March 27, 2008—Richard Romano, a seven-year veteran of Saratoga Springs, NY’s Toastmasters International Club, Thorobred Toastmasters, came in second place in Area F4'sTall Tale Contest. The speech, retitled “Food for Thought” (formerly "Systema Unnaturae") is a tongue-in-cheek “biography” of Dr. Edward Munch, proponent of the field of “gustatory taxonomy,” or classifying animals according to how they tasted. Catherine Burch, of Saratoga Care (Saratoga Hospital’s Toastmasters club), took first place with her speech entitled “The Mother of the Groom.” Toastmasters newcomer Craig Foster, of Glens Falls, NY's North Country Toastmasters, came in third with his speech entitled “Squirrels.”
The Tall Tales Contest, held every year, features a series of 3–5-minute speeches of a fantastical or exaggerated nature. Toastmasters Area F4 comprises four clubs in Sarayoga and Washington Counties, including Thorobred Toastmasters (Saratoga Springs), Saratoga Care (Saratoga Hospital), North Country Toastmasters (Glens Falls), and Washington County Toastmasters (Hudson Falls/Ft. Edward). The winner of the Area Contest will compete in the Division Contest, held April 24, in Albany. More informatiion about Toastmasters contest dates can be found at the District 53 site at www.district53toastmasters.org.
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Romano has been a member of Thorobred Toastmasters since November 2001, and in that time has served as President and as Area Governor of Area F4, overseeing a half dozen clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. He is currently Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters.
Anyone interested in Toastmasters can visit www.toastmasters.org to find a club near them. Saratoga residents are welcome to attend any regular Thorobred Toastmasters meeting, held every second and fourth Monday from 7–9 p.m. at Longfellows Restaurant on Route 9P in Saratoga Springs. More information and directions can be found at www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
March 11, 2008—Twelve Saratoga County teens graduated from the Toastmasters International-sponsored Youth Leadership Program. The eight-week course came to a close with a "demonstration showcase" of speeches, evaluations, and impromptu "Table Topics." About 20 relatives and friends of the graduates attended the meeting, held at the Malta Community Center onTuesday, March 11. After opening remarks by YLP Coordinator Richard Romano, the audience was treated to five speeches, written and delivered by the grads. Speakers included Schuyler Smith, Zak Roubelakis, Mike Markiewicz, Mike Himpele, and Karl Gerner. Assistant Coordinator Donna Morris then led an evaluation demonstration, in which other students evaluated the speeches using the Toastmasters evaluation procedure. John Ceceri and Wyatt Smith then led "Table Topics," impromptu speaking exercises in which students, the coordinators, and even audience members were called on at random and asked to speak for 1–2 minutes on a subject of the "Table Topics Master's" choosing.
At the end of the meeting, the YLP coordinators presented the graduates with certificates of completion in the program. Students and coordinators alike benefitted immeasurably from the program. Said Romano in his opening remarks, "The last two months have been a pleasure, and if these kids are any indication of the caliber of the leaders of tomorrow, I think we’re in good hands." Romano adds, "I was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm these kids showed. They jumped right in with both feet from Day One and made me and Donna's jobs very easy. They're a great bunch of kids and I wish them the best as they go on to college and beyond."
The graduates were George Calvey, John Ceceri, Karl Gerner, Mike Himpele, Mike Markiewicz, David Pfeil, Matthew Podkulski, Zak Roubelakis, Shaina Runyon, Schuyler Smith, Wyatt Smith, and Lacey Stratton.
Back row (left to right): Wyatt Smith, David Pfeil, Mike Markiewicz, John Ceceri, George Calvey. Front row (left to right): Shaina Runyon, Mike Himpele, Karl Gerner, Lacey Stratton. Kneeling: Zak Roubelakis. Not pictured: Schuyler Smith, Matthew Podkulski.
