As you know, I like to create a context for meetings by reference to the weather. All very British you might say. What is un-British is that temperatures in the late 20s are forecast with the prospect of the next Monday and Tuesday being well into the 30s. With this in mind it is perhaps unsurprising that shorts and sandals were the order of the day for the men. Women automatically dress more appropriately for hot weather when it is necessary. The room however remained at a good temperature throughout the meeting. By the time we started we were 21 members present with one visitor
The Performance League
Appropriately Scott Griffiths reported that things were ‘hotting up’. A roundup of matters passing between them showed Scott Griffiths with 285 points and Matt Barry with 156 points. Paul Dulieu was lying in 3rd place on 55 points. The rest of us will need to go some to overhaul the two who are out front but let that be a challenge to us all.
Education Presentation
It was our Education and Development officer himself who delivered this week’s homily. Whilst our formal meeting is at the heart of what we do on a Thursday morning Ben Golding was at pains to point out the importance of networking both before and after the meeting itself. Make sure you mingle before the meeting kicks off. Keep a clear eye open for visitors to ensure that they are both welcomed and introduced to other members and make sure that you make contact with other members with whom you have had dealings with during the week and with whom you wish to contact afterwards.
The 60 Second Round
Scott Griffiths won the Oscar last week and was accordingly this week’s adjudicator. His presentation promoted ‘live chat’, appropriately delivered because he is of course the EBF handsome face. If you want to see how it works, just go onto our website and hey presto, Scott appears. This could be you on your website.
Hot weather and fixing ceilings perhaps do not go well together but that’s what John Freeman’s been doing.
The first of the three Mikes present; one Skinner has been producing a video for Emma Taylor which sounded like hard work for both of them in the heat. Mike however has a holiday to look forward to next week so any referrals will have to take that into account. If the hot weather makes us all more aware of our mortality it will perhaps help people like myself in trying to flog wills to you. Toby Acton was moved to address us on the 7 ages of business.
The second Mike up was Rodgers and he left us with a classic definition of what constitutes a ‘wuss’…..some bloke who feels it necessary to involve his wife in all decision’s however minute. I feel that is the politest way in which I can describe his rendering of this definition.
Nick Cooke also produced a definition of a good client, who is one who not only leaves you with a Google review but also produces half a dozen bottles of wine to show appreciation
Brian Painter had returned from one of his many holidays looking bronzed and ready for anything. He did feel slightly depressed by the stack of mail that greeted him which included how to save £2000 on a funeral and leaflets advertising mobility scooters. However he is back to serve the community and is looking for people with fears of…….
Sarah Steele produced the interesting fact of the week. 47% of people who go on holiday are not properly covered by insurance. Taking out insurance at the airport is by far the most expensive way of doing it and is falling within the bounds of carelessness with our money. Talking of statistics, Paul Dulieu drew our attention to lies and damn lies and contrasted them with statistics. Such a philosophical outlook was taken up further by Jane Malyon ‘…life is like a good cup of tea; it’s how you make it that really counts.
The third Mike of the group warned us statistically of the prevalence of new viruses that manifest themselves each week. These invariably come via e-mail at a rate of 6000/week.
Howard Bullock talked of ESG investing and explained that if you wished, in giving you financial advice, he could do “green washing”.
Neil Bellham brought us down to earth with a chef like celebration of meat and guidance as to how we can assess rare, medium rare, medium and well done steak by manipulating our fingers and our thumb. It will work just fine so long as you do not get cramp.
Best use of props this week also produced the Oscar for Vincent Goode. he produced a typical site board that can be attached to premises that are being refurbished by a builder. Matching flyers were also produced to confirm how effective this advertising can be. Congratulations Vince.
Synergy Team Report
Paul Booths business to business team meeting took place on Tuesday. A useful meeting was reported on which took place under the shade of a tree sheltering six of us.
10-minute presentation by Matt Barry
Hampered by a technology failure Matt still managed to very clearly illustrate how he helps his clients get the business vision to the marketplace, emphasising the importance of branding. We were then treated to a quiz based on branding for ice cream. Emma Taylor who obviously knows her chocolate was the winner. Matt always has a professional approach to his presentations that is clearly an extension of how he runs his business. Positive and informative. It was an excellent performance!!
Referrals and Testimonials
We went round the group with this important part of our meeting and we then closed the meeting and departed in bright warm sunshine anticipating a ‘scorcher’.
sounds like I missed a lively meeting and sorry to miss Matts 10 minute presentation
looking forward to meeting our visitor who seems keen to join
see you all next week – hopefully, Covid free
Fabulous meeting, as always. Loved your 10 minutes Matt, although I’ve clearly led a sheltered life as some of those ice cream brands were a revelation! Have a good week everyone!
Fantastic meeting, loved Matts presentation and quiz though disappointed I didn’t win the biscuits!!
Well done to Vince on winning the Oscar!! I’m looking forward to Oscarina making an appearance next week! 😁
Twister is my favourite ice lolly, Matt’s fine 16 minute quiz has prompted me to go get one. Thank you for the Oscar, get ready for the return of Oscarina next week
Hahaha!
A first class meeting. It was good to be back after a couple of weeks away. A very good Ed Slot from Ben as usual and a pretty cool 10 minutes from Matt. Great blog from Aidan too. See you all next week.
Good to be back and good to see that the same standards prevail. Ben’s ed slot indicated the importance having a door duty programme. Having recorded a big zero re Matt’s quiz, I’m clearly good at not watching TV! Roll on my next holiday.
Ruddy marvellous everyone and well done to Matt for clearly showing the power and importance of memorable and good branding. The London 2012 Olympic design stands out for being memorable in the wrong way of course! 😀
Excellent meeting boys and girls. Matt’s presentations are always good fun. See you all in a couple of weeks.
Great meeting and I am now sitting here eating an ice cream (Nuii) – thanks for the inspiration Matt!
Paul – is it true the 58.62% of statistics are made up on the spot!
Thanks for the great meeting – Well done Emma on the 100% results