Chairman’s Blog Thursday 9th May 2013.
A good turnout – 27 Members and 2 guests.
Stewart Oldham an IT Consultant who was “observing” in anticipation of Billericay’s launch meeting on the 14th May 2013 and Angus Brown a Personal Trainer who I believe was seen with a membership form in his hand when he finally departed the premises.
One absentee was David Plumley who is on holiday. He was ably substituted by our Pilgrim who did not himself deliver the Ed Slot but introduced the aptly named Ed Crocker to do the business. As a new member his short homily on the power of referrals and the invocation to “talk to each other “ shows that he has “got the idea”, and hopefully reminded us what we should have known in the first place. The confluence of Ed Crocker and the Ed Slot just goes to show that “ 2 Ed’s” are better than one!
And so we eased ourselves into the 60 second round…
If one or two of our number were on holiday the balance was slightly restored by the return of Peter Hood from Oz. He needs some small referrals to fill in until more substantial jobs are obtained. In sharp contrast Stewart Roberts is about to go on holiday and was not looking for any referrals. We must take this to be a tribute to the quality of the breakfast and the members that he turned up.
Steve Carmichael Brown was here again, telling us all about the “exciting world of renewable technology”. Once again Alan Shaw went off message commending the Centre for Alternative Technology to the aforementioned Carmichael Brown which apparently is 20 years old This got me thinking, somewhat belatedly perhaps, that Alan had discovered some portable renewable technology himself. It consists of 2 rather small solar panels surrounded by white plastic…yes he had me fooled for a while as well. Those were not spectacles that he was wearing.
It then fell to Brian Painter to muse on matters of fashion. He painted a picture of a man wearing a yellow blue and white striped blazer contemplating how he was being viewed by others. Having rehearsed 3 possible reactions to such a fashion statement he declared that other people’s opinions were irrelevant. No doubt had Brian produced his 60 seconds prior to Alan Shaw’s , Alan would probably have agreed with him. I imagined Alan wearing a yellow blue and white blazer with the white renewable energy spectacles and then thought of Elton John, anyone else…
Kim Douglas rose to her feet and berated the author of last week’s Blog. She wished to set the record straight, she is not boring and was ready to tackle the perpetrator who had suggested otherwise. I have probably been writing this Blog for approximately 2 ½ years. Indeed its very title reflects this…”Chairman’s Blog”. Nonetheless and fortunately she vented her spleen on Scott as her perceived culprit. Of course he had simply posted it, but I was more than happy not to dispel the illusion and ensure that her icy gaze remained cast upon him. In a roundabout sort of way I suppose she demonstrated that in a profession that might seem to the outsider boring, she as a practitioner, is not. The proof of this is that she clearly does not read this Blog on any regular sort of basis and therefore has not appreciated its authorship. That in its self probably shows she has got better things to do with her time.
Notwithstanding my narrow escape from the “Wrath of Kim” and in fear of being turned into a pillar of salt, I attempted to keep myself to myself (as far as this is possible when chairing our multi talented gathering). However, the heart did start beating a little faster when the Bard of Hadleigh rose to his feet but he did not produce anything rhyming to write home about. He talk about the risks of a “live” gas pipe. This puzzled me slightly and perhaps those of you who know about these things can comment to this Blog as to whether there is such a thing a live gas pipe…it all seems too much like electricity.
Whilst Kevin Radford could not reach poetic heights, soaring stanzas and rhyming couplets came from one of the Buckley’s. He produced a superb piece of verse which left us all gasping and rightly earned him the Oscar. Whoever delivered the verse, I think it was the other one who contributed to the referrals round later in the meeting and it does appear that we have in our midst a formidable double act, hereinafter to be referred to in this Blog as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
Frankly, since I have been observing some of the members very closely over the last 2 ½ years I can only say, much to my delight, that we are all becoming as mad a hatters; now there’s a vacant category worth filling…Hatter that is.
My final comment on the 60 second round is to draw your attention to Nick Morgan’s contribution. He gave us all a pen, a business card and a piece of blank paper. I think it was intended to be a variation on the stone paper and scissors game; the pen beats the paper because it can write on it. The paper beats the card because it can wrap around it and the card beats the pen because there is no room on the card for the paper to write on it.. help me out here Nick…am I right and if I am, what is my prize.
There was no Synergy Team Meeting this week but Jason enlightened us on its full meaning i.e. “symbiotic energy”. It was nice to see our Banker dispensing some knowledge rather than waving his cheque book.
The 10 minute slot fell this week to Michael Adelizzi who made use of the new projector and screen to show various pictures of toilets, showers and bidets whilst he gave us an introduction as to how he got where he is today and then some further shots of his new shop/showroom. A lot of members indicated an intention of going there and as I expressed at the meeting, I have raised with Terry our Social Secretary the possibility of an outing to St. Mary’s Lane. I get the feeling he will need some convincing but I will keep at him. It was a good 10 minutes and brave of Michael to risk the new technology.
The referrals and testimonials round that followed had another exciting battle as to who went first and following Adrian Crosdale missing out last week despite having 6 referrals he was the proud winner this week with 5 (or was it 6). The referrals round was lively as always and a very successful meeting came to an end with the sun shining and the promise of good conditions for those of us who were proposing to adjourn to the Golf Course. Myself and Messrs Griffiths, Brooks and Carmichael Brown duly set off at 9am. The exercise was good, the weather was better and… the least said about the golf the better!
I look forward to seeing you all next week.
Another fantastic meeting as always with plenty of business passed around between the members.
Great golf afterwards too. I played like a total beginner but it was most enjoyable. Brilliant way to have a 3 hour 1-2-1 session with other members.
As usual, great positive meeting. I did feel a bit guilty about having an extra egg to counter Paul Booth’s absence so I only had one.
See you all next week.
J
Sounds like I missed a good ‘un, trust me to send David away on holiday & then have a system problem!!
Looking forward to returning on Thursday minus the tonsils.
Can someone blend my breakfast up for me please
Great meeting and left with 3 referrals, a good start to any day Id say.
In the absence of a blender for Jamie, I’ll be quite happy to masticate (I think that’s the correct word) the bacon and sausage for her.