Touro Communication Club Notes #38
tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

If this edition of the club notes seems peculiar, it is because I'm writing it write on the email, not as a Microsoft document. Why? because my computer crashed last Thursday and my resourceful wife, Andrea, has dropped everything to try to repair the situation - without success.

This saga will soon resolve itself when some computer wizard appears to wave his/her magic wand. Just don't hold your breath.

In the meantime, I've been watching too much of the Beijing Olympics, the McCain/Obama interviews by Pastor Rick Warren plus other reading material. (I've also been ironing my shirts, clearing out old files - all this to keep occupied while Andrea was breaking her brains trying to get a handle on this omniscient, omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent bloody virus.)

From the Olympics, you probably observed unusual swimming prowess with Michael Phelps (a new record of 8 medals). He says he just "sleeps, eats and swims." How many people are willing to narrow their focus to basics in order to win Olympic gold? Will you do that for your goal? A challenging question.

From the McCain/Obama interview, it was easy to observe the radically different speaking styles of each candidate. Obama was thoughtful. McCain was crisp. Judging by their applause, the audience seemed to favor McCain. I wonder whether the differing styles of informal speaking will be a factor in how people vote. Again, much to discuss.

A last item strikes a personal note. Obama went home to Honolulu for a week's vacation with his family. The New York Times ran a photo of him and his girls eating "shave ice," an Hawaiian junk food on every street corner analogous to the hot dog carts in Manhattan. That picture was a nostalgic moment for me. But some quarters of the media questions his going to Hawaii as "exotic" and unusual. The ABC reporter Cokie Roberts asked "Why didn't he go to Myrtle Beach (SC) like other Americans? Hawaii is too far away and strange."

I was hurt by the remark. I never thought where I grew up was strange, unusual or exotic. I thought it was normal to grow up in Hawaii since I didn't know any different. A clear culture clash that probably explains, sadly, why Obama has never mentioned his Hawaiian roots or what he absorbed growing up in Hawaii. Oh, what I keep learning.

Here's our schedule: (We are still in Room 615.)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1 pm - Debate - SPAR, etc. Shile will present his "sales pitch" for his new book.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 1 pm - Club - Leadership. This is a huge topic which is a natural extension of our two sessions on Persuasion.

What happened on August 13 - Club - Persuasion II - A good question! Two and a half hours raced by as the group were engaged in a lively exchange about the strategies that were used and should have been used in the planning of the upcoming student program connected with Student Orientation.

The combattants included Kazi Faltah, Olushile Aktintade, Lorinda Moore, James Millner, Carlisle Yearwood, David Nussbaum, Richard Green and Hal Wicke.

Frankly, I have no notes, other than "Code of Conduct." Hardly representative of the discussion. I'll try to reconstruct the session through a series of bulleted fragments.
Program order
Who should speak and when?
The best way(s) to address student interests
An audience analysis
Who should discuss the Code of Conduct?
Why should students come to this meeting?
Any the hidden agendas?
Relation of Student Orientation program to a "Meet and Greet"
Two meetings or one - will the students come back for a 2nd time?
Timing of event - before Jewish holidays
Publicity - getting the word out
How is this program idea going to persuade freshman students to become involved in Touro?
Will it be boring? Too long? Time limits.
Does the program need rehearsal?
Who will speak for the various majors?
What are the roles for Shile, Lorinda and James?
Is this program really new? The freshman students won't know the difference!
What will be covered in the "Student Life at Touro" presentation?
How does the Communication Club get mentioned?

And on and on. It was a health strategy session, but nothing, unfortunately, was agreed upon. It was almost like a brainstorming session. My only comment is that as a group we need to structure our discussions in a much more focused manner. That is probably the fault of the moderator (Hal) who has conducted them with a free-flowing laissez-faire openness. Exciting, but not terribly useful as a series of concrete outcomes. The group needs to discuss the structure of our exchanges - accidental, loose or with a strict agenda.

Still it was exciting. I wonder whether a stranger could make any sense out of it.

Next time, bring your friends and we'll talk about how we talk about how we talk. Really?

Yup.

Hal Wicke