Some late changes and a smaller than usual turnout resulted in a busy meeting with all those attending being involved - in some cases performing more than one role.
Darryl started the meeting with the Grammarians introduction. He presented his word of the day - “Unique” - explaining that there are no ‘degrees’ of uniqueness, it is an absolute. So something cannot be 'the most unique’ or ‘very unique’ … it is simply ‘unique’.
For a change, and to let those that were assigned new roles time to prepare, the meeting started with Table Topics. This was led by David who covered those “White Elephants” of the region and what could be done with them. Carol spoke will about the Art Deco buses though was actually unfamiliar with them, suggesting some other heritage purpose would be appropriate. Mike turned the tables and defended the Napier-Gisborne rail line as it helped get trucks off the road. Ian provided a creative solution for the Marineland pool as a location for household rubbish. Finally Darryl, disagreed about the”white elephant” status of the MTG museum and suggested it was good for the community to have such assets.
Our first speech was from Russell who provided an entertaining and educational talk on the history, etiquette, cultural significance and - most importantly - how to use … chopsticks. Not only was his talk humorous but I think we all were inspired to give chopsticks ‘another go’ next time we were at a Chinese restaurant. Later in the meeting David evaluated Russell’s speech, providing positive feedback and some suggestions for improvement - including having a model demonstrate using the chopsticks while Russell explains.
Second up was Jane whose speech definitely changed the mood. Her speech was for the project “Delivering bad news”. As a result we - as employees of her company - were told of the downsizing about to happen and the closing of the Napier office. We were all to be made redundant but were offered time to look for a new job as well as a redundancy package. Jane presented the news well, providing hope where appropriate but made it clear that it was bad news we were hearing. Ian evaluated the speech providing some good suggestions and suggesting it brought to a conclusion our virtual employment with Janes company which has been the case over her last few speeches.
Darryl returned to the stage to provide his Grammarians report. He noted a number of interesting words used - “curmudgeon”, “spittle”, “ablutions”; turns of phrase - “thinking on my feet”; some great “R” alliteration from Mike, and Ian dropping “ex cathedra” into his evaluation - well done!
Carol provided the time keepers report - not an easy feat with so many changes.
And with time running out, Noel gave his General Evaluation. He provided useful feedback to all those who hadn’t been evaluated as yet - as a result some people got two or three evaluations in this meeting. Again Noel was generous in his praise and succinct in his suggestions for improvement. Best Table Topics was Darryl; Best Speech was Russell; and Best Evaluation was David.
Finally, well done to Barbara for managing the changes to the program with such skill and in such a relaxed manner.
