you have to do is change the licence code on your account - You Tube will show you how if you get lost. It saved me more than my TM membership!

Please be mindful of any auto renewal. Check you cannot get it more cheaply by offers or vouchers.

Europe’s largest parking app provider, EasyPark Group, informed customers just recently of a Data Breach. A cyberattack that compromised “non-sensitive” customer information, including names, phone numbers, addresses, emails, and partial IBAN or card numbers. The breach, reported on December 10, didn’t

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expose data used for parking transactions or vehicle details.

A year ago I mentioned the 5 pillars of Cyber • • • • •

Identify Detect Protect Respond Recover

Your identity is key and banks are now not only using the typical identification techniques but banks in the US are already experimenting with AI and more different tracking features.

Let’s run through it.

If you use your bank card to buy an airfare to Las Vegas and then you go to Heathrow and use your bank card to buy something in a shop at Heathrow and then go off line for 10 hours and then spend money in Las Vegas with your trusted mobile phone. The bank has a pretty good idea it is you. Now, some of this technology already exists, but it will become more and more prevalent as passwords become a thing of the past.

Recent news has confirmed that the UK is the third most targeted country in the world for Cyber Attacks after the USA and Ukraine.

The biggest threat against the UK is our Critical National Infrastructure: Utilities such as electric, water, gas, telecoms, internet etc., Are you prepared? Do you need to be prepared?

Do you need a generator, a water bottle for Standpipes? (don’t mention Standpipes to anyone under the age of 50 they have never heard of them), backup to your broadband. Most people would say “no” and they would be right or would they? Only you can decide as it depends upon your environment and needs. I recently came across a situation where my generator was about to be put to use for someone local who I knew was on a CPAP machine. The battery on a CPAP lasts for 30 minutes and assists someone breathing! The electricity outage lasted 28 minutes! It is all about risk. Most people will say well they will get the electric supply up and running in a few hours but we recently had an outage which lasted 3 days! and we are not in a country setting at all. Your Gas central heating needs an electric pump!. No electricity, no gas central heating!

Long live the open fire!

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Now at this point I like to give some action points.

My messages remain the same.

It is painful when a cyber attack affects you. Please believe me! All your documents can be lost and unable to be accessed, including contracts and also templates. So: 1). Don’t just rely on the Cloud. Dropbox, Apple, One Drive etc they are not secure. All you need are your credentials stolen by one of the billions of people who have access to the internet. Keep a copy of your Cloud data on a home drive which is disconnected from the internet. You can pick up a 4TB drive for £50 or less.

2). The sophistication of cyber attacks is getting so good that you cannot trust any links even to organisations you know. Come out of mail and go in through your trusted route. I know I am repeating this but AI is helping people make really realistic messages. If someone sends you links frequently at least get them to put in a code word in the message so that you can be sure it is them.

3). As a reminder as we head to the summer holidays, do NOT use cafe WiFi’s unless you switch on a VPN. Telephones have a real ability to switch these on easily. You Tube can help show you how. Any of the popular ones are suitable…

NordVPN or PureVPN, or even Norton VPN. If a WiFi will not connect you through a VPN then it is another reason not to use it. A VPN will encrypt your signals to a trusted source so that it cannot be intercepted by the WiFi provider.

4). Take care of the messaging App you use. WhatsApp is popular but Signal is still better for encryption and, for you Apple users, iMessage from Apple is still one of the best for end to end protection.

5). Finally, when a message is received and you are not sure, tap on the sender and look to see if the email address is absolutely one you recognise, by tapping on the email. Check the spelling very carefully.

That’s it for this quarter. Stay safe.

David Tinney CISSP

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Norwich NAT S

Sunday 3rd – Tu 20

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Social Weekend

uesday 5th March 024

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The annual weekend away this year took place at Dunston Hall Hotel, just 10 minutes outside the City of Norwich. A lovely location for this hotel, spa and golf course, an old, rambling Victorian Manor.

We arrived at midday on Sunday, 3rd March to a very warm welcome from Reception, only to find we’d been beaten there by Christine & Peter, and Ted & Diane, who were already enjoying a drink and lunch in the Bar. Ian Haskell beat us all there and had already set up his Apache Disco and photo equipment in La Fontaine, where we held the festivities during our stay.

After booking into our rooms, many of the guests started to arrive and it was great to meet and greet old friends and new.

