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Photos at 2007 Annual Dinner Sydney Chapter of the IBM Quarter Century Club |
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Photos at 2007 Annual Dinner Sydney Chapter of the IBM Quarter Century Club |
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Last updated 15 Jun 2008
Index QCC Sydney Annual Dinner 2007
Ian Miller, as President of the Chapter, welcomed the assembled company, introduced the new members, and spoke of the activities of the Chapter over the past year. He thanked the Committee for their sterling work throughout the year and made special mention of Valerie Percival, Rosie Iannelli and Catherine Kennedy who had put so much effort into this year's event and Robert Orth for his support of the QCC. Ian introduced our our special guest, Mark Latchford, who spoke of IBM's performance in the past year and aspirations for the future. Mark attended in his own right as a newly qualified QCC member, having completed 25 years with IBM on March 1st this year. Also to qualify this year, but unable to attend, is Robert Orth who, as Director of HR, has done so much of recent years to encourage and support the club with very practical financial assistance from IBM. Last year (2006), being the QCC's 40th Anniversary, the QCC invited Mark Weeks, a musical satirist who has performed at IBM events for the past 18 years, to entertain us during dinner. His performance was so well received that we invited him back again this year and, once again, he came up with some witty and irreverent songs that had us laughing and applauding. It was arguably the best Induction Dinner so far, with the possible exception of last year's special Anniversary event, and as usual, the majority of the time was given over to the members to catch up with their friends and work colleagues; a major objective of the evening. Our sincere thanks go to IBMA and, in particular, to Robert Orth for supporting the IBM Quarter Century Club and to everyone involved in the planning and execution of this event. Below you will find a few photos, the text of Ian's address and of Mark Weeks' "We've Done Twenty Five". Photo Gallery (Click on a picture for a larger version)
Ian Miller's Address to the Members Ladies and gentlemen Good evening ! It is great to see you all here tonight.
I am delighted to inform you that we have 450 guests who accepted IBM’s invitation for dinner tonight. Our number 1 ticket holder and stalwart, Maurice Bevington, could not be here tonight due to health concerns. To my knowledge this is the first dinner Maurice has missed since he qualified 41 years ago. One of the key organisation activities for tonight is the allocation of names and tables and I thank the committee for their assistance. A lot of effort goes into trying to get the seating as close as possible to everyone’s requests. You can see the results of the work by the committee to make tonight special. I especially thank Valerie Percival and Rosie Iannelli for the spectacular look of the room tonight and Robert Orth and Catherine Kennedy from IBM’s human resource unit’s for their support of this event and the QCC. The blue theme reflects IBM’s brand. You may have noticed as you entered tonight a table with information about IBM’s On Demand Community Volunteer program. This program supports IBM employees and retirees in their volunteer work. Gail and Miranda from IBM Australia’s Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs team will be back at the table after dinner so when you are circulating you can drop in and find out how IBM can assist with your volunteer work. The web site www.QCCAustralia.org has become the major source of information about the QCC. I recommend you bookmark the site and visit it regularly. Hugh Buckle is doing a great job providing up to date information. The QCC Chapter is increasingly using email for our communications so it is important that you let our secretary Mike Hall know of changes to your email address. His email id is on the contact list on the web site. We will shortly be serving the entree, and soon after we will hear from Mark Latchford. Following directly on from Mark’s address we will formally acknowledge the new Quarter Century Club members and welcome them into the Chapter. Following their successful introduction last year, we have a few additional items on the agenda tonight. We have a door prize. The winner will receive a spectacular bottle of Veuve Clicquot Grand Dame 1999 with a pair of Waterford crystal champagne flutes. This will be followed by the return of Mark Weeks to entertain us. That will be the end of the formalities for the evening and the main course will be then be served. As usual, you will be able to go “walkabout”, meeting and greeting your friends in the tradition of this dinner. We will conclude tonight’s program by 11:30pm. A couple of notices for tonight - In an emergency please use the exits at each end of the floor. Can you please moderate the level of conversation during the formal sections of tonight’s program. In closing this welcome, I have one further request of you - and that is the traditional QCC request - that you enjoy the evening ! Thank you Introduction of Mark Latchford Ladies and gentlemen,
