[Note: As the secretary of my congregation’s Spokesmen’s club, here is a first take on the minutes for tonight’s meeting.]

Today’s meeting began with abbreviated comments from our director, a reminder from the previous meeting [1] about the three goals of Spokesmen’s club in imparting understanding, improving speech, and fostering brotherhood, a rather lengthy and thorough reading of the minutes for the previous meeting by the secretary, and a more succinct but equally thorough reading of the treasurer’s report. Both times a request was made by the president for return of control, a point of protocol which was questioned later on by the director, who stated that no return of control was necessary by these officers because they were giving reports as directed by the president, and so they never took control to begin with.

The new business section followed, which included a lot of talk about the ladies brunch. A series of discussions and motions nailed down the date and time to mid-morning on Sunday, May 17th. The topicsmaster agreed to take the duty of finding and negotiating with the venue from his aged father, and was tasked with finding a suitable place to meet that morning that met the $20-25 per person budget. Now, if only I could find a suitable and interested lady to bring [2]. The topics section was lively, even if for me it was somewhat melancholy. The topicsmaster asked a variety of questions about what we hoped to gain from club this year, childhood and independence, interpretation of Proverbs 27:17, and protection and responses to cyberattacks. The responses were honest and heartfelt, with people opening up about their own lives and family backgrounds and hopes and how they tried to live and cope in a dangerous world. After this came the director’s comments, which were largely complementary.

After a break for food, where the combination of a lack of drinks that I was not allergic to (mango juice is a no-go) and a disinclination to eat before my speech [3] meant I chatted and pondered. I was chosen to speak last of the five speeches. The speeches today were a wide variety. The first speaker gave an icebreaker (Undergrad Speech #1) about the lessons learned in five stages of life, and it was an entertaining speech, if a bit casual, and certainly instructive. The second speech was a book review (Grad Speech #9) that was a bit too much description and quoting and not enough analysis. The third speech was a call to action (Undergrad Speech #6) that gave a very personal call for volunteerism that won the certificate for most improved speech. The fourth speech was an open speech on Polycarp that seemed like an inspire or add color or call to action speech. The fifth speech was my own, and it was reviewed graciously by a polished fellow who happened to be one of the people I met last year during our dinner club, and was glad to get to spend some hours talking with. I ended up winning for most effective speech and he won for best evaluator. After this the director gave his review on the speeches and encouraged club members to read the manual and focus on the purpose given in the manual. After this the certificates were given and club was dismissed.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/secretarys-notes-part-one/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/asleep-at-last/

[3] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/a-universal-evil/