A proper Winter’s meeting. It started off dark, remained dark for most of the meeting, became dull and…and then the snow came down. By the time I returned to my office the sun was shining.
21 Members present and a visitor whose calling is to coach both dogs and people. Do this together with one man and his dog appears a tempting referral. The Naughty Corner was depleted by Howard Bullock’s absence. The upside was that the “the Howard Bullock Book of Good Excuses” now includes “allowing his wife a birthday lay in”. Presumably the brownie points that he is earning far out-weighed the urge to attend what turned out to be a very good meeting.
The Performance League
Ellen Beckenham’s victory in the December League was once again acknowledged and she was present to receive her certificate.
Cold outside, but it’s “hot at the top” with 4 members managing to score over 100 points from the first meeting of the month.
Education Presentation
No David Plumley; no Education Slot. We eagerly await his return next week.
The 60 Second Round
Terry Maylin stood in for last week’s Oscar winner Dean Caldon.
Now that our 60 Second Round will be permanently without the presence of Alan Shaw, senior presenter for the School of Whimsey, with Nick Cooke becoming much more “structural” and Allan Moller becoming more incoherent I have taken it upon myself, with some sadness to disband the School of Whimsey. Thanks to Alan and his cohorts which of course included Brian Painter. The School has had a really good run for its money, providing us, or at least me, with hours of pleasure. If you wish to remember it in your comments I feel that would be appropriate. Will we ever see it’s like?…..that remains to be seen!!
Henceforth we will be from time to time be regailed by members of the School of Logical Positivism, often known as the “Vienna School”. They rely upon an empirical, if not mathematical, approach to activities such as a 60-second presentation. Principal of this school, it will be Jill Willis who is also well structured in her presentations and very empirical to a fault. She was looking this week to assist people who are looking to win awards this year and set out quite clearly what was required. It is fair to say that former School of Whimsey member Nick Cooke was equally empirical. He is a structural engineer, he does all structural engineer type things and with his report helps sort out problems. As the weeks go on I will assess membership but knocking on the door will certainly be Toby Acton who expressed the importance of logically assessing what everybody else was wanting to do and then helping them do it.
A rare sighting at our meeting generally and with the 60 second round, in particular, is Kevin Brooks. If anybody were to describe him as a “lesser spotted” it would pre-suppose that they knew what he looked like “in the buff”. Coincidently his venture into climbing ladders in only a hard hat could have been his theme for his 60 seconds (actually it wasn’t, he referred to it in the referrals round but it makes for a good story). This rarely spotted creature apparently shocked his mates by taking an order for tea standing on a ladder with only a hard hat on. His mates might have been either amused or impressed but none more so that the lady houseowner who was standing at the bottom of the ladder. It is a vision worth carrying forward. Anyway, nice to see you Kevin!!
Saj Sreedharan is looking for Casanovas as the next flower purchasing festival approaches. Yes you’ve got it…Valentine’s Day. So whilst Saj looks for Casanovas.
Ben Golding was looking for “clever” people, those who not only have an account with Utility Warehouse but also make use of the cash back facility.
Stuart Smallcombe urged us all potential customers to contact him early so that he can advise about moving into new buildings and not having all the work carried out before he fits cabling. Apparently even wireless products need a wire to connect them into the building.
Vincent Goode is looking for people who still have to make new year gifts; a desk diary or even a wall planner.
Terry Maylin awarded the Oscar this week to Tina Walker who illustrated how she could serve her clients with a series of pictures of see-saws. Full marks for ingenuity.
This weeks statistics and points of note
- 21 Members present
- 1 Visitor attending
- 18 referrals
- £39,500.00 of business recorded,
- Tina Walker won the Oscar
- 10 Minute presenter Brian Painter
10-minute presentation by Brian Painter
This week my jacket was standing in for David Plumley and it introduced Brian Painter as this week’s presenter It was a particularly polished performance from our pilgrim who covered phobias about black, something to do with wardrobe doors and the cat; the failure of main stream medical professionals to recognise the value of hypnotherapy, although this is changing and the man who was getting panic attacks whilst driving but apparently without reference to any specific situation. An examination of his early life lead to an explanation; a red cricket ball hitting him on the head aged 7 resurfacing to remind him of the traumatic incident whenever he passes traffic cones.
Referrals and Testimonials Round
A very good round that emphasised the new business that is flying around shown by our statistics this week.
Excellent lively and fun meeting – and we did plenty of business too- what’s not to like??
Great meeting as always!! Loads of business being passed around and lots of laughs too!
Though some of the mental images will stay with me for life!!
Fantastic presentation from Brian, he always has amazing stories of how he has helped people overcome their problems
Great meeting which was lively and fun too. Brian with his 10 minutes is always entertaining. Have a great weekend and see you all next week.
Great meeting! Full of lots of laughter!
Good turn out + visitor + lots of business pased in just the first two weeks of the year, what’s not to like… well a mental image of Kevin in the nude and why a man would hold an interview on skype whilst topless that’s what.
Such a lovely meeting on a bleak dark morning. Well done Tina on winning the Oscar, the seesaw visual is still stuck in my head along with Kevin’s client asking him “one lump or two.”
Brian with a fascinating ten minutes, see everyone next week have a great week ahead.
A great blog Mr Squire, and it was a warm feeling to be back with you good people after a long festive season break. Brian Painter is a fine chap, and a very eloquent speaker, so well done to you sir on your presentation. See you next week, hopefully with the workwear embroidery chap as my guest
I can honestly say this week’s meeting has left me with mental scarring! :-))) But on a serious note…I’ll happily be a founding member of the School of Logical Positivism. Let’s smash this empiricalism Aidan and Nick!
Sounds like another great meeting sorry I missed it but I did send mini me who now might need to go for counselling for mrntar truma ccauae
Great meeting which has been further enhanced by the lack of “that piggy”!, have a great weekend all 😁
Good to see how well Toby and Simon have bedded in to the group.It was a good, lively meeting, but this is now the norm. The weekend starts here, enjoy it.
Another great meeting…fascinating 10 minutes form Brian.
Great meeting and fantastic 10 minutes from Brian. Always important to remember how Brian can dramatically change someone’s life for the better – a true lifesaver and life changer.
Sad to have missed the 10 mins from Brian :o(
Looking forward to the next episode. All the best for a good week.