After changing into our “Dress to Impress” outfits (theme for the evening) we made our way down to La Fontaine Bar for pre-dinner drinks and photos.

What a fabulous sight – everybody made such an effort. Particularly spectacular was Peter Edgar’s red hat. He was accompanied by his wife, Christine, looking good in furs and dark glasses! They won a bottle of champagne and chocolates for their efforts.

We had a very short welcome speech, presentation of a Membership Certificate to Ian Lloyd who, the previous week, had passed his Membership exam, immediately followed by Heads and Tails (courtesy of Geoff Harris), to get the evening moving. I must say the food and service were excellent.

We danced the night away to our tame Liverpudlian Disc Jockey, Ian. He has provided us with music and banter since the inception of our weekends away and he has also acted as official photographer. Dancing and drinking continued to 11:30 (what a late night for us “oldies”!). And so to bed ……

Breakfast was taken the following day in The Brasserie. A lovely choice of breakfast food. Most people seemed to make breakfast without incident.

Those of us who brought our “Reds” took the opportunity to have our photos taken outside on the patio (in sunshine!). Changing out of our “Reds” everyone departed for a day sightseeing and visiting in Norfolk. What a fabulous City Norwich is. A visit to the Royal Arcade (Victorian covered market), a Gin Tasting in the Gymble & Gyre gin emporium, a walk round the open market (why is it all English cities cannot have an outdoor market with such a wonderful array of fresh produce – vegetables, wet fish stall, butchers and a fantastic selection of Street Food Stalls – all on a Monday!).

A visit to the Castle Museum and church, we returned to Dunston Hall in

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time for a swim, a drink and to change for the evening. Some of us enjoyed an impromptu sing-a-long in the bar as one of our Guests, Alvin Woolley, brought his guitar. It is confirmation that your President is tone deaf!

We started the evening’s festivities once again in La Fontaine with predrinks, followed by our meal. Half-way through our main meal the evening’s cabaret started (Footloose Duo) who played a selection of music from our era. They performed two sets and were fabulous, getting many of us up dancing and singing. The evening was finished by Apache Disco (aka Ian Haskell) who had previously announced that this was to be his last ever disco. In recognition of all his work for the NAT, Ian has been made an Honorary Member. I think it’s the first time since I met him that he was lost for words.

Special thanks must go to Richard & Shirley Heywood and Andrew Coy, who originally started our weekend’s away 10 years ago and, of course, to everyone who has had a hand in helping, organising and attending the events over the years. It was also fabulous seeing some new faces, Guy & Janet, Rodger & Margaret and Ian & Michele, who were first timers. Watch this space, you never know, it may happen again!

Tom & Sue Reddy

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Upping the Last autumn, Tom Reddy & Mike Myers were kind enough to host a virtual meeting in which we discussed how best to generate bookings from wedding fairs. It is fair to say that there were several different schools of thought and we concluded that it really boils down to the individual.

This meeting followed my first season of wedding fairs which, if I am honest, was not successful.

I thought I had done all the right things investing in a pull-up banner, publicity material and handout gifts (branded stress balls) and had scrolling reviews displayed on a tablet. Feeling fully prepared, I went to a number of local fairs and had numerous conversations with passing couples. I explained what I did and what value a Toastmaster adds, handed them my A5 tri-fold brochure and sent them on their way, hoping and expecting that some of them would contact me later. None did.

It was during a conversation with a business coach in my BNI group that it became starkly apparent that I wasn’t actually selling myself meaningfully, and that I needed to ‘up my game’.

To remedy this, my friend had me devise “Three Killer Questions” to engage a couple and stop them wandering past.

I came up with (and everyone’s will be different!)

“Good morning, how’s your planning going?”.

This elicits a range of responses depending on how far down the planning road they are, but any response is the start of a conversation beyond a mere exchange of salutations.

Next I ask “So, which one of you is in charge of the planning?”. This generally has the couple joking with each other as one clearly indicates the other as being in control. “He’s got a bloody spreadsheet!” was one answer.

Question three is the ‘killer’ moment. Turning to the self-professed planner in the couple, I

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ask something like “In your plan, who have you nominated to deliver it all on the day?”. The answer, sometimes, is “Ah, my best man said he’d run things” but the response I’m seeking is more like “Hmmm, I haven’t thought about that” or “What do you mean?”. Now I have sown a seed of uncertainty and, to quote a well-known sales coach, if you take them on a journey from uncertainty to certainty, they will likely buy the latter outcome. I just now need to be that ‘certainty’.

