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Topic 27: Award Speech
Jun. 26th, 2006 04:48 pmCongratulations! You have just won a major award. Write your acceptance speech.
In June 2003, OmniFam was voted 'International Aid & Development Charity of the Year' at the annual Charity Awards, organised by Charity Finance. Founder and CEO Arvin Sloane accepted the reward on behalf of the organization with the following speech:
"Only connect. This beautiful phrase by E.M. Forster, my late wife's favourite author, might sound deceptively simple. But during my long years as director of Credit Dauphine and now of OmniFam, dealing with hundreds of people on a regular basis, I have found few things to be harder, or more worthwile. We all tend to isolate ourselves from each other; I myself have often fallen into this trap. And isolated, all our misery increases. It is easy to look the other way; to let lethargy rule, and be content with accepting the world as it is. Being surrounded by multitudes makes it easier still. We stop seeing what the individual can do, and only see numbers.
As I said, this is a flaw I myself am prone to. But I am also a man of faith. I believe we can overcome our flaws. Having vision, we can recognize each other's potential and use it, as I have made it my life's work to do in each of the organizations I have had the privilege to lead. (1) When I founded OmniFam, it was my conviction that it is possible to reach out and - connect. To change the human species by tearing down those walls. To give us all something we have finally in common.(2) If I have succeeded in however limited an extent, it is in no small measure due to the people who have inspired me to these endeavours, and I would like to dedicate this award to them: my lovely assistant, Christina Myers (3), who has been faithfully at my side for many a year, her loyalty never wavering, my esteemed collegue Jonathan Donahue and his wife Laura (4), who proved to me that nothing is impossible, and last but certainly not least all my former employers at International Exports in Washington and Credit Dauphine in London who never stopped believing in me (5).
Thank you. Only connect."
Annotations by Marshall Flinkman, made for the CIA archive while transcribing said speech from the televised broadcast:
(1) Okay, point. So his recruitment skills were really something. I always said the man is an evil genius. Evil, but genius. I mean, he did recruit Syd and Dixon and, well, me.
(2) I guess poisoning the world's water supply to genetically modify everyone gives us something in common, yeah.
(3) Syd's alias for the missions she had to share with him, like the one where they stole that microwave laser in Bejing. Okay, Syd stole it. Sloane just made small talk and distracted everyone by dancing with her. Why didn't I get missions like that?
(4) Mr. Bristow and Irina Derevko. See, Sloane isn't a complete jerk. Almost, but not completely. He didn't break their cover by naming their names!
(5) Okay, so we know the former Senior Partners of the Alliance are all dead or in jail. Anyone ever heard of what became of the guy who was director at the time Sloane deserted the CIA?
In June 2003, OmniFam was voted 'International Aid & Development Charity of the Year' at the annual Charity Awards, organised by Charity Finance. Founder and CEO Arvin Sloane accepted the reward on behalf of the organization with the following speech:
"Only connect. This beautiful phrase by E.M. Forster, my late wife's favourite author, might sound deceptively simple. But during my long years as director of Credit Dauphine and now of OmniFam, dealing with hundreds of people on a regular basis, I have found few things to be harder, or more worthwile. We all tend to isolate ourselves from each other; I myself have often fallen into this trap. And isolated, all our misery increases. It is easy to look the other way; to let lethargy rule, and be content with accepting the world as it is. Being surrounded by multitudes makes it easier still. We stop seeing what the individual can do, and only see numbers.
As I said, this is a flaw I myself am prone to. But I am also a man of faith. I believe we can overcome our flaws. Having vision, we can recognize each other's potential and use it, as I have made it my life's work to do in each of the organizations I have had the privilege to lead. (1) When I founded OmniFam, it was my conviction that it is possible to reach out and - connect. To change the human species by tearing down those walls. To give us all something we have finally in common.(2) If I have succeeded in however limited an extent, it is in no small measure due to the people who have inspired me to these endeavours, and I would like to dedicate this award to them: my lovely assistant, Christina