Good day everyone! For tonight’s meeting we have a nice selection of where to get your ale and nice warm meals. Hope to see you tonight!

It is once again time for the Verbal Joust (speech contest)! This year, District 100 will be conducting the International Speech Contest and an Evaluation a Table Topics contest. We need to have chosen our competitors by February 22 which doesn’t leave us a lot of time to conduct our contest.

Even if you don’t intend to compete, we will need a number of functionaries in order to conduct our contest, so please consider helping out!

To better understand what our members want, I’ve created a short 6-question survey (link available when logged in or on within the #members-only channel of Discord).

Because of the tight schedule, please try to respond by Wednesday. Thank you, all, and I look forward to seeing you on (or adjacent to) the tournament grounds!

Grab your favorite drink, snacks, and cozy clothes for tonight’s meeting. In this meeting we are deciding tonight is a chill night where we wont stress over the problems of real life. Enjoy these cozy backgrounds as we ring in the new year… the laid back way.

This holiday season, as we gather with our friends and loved ones — in person or virtually — it’s a great time to express feelings of appreciation and affection for those who help make our lives that much brighter. As President of Dungeons & Toast, those people include all my guild mates, and especially those who have volunteered to serve in a leadership role these past six months, be it in a formal officer position or as a much-needed committee chair. So to Quest Master (VPE) Michael A, Recruitment Master (VPM) Lucas R, Master Bard (VPPR) Kait R, Master of Coin (Treasurer) Kelly S, Master Scribe (Secretary) Angel L, Sergeant at Arms Cameron P, Immediate Past Guild Master (IPP) Andrew B, Campaign Master Greg S, and Tavern Master Patrick V, thank you for your friendship, dedication, and care. I look forward to working together to make the second half of our Toastmasters/Dungeons & Toast campaign year even better!

It is time for Toastmasters Officer Training again, starting this weekend. All Dungeons and Toast members are welcome, and will recieve 25 XP for attending, even if they are not officers, so, don’t let the XP go to waste. The word from the District (100) is as follows:

Our second live session of round 2 club officer training is this Saturday, December 16 from 9:00am to 11:30am PST.  We are again going for the gold with a goal of 7 of 7 officers trained!

Registration link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkdeCqpj8uHNOplKWcrFdKK1KX2evC6CSt

Like the first round, you will have three options for training:

• Live Session – either this weekend, or there will be additional dates confirmed soon for January and February – including some weekday options.
• Train out of district – attend another district’s training and communicate back to me for tracking
• On Demand Training – watch videos at your own pace, and attend a zoom discussion session (reopening later this week): https://ondemandleadertraining.org

All club officers should be trained twice a year with the first round more focused on the foundations and the second round with updated content and areas for discussion.  Officers attending training for the second term will help the club accomplish Distinguished Club goal #9.

Saturday (12/16)’s training team will feature:

• Keynote presentation by David Flores
• President training by Area Director Abhishek Gupta
• VPE Training by Our very own Patrick Guilfoyle with Pathways Chair Rebekah Atkinson
• VPM Training by William Wocjiak
• VPPR Training by Xuling Wu
• Secretary, Treasurer, and SAA trainers still being confirmed
• Advanced Club Officer Training by past District Director, D1 Janell WIlliams

(Advanced Club Officer training is recommended if you are serving multiple roles and have served as an officer previously)

After a long, arduous month of resisting the itch to shave, three beards reigned victorious.

• For the first category of “Established Beard” (those who had a beard in progress prior to 11/1), our
  winner was Patrick Verebely!
• For the second category of “Fresh Faced” (those who started growing a beard on 11/1), the winner was Cameron Pedersen!
• For the final category of “Artificial” (those who used enchantments to create the illusion of a beard), the winner was Loni Huff!

A special thank you to David Easlea, who shared in his speech last night, his journey battling Myasthenia Gravis, reminding us all why this fundraiser is important to us. Also, thank you to all who participated in our fundraiser. We had seven participating beards in this contest, and (so far) ten donors. Those who pledged a donation should have received a carrier pigeon from me, your humble Master of Coin, to let you know your total donation.

Hello all! I wanted to give these backgrounds another day in the sun, and if you have any backgrounds from past meetings that you would like to use tonight that is recommended as well. Here is a selection of backgrounds from the month of October!

November is a month of many things: cornucopias, crunchy leaves, Thanksgiving, the color orange (that is, if your synesthesia syncs with mine). This year, once again, Dungeons & Toast declares that this month shall also be about facial hair. Give your razor a rest – give it the whole month off! Join us in our annual No Shave November contest and fundraiser. This year, we will once again be donating all proceeds to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, to support research into a disease that affects one of our beloved charter members.

This year, we open the contest to all guild members, regardless of gender. We will be voting for the following categories:

• Established Beard (grown prior to 11/1)
• Fresh-Faced (started growing on 11/1)
• Artificial (painted, wig…)

All persons are able to donate a pledge, which will be multiplied by the number of participants, to indicate the total donation. For reference, we had 12 participants last year, and we are hoping for more this year. If you were to pledge $3 and we have 15 participants, your final donation would be $45.

The voting will take place at the first meeting of December (12/1) and the total amount donated will be announced at the second meeting of December.

Please sign up to participate and, if you’re able, make a pledge.

On October 28th, Patrick V led a Dungeons and Toast (D&T) raiding party, composed of Michael C, David E, and Dr. Michael, on a Halloween adventure within one of his clubs, Visionary Toastmasters. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as Visionary Toastmasters had embraced a Holiday theme that harmonized seamlessly with the unique essence of D&T. Furthermore, our expertise in costumes flawlessly embodied the Halloween spirit.

Patrick delivered a captivating presentation on Leadership, intriguingly adopting a Ghost’s perspective. This topic seamlessly blended with the typical D&T presentation as well as the Visionary Toastmasters’ meeting theme. During Table Topics, Michael C took a humorous approach, playfully poking fun at Lucifer and Crunch. His storytelling and responses to the Table Topics questions were not only entertaining but also served as an excellent introduction to the world of D&T for those who were paying close attention. In addition, it provided an opportunity for Dr. Michael to mug for the camera. David E, who, notably was awarded the title of the best Table Topics presenter, cleverly weaved these characters into his discussion while branching off on the terrors of Public Speaking.

Dr. Michael, appearing as a see-through ghost thanks to OBS tricks he had mastered for the club, engaged in a spookier exploration of Pathways during the Table Topics session. As he delved into the subject, he demonstrated his remarkable vocal talents by assuming various character voices one on top of the other.

Following the event, both Patrick and Dr. Michael stayed back to foster interest in Dungeons and Toast among Visionary Toastmaster’s members, even engaging the Regional Advisor in the conversation.

Well done, everyone!