THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 17, 2003
President Bob Witt opened the meeting with 169 members present. Current membership is 521, with 4 invitees, and 12 on the waiting list. New members, Alec Taylor, Dick Seltzer, John Magill, and Bill Brock were introduced and welcomed.
Announcements: President Witt thanked Charlie Morris for delivering the Christmas gifts donated by SMC members to the Salvation Army, and announced the next SMC Board Meeting on January 24th. Dick DePatie informed us of the deaths of Kathleen DeLapp, wife of Member Emeritus Darwin DeLapp, and SMC member Jim Swallen. Also, Harry Coleman underwent angioplasty, and Jack Rohrbach had open heart surgery. Dick Sletzer announced that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will speak on the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, January 21st., at Town Hall. Eric Petschek informed us the World Affairs Forum will host a dinner for former President Bush on January 27th, at the Westin Hotel, Stamford.
Activities: Bowlers are again on the Lanes. Bridge is business as usual. Paddle is alive and well. The January 24th, 4F's luncheon will be hosted at the 3 Bears.
Couth: January 30, is the NY Philharmonic leaving St. Mark's at 0745 hours. February 20 is the Museum of Moving Image, and March 12 it's Mamma Mia and the Firebird restaurant. April 10th, is the trip to the Connecticut State Capitol.
Resident Humorist: John Berg viewing private matters from the vantage point of a midget, provided us with a new low in his repertoire of fine humor.
Speaker: Vice President Jack Murray introduced David M. Tait who holds Canadian, British and US citizenship. In 2001 Queen Elizabeth II, awarded him the Order of the British Empire for his services to U.S. Aviation. David described his trip to the Royal Palace and meeting the Queen, and referred to OBE as 'other buggers efforts'. His talk focused on the 'endangered species' of good customer service, citing contractors who never show-up, and real people no longer answering phones. He said the state of customer service is what we as customers accept. If our expectation level is low, a company thinks it's service is OK. David stated good service is discreet, seamless, consistent, and reliable. Good customer service generates loyalty which in turn generates business. He differentiated good
customer service from buying loyalty, which he likened to FFP's. Genuine loyalty is generated when good customer service creates a desire to go back to a place of business. He mentioned that poor service derives from the lack of training, as well as quality and quantity of personnel. He emphasized that people make the difference. Some companies have taken people out of the equation enhancing service, i.e., ATM's. On the other hand automated switchboards leave much to be desired. Another dying art is that of listening. Listening to employees and customers shows respect and brings rewards. He suggested that people should speak up, and vote with their feet if they are not satisfied. He closed by saying "don't let providers of bad service ruin your day, ruin theirs back!".
Stan Stanziale, Asst. Secretary