Oh, what joy! The EBF Christmas Festivities started from 6am onwards as members started arriving dressed in their fun Christmas wear, be it Pullovers, T-Shirts or full-blown Suits and Ties. Paul enlisted Jill Willis and one or two others to serenade new arrivals with Christmas Carols. Rob Newson arrived in good time to commence his duties as Magician. He started his card tricks early and before we sat down to breakfast.
Everyone made an effort and it turned out to be one of the more entertaining of our meetings. The staff at the venue seemed suitably bemused.
Scott Griffiths, the ultimate organiser, not only was he overwhelmingly clad in a suit of many colours but he also produced bingo to interest us during the meeting. As the meeting progressed there was shameful cheating. The small prizes to reflect completed lines welcomed those who won to the “great big world of Haribo”. Fortunately, nobody spoke with a squeaky voice.
A foreshortened meeting led us first of all to the 60 second round.
The 60 Second Round
Many members were happy enough to simply pass Christmases and New Year’s greetings and thank everybody for referrals etc throughout the year. All very laudable but it doesn’t give me much to write about. What few highlights there were, we were led of initially by John Freeman. The recent blizzard conditions gave him work doing snow clearing and he even got involved with Christmas Trees. I wasn’t quite sure whether this was chopping them down and then putting them up or simply decorating them (trimming I think is what the Americans call it).
Jo Eastwood produced a selection of alcoholic products that included one or two brands of beers that included “Frost Baubles” and “Holy Night”. I believe that the latter was without the K but I could be wrong.
Terry Maylin revealed another area of expertise which happens to be fixing toilet seat for clients… it’s a long story.
Alan Shaw outdid most of us with green David Hockney glasses, green baubles and a rather confused explanation that he had been doing “filling in”. I hold a nipple stud with a Christmas Tree attached which I was given at the end of the meeting by a member of staff who had found it somewhere on the floor. I have it in my car and it is available to be collected whenever you wish Alan.
The Bard of Hadleigh did not disappoint. His neat little poem on Mrs Santa and their insurance needs was as much a tribute to how much time he has on his hands as to his poetic genius.
Brian Painter, very much on message, managed to tell of someone who he finally cured of biting his nails. He had apparently been abandoned in a shopping mall somewhere by his parents. I believe that did come back for him but it was clearly a scaring event.
Scott Griffiths revealed that he has been a member of EBF and its predecessor for 20 years. We are still working out what we can actually congratulate him on.
So there you have it, the last 60 seconds of the year. I am looking for more fertile rounds in meetings to come next year.
This weeks statistics and points of note
Paul Booth is the current leader in the Performance League and after that announcement we went straight into the Referrals and Testimonials Round. Given the season and its being the last meeting for a couple of weeks we recorded a fair amount of money passed and a reasonable number of referrals (eventually).
- 22 Members present
- 1 Visitor, our Magician Rob Newson
- Scott Griffiths is the current longest serving member, 20+ years
- Paul Booth is in the lead in the Performance League
- The Oscar went to the Bard of Hadleigh
£
0
+
Business Passed Between All Members This Week
0
Referral Opportunies Passed Between Members This Week
Entertainment
Rob Newson, a Magician, demonstrated his skills in the networking session prior to the meeting starting and then went on to give a polished 15 minutes of card and other tricks. Highly entertaining.
Rob also awarded the most stunningly dressed Christmas Reveller who was our Pilgrim Brian Painter.
I finish wishing everybody Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Don’t forget the theme for the first 60 seconds of the New Year “My New Year’s Resolution”.
What a fun way to end an amazing year of networking. Thanks again to all of my friends here at EBF. You’re my extended sales force, my work-colleagues of sorts, and the group of professionals that I can rely on for just about anything. You’ve been collectively responsible for around 50% of the business that i’ve done this year. Thanks very much and I look forward to another 20 years….
All sounds very silly.
A brilliant final Thursday meeting, marking the end of a fantastic 2017. Thanks to all my fellow members for their referrals, and to those who I’m now so happy to call longstanding clients 🙂 I really find my merry band of EBF colleagues such a positive support system and I have total confidence that 2018 will be even stronger for my marketing and copywriting consultancy.
what a great fun meeting and brilliant effort in the costume department, well done everyone ! Thanks for all your referrals and support this year, looking forward to two weeks lie in!
What a great meeting the last Thursday for 2017. See most of you tomorrow evening.. Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Very Christmasie final meeting for 2017 with my fellow EBF’ers, most of whom dressed up in their Xmas jumpers to support our chosen charities. With much good humour and merryment on display it couldn’t fail to be anything but an excellent meeting. Congratulations to our resident Bard and a thank you to Jill for her marketing support throughout 2017.
A Merry Christmas to all and a big thank you for all the referrals.
And so passes another year!, thank you all for your referrals and with you all a great Christmas and New year. See most of you tomorrow night for food, jollys and drinks 😁
Wonderful last of the year meeting, and still the referrals are coming in, thanks guys, best thing i done for my business joining EBF!
genuine people, genuine business, love it 😊,
Merry Christmas to you all, and a prosperous new year to each and every one of you!
A very colourful, magical, poetic, humerous and inventive meeting, not forgetting the useful business tips from the members. It is a shame our resident musician was on holiday. Thanks for all of your referrals and support during the year and to the top teams efforts. Merry christmas and a prosperous new year.
Scott: Thanks for rescuing my nipple christmas tree which I feel lost without. Please feel free to use it yourself on Christmas Day though.
Apologies again for missing the meeting. I will hopefully see everyone this evening but want to thank you all for all the referrals and work over the last year. Wishing you all a very Merry and Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Big thank you to the top table team for their efforts throughout the year, well done all. Fun meeting and the perfect end to a good year. Have a good Christmas everyone and look forward to working with you all next year.
I’m happy to echo all the positive comments, its been a good year for my business thanks in no small part to EBF. Not only the business you’ve put my way but also for the friendship and support.
Wonderful, humorous entertaining meeting. It is the friendship that I value the most. Thank you, Aidan, for your leadership and blogs throughout the year. I’m still trying to fathom how Scott performed that amazing trick on Rob! I’ll see many of you this evening. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.