Chairman’s blog Thursday 19th October 2023

It was depressingly dark and depressingly wet when we arrived for the meeting and when the meeting proper got underway at 710 AM there was light in the sky but not a lot more. By contrast the mood was cheerful and bright countenances could be observed all round. We had 18 in all in attendance including 2 visitors so we certainly had reasons to be cheerful.

The Performance League

Jane Malyon is out front followed by Paul Booth and Matt Barry.

Education Presentation

This week guest speaker was the Mayor of Gants Hill Village who, consistent with his printing background, told of an old paper mill whose boiler broke down and brought the mill to a halt. With work at a standstill the owner was tearing his hair out. Up steps a little old man with a brown holdall which was empty save for a hammer. He was shown to the boiler room, requested everyone to stand back and delivered a sharp blow with the hammer to what was clearly the relevant part of the boiler system. The boiler coughed and spluttered and burst into life. Job done; problem solved. In those days, and it was a long time ago, £100 was a lot of money. That was the amount of the bill that was delivered and the owner asked for a breakdown which attributed £1 for the use of the hammer; £99 for knowing where to hit the boiler. This rather homely illustration of the difference between price and value is a timely reminder to all of us in charging to ensure that our services are valued by our customers. It goes without saying that Paul Booth, chief stooge, was the operator of the brown holdall and the hammer.

The 60 Second Round

Who could not be but inspired by the Ed slot? You know answer to that question….. All of us!

Jane Malyon, Oscar arbitrator, of course went first. She was peddling her hampers as Christmas gifts and of course couldn’t resist a few puns on hamper.

Big jobs were in evidence this week. Mike Skinner has one at a sports bar that involves 3 photographers as well as himself for a two or three day shoot. Neil Bellham had a big job with Babybels,  opened, coated and individually delivered. 2000 of the bad boys.

Brian Painter was as good as his word. His subject was not only helping smokers but helping vapers. Although you’re taking an addictive substance and inhaling it into your lungs, the difference in approach to satisfying this habit apparently leads to a different approach to his hypnotherapy treatment. Same guarantees in the same price however. Talking about methodology, Nick Cooke advises on taking down walls and designing steel beams to support what he has taken down. However the remaining walls have got to be strong enough to take the steel beam. It reminded me of Noddy book 1. In this book Noddy ‘s initial remarks to Big Ears when discussing the erection of a house for Noddy to live in was that if they could put the roof on first,  it would keep everything dry as they built the rest of the house under it. It is fair to say however that although Nick Cooke has at times been compared to Father Christmas….never little Noddy.

Vincent Goode regards the business card is in the essential tool in representing yourself and your business. Toby Acton, in helping people run their business more effectively thinks it is important that he should make people feel uncomfortable in order to make them perceive the need for change. Scott Griffiths suggested that if you are looking to change your website you look at it through the eyes of a customer; not from the point of view of someone with the knowledge of the business. My own preference is to make sure there are no acronyms flying around but maybe that’s just me.

Jane Malyon suggested various possible winners of the Oscar but settled for the simple message from Vincent Goode praising the importance of the business card.

Meeting Secretaries Report

just short of £16,000  worth of business recorded which if sustained throughout the month will make it a good month. He also reminded those of us who have not had their photograph taken for the website to make the arrangements with Mike Skinner.

10-minute presentation by Leann Reason

This week was Leann Reason’s turn and she demonstrated an effective use of the PowerPoint because she was genuinely illustrating what she does and how she does it. She also explained about her initial consultation fee and so we are now fully equipped to go out and find her some referrals.

Referrals and Testimonials

With good figures for monies passed this week it was a successful round in illustrating the success of our group to our visitors. Well done everybody on the very upbeat meeting.