Posted by: centralparktm | January 24, 2012

Finding life’s balance

Meeting – Tuesday 17 January 2012

Our president Marlene kicked off the Central Park Toastmasters’ year with a highly spirited and motivational opening address on “Finding life’s balance.” She was closely supported by Ruth who provided further inspiration through a number of soul-enriching quotes:

“After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box”
Italian proverb

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. “
Robert Fulgham

Formalities/Notices

Special guest: Marisa
Apologies: Jo, Mohammed, Nick, David

Club Officer training dates:

  • Saturday, 4 February at 8:30am at the Fickling Centre, Mt Eden
  • Tuesday, 7 February at 6pm at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, Balmoral

Tony Hartigan took the Toastmaster’s promise and was inducted into the club by Clinton. Welcome Tony!

Our grammarian, the witty and wonderful Warwick, brought unity to the fold by promoting the “Word of the day” HARMONY – a word that was well utilised throughout the meeting.

Table topics

During the table topics round, Marlene posed some thought-provoking questions for the year ahead.

Ben spoke of two goals to enhance health and well-being, as well as relationships; Jeremy sought to find more balance through meaningful travel experiences; Steve D shared some of the holiday projects he’s been chipping away at;  Tony gave us the secret of happiness from a magic moment on the beach with his son and John struggled to recall ever having a “worst holiday” experience , so naturally he focused on the positive.

Glenn F & Brenda worked in unison to evaluate the table topic participants and provided them with some positive feedback.

Formal speeches

After the break, we marvelled at Marieke’s presentation on coronary blockage. She was in her element. She presented some really fascinating facts, using visuals aids to maximum effect, helping her audience to better understand a fairly complex topic. Impressive stuff! Marieke’s speech was evaluated by Steve D. 

Clinton was next up and had us in the palm of his hand from the beginning when he asked the hard questions: “What’s wrong with this picture? Do you work to live or live to work? ” Clinton spoke on the importance of work-life-balance and painted some gruelling pictures to drive the message home. His speech was later evaluated by Nadene.

During his report, our timer Raj added to the theme of balance by sharing the thought:  ”Learn how to play.”

Many thanks to our general evaluator Glenn L for presenting his views of the entire programme and evaluating all those who had not been evaluated. Also to Ruth for conducting a fantastic meeting in the Toastmaster Chairperson role. 

What a great start to the year! See you at the next Toastmaster gathering folks! Live life and live it in balance!

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.”
Plutarch

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”
Thomas Merton

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Posted by: centralparktm | December 13, 2011

A Merry Meeting

Meeting – Tuesday 6 December 2011

Toastmasters gathered in gaiety for the last meeting for 2011. Great food and great company, what a combination for a merry occasion. And it was in the merriness of the occasion we reflected on Christmas and the spirit of giving.

Grammarian Marieke gifted us with the word “merry” which was generously used through out the entire meeting.

We had a special surprise – Santa turned up with gifts for everyone  (although looking alot leaner than the traditional Santa build, probably from training and good eating habits). Table topics were delivered in the form of one minute thank-you speeches from all the delighted recipients.

Surprises from Santa

Surprises from Santa

The Christmas wish list was fulfilled and recorded as follows:

  • Brenda – mandarin lotion
  • Steve D – chocolate
  • Steve T - fireworks
  • David – bubble bath
  • Ben – mulled wine
  • Mohammed – slinky
  • Glenn F - lollies
  • Nick – cap
  • Ruth – candles
  • Marieke – towel
  • Glenn L – toy
  • Raj – massage roller
  • Eric – Keep Calm Book
  • Warwick – green tea
  • Nadene – design-your-own-tee
  • John – 12 days of Christmas
  • Marlene – Licorice Dutch lollies
  • Jo – bling necklace
  • Santa – herbs and cream

The table topics were evaluated by Marlene and Mohammed.

Next up we enjoyed a fantastic feast of Dutch delights courtesy of  John our Sergeant at Arms. 

