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Thursday, August 4, 2011
Roundtable Discussions - Why I Joined the OXA
Unforseen circumstances made last week's craft talk speaker was unavailable to attend the luncheon so Stephen Simcox took the opportunity to briefly talk to members about the issue of unused meal costs and then he moved on to facilitate a round table discussion on "Why I Joined OXA."
Stephen outlined for members the weekly costs incurred by the OXA for meals being confirmed with the Tennis Club versus those actually being used. For May and June 2011 alone the amount of meals ordered and not used was $1350. As you can see there is a significant difference in the confirmed and actual numbers because the Executive Coordinators do not currently have the ability to accurately know who will be attending and who will not so they are estimating numbers each week.
If we are better able to confirm the number of meals required for each weekly meeting we would be able to reallocate the current unused food amounts towards other areas that would benefit members such as additional social events, improvement of social events already in place and implementation of interesting membership initiatives.
How can you help the OXA to reduce this expense?
Members can help by confirming their attendance in advance on a weekly basis. We can only reduce the number of meals ordered if we accurately know how many people will be there.
How can you confirm your attendance?
This can be done in the following 3 ways:
1. using the OXA attendance application on your mobile device
- You will need to provide the Executive Coordinators with your cell number, service provider & device type
- Having a problem or is your application not yet setup? Contact Craig Mackay at (613) 234-7212 ext. 276
2. replying to the weekly confirmation sent to you by email (contact Jennifer if you are having problems or are not setup.)
3. contacting the Executive Coordinators by telephone if you do not have access to a computer or mobile device.
Should you have any questions regarding the above or should you wish to discuss/change your method of weekly confiramtion please contact Jennifer via email info@oxa.org or telephone (613)749-5975 ext. 252.
After concluding the above discussion, Stephen Simcox then led members in a roundtable discussion. The discussion topic was "Why I Joined OXA". Members were asked to answer the following 3 questions and then one speaker from each table gave a brief overview to the rest of the group.
- What I must have
- What I don't want
- What would be a bonus if I got
Some of the ideas generated by these questions are as follows:
1) What I must have:
- direct leads that lead to business
- network with members who are experts in their field
- confidence in other members
- professionalism of all members
- good food, free parking
- weekly luncheons
- opportunity to network
- start on time, finish on time
- time to interact socially
- humour
2) What I don't want:
- being sold to on a weekly basis
- feel obligated to do business with other members
- external speakers (non OXA members)
- non-active, disengaged members
- unsolicitated emails: this is one area where the experssion "beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission" is not welcomed. If you want to add a member to your business distribution list, please ask permission FIRST!
3) What would be a bonus if I got:
- 3rd party referrals (referrals from member networks)
- more / different social events
- more members
- more onsites
Thank you to all members in attendance who participated in the roundtable discussions and provided feedback to the group. | 
