Chairman’s Blog meeting Thursday 17th January 2013.
Present 25 members and 3 guests Gary Boyes, Fiona Marriage and Jeff Garcia for the second time.
We now all have lapel badges which look very smart indeed, thanks to Claire Greenslade for her efforts in providing these.
The 60 second round was themed to the extent that everyone was asked to incorporate 3 reasons why their business should be recommended. This had the effect of producing less humour but a focus which was quite helpful.
Even Alan Shaw gave a focused performance as to the sort of work that he does but was unable to go beyond a second reason. Chris Smythe declared that he was bloody good at three things, I can’t quite remember what they were and Nick Cooke got as far as 2 and said he would let us in on the 3rd next week.
Kevin Radford rather cleverly illustrated 3 reasons by citing 3 referrals that he had received last week but the effectiveness of this had to be set against the fact that none of the 3 people mentioned actually managed to make it to the meeting this week. I do not think Kevin can complain that people do not make an effort to give him referrals in fact it is clearly very tiring.
In summary, the device of theming can sometimes backfire and you might be forgiven for thinking that I considered the 60 second round this week to be rather boring!
Although my mind did drift that way during the course of the presentations the day was saved by Brian Painter who told of a cure for a phobia for needles that would be very useful for drug addicts and curing the memory loss for a lady who had had two abortions. He apparently helps old ladies over the road whether they want to go or not and he finally finished off with the singing slug as he gyrated from centre stage to his chair. The three guests looked bemused.
Tina Walker won the Oscar for setting out her three reasons sensibly and correctly. The fact that she deservedly won the Oscar for a very sensible 60 second perhaps is reflective of the tone that was struck today. Well done Tina.
Brian Painter continued into the 10 minutes presentation. Brian always obliges with some good case studies which always helps get over to the group how useful he can be to people suffering from phobias. For those of us who thought the breakfast was a bit difficult to digest today he thankfully spared us any reference to the effects of smoking.
The referrals round was effective. Adrian Crossdale had led the way with 5 referrals and there were 33 in all. A tribute as to the effectiveness of Brian’s 10 minutes was that he received 3 referrals today, one from a guest, thereby illustrating not only the value of the 10 minutes but the value of visitors, which was also the theme of the education slot delivered by David Plumley.
I think I can describe this week as being workman like and effective which perhaps makes a pleasant change.
Interesting information supplied by Scott Griffiths was an article that was written about him and the group, that cast him as the Ivan Misner of Essex. Read about this article in our other blog post.
As Scott announced our anniversary is approaching and it will be celebrated on Thursday 21st February 2013. The preparations have already begun with the nominations sheets for the various categories, prizes to be awarded on the day. Watch this space for more announcements regarding this milestone in our history.
I look forward to seeing you all next week.
Another great blog post Aidan. I thought that the meeting was really good, and enjoyed the theme to the 60 seconds. I think that maybe we should aim to do something like this every month or so?
I must say that I struggle with new ideas for my 60 seconds, so I for one am in favour of 60 second themes
Maginot the maggot took great offence to being called a slug.He contacted his cousin,Siegfreid, the snail who advised him to take a very firm line on the matter. Maginot has threatened to withdraw his cabaret act at our December meeting in protest. I’m trying to talk him round.
And if we don’t calm it down with the insults he’ll send his big brother, the Witchety Grub, to come sort us out right?!
Yes an excellent meeting as usual. On the subject of 60 seconds, making a presentation for the best part of a minute each week on who you are and what you do and the sort of referral you would like is easy. The tricky bit is making it sound memorable and interesting each time. I’m still working on that one.