# 371, July 13, 2005
ATLANTA: Last Saturday Hurricane Dennis was headed north and I was headed south, and we kinda met in Atlanta. I’m here for the annual convention of the National Speakers Association, with about 1500 professional speakers. In case you’re wondering, the wind outside the convention center was offset by the wind inside, so no damage was done.
Georgia got mostly rain from Dennis, not much wind. Farmers up north, from Iowa to Ohio, are praying for rain, and will gladly accept a fairly strong breeze with it as long as the ground gets soaked.
You may want to know, when you get a huge room full of professional speakers, is anybody listening? Well, yes, because when one of these top people takes the platform, everybody else becomes a professional learner. We heard Ben Vereen, Bertice Berry, and the outstanding author Andy Andrews.
And humorists galore. Judy Carter, Mark Mayfield, Dale Irvin, Tim Gard, and George Campbell from Oklahoma, who you may know better as Joe Malarky, the world’s worst motivational speaker.
A bunch of these folks can sing as well as they speak, for instance Jana Stanfield. Mike Rayburn, Ladonna Gatlin and Willie Jolly.
There’s another fine group here that you’ve heard me talk about before. It’s the Tall Women speakers, and, yes, it’s growing. They added 5 more to the group, bringing the confirmed total up to around 40. So if you stand at least 5’11” in your bare feet, and you’re a speaker of the female persuasion, the National Speakers Association has a place for you. And if you get your picture taken here with a group, they don’t make you stand in the back row.
I’m trying to keep this short. You’ve got to save your reading energy for Harry Potter.
Historic quote from Will Rogers:
“AUGUSTA, Ga: Here is my Farm Relief bill: Every time a Southerner plants nothing on his farm but cotton year after year, and the Northerner nothing but wheat or corn, why, take a hammer and hit him twice right between the eyes.
You may dent your hammer, but it will do more real good than all the (farm) bills (Congress) can pass in a year.” DT #169, Feb. 13, 1927