I was invited to talk to Upminster U3A when their booked speaker was unable to attend due to ill health. It’s always difficult to find replacement speakers at short notice; I really feel for speaker secretaries. There’s always someone that isn’t happy about the subject matter.
I’m always happy to stand in if I’m available. I checked out their website just prior to leaving and I’m not sure that was a good idea. The person that I was to replace was a famous television actor and was still listed.
It was dreadful weather, absolutely lashing down with rain, and, after so much mild weather, had actually become quite chilly. So instead of a famous actor they were going to get some old lady banging on about ballet.
The Chairwoman told me it was OK because “Mike’s wife had heard me talk before and could vouch for me”.
I did make a joke of it when I started and the audience relaxed when they realised that this wasn’t going to be a stuffy “lecture.” They were very appreciative, laughed in all of the right places and hardly anyone fell asleep. So many people came to me afterwards to say how much they enjoyed it. One man in particular who came to tell me that had he known that it wasn’t the famous person, or that it was me, would probably not be bothered to attend, but was glad that he did. “It wasn’t what I was expecting”. So many people have preconceived ideas about ballet, but if they were just prepared to give it chance, they might just enjoy it.
The meeting started with an EGM to vote on a motion to extend the time that a committee member can stay. It had been 3 years, and all of the current committee would be due for re-election at the same time next year. They wanted to extend to 9 years, but were at pains to point out that didn’t mean that they had to stay for that time. I didn’t notice enthusiasm to join, but I did point out that had I not been invited to stand for election to the committee of an amateur ballet company I would not have had the exciting time that I’ve had organising and staging Ballet productions. Such a shame that so many societies have difficulty in finding people prepared to stand for election to committee positions. They don’t know what they could be missing.
