Chairman’s Blog Tuesday 3rd September 2013
10 in attendance with apologies for absence from Jim Henshaw.
Brian Painter as acting Education and Development Officer told us all the things we should not do if we wanted to be a good member. The positive negativity of his offering was interesting.
Before he offered us the benefit of his thoughts Anne Clarke was declared the winner of the performance league for the month of August. Well done Anne!!
The 60 second round struck certain themes between certain members. Jason Nortey considered the term “hands free” by way of car systems to be something of an oxymoron if wires and kit are strewn all over the place at the front of a car or van. “Hands free” will in this instance involve grabbing at items as they move round in front of the driver, hence the reference to oxymoron. Equally oxymoronic was Brian Painters litany of drivers who, through their hang ups, were unable to drive properly. As result of Brian’s sterling efforts, bad drivers were put back on the road, certainly overtones of oxymoron there, despite no doubt Brian having given them the confidence not to “give in” to their fatal driving flaws.
Robert Mayes and Nige Kirby were both advancing reasons why their services should be used rather than trying to do it yourself and the theme was picked up by Scott Griffiths with reference to the building of web sites.
Now the areas of business that do not lend themselves to DIY are the services provided by Anne Clark and Stewart Oldham who both provide added value to businesses without those businesses having to employ their own staff. The same of course is true of Quality HR.
3 distinct themes therefore shared by our members in their 60 seconds.
There followed the 10 minute presentation. Robert Mayes brought an new definition to the concept of 10 minutes but demonstrated a passion for excellence in describing how his company carries out building works that made us all feel that we could recommend him with confidence. A good performance, something of an example of how well a 10 minute slot can be used…even if it took 20 minutes.
Next week our Meeting Organiser Adam Hotson will take over as Meeting Organiser from Paul Booth who has been filling the role selflessly since the meetings inception. Additionally Nige Kirby is girding up his loins to take over as Education and Development Officer. All members now have the Education Materials, and however daunting they might appear as a piece of reading, Nigel will be introducing their contents to us over the coming weeks. It is the Board’s hope that this material will provide a useful reference point for everybody in how to deal with the various areas that membership of EBF entails and will prove useful and informative.
Finally, please note there will be a committee meeting next week after the meeting itself which will be chaired by our new Chairman Jim Henshaw.
Number one on the agenda is to lay plans to attract visitors and the Brentwood Meeting will be conducting the same exercise this Thursday. Please let Jim have any other items that you think are suitable for consideration by the Committee on its agenda and I will finish by setting the same task to members as I did with the Brentwood Meeting last week.
First of all please comment on this Blog but secondly, in making your comments please suggest at least one trade,business of profession that might prove a useful addition to the meeting for the purpose of giving and receiving referrals from your own point of view. It is after all what the meeting is all about.
I look forward to seeing you all next week.
Ok so let me get the ball rolling and suggest the top three trades / professions that I think our group is in need of:
1. Printer
2. Graphic Designer
3. Mortgage Broker
There are more that would be good too, but this is my “hot list”.
I was there this morning too! Lol 🙂 PLUS I requested scrambled eggs for the next meeting
If we get scrambled eggs next week yours will have been the most significant contribution to the meeting.
A surveyor would be good
Apologies for not being there this morning, a terrible night of no sleep with my 2 year old.
1 I could use a good carpenter
2 An electrician
Well done, Anne, for winning the Oscar.
Excellent insight in to your building company, Robert.
How about a garage owner as a member or would he get too tyred?
OK, I’ll stick with a florist!
Good meeting all, looking forward to educating you all next week. All the trades would be good, letting agent, printer, signage
Electrician
Mortgage broker
Florist
Letting agent
And scrambled egg or even jam for toast
Looking forward to the scrambled eggs.