Christmas breakfast at Central Park

Christmas breakfast at Central Park

Delving into the Dutch delights

Delving into the Dutch delights

Into the second spell, we were entertained by Brenda with a gripping tale of love and legend from ancient Arcadia.
Steve T followed with stressful accounts of family Christmasses gone by, all the highs and lows that happen during ”one day”.
Both speeches were evaluated by Nick and Warwick respectively.

Nick delivers an excellent evaluation for Brenda

Nick delivers an excellent evaluation for Brenda

Thanks to our general evaluator Ruth who gave a conscise report of everything that had not been evaluated. Also to our timer Glenn F for keeping us under watch also our lovely Christmas hosts, Club president Marlene and Jo, our Toastmaster Chair.

Thanks to everyone for making 2011 such a great year!  Look forward to seeing everyone back for more fun in 2012. Have a merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year!

 

 

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 28, 2011

UPBEAT – Stay Positive

UPBEAT – Monday Morning Motivation
Edition 118 – First published Monday 28 November 2011
Clinton Jones

Keeping up with the Joneses

Hi,talk about fear, I have never known anything like it and hope I don’t ever again…yes the old Auckland Sky Tower was certainly responsible for instilling the fear of heights in me. It was about this time each year that my dad used to take us to the Farmers Trading Company building in the City as a Christmas treat(yeah right). The trip included some christmas shopping, lunch, hooning around the legendary rooftop kids playground…..and a visit to the ‘sky tower’ viewing platform. Unlike its modern day Sky City equivalent the Farmers tower still ranks as one of my worst childhood memories. So you wont catch me lining up to visit our customers on the highrise building projects around town. This was something I sheepishly recounted when asked to talk about my worst fears at a Toastmasters meeting recently……interesting how you wish you could but you never do forget this embarrassing stuff.

Thankfully the weather gods smiled favorably on the Green Gorilla sales team as we took time out to recognise and celebrate a busy and successful year of taking on the big guys….well done team, long may the fun and excitement continue.

Mums fresh baked scones and jam provided an afternoon tea  highlight on the Sunday motorbike ride to Devonport as we had fun relaxing with family and friends and making the most of the weather.

I hope you also got a chance to relax and catch up with friends and family this weekend to recharge the batteries in anticipation of another big working week ahead….have a good one, cheers Jonesey ! 

Harry Jones is loving his new improved and enlarged back yard, lots of room for good mates Oscar and Katie to create havoc in the hood.

Selling the Sizzle

  • Failed in business in 1831
  • Ran for the legislature and lost in 1832
  • Failed once again in business in 1834
  • Sweetheart died in 1835
  • Had a nervous breakdown in 1836
  • Lost a second political race in 1838
  • Deafeated for Congress in 1843
  • Defeated for Congress in 1846
  • Defeated for Congress in 1848
  • Defeated for US Senate in 1855
  • Defeated for Vice President in 1856
  • Defeated for US Senate in 1858

The man was Abraham Lincoln, elected sixteenth president of the United States in 1860.

I had such a cool week, it started amazingly with heaps of feedback from so many of you about positive customer service experiences, thanks to all of you who took the time to share ‘upbeat’ info.

Then after a lean couple of weeks with following up proposals and sales tenders it all happened and we got some long awaited authorisation to proceed from some of my oldest quotes in the system! WINS are beautiful when you have pursued them so relentlessly without getting the nod, what a buzz. The amazing thing is that it becomes infectious and we found that by feeding off each others success we ended up having one of our most successful new business sales weeks ever!

Just like with Abraham Lincoln’s track record above the key thing he never stopped doing was believing he would ultimately be successful….like all good sales people! It is hard to stay positive at times when it seems everything is against you or things are not looking likely to break your way. I never stopped believing we could win the business but I would be dishonest if I didn’t admit to having lots of doubts along the way, awesome feeling, looking forward to working hard for more wins soon.

“Frustration,Aggressiveness,Insecurity,Lonliness,Uncertainty,Resentment,Emptiness-these are the elements of the failure(F.A.I.L.U.R.E.)mechanism.These are the enemy.” Maxwell Malt

 

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 22, 2011

The essence of giving

Meeting – Tuesday 22 November 2011

Central Park was revitalised and at capacity this morning with a full house and no apologies. It was great to see everyone turn up! President Marlene conducted the penultimate meeting as Toastmaster and gave us a tremendous theme to work with in the spirit of Christmas – “The essence of giving.” She was generous in giving us some riches for the soul quoting all the greats, everyone from Mother Theresa to Robert Louis Stevenson.