To show that ‘journey’ I use an A2 board with my ‘wedding day as it happens’ graphic, stressing all the components of a wedding and how I would take control of them. This is reinforced by the strapline “someone needs to deliver your plan and, if it isn’t me, who will it be?”.

By this stage, the couple should have seen a gap in their preparation and, hopefully, see me as the solution. Now comes the conversion. I say to them “I bet you’re wondering how much I charge to deliver your wedding with no stress to you?” and go on to quote a fee. “But” I add “for couples I have met here today, I am reducing that by £x.” A time-limited offer that is intended to avoid the “let us think about it” answer. And, to solidify that, I say “All I need from you is your contact details so I know you are entitled to that discount”. I then take them to my ‘Jotform’ screen and ask them to enter their details.

My first three wedding fairs this year, using that technique, generated eight wedding bookings, which is a huge improvement. Have I got it right yet? No, not according to my coach friend. I need to generate actual bookings on the day, and he’s now got me devising questions that ‘take the client past the point of sale’, using an ‘assumptive close’. I’m not quite sure what that means yet so maybe I’ll come back to TMV and tell you how it pans out!

Michael Brunker

sales game!

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Did He Make

Geoff Harris - Class in a Coat

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Mike Solomons - Mr Moustache

a Difference?

One of the things I do to earn a few shillings now and then is to give talks. One of the talks, “A Toastmaster’s Tales”, is about my life as a Toastmaster. It covers a little about the history of the profession, the uniform, training and then a few anecdotes. Some of them are of personal experience, and others are embellishments or downright fiction. After all, why ruin a good tale by telling the truth?

The audiences vary from WIs through U3A meetings through to Luncheon Clubs and just about everything in between and I travel all around the East Midlands to all sorts of different venues.

Recently at one of these talks I was speaking to Northampton U3A at Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. It was a fairly well attended event, at over one hundred people and the talk seemed to go down well. In this talk I mention Jewish weddings and how much I enjoy them because of my involvement throughout the reception, and the fact that at the smallest excuse everyone is up on their feet and dancing.

After the talk and the Q and A session had concluded a lady came to speak to me and told me she was Jewish and had used a Toastmaster for her daughter’s wedding, some time ago.

“Did he make a difference?” I asked.

“You could say that” came the response.

She couldn’t remember the TM’s name, beyond referring to him as “Mr Moustache”. This could only be our very own PP, Mike Solomons.

She then regaled me with the tale.

floral display on the top table.

Disaster number one averted.

Just as Mike and mum were breathing a sigh of relief over this averted disaster, the manager of the London-based catering company hit one of the waiters. As a consequence, all the other waiting staff walked out and refused to work.

Mike spoke to the waiting team and managed to persuade them to come back to work for the sake of the couple, so service, although slightly delayed, did go ahead.

That’s number two sorted.

Finally the hotel did not supply the sound system it had promised for the speeches. Not a problem for Mike. This one was easy. He went out to his car and brought his mobile sound system in so the speakers could be heard.

That brings up the third.

The thing that mum was most impressed with was the quiet way in which everything was handled.

Only she and Mike were aware of what was going on. He really was a swan. Sailing serenely along on the surface whilst his little legs were going like the clappers beneath. She was fulsome in her praise.

But what a man! A florist, a workplace negotiator, a sound tech, as well as being an experienced Toastmaster bringing his own particular colour and charisma to a couple’s special day.

An example to us all.

Geoff Harris

The florists forgot to bring the flowers from the synagogue. This meant that there were no flowers on the top table. Mike worked around the guests’ tables taking a few blooms from each of their displays. He then arranged them into what was, apparently, a more than adequate

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I WAS AFRA All my childhood I had been very nervous about dogs, I had never been bitten by a dog, but somehow I was afraid of them. Maybe it was the harsh barks which some had, or their propensity to jump up on to your chest, but as soon as I saw a dog coming towards me I tensed up.

As I became an adult I did realise that this attitude was rather silly and that I should address it, but how ?

Many years passed, and as I entered my twenties I met a delightful young man called Barry Dorn – who in due time became my husband. We had two sons and then they wanted a dog in the household – I was not enthusiastic at all – their friends had dogs, I was told, and they would like one too. I felt trapped – how could I satisfy the desire of the lads to have a dog, and tutor myself to get comfortable with one ??