About the Youth Leadership Program
The Youth Leadership Program is designed to help kids grow to meet the challenges of adulthood and leadership successfully. The program’s unique eight-session, workshop-style design enables participants to develop this potential through practical experience. Participants learn to:
Participants increase their self-confidence as they learn. They also make new friends and have fun.
About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. The local Toastmasters club is Thorobred Toastmasters, which meets the second and fourth Monday of the month at Longfellows Restaurant. For more information, visit www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
February 27–29—Richard Romano got his pastel wardrobe and Carl Hiaasen novels out of storage and ventured south to Miami Beach to cover Graphics of the Americas. A rundown on Thursday’s show can be found at The Industry Measure blog. Watch WhatTheyThink for in-depth wrap-up features following the show.
February 22, 2008—Over at WhatTheyThink, Richard Romano previews the Brand Security Conference at next week’s Graphics of the Americas show in Miami Beach. Romano will be covering the show for WhatTheyThink and will also be blogging from the show at The Industry Measure blog.
February 19, 2008—Individuals in the New York State Capital District who wish to hone their abilities as professional public speakers are welcome to join a new Advanced Toastmasters Club that meets each month in Clifton Park.
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.
Most Toastmasters clubs are designed to help novice speakers overcome their fear of public speaking, and improve and gain confidence in their communication skills. This Advanced Club, however, is targeted to speakers who are already comfortable with public speaking, and seek to enhance and further develop their skills to pursue a career (either part- or full-time) as a professional speaker. The goal of each meeting is to give each speaker detailed, comprehensive, straightforward, and no holds barred evaluations of the content and presentation of his or her speech.
"In your average Toastmasters club meeting, the tone is designed to be very encouraging and the critiquing very gentle," says Richard Romano, a Saratoga Springs, NY-based writer, seven-year Toastmasters veteran, and treasurer/secretary of the new club. "In the advanced club, members are serious about getting good at public speaking and the emphasis is on really helping speakers conquer their shortcomings. Such 'tough love' can be a little daunting, but it's all in the service of helping us get better, and it's still a very friendly and supportive environment. You just need a thicker skin than at your average Toastmasters meeting."
The first meeting of this new club was held Monday, February 18, and was attended by more than a dozen Toastmasters veterans from around the Capital District. The kick-off meeting included speeches by Melinda Burns, Kerri Kannan, and Laura Schultz, with each speech followed by a one-minute evaluation from each of the other attendees.
The club is in the process of building up enough members to charter as an official Toastmasters club. Meetings are held the third Monday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce office, off Exit 9 of the Northway (I-87) in Clifton Park. The next meeting will be held on March 17. Meetings are open to all present or prospective public speakers.
For more information and/or directions, contact Terrie Gifford, Vice President of Public Relations, at 664-4011 home/fax, 956-3901-cell, toakpointe@wildblue.net.
February 18, 2008—Rich Text & Graphics announces the relaunch of www.richtextandgraphics.com, the first major redesign of the site since 2005. Rich Text & Graphics is an umbrella name for a variety of Saratoga Springs, NY, writer Richard Romano’s various writing, editorial, and graphic design projects. The goal of the new site is to function as a hub for a variety of sites and blogs to which Romano contributes feature stories, comments, and advice on the subjects of the graphic arts, media and communication, and marketing.
The site’s new home page prominently features links to three blogs to which Romano regularly contributes: The Industry Measure Blog, which provides general comments on trends in the graphic arts, media, and communications; Expert Business Source, whose blog “Making Marketing Work” (which he shares with co-contributor Heidi Tolliver-Nigro) provides marketing advice and tips for individuals and businesses; and Blogito Ergo Sum (“I Blog, Therefore I Am”), a personal blog that provides wry comments on odd technology news, as well as an outlet for Romano’s prolific fiction experiments, which include short stories, novels, screenplays, and other items that defy categorization. The new site’s home page will also point visitors to new feature articles and other items and news from around the Web.
The new site also contains links to details about the half dozen or so books that Romano has authored or co-authored, a portfolio of selected graphic design projects, and links to other sites of interest.
“The site is designed to serve as a ‘hub’ for all my various writing outlets, the inspiration for which came when I was trying to link to it all from one location,” says Romano. “Plus, it had been a few years since I had updated the site, so the time seemed right.”
The upgraded site, which was designed and developed by Romano himself after teaching himself Adobe Dreamweaver CS, will be updated at least several times a week, and will gradually include new “Web 2.0” items. In addition to a series of blogs, regular podcasts are currently in development, and will be added to the site in the next several weeks.
“I have been writing about ‘Web 2.0’ and its importance to creatives, marketers, and publishers for years no, so I figured it was about time I took my own advice,” says Romano.
The new site can be visited at www.richtextandgraphics.com. Romano can be reached by e-mail at rromano@richtextandgraphics.com.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.
February 11, 2008—Richard Romano, a seven-year veteran of Saratoga Springs, NY’s Toastmasters International Club, Thorobred Toastmasters, came in first place in the Club’s Tall Tale Contest. The speech, entitled “Systema Unnaturae,” is a tongue-in-cheek “biography” of Dr. Edward Munch, proponent of the field of “gustatory taxonomy,” or classifying animals according to how they tasted. Donna Morris-Calvey’s speech “Black Gold,” came in a very close second.
The Tall Tales Contest, held every year, features a series of 3–5-minute speeches of a fantastical or exaggerated nature. Having won at the club level, Romano will compete in the Area Contest against winners from three other clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties, on March 27. The winner of the Area contest will advance to the Division Contest and the District Contest, both to be held in April.
Thorobred Toastmasters is Saratoga Springs, NY’s local Toastmasters International Club. Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Romano has been a member of Thorobred Toastmasters since November 2001, and in that time has served as President and as Area Governor of Area F4, overseeing a half dozen clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. He is currently Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters.
“Joining Toastmasters was probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. It has greatly enriched my communication skills and opened up entire new avenues for my professional career,” says Romano. “The Tall Tales contest is a lot of fun and even though I am not particularly competitive, making people laugh is always enjoyable.”
Anyone interested in Toastmasters can visit www.toastmasters.org to find a club near them. Saratoga residents are welcome to attend any regular Thorobred Toastmasters meeting, held every second and fourth Monday from 7–9 p.m. at Longfellows Restaurant on Route 9P in Saratoga Springs. More information and directions can be found at www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.
February 6, 2008—Richard Romano interviews Printing Association of Florida president George Ryan, and provides a preview of the 33rd Annual GoA show, to be held February 27–March 1 in Miami Beach. Romano will be covering the show for WhatTheyThink, and may not return to the frozen Northeast until June.... Read the article at http://members.whattheythink.com/home/080207rromano.cfm.
January 8, 2008—Richard Romano has been tapped to serve as Coordinator for the Youth Leadership Program, a Toastmasters International program that aims to help local high school students develop the communication and leadership skills that will help them in college and beyond. More than a dozen local teens from Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Malta, and Burnt Hills have enrolled. The program lasts for eight weeks starting January 8, meeting for one hour each Tuesday night at 7:00 at the Malta Community Center. In those eight weeks, students will receive hands-on experience in running effective meetings, making and adhering to an agenda, as well as learning and practicing public speaking. Each student is required to write and deliver two 4–6-minute speeches, as well as participate in other impromptu public speaking exercises.
Coordinator Richard Romano and Assistant Coordinator Donna Morris-Calvey are both longterm members of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs, NY’s local Toastmasters International Club. Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.
The Youth Leadership Program is designed to help kids grow to meet the challenges of adulthood and leadership successfully. The program’s unique eight-session, workshop-style design enables participants to develop this potential through practical experience. Participants learn to:
Participants increase their self-confidence as they learn. They also make new friends and have fun.
“I’m looking forward to helping impart the skills I learned as a Toastmaster to the next generation,’” says Romano. “It’s the kind of program I wish I had been able to participate in when I was a teenager.”
More information about the Youth Leadership Program can be found by clicking here.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.