Club notices were announced:

Club leadership training – Saturday 3 December 8.30am – 1pm, Fickling Centre, Three kings

Last Central park meeting for the year – Tuesday 6 December.
A Secret Santa gift is to be brought by all members ($5 cap maximum).
John will treat everyone to a special Dutch (not Danish) breakfast- nice!

Our newest members Mohammed & Raj were officially inducted into the club by Clinton. Congratulations and welcome to the club!

Grammarian Steve T sparked vitality and energy with his word choice “revitalise”.

Table topics were topped and lovingly selected by Steve D. Brenda was first off the rank with what to do with $1 million dollars, John on improving someone else’s life (in the style of Dutch), Ruth on the right emphasis of giving during Christmas and birthdays, Eric on his ‘best gift received’ from his father, Mohammed on his ‘best gift given’ – and finally Glenn F with his views on the PM tape debacle plus a good peppering of the word of the day.

Our formal speeches started with Ben speaking about ‘The Shed’ – a roof covering or safe refuge where kids are nurtured to grow and succeed.
Two amazing kids were referenced as inspiration – Rina who has risen through much adversity, and Sam a bright spark who is on his way to conquer the world of technology.

Warwick was next in line to present the new engineering feat which opened in Auckland recently – the Victoria tunnel.Warwick delivered with extraordinary detail and humour as we’ve come to expect from him.

Raj opened strong with his speech on MAPSS and finished well with a powerful quote in the spirit of giving. This was his second ever speech in the club. Well done Raj- look forward to more speeches from you.

Many thanks to our evaluators who gave generously – the gift of growth:
Jo and Dave for table topics, Glenn L, Mohammed and Nadene respectively for the formal speeches and Clinton Jones for the general evaluation. Thanks also to our poet Jeremy for keeping the clock flowing like poetry.

Great meeting! See you at our next and final meeting for 2011. Don’t miss out.

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 21, 2011

UPBEAT – The importance of the customer

UPBEAT – Monday Morning Motivation
Edition 117 – First published Monday 21 November 2011
Clinton Jones

Keeping up with the Joneses

Hi, its hard to beat the adrenalin rush of a motorbike ride, it has been far too long since the Suzuki Retro got to stretch her legs, memo to self don’t let it happen again this Summer. We took the opportunity to check out some of the worlds best triathletes this weekend in the Auckland ITU event on the city of sails waterfront. How cool to see Andrea Hewitt, Kris Gemmell and Bevan Docherty on the podium and at the top of their game on the world stage…..roll on London Olympics! Certainly made me keen to get back in to it in the new year all going well. She is a tough road saving the planet but hey someone has to do it and this weekend I was on call representing Green Gorilla Bins at the coal face, the sharp end of the environmental cutting edge. It was a buzz as all hell broke loose and our customers got into the building, construction, DIY swing of things. It was a pleasure to sign plenty of business as the enquiry came thick and fast, thanks to all our customers for their continued support and positive feedback. I love providing exceptional customer service and it is especially rewarding when good service self fulfills and manifests itself into referral and additional business.The personal touch combined with a small willing and enthusiastic team determined to deliver on the service promise is a powerful combination for any business. I was encouraged to dig out a framed poster I bought at the Avondale Market a few years ago that says it all in my view. It is a picture of a giant lion and says…….”Customers are King in our business, customers make paydays possible” The poster has pride of place at my desk. I never thought I would enjoy working the weekend so much, crikey making money is simple and can be lots of fun.

I hope you had fun too this weekend with family and friends. Have a great week…..cheers Jonesey!

Harry Jones the planet saving hound is a proud member of the Green Gorilla team!

Selling the Sizzle

I saw this poster on a Toyota dealership wall once;

What is a customer?

A customer is the most important person ever in this office…in person or by mail. 

