E = m + u
Carol's report on the Area conference in Ulm, 14 October 2000
Dear Fellow Toastmasters,
E = m + u
- that's how Christopher Magyar toasted us at the awards banquet. Eloquence = munich + ulm!!
The equation was also exciting, enriching, entertaining, economical (we traveled using the cheap weekend ticket, so there was lots of time for the chats that we never seem to be able to have at the club meetings), educational, enjoyable and energizing!
You would have been very proud to be a Toastmaster at the Area Contest in Ulm on Saturday, October 14th!
Although we didn't see the "real" Danube Sparrows that gave the Ulm club their name - well, maybe Prostmasters Astrid and Buck might have seen some, since they took time during the Area Council meeting to walk along the Danube and admire the cathedral - we certainly basked in the hospitality of the Toastmaster variety of Danube Sparrows.
The Contest was held at the "Haus der Begegnung" - quite appropriate since 13 Munich Toastmasters from 4 clubs met, became acquainted with and renewed acquaintances with 13+ Ulm Toastmasters (the "+" indicates several guests from Ulm who popped in and out for various parts of the program).
Unfortunately, our Area Governor, Josef Killinger, came down with a middle ear infection and could not see the results of all his energetic preparations. So Dirk Husfeld provided the glue which tied all parts of the meeting together.
To increase the suspense and to provide some serious content to the day, we were treated to two educationals on public relations and the Distinguished Club Program by Andreas Schmidt and Dirk Husfeld, respectively. Dirk showed us an interesting bar graph on the length of time Toastmasters remain with the international organization. The chart looked somewhat like the middle section of a suspension bridge - with two solid pylons on either end, representing Toastmasters who leave within their first 12 months on the left side and those who stay for over 4-1/2 years on the right side. Of course, we in Munich and Ulm are all trying to gravitate toward the right side!
How would YOU have addressed the topic??: Brainstormer Paul Königer was the competent Contest Master for the Table Topics Contest. The topic presented was taken from current events: "You have just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Give your acceptance speech, including those who have inspired you."
Ulmer Heimgard Bonzel changed the prize to the Nobel Prize for Literature. And our own Jens Lüpke accepted the Physics Prize, citing how Einstein inspired him to rack his brains to figure out how to exceed the speed of light (the inspiration for Chirstopher's toast, above - see, we all spark each other!).
With sane humility, winner Christopher Magyar described himself as just one of the laborers in the neverending, back-breaking task of trying to push the "huge boulder" of peace UP the mountain. Fellow laborers who inspired him were Albert Schweitzer, Mother Theresa and St. Francis who wrote "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."
If you have ever wondered why Toastmasters hold their Humorous Speech Contest in the Fall, you would have heard the answer as Christopher Magyar, Contest Master for the Humorous Speech Contest, introduced the contest in a very sober, sombre and dirgeful manner. He maintained that in the autumn, when the leaves fall off, when the nights grow longer, when our throughts turn to loved ones we have lost - that's the time when we need some humor in our lives. And Gerhard Hirschle, Ingo Schmücking and Matthias Senn certainly did a great job of tickling our funny bones!! You must ask Prostmaster Matthias for a rain check on his imitation of the flight attendants on board his first flight to the States!
But you can imagine how we all cheered when our club's silver medalist Ingo was announced winner of the contest at the awards banquet in the evening (where many of us enjoyed the Schwabian speciality: Maultaschen and some of us even tried Lebkuchen-Strudel)!
You remember Ingo's speech about the similarities between driving and public speaking? Well, his revisions, fine-tuning and polishing added even more brilliant dimensions to an already excellent speech. He really "stole the show" with his description of a traffic policeman using the Toastmaster's sandwich technique of evaluation. Well thought up and out - and well delivered - in short, well done, Ingo!!!
So, now let's show our support for our two area winners - Christopher and Ingo - and cheer them at the District Conference in Bosen from November 3rd to the 5th!
The Ramstein, Kaiserslautern and Eifel clubs are hosting the semiannual event and are billing it as the "most customer- and user-friendly conference you will ever attend". (We should all flock there just for that reason alone - to find out if it's true!) The conference theme is "Cross-Cultural Communications" and will be one of the most trilingual conferences yet. A new feature is the Saturday "Attitude Adjustment" session from 1615 - 1800 (a mod name for an old-fashioned R&R time where you can swim or ride bike, play tennis or indulge in other pleasures at the Seehotel Weingärtner).
Yours in the Toastmastering contest spirit,
President, Munich Toastmasters
Dr.phil. Carol D. Adeney
