I had this "privilege" for about two years. When a speaker bombed, the Presiding Overseer would lay most of the blame at my feet.
Talk Coordinator: A pretty sucky job
by Open mind 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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00DAD
LWT, ditto that!
Blamers gotta' blame.
It's funny. Only recently did I start to recognize this type of behavior as so pervasive and intrinsic in JW culture. I suspect that most JWs are not even aware that they do it pretty much constantly. It is so inculcated in a trickle-down from the top way. The more "Theocratic" and individual tries to be the more likely they will become abusive and controlling.
Let's review: It's a cult!
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leavingwt
The Presiding Overseer was being logical. He wanted the Sunday meeting to be attention-grabbing and entertaining. (We were in Harlem, for God's sake.)
Still, I wanted to remind him of how very awful many of the Bethel 'heavies' were at public speaking.
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tornapart
I've always thought there's some sort of 'boy's club' going on with the elders...
Now I see it's still going on with X-elders... LOL
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zoiks
OM-Here's where it gets really tough for a Talk Coordinator if he's from a KH with only 3 or 4 speakers who are approved to give talks in other Congos. That was the case for me for my short tenure as TC. We had one "A" speaker, one "B" speaker and the other 2 were definite "D"s as far as boredom goes. Good luck getting another TC to send a speaker if all you can offer is a "D" or maybe even no speaker at all since our body count was so low.
Oh man, the memories are flooding back! We definitely had a shortage of "A" and "B" speakers, and they stipulated how often they were willing to give outgoing talks. Other TC's in my circuit were pretty stingy.
The job was made a tiny bit easier by a computer program written by some brother that got passed around. It would warn you if a particular outline had been given at your hall in the past 12 months.
I also had the "Sound Rota" program since I had to schedule the sound/microphone/platform/attendant schedule. The worst was when the elders would tell me that a certain brother was no longer qualified to handle the mics, so I would have to slip a revised schedule onto the information board and deflect questions.
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BluesBrother
Of all the jobs that were going, I have to admit that I rather liked this one.
I got to know a few people around the circuit, I could pick and choose if I wanted to do a talk or assign to one of the others. I used to keep a "black book" of notes on the speakers and not book the ones who were poor and if I heard a good guy at the C/Ass I would organize it so he would come to us.
I dare say that they have made it formal now... It should be easier now in these days of texts and email and K H directions and maps on jw.org
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straightshooter
The no-shows were a real pain. Luckily the coordinator filled in or found someone.
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minimus
I was when I first got appointed a MS and kept the job for years as an elder.
I only went where I wanted to or gave only the talks I preferred.
Eventually I was happy to not have the job and another newbie elder got the privilege.
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SnakesInTheTower
zoiks... that was the great thing about the Access data base I used... I could filter by talk outline number. If a TC wanted to send me someone with an outline I had recently had or was upcoming, I would know immediately. I never did TC unless I had either my notebook with printed filters or in front of my computer at home. Since I also wrote out the attendant and mic schedules and typed the theocratic school and service meeting schedules (I was also the congregation Secretary... literally... a job I was damn good at and liked), I did not have to call around to see what I might interfere with. Conflicts were not completely avoidable, but I avoided surprises like the plague.
The bad thing about being TC and a sought after speaker (being an MTS grad) was that there were times that I could not bring myself to do it. I have a real fear of public speaking to large groups. I never lobbied to be on CA or DC parts.... though I was qualified, the best I ever did was a Bible highlights on a CA.... and I was glad not to do it. A few times I had to call off sick at the last minute (poor TC) because I was so nauseous from nerves I just could not go. I tried not to do it to the little congos who had no decent back ups.
Funny about the ABCD system. It was bad when the TC himself was a C or D. I just used the aforementioned database to indicate all of his talks had already been given or were to be given. (I never spoke to those TCs in person because they could look at my notebook and see I was .... ermmm...wait... did I LIE?.... no, just ommitted a few things.
Snakes (Rich )
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sseveninches
"Let's face it, the JWs definitely don't want speakers who are good critical thinkers and can convey that in a talk."
If that's true, then my days are numbered.