A customer is not dependent on us…we are dependent on him or her. 

A customer is not an interruption of our work…they are the purpose of it. We are not doing them a favour by serving them…they are doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.

A customer is not someone to argue or match wits with. Nobody ever won an argument with a customer.

A customer is someone who brings us their wants. It is our job to handle them profitably to them and ourselves.” 

Ever since seeing this I have used it in every role I have ever held in a company. It says everything about the importance of customers to a business. It is a creed or ethos that should be followed by every business. Ideally,every employee should refer to this before , during and after every day in a business serving customers. As my $10 poster from the Avondale Market above so rightly said without customers paydays are not possible. We would all do well to remember this in our jobs because it is obvious that a number of businesses lose sight of this and struggle because of it.

This weekend has been a timely reminder for me and for us all as we approach an important part of our financial year where making every post a winning one is essential prior to the break….good luck !

“Customer service isnt about satisfaction. Its about dazzlement.” Chip R. Bell

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 20, 2011

Try Toastmasters

Stuck for words?

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 16, 2011

Speaking success

Inspirational clips from the 2011 Toastmasters International Speech Championship:

Winner Jock Elliott from Bongaree, Queensland, Australia with his speech “Just so lucky” 

 

Second place finalist Kwong Yue Yang from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China with his speech “Fortune Cookie”

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Posted by: centralparktm | November 16, 2011

UPBEAT – Ordinary bloke, extraordinary New Zealander

UPBEAT – Monday Morning Motivation
Edition 116 – First published Monday 14 November 2011
Clinton Jones

Keeping up with the Joneses

Hi, the road back to fitness is a long winding one, there is the odd hill for good measure. I have had setbacks and these have thankfully been off set with some little wins along the way. I will never underestimate the importance or value of fitness and health nor will I ever not listen to my body again…..time is a great healer. That said I am ahead of schedule (of course) and happy with my progress. No,Cameron Brown the champion Iron Man is not shaking in his boots yet but he needs to keep an eye out.Boris the injured Jones cat is also proving time is his best friend as he continues to recover slowly. The minor birds who nest annually in our letter box are thankful Boris is temporarily off the predator list! After making do for a number of years with a make shift BBQ and resisting the temptation to upgrade I finally weakened, mortgaged the house(again) and got a new one ! Crikey it is scooby doo, almost too scared to wear it out, I am sure I will get over it as the summer and festive season approaches rapidly…..bring it on.  

I hope you had a relaxing weekend with family and friends. Have a great week, cheers Jonesey!

Harry Jones the #1 BBQ assistant hound chef welcomes the new oven with open paws!

Selling the Sizzle

“It has been very humbling. It shows that New Zealand is full of good bastards.”   
Jup Brown….Kiwi Legend

I love reading inspirational stories about ordinary blokes or blokess’s just like you and I who achieve extraordinary things. I have been following one such story about someone who fits the bill perfectly.

Jup Brown is definitely one of those people in my eyes. He has just completed a run of 2900km in 67 days through New Zealand . That is one and a half times the length of New Zealand and 40-50km for every day along the way! The 38 year old plumber from Wanaka ran to raise awareness and money for The Stroke Foundation. Tragically there are 45,000 stroke survivors in New Zealand who need help to reach their full potential.

He was inspired and accompanied by his good mate Nick Chisholm, the amazing thing about that is Nick became a stroke victim as a 27 year old after a rugby accident. It left him unable to walk or talk! Incredibly Jup ran a 100km fundraiser earlier that raised $40k to buy Nick a special bike so he could make the NZ run! Two ordinary blokes combining their amazing enthusiasm and determination to do their bit for many other similarly affected kiwis, an extraordinary success story

I remember watching an interview on Campbell live as they set off and being moved to tears as they were both interviewed with Nick answering questions by pointing to letters on a board that made the words of his reply !…incredible. I will also always remember Jup saying to the reporter that the marathon he was about to embark on had taken on a special significance as his dad had also recently had a stroke! In classic bloke style he had said to his dad after the stroke “you better not die mate or I will come to the funeral and punch you in your coffin.” The following is a powerful extract from the article that sums it all up perfectly, I hope you get something positive from it to launch your week!

