I completely agree with Ann’s assessment of the speaker. I would have appreciated his insight as to possible solutions to the peace process not a long hard to follow history lesson of the region.

I would like to add that the dinner service was extremely slow as we did not receive our entrees till after the speaker had started. The chairs with the floating pads were cumbersome as well.

The dinner was very good. The chairs were uncomfortable. The room temperature was way too cool. I was excited to hear the speaker talk on a subject I found very interesting. My disappointment was profound. The poor guy just was no good at communicating excitement about the subject. I found him very hard to follow. But we learned and will vet the next speaker more throughly.

As other members have stated, the reception, dinner and service were good., However the speaker was a disappointment:poor communication skills; topic really not addressed; sound system quality marginal, as well.

Great speaker content AND a professional speaker is the ideal combination and hard to find. Maybe the Program committee can acquire videos from potential speakers to vet them.

Barbara,
The Board instructed staff to require all of those that register and attend the event to indicate that they are vaccinated. It was agreed by the Board that we would use the "honor" system and accept that indication at the time of registration. We did not and do not plan any further verification steps.
To the best of our knowledge, all attendees were vaccinated plus we increased the table spacing and limited the table places to 8 rather than the usual 10. I hope this adequately addresses your concerns. .

We enjoyed seeing everyone at the new venue. The TV screens were a good improvement - easier to see. The dinner was very average. There was no coffee service although the cream and sugar were on the table. The room was extremely cold and the chair backs were very uncomfortable. The servers were very nice and did a great job.. The speaker was hard to follow and didn't seem to talk about the subject we came to hear.

Let me address some of the issues other than the speaker.
The leadership has noted most of the items raised and has a plan of action to improve all aspects of your experience.
For example,
1. The service by the Club will be adjusted to have the desert pre positioned on the table and have the main course service started earlier so that it will not interfere with the presentation.
2. Reception and registration issues will be addressed and improved to increase access and comfort.
3. Sound system will be reviewed and hopefully improved.
4. Be aware that the Valet Service is COMPLIMENTARY (tipping optional).

Feel free to email me personally if you have additional comments or suggestions that you want to make privately.
kennethbouldin@gmail.com

Nancy,
Thanks for your comments. Almost all of your concerns have or will be addressed. Glad to know you are a member of IWCC.
I have requested that Linda reach out to you if she needs help working with the Club..

We concur with the majority of comments submitted to date and are most appreciative of the responses provided by Jim McFarlin and Ken Bouldin. Our comments, hopefully not too repetitious, are as follows.

Yes, the spoken topic concerning Israel and the Palestinian Territories was very narrow vs. the broader announced topic "....Peace in the Middle East....". And the definition of five lessons learned was on the mark. However, while the explanation of decades lost in the quest for peace between these two adversaries was factual, informative and at times personal, the "big picture" and over-arching strategies for the key Middle East players were missing, resulting in negative reactions and comments from WACD attendees.

The physical environment was challenging as well. While the grilled chicken was fine, the pork tenderloin was overcooked; the deserts were served too late; the red wine was marginal; no coffee service; and uncomfortable chairs with thin seat pads -- plus a chilling temperature setting for the dining area.

Suggestion: In order to provide more members with a better view of the small stage area and speakers, perhaps the bar area should be re-purposed to either end of the dining room, rather than the center rear space it occupied on November 14th. The void created could be occupied with multiple dining tables.

Finally, the sensitive topic of mutual Covid protection must be broached. With 200 members participating (plus the IWCC support staff) at close quarters during the reception and to a lesser degree during dinner, the Board should consider a vaccination protocol NOT based on the honor system. Examples to follow within the Coachella Valley include the McCallum Theatre and the Indian Wells Desert Town Hall series. Regardless of the maturity of the audience and professional backgrounds of us all, we find that "denial" is more real than perceived at public/private events, raising the Covid risk factor to an unacceptable level. A copy of the Desert Town Hall protocol has been provided to Ken Bouldin in a separate email. Basically, upon entry at reception, a participant must show his/her vaccination card, or a negative Covid test result for the past 72 hours.