With today being the Summer Solstice, and the longest day of the year, it was a bright and sunny start to the morning – and most of the members were looking bright and sunny too…
Before proceedings got underway Paul Corrigan organised a sweepstake for the European Cup, accompanied by some groans as people saw their disappointing picks.
The Performance League
Two weeks in and Scott Griffiths is leading the Performance League on 197 points, well ahead of Paul Booth on 116 and Terry Maylin on 106.
Education Presentation
Carrying on the football theme, and despite his lack of knowledge of the beautiful game, Toby Acton produced an insightful(?!) analogy comparing success in football to success in business with topics such as team dynamics, strategy, goal setting and maintaining momentum.
The 60 Second Round
With the challenge of providing a “memory hook” for extra points, and each person nominating their successor, the 60 second round kicked off (do you see what I did there?!).
Having won the Oscar last week, Stuart Smallcombe started by telling us how he can now provide flexible and intuitive “on hold” messages produced by AI.
As well as being a business mentor, Toby went on to claim that he is also an architect and a structural engineer, for businesses at least.
Vince Goode showed off some reassuringly expensive and very impressively flash gold foiled business cards that he has produced.
Clara Downton made her own impression by reading out a glowing recommendation from a satisfied mortgage client.
Dave Roberts regaled us with tales of the electrical work he has been doing this week – clearly a very busy man. He then passed deftly to Tina Walker who helps people who are really busy (like Dave) to be able to take time out of their business.
Branding guru, Matt Barry is working on a new client’s marketing strategy with lots of innovation, creation and elevation of the brand.
Paul Booth has been helping several clients recently to minimise the capital gains tax liabilities from selling buy-to-let properties and is looking for more of the same.
Our resident hypnotherapist, Brian Painter has been helping a lady enjoy her garden again after a close encounter with a butterfly. Going inside the home, Leann Reason works with homeowners to help them enjoy their interiors turning their vision of their rooms into a
reality.
Blake Hammond told us some examples of how his kit is not just for airsoft and outdoors, but for all sorts of everyday uses.
James Humphreys is normally saving his clients money on their insurance premiums but this week he had to tell a client that he had not been paying enough and had to pay more – but the trust was such that the client was happy to go ahead and pay without questioning it.
Paul Corrigan is looking for contacts in Housing Associations, property managers, lettings agents etc to provide all plumbing services from dripping taps to major boiler repairs. Similarly, Mike Skinner asked us to look out for schools, colleges etc who have cheap looking websites that he could help to look “the business” with fresh images and video.
Our cream tea and etiquette expert, Jane Malyon showed off her British made tea towels which are emblazoned with etiquette tips. She passed to Chris de la Prida who took us away from Britain and encouraged us to consider a bargain price cruise around the Mediterranean.
Still on a travel theme, Neil Bellham is looking forward to catering events in Copenhagen and Oslo and John Hammond is providing access control systems of all sizes to customers in Amsterdam and…. Bournemouth!
With it being Andy O’Neill’s last day as an employee before starting his own business, he thanked the group for their support and encouragement, which no doubt will be ongoing.
As always, Terry Maylin has been helping people who are owed money to get it back, whether it is a larger amount or relatively small amounts, as he has helped one satisfied client.
Scott Griffiths seems to be attracting web development clients in a niche of toilets, pest control with rats and fleas and now a Poop Scooper client!
After a good round, with passes back and forth and people tackling some interesting subjects, Stuart decided to award the Oscar to Howard Bullock. We are not sure whether Howard got the award because he has to convince a savvy client whose has managed his
own portfolio well to completely change it to protect himself from changes in the market, or because of his zippy memory hook, or simply because he was sitting next to him and it made life easier for Stuart – but the trophy is his.
10-minute presentation by Stuart Smallcombe
Stuart followed up his refereeing of the 60-second round with an excellent 10 minutes regaling us with how his LG Networks was started and has grown and the various services that he provides, including their new offering, managed IT support. They have spent the last 6 months getting Microsoft certifications so that they can take this natural step as the move to VoIP has meant that telecoms and IT have very much merged over the past few years. A clear and concise presentation which showed the professionalism, knowledge and
values that he brings to his business.
After the usual round of referrals and thank yous, we parted ways, some of us staying afterwards for an excellent B2C synergy meeting led by Jane Malyon.
Well done Stuart still making your presentations interesting after 20 years of them and good effort Toby with the football analogies.
Paul C can I have my money back on the sweepstake please as I got England and have the chance to put a bet on a 3-legged blind horse at Ascot which has more chance than England has?
ha ha ha ha!
Haha!! 😛
Great meeting as always
Ed slot and 10 minutes were brilliant, gutted I didn’t know Stuart year ago!
Thank you Jane for hosting a very interesting synergy meeting also
You’re most welcome!
An excellent guest blog from our life coachTony [sic].
And once again, a jolly good presentation from Stuart.A meeting highlight for me was the sausage sandwich. I might have that again next week. Also well done Scott for chairing the meeting
Great 10 minute presentation Stuart, and thank you for the Ed slot Toby. Interesting meeting.
Excellent meeting with a very good 10 minutes, a fantastic Ed Slot and an amazing blog 😉
See y’all next week!
Well done on the blog Toby.
😀 yes very good Toby!!!
An interesting ed slot. I think most of us occupy the positions of Goal keeper to number 11! A good presentation, Stuart, nobody would have known that you had 20 years to prep it! Another well run synergy meeting by Auntie Jane and the blog was a good read.
Excellent ed slot and 10 minute presentation and a great meeting.
It was really interesting hearing about Stuart’s business and how his business can help so many businesses with their telecoms.
Stuart, you again gave a great 10-minute presentation. Great to hear you are now Certified on Microsoft Teams and 360.
Toby did not understand the football references but then again like you I prefer Formula 1 or Rugby.
Well done team for filling in for Aidan and Ben Ben….plus our footie themed Ed slot to start! Really enjoyed Stuart’s 10 minutes and then it was great to have 12 at the Synergy meeting. A great morning x