 “Jup has simple advice for people who are battling adversity in their own lives:”Keep trying and believe that nothing is impossible. We all have challenges in our lives but you never know what you can achieve if you keep at it. Dream big because you determine whether you will get there or not. I know that after running this I will never say that something is impossible again. But the best advice I can offer is…get a lot of people to support you. The people I have met have given me the power and mental strength to achieve this.”

“There are always people worse off than me, and we need to remember that” Jup Brown (ordinary bloke, extraordinary New Zealander)

 

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Posted by: centralparktm | October 31, 2011

UPBEAT

UPBEAT – Monday Morning Motivation
Edition 114 – First published Monday 31 October2011
Clinton Jones 

Keeping up with the Joneses

Hi , I have never liked surprises and believe it or not I also dislike being the centre of attention! Bit strange for someone who has always loved the sound of his own voice!!

I was however totally surprised on Saturday evening to receive unexpected recognition from the Central Park Toastmasters Club at their 20 year celebratory dinner. I joined in 1991 and am currently the longest serving member something I was vaguely aware of but never that fussed about.

I was reluctant but honoured and proud to be recognised by my peers for my contribution to the club over the years. When you love doing something,you do it with enthusiasm and passion so you never notice the time it takes or the years that roll by because you always receive more than you give.It has never been about me, my buzz, my return on my investment of time and energy is delivered via the development and growth of others. Mentoring and coaching people I have met in, or introduced to, this excellent organisation has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I have ever done. Like anything we do I firmly believe the more you put in the more you get out x2.

Conversely a lack of commitment, enthusiasm or passion will invariably result in failure. Again like everything in life there is only one person that can make that call about anything we do…yes YOU !!!

We did a bit of our own ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ on the weekend catching up with Mum and Dad for brunch on Sunday, crikey we have to that more often. Unlike many others I know I am lucky to have two healthy happy parents living close by so need to make the most of that !!! hmmmmmmmm I hope you had a good one with family and friends, have an amazing week,…… Cheers Jonesey!

Harry the hound bet me I couldn’t write without using the r (rugby) word, hows that bro!

Selling the Sizzle

“It is never over until the fat lady sings” Dan Cook

Although Hayley Westernra would have something to say about this famous quote above it is invariably the larger singers in the Opera that signal the finale.

Just like a good special events rubbish man knows….”the event is never over till the last piece of rubbish is removed”

Crikey we had been doing a perfect job for 12 days from delivery on the 14th right up to extra service and removal on the 26th! Most events last a couple of days but the Taste of Auckland event ran over 2 weeks from set up to pack down. A real test for the budding Green Gorilla team but one we looked in the eye and fronted up for with our A game.

Instructions were clear Victoria Park was to be handed back to Auckland City in sparkling pristine condition by 2pm on the 26th. Our bins were to be removed no later than 1pm, the team was briefed and we were sailing along smoothly until the unthinkable happened……..

A late influx of over sized rubbish that would not fit into the remaining bins, no trucks or larger bins in sight or likely to be, deadline approaching, organisers and Council sign off/hand over approaching.  After almost 2 weeks of perfection it all came down to this, 2 large rolls of soggy carpet and the 6mx3m Audi sign stood between the GG team and stardom only one thing for it….time to call GREEN GORILLA MAN!   As fast as a speeding Ford Mondeo and fresh from a recent spinal reconstruction he swung into action and with the amazing help of the tallest Hirequip Manager in the country impending doom and special event disaster was averted as the offending oversize matter was removed with 15 minutes to spare. The clean sheet perfect record was maintained on the surface and by all appearances but like a lot things behind the scenes she was a thin line of 15minutes between hero and zero !!,bit like ‘that game !!! Remember Hirequip corner of Daldy and Packenham streets Auckland City for all your hire requirements !! Its never over till its over, don’t count your chickens before they hatch and never underestimate a GREEN GORILLA haha… have fun and a big week.

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough” Og Mandino

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Posted by: centralparktm | October 17, 2011

Central Park Toastmasters 20th Anniversary Celebration (1991-2011)

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