Despite Easter creeping up on us there was a good turnout with 23 Members present and one visitor Saj Sreedharan, a Florist.
Performance League
Scott Griffiths reported to us that Paul Booth was well in the lead, and subject to any important advances he was likely to be the winner for the month. We await the final tally. 2nd place is however hotly contended among 4 other members.
Education Presentation
Scott Griffiths delivered the pearls of wisdom this week and explained to us, given the recent events unfolding with the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica problems, just how much of our personal data is at the mercy of Facebook. His illustration of exactly what data can be retrieved by going through all of our facebook entries could only be described as chilling. A very interesting and useful Education Slot.
The 60 Second Round
Syd Barret was first up and demonstrated that he had put a lot of work into his presentation as he produced a ditty selling his services. Unfortunately, the Bard of Hadleigh was not present to witness this challenge to his Bardship.
This week there were at least two members present from the School of Whimsey. Of those two, Nick Cooke played it with a fairly straight bat (not Aussie style). He told us of the sort of things he could do to help householders whether they had damp problems or were looking to extend. The other, Brian Painter, was back looking bronzed and giving the impression of a hidden six-pack. Even whilst the Pilgrim was on holiday, whilst sitting on the beach, he was conscious of the smell of tobacco smoke and all of this poisonous thoughts, or is it thoughts of poison, rose to the surface of his mind. He explained that this even distracted him from watching the totty sunning themselves on their sunbeds. As you can see, smoking can be dangerous to all sorts of people in all sorts of ways.
Vince Goode was all acrylic signs. He sort of took the view that the fixing of said acrylic signs to a wall could amount to rebranding. Is Gants Hill becoming home on the range.
Are you getting married or engaged? Is there a wedding or an anniversary coming up? Have your claws broken or have you just lost a diamond; all of these are good reasons to consult Marcelle Saad.
David Plumley has found a new anti-virus and having shouted, TRAITOR, he then went on to describe it. If that wasn’t confusing enough. Stuart Smallcombe then rose to his feet and talked about accessing our emails and allowing your staff to do so through a mobile device. Apparently, there another device that will recognise when such employees are at risk and shut them down. Very confusing.
It was a relief to hear Jill Willis describe her skill sets, ranging from proofing to editing to rewriting; now that, I understand!!
In passing, I must congratulate in writing as well as I did at the meeting, the Naughty Corner. Having now properly reformed at one of the ends of the table, Messrs Bullock, Smallcombe and Booth not only are now making their Naughty presence felt but they are dragging in other people. Marcelle was this week’s victim. Talking of Paul Booth, he warned us of the dangers of hiring somebody who called themselves an accountant but was not properly qualified. Apparently, any of us can call ourselves accountants, whether we can do the job or not. It was with that warning ring in our ears that Alan Moller, an accountant who does electrics, told of an outside toilet with double sockets fed in by cables which were apparently dangerous. If David Plumley and Stuart Smallcombe had puzzled me Alan Moller’s description of the “Netty doon the botum of the gordon” left us all puzzled and Vince Goode had no alternative but to award him the Oscar. May I suggest that we all send him our books for him to prepare in order to keep him away from “Outseed nettys”.
This weeks statistics and points of note
- 23 Members present
- 1 Visitor in attendance
- 20 referrals passed
- £10,500.00 worth of business written
- £95,000.00 worth of business written for the month
- 110 referrals for the month
If the good figures for March brought a smile to your face, if the months statistics are something to smile about, it was something of a crescendo that built up to the 10 presentation.
10 20 minute presentation by Jo Eastwood(!)
This was Jo Eastwood, who must be commended for the effort she put into preparing her 10 minutes and be even more commended on producing booze and food. Four tasters of Craft Beer and complimentary nibbles to go with these differing brews led to an uproar as 10 minutes. She was helped by Ellen and Stuart Smallcombe who minced his way round the tables dispensing top ups. It was only afterwards that I realised that Jo’s meticulous preparation had been an excellent way of her illustrating one aspect of her business and making us all very happy at the same time. Well done Jo.
Referrals & Testimonials
The 10 minute presentation overflowed to make it very upbeat. We certainly haven’t been entertained quite that way with a 10 minute presentation. Next week’s presenter will have to beat Lemon Chicken Nuggets, Thai Green Chicken Curry, Spicy Chicken Chorizo and Cream Eggs to make any impact on us at all.
I’m not saying I can’t hold my drink, but the 4 pints (well thimbles) I downed at 8am certainly affected my driving. I was swerving and swearing my way to Gants Hill village, but all in all, a very enjoyable meeting. Well done Jo!
Yet again descriptive evidence as to why we actually enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn to attend these business meetings.
Credit must go to Jo for the effort she had put in to her 10mt presentaion this week, truly tasty fare.
Great Blog, brilliant 10 minutes Jo – I wish it was every week. Welcome Saj.
Great effort Jo some of those craft beers were delicious even at 8 o’clock in the morning-good to see Sarj the florist -i hope we see you again as a member.
Another great meeting and a great 10 minutes from Jo although I’m not keen on craft beer but they were very nice. Have a great Easter break and see you all in April.
Excellent presentation Jo, never one to say no to a beer and thai chicken even at 0730 in the morning, cheers!!! Brilliant Oscar speech and well deserved Alan!
An excellent presentation, as always, by Jo. Her pairing of craft beer and food was perfection!
Brilliant presentation Jo, really enjoyed it and such an entertaining meeting!
Once again Jo-Drinks knocks it out of the park!
At the next committee meeting I shall propose that next time, Jo gets 30 minutes (then we all take a power-nap)!