10 Things I Like and Dislike

On September 7, Dungeons & Toast banded together to raid Brewmeisters, another Toastmasters Club that happens to count guild members Kelly and Cliff as members. This also happened to be the first time I attended a Toastmaster meeting in person. With that in mind, I thought I’d do a little write-up of my raid experience. Hat-tip to my favorite basketball writer, Zach Lowe, who utilizes the “10 Things” format to help organize his thoughts in an easy to consume manner.

1. Reconnecting with old friends

The president of Brewmeisters happens to be an old friend of mine and seeing Tom was such a pleasant piece of happenstance I was already halfway in the deep end to loving the meeting strictly for the opportunity to reconnect.

2. Getting old

Alas, reconnecting with Tom made me realize that I have not played basketball since before the pandemic. While those who are not inclined to participate in said sportsball activity, the sad truth is that your basketball life goes something like this:

Stage 1: Play because it’s fun
Stage 2: Play to compete
Stage 3: Play to stay in shape
Stage 4: Stay in shape to play
Stage 5: Play after you’ve recovered from the last time you played
Stage 6: Stop playing because the last time you played was so long ago there’s no possible way your body will actually survive the brutality of what you do to it on the court.

Some of you may be thinking, “take it easy, then.” If only it were that easy… I go hard or not at all.

3. The buzz of an active room

This was my first in-person meeting and there is something pleasant about the subtle energy a room has when there are multiple conversations and set-up activity happening in anticipation for the fall of the gavel. The fifteen minutes before a Zoom meeting are like nails on a chalkboard (for me) because it is impossible to have one-on-one conversations with guests. It feels very much like whoever is speaking is being watched by the group. Alternatively, people space out and are not present and engaged; just sitting there until the meeting starts. It was a nice change.

4. Presentation of beer

Someone brings beer. Beer for everyone to drink. You get to drink it. If you’re so inclined, you can listen to them present about said beer. Or you can just drink it. There is free beer to drink. Brewmeisters may be on to something. I’m surprised they don’t have more members for that reason alone.

5. The awkwardness of transitions

So the 15 minutes of dull time may be awkward in a Zoom. On the flip side, I did find the need to get up and walk to the lectern, especially while there are those Zooming in, to be just a tad awkward. The flow feels… off. Especially when comments are brief. A good example is a functionary role. Lots of walk time.

6. The dap transition

Having said all that, I do love being able to encourage and support different speakers while we share the lectern. Taking back to basketball, nothing makes me feel more like a team than a simple dap and once I figured out Cliff wasn’t trying to smash me with those guns, the fist bump exchanged between toastmasters as they commuted to and from their seats was a delightful pleasantry of encouragement.

7. The goofy absurdity of debates

I will never get on board with hurricanes being “cool” but watching two people debate a silly topic is definitely entertainment in my book. You can be sure that I will steal the concept for a table topics in the very near future.

8. Winners!

While it was nice to win the “Best Table Topics” vote, I have mixed feelings about announcing things like “best speaker,” “best table topics,” etc. because I wonder if people would get discouraged. On the other hand, it’s cool that as a guest I was able to take down a prize – more street cred for D&T.

9. Loni making a mistake

Just call me the petty president. She made a grammatical mistake and I damn near fell out of my chair in giddiness. I’m quite positive I fist-pumped. Having two functionary roles thrusted upon me was all worthwhile the moment I caught it. Ha!

10. This

It was a wonderful raid. Brewmeisters is a great club and I would happily visit again. Many thanks to past guildmaster and gamemaster/raidmaster, Patrick, for coordinating. Shoutout to all those who joined online: Lucas, Cynthia, Loni, Michael C., and Hovey!

And thank you to our Dungeons & Brews crew: Kelly and Cliff. Glad you let us disrupt your meeting.

Cheers!