Mark and Liz have 3 children - Grace who is 14 today, Simon 10 and Thomas 6. Mark’s interests include skiing and scuba diving, history and travel. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in giving a very warm welcome to Mark Latchford. [At this point, Mark Latchford gave his address. Ed] Thank Mark Latchford Mark, on behalf of the members of the Quarter Century Club, I thank you for addressing us tonight. For many in the club, the annual dinner is their most important contact with IBM, and your address has helped reinforce the connection and bring us up to date. We do appreciate IBM’s support of the QCC. Thank you ! I am sure a number of current employees will be at your table soon to pick up tips on how to get an assignment in France. We hope Grace has a terrific birthday and we envy her being 14. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me again in thanking Mark. On behalf of the Quarter Century Club, I’d now like to formally welcome the 23 new members who have joined the Sydney Chapter in 2007. 3 of Glen Boreham’s executive team join the QCC tonight. We have 8 of our new members with us tonight. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the quarter century club. I will now read out the new members’ names in alphabetic sequence. As your names are announced, would you please stand.
The new members who could not be with us tonight are:
On behalf of the Quarter Century Club, I ask the members to welcome each of you as members of the Sydney Chapter with a round of applause. Please be seated. Thank you The objective of the Quarter Century Club is to promote goodwill and fellowship among members in a non-business environment. The Sydney Chapter of the QCC conducts a range of activities throughout the year. I encourage each of you to join the Chapter and participate actively, using the club to develop and foster friendships. The web site is an excellent way to keep up to date with the QCC program. A reminder that our URL is: www.QCCAustralia.org. You are well served by a very experienced committee and on your behalf, I thank them for a job well done. We are on the look out for additional committee members especially those who are still active in IBM. Please let myself or Mike Hall know if you are interested. Mark - can you please join me on the stage ? Now to a very important part of the evening. The drawing of the door prize. Someone here will shortly have a lot of friends, a pair of Wedgewood glasses and a fantastic bottle of vintage Veuve Cliquot champagne. Mark, can I ask you to do the honours please ? And the winner is .......................... Mark - thank you for helping with the formalities. This event doesn't happen automatically and I want to thank Catherine Kennedy from the IBM Australia Human Resources department for her assistance to the QCC and the organisation of this dinner. I also want to record my thanks to Valerie Percival and Rosie Iannelli for their help, support and organising skills. Their help along with the QCC committee is invaluable and results in this great event. Thank you on behalf of all the attendees. Introduction to Mark Weeks It is now my pleasure to introduce Mark Weeks. Mark is well known at IBM events. Mark is steadily getting closer to qualifying as a member of the QCC as he has been performing at IBM events for 18 years. He is so keen to qualify that he has asked that we keep hiring him for at least 7 more years. Mark is a musical satirist whose work has been widely broadcast on the ABC and commercial radio and television. He has been honoured to receive the top award in radio comedy on six occasions in the New York festivals - the radio equivalent of the Oscars. One of his many performances included launching our Darling Harbour offices in 1993 with his own rewrite of the IBM song “Ever Onward”. We invited Mark to our 40th anniversary dinner last year and we received many requests for his return. He asks that I advise you of his customary caution... if anyone is offended... it is entirely intentional. Ladies and gentlemen - please welcome Mark Weeks ! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you Mark. We appreciate your perspectives of IBM and the world we live in. Thank you for making it a “polie free zone” tonight. Ladies and gentlemen - please thank Mark Weeks ! ------------------------------------------------------- That concludes the formal part of the evening. A reminder you can keep abreast of QCC activities via the web www.QCCAustralia.org and to visit the Community Group stand during the evening. Your name badges were specially created for tonight and are yours to keep. We will now continue with serving the remainder of the meal. Thank you for your attention during the formalities and enjoy the rest of the evening !
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