Hi all, I agree with the concept of short(er) speeches. Speeches tend to interrupt the flow of conversation at the table so I think we should limit the overall time for speeches to say 60 minutes. Having said that I am sure we would love to hear from the many people with unusual stories to tell. I was fascinated by Kim Davidson's bio and would love to hear more. If we are choosing between light and serious then I favour light. I missed the show 10 years ago so I do not know who was good and who was not. We might need a chairman like a Red Symons who can gong the story teller if he goes on for too long or gets boring but somehow gong them "in the nicest possible way" as Dame Edna says. I would also like to hear from Rod Wise. The challenge for the speakers half way through the night will be to command the attention of a group of half pissed cynics. Therefore the speeches might have to be early on. Regards Marc Thompson