Reflections on organising two open days

The Norwich Open Day last November was the second John Thompson had organised. He looks back at some difficult times, but also at the rewards of holding these events.

"I never stammer when I talk to my dog". Picture of John Thompson from the Lowestoft Journal, which published an article on the Norwich Open Day and stammering.

I'm not sure if writing about organising two open days will encourage others to do so or put them off! Nevertheless, I've decided that I would like to write a piece for Speaking Out on my reflections.

The first open day I organised was in April 2008 at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich. Despite it being a chaotic few months organising it, on the day I felt so rewarded to count at one stage 54 people in the room. I didn't mind having to frantically find a member of hotel staff to tell them we needed more cookies and tea and coffee than had been provisionally ordered. The comments I got about it afterwards also made it worthwhile. Speaking Out did me proud and all my colleagues at the support group commented on how good it was. One of the speech and language therapy students who comes to the group said, "Oh, it was brilliant," and her colleagues agreed with her. One colleague brought a friend along who works with children. Apparently she was full of praise for it and talked about it for a long time afterwards. Probably the 'ultimate reward' was that some months later I saw the father of a boy who stammers, both of whom came. As a result the son went to the Michael Palin Centre and has made remarkable progress. The father said, "It's all down to you it happened."

Back for a second helping

All this convinced me that I wanted to organise another one. This took a while, and it was eventually held in November 2010 at the same venue. Ironically, I found organising the second more stressful than the first. A combination of things caused this. Firstly, and this should not be interpreted as a criticism because I know they are all busy people, many of those I invited to give talks were slow to confirm. I had to send a lot of 'chasing' emails and make similar phone calls sometimes frantically during break periods at work. I did for a while have concerns that it was going to be a slim programme. The other worry was that I didn't get many enquiries about the day and the BSA didn't get any. This caused me concerns about how successful the day would be and whether my 'guestimate' of the number for the catering would be accurate. As the BSA and Dominic Barker Trust were paying, I was concerned from their point of view. Thankfully, I think I guessed the number reasonably accurately and haven't 'bankrupted' the BSA!!

As a result the son went to the Michael Palin Centre and has made remarkable progress. The father said, "It's all down to you it happened."

During the weeks leading up to the event I also found my stammering got a lot more severe. I could not help wondering if the stress of the open day was causing it. I think there were a number of factors but it possibly contributed. This added to the stress because it made me more nervous about my opening speech. We all suffer that when our stammering gets worse don't we? Even if we are talking to fellow stammerers or those familiar with it.

I should mention that during this time I was helped by one writer in Speaking Out (apologies to the writer whose name I forget) who said how much he was helped by the first open day.

However, everything came right on the day, and after all the concerns that made it even more rewarding. It didn't achieve the high number that the first event did, but although I didn't do a count it was 'perfectly healthy.' Everything went pretty smoothly and at the end of it all I got some nice comments. I went home tired but happy. In the evening I supped pints of Adnams in my favourite local reflecting on a successful day.

Will I organise another one? It will be a while yet but I expect so!

Finally, I thought one of the nicest things about the day was the attendance by someone who doesn't stammer. A sixteen-year old comes to my group and she brought her friend around the same age to the open day. I thought it nice that someone that age who does not stammer herself gave up a Saturday to find out more about it and support her friend. That's surely encouraging awareness.

From the Spring 2011 edition of Speaking Out, page 11

Norfolk and East Suffolk self-help group.