South coast Summerfest Success
South coast Summerfest Success
What do you get when you bring five southern region chambers, random public speaking topics and an ice cream van together? JCI South Summerfest of course!
JCI Portsmouth hosted the event to kick-off the last summer bank holiday of 2013. The reoccurring themes seemed to be pushing boundaries, building friendships and lots and lots of food. We welcomed the National President, Emma Eastwood, who travelled all the way from Leeds to be with us.
The day started with giant pastries and plenty of ice breakers to get to know a bit more about each other, in more ways than one. We were then turned over to Sarah Beckwith to entice us all into standing up in front of the group and speaking on several different impromptu topics. There were a mixture of seasoned public speaking veterans who were able to share their tips and tricks and newbies to the world of public speaking. But everyone stood up at least once to present to the group of extremely supportive friends and fellow Jaycees.
After lunch we turned our thoughts to our local communities and the official JCI training course that is JCI Impact. We were encouraged by Drew Charman, Southern RGC, and Soraya Bowen, National Community Director, to ask 'why' the issues in communities really occur and how we, as young active citizens, could make our impact. In keeping with the community theme Nicky from The Rainbow Centre, JCI Portsmouth's community partner, stopped by to tell us a bit about what our mound of charity shop donations would be helping with. It was a tight squeeze in Nicky's car but she managed to get all the donations, her husband and little Jack Russell all in.
And just when we thought our energy was running dangerously low, we had a surprise ice cream break and all attendees were treated to a 99 a seaside tradition. This gave us just enough of a kick to conclude the days training and turn our sights to the evening's social activities which started out at Ashby's Boutique Hotel for drinks and dinner.
Ashby's prides themselves in fresh local food and they did not disappoint. Attendees had the choice of a fabulous menu and even after the giant pastries, sausage rolls and ice creams, they didn't waste any time digging in. For anyone who has ever been to a JCI event, they will know the social never ends at dinner and JCI South Summerfest was no different. Strangely there are no pictures following dinner...
JCI Portsmouth absolutely loved welcoming old JCI friends and new ones alike, to the great waterfront city. We hope that you enjoyed your time in the South and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon.