On the fateful evening of Tuesday, 25th May 2010, I went for a visit to Rotterdam Toastmasters on invitation by our very own Caroline de Neef. Caroline offered to drive after office and with bicycle as the only transportation at my disposal, I gladly accepted her generous offer.

As I walked through the doors of the building hosting the meeting, I could not help but feel a tingle of nostalgia in me. It was like going to school again. Black boards, chalks, wooden stairs greeted me. I paced up the staircase and as I entered the door to the room at the top of the building, I was greeted warmly by Nina, the VP of Membership. After registering myself and saying hi to a few more members, I went back down to wait for Jorn. Very much like myself, Jorn decided to join in as a guest to see Rotterdam Toastmasters in action.


The meeting was kicked off by Anastasia who led the Annual General Meeting. All current officers provided a report of the term. The final report, which was the most comprehensive one came from the current Treasurer Ingeborg, who will also be next term's President. The club also discussed on the probable change of venue and a term-end party.


The meeting proper started with David Kipping giving his final speech in the CC manual. In that he shared the tips and tricks learnt throughout his Toastmasters journey to inspire other members. This was followed by a CC Project 2 speech by Navin entitled "Driven to Drive" in which he shared his driving experience in the Netherlands.


After the speeches, the meeting progressed right away to the evaluation session starting with speech evaluations by Caroline and Nina. Caroline as usual, is composed in her evaluation. She is also going to the the VP of Education for the Rotterdam Toastmasters Club next term.

After the meeting was adjourned, members proceeded to the bar located on the ground floor of the building for some light refreshments cum social meeting.


All in all, I must say that it was a refreshing experience to witness a Toastmasters AGM and meeting abroad.

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Contributed by Chee Yoong, Lai, VP PR Exact ADC Toastmasters


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