Sheltering Your Potluck Picnic From A Storm

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC

Last year, we looked at how to organize a potluck picnic. We used the same process this year. There was one big difference: the weather.

Shelter

The picnic announcement said we'd proceed rain or shine. We could because our party took place under a large tent at a yacht club.

The night before, the Picnic Organizer expressed concern about the weather. A thunderstorm was predicted. That creates safety issues. Should we postpone?

Picnics require advance preparation. Members would likely have bought or made what they were planning to bring. The items might not keep for another week. There was no guarantee that we could get the facility again. We certainly couldn't guarantee good weather.

We decided to proceed. After all, forecasts can be wrong. We counted on attendees to rely on their own judgment.

Outcome

The weather was excellent … until an hour before our picnic. That's when the heavy rain started. There was some thunder too. Since the storm was heavy, it didn't last. The rain stopped about an hour after the picnic started. The barbecuing proceeded without much interruption.

The lesson: pick a spot that's well protected from the weather (and close to parking).

Speeches

A Toastmasters event would be incomplete without speeches. We had three after dinner.

1. Picnic Organizer

The Picnic Organizer (Lyle) welcomed everyone, thanked Dave for getting us access to the members-only yacht club and thanked Rick for manning the barbecue.

2. Outgoing President

The outgoing President (me) thanked

• the Picnic Organizer
• the outgoing executive as a group
• the club members for attending and electing them

Why wasn't each outgoing executive thanked individually? This was already done at election time and the Executive Transition Meeting. There wasn't much more to say. Formal thanks will be given in a blog post next week.

3. Incoming President

The incoming VP of Education (Andrew) spoke on behalf of the incoming President. He gave a gracious speech using notes. He thanked the outgoing executive,  introduced the incoming team and said other nice things.

Drizzle

The picnic ended with a mild drizzle, smiles and full bellies.

Links

• Planning a potluck picnic
• Transitioning to new executive
• Image courtesy of Tony Kennick (London, England)

Promod Sharma tweets about trust (@trustandyou) and blogs about risk (Riscario Insider).