Of course, as you might expect, in the end encouraged by Barry, they got their own way, and Barry and I set off one bright and sunny day to travel to Wiltshire, where we had been recommended to a lady who bred Border Collies. Barry had a BC as a child and was keen to get another one.

We had a lovely afternoon – the proud collie mum came to see us, and allowed us to pick up and cuddle each of her litter puppies. We chose a lovely young lady and went home full of excitement for Barry, and a degree of anxiety for myself, that in a few weeks we would return and take her home with us.

A few short weeks later we returned to Wiltshire and brought home our lovely collie. We had purchased a nice bed for her, taken the breeders advice as to what to feed her on, and borrowed a ‘cage’ that sounds horrid but they are useful as it means the dog is safe overnight and not able to get out and wander around – get lost – eat something harmful etc etc.

She settled down, and we then had to decide what we were going to call her – we had noticed, not surprisingly, that she showed a definite penchant for weeing on the carpet/floor etc etc. So the family decision was taken to call her FLAIR. She was such a wonderful dog – because she was gentle, caring and very intuitive and once the early stages of growing had passed we could take her anywhere and know that she would be well behaved.

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AID OF DOGS

Flair and Minx

As time went by there was a rustle in the family that perhaps we could have another dog. I was not sure, but in the end drove a long way up the M1 to meet a lady who also bred collies. She decided instantly (looked over the top of my car and said ‘you can have a border collie’) that I was a suitable dog owner, and so a cheeky border collie arrived in our house to keep Flair company, we named her MINX, which proved an excellent choice.

Over the following years we had hours of pleasure, and wonderful company with our two collies, and all wept buckets of tears, when the time came to let first Flair, and two year’s later Minx, go to the great kennel in the sky.

If I see a collie when I am out and about, this silly woman, who was afraid of dogs, goes boldly up to the owners and asks to be allowed to pet their dog, and as a consequence we do from time to time look after collies (but only collies) whilst their owners go on holiday. It has proved to be a delightful experience and I have Barry to thank for persuading me to have a border collie.

Janice Dorn TMV Story

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The National ASSOCIA Weeken Archive

It started off on Friday, the 11th of November. Dinner at the Palace of Westminster. Even t evening. Everyone met in the bar, which overlooks the Thames. Then they were taken on a t and entertaining. This was followed by dinner in the Churchhill Room and a very enjoyable

The next morning 30 members all gathered bright eyed and bushy tailed at London Wall, f open top bus. They slowly entered the procession with great expectation and glasses of Gordon Verran, on reaching Mansion House, toasted the Right Honourable The Lord May toast walked in the front of the bus with the crowd cheering and waving all the way.

There is absolutely no doubt that this was an historic day for the Association. Every membe pageants in the world

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ATION of Toastmasters nd Out e 2006

though the heavens opened and most got soaked, it couldn’t dampen the enjoyment of the tour of the House of Lords, House of Commons and the Lobbies, which was most interesting e speech was given by Derek Conway TD MP. After a short while it was time to leave.

for the Lord Mayor’s Show. Setting off (to precise timing from the Pageant Master) on the champagne held aloft. Each member made a toast to three Livery Companies. President yor, The Corporation of London and Sheriffs. Some Toastmasters once having made their

er and their partner that was involved, can be proud to have taken part in one of the finest

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How to be a part of the Summer edition of the TMV “I want you to tell me a story” Some time ago the BBC launched their 500 word story competition for children which proved highly successful and received support from the then HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Now she is our gracious Queen we still cannot offer royal patronage but we can issue a challenge!

I am pleased to announce that I am going to relaunch the NAT 750 word essay competition. To take part all you need to do is submit a story for inclusion in TMV. This can be about anything at all. I would love to hear stories about what you might have done as a toastmaster, what you might have done in another professional life or even what you like to do, or have done, in your spare time. In short, if you have a tale to tell we want to hear it. The 750 words are a maximum, or thereabouts, but can be shorter.

I am looking for something which would make an interesting or amusing read, or indeed both! If you have pictures to support them, that would be great too but not essential.

The prize will be a bottle of champagne to be given out at the Christmas Lunch in December. Judging for the competition will take place after the Summer edition of TMV. The entries will be anonymised and passed to an independent judge, or judges, to choose the winner.

Good luck and let’s hear from you.

All contributions to be sent to richard@cambridgetoastmaster.com The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the NAT.

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