{"id":942,"date":"2026-03-28T15:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T06:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/?p=942"},"modified":"2026-03-28T15:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T06:09:32","slug":"2026-3-25-otmc-meeting-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/2026\/03\/28\/2026-3-25-otmc-meeting-report\/","title":{"rendered":"2026\/3\/25 OTMC Meeting Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#x1f338;<strong>Spring is officially here!<\/strong> &#x1f33f; As the cherry blossoms in Tokyo begin to peek out, our members gathered for a high-energy night of &#8220;<strong>striving<\/strong>,&#8221; storytelling, and a few &#8220;fictional&#8221; goodbyes. With the fiscal year wrapping up, the atmosphere was electric with new resolutions and fresh growth! &#x1f680;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Word of the Evening: <strong>Strive<\/strong> &#x1f4aa;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Word of the Evening<\/strong> was introduced to set the perfect tone for the night: <strong>Strive.<\/strong> &#x26a1; This word captured our collective spirit as we discussed our journey toward becoming a <strong>Smedley Distinguished Club<\/strong>. Whether it\u2019s hitting Pathways goals or mastering a new role, we are all striving for that next level! &#x1f4c8;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Table Topics: New Beginnings &amp; Plot Twists &#x1f3ad;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Table Topics Master Tetsu kept us on our toes with themes of change and tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Aysha<\/strong> stole the show with a bold message: <em>&#8220;Don&#8217;t hesitate to change; life gets better the moment you move!&#8221;<\/em> &#x1f3c3;&#x200d;&#x2640;&#xfe0f;&#x1f4a8;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hitomi (Our Guest!)<\/strong> shared a magical family tradition involving a 1,000-year-old shrine and a disappearing cake. &#x1f370;&#x2728; Talk about a mystery!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Prepared Speeches: Puppies &amp; &#8220;Graduation&#8221; &#x1f393;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We had two fantastic speeches that kept us laughing and thinking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hidenori<\/strong> gave us a hilarious look into life with his toy poodle, Lily. From &#8220;poop-eating monster&#8221; &#x1f4a9; to &#8220;beloved partner&#8221; &#x1f436;, he reminded us that the best relationships are nurtured over time (and through a lot of mischief!).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Frank<\/strong> took us to center stage with a &#8220;fictional&#8221; graduation keynote. &#x1f393; Though nobody is actually leaving the club (phew! &#x1f605;), Frank\u2019s motivational speech about finding the <strong>&#8220;Silver Lining&#8221;<\/strong> in every cloud was the perfect &#8220;commencement&#8221; for our new fiscal year goals. &#x2601;&#xfe0f;&#x1f308;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#x1f3c6; Tonight\u2019s Superstars &#x1f3c6;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Huge applause for our award winners who really made the night shine! &#x1f31f;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Best Table Topics Speaker:<\/strong> Aysha &#x1f947;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Best Evaluator:<\/strong> Naoko &#x1f9d0;&#x2728;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Best Prepared Speaker:<\/strong> Frank &amp; Hidenori (A legendary tie!) &#x1f3a4;&#x1f91d;&#x1f3a4;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#x1f389; Save the Date: Our 200th Milestone! &#x1f38a;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Big things are happening! Our next gathering isn&#8217;t just a regular meeting\u2014it\u2019s a massive milestone for Otemachi Toastmasters. On <strong>April 8th<\/strong>, we will be celebrating our <strong>200th club meeting!<\/strong> &#x1f388;&#x1f4af;&#x2716;&#xfe0f;2&#xfe0f;&#x20e3;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you are a long-time member or a curious guest, come join us for this historic night as we look back on 200 meetings of growth, laughter, and incredible speeches. Let\u2019s make it unforgettable! &#x1f942;&#x2728;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#x25b6;&#xfe0f;Catch the replay:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WFlDo_T7XiI\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/WFlDo_T7XiI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#x1f338;Spring is officially here! &#x1f33f; As the cherry blossoms in Tokyo begin to peek out, our members g [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regular-meeting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/S__40370198_0-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":944,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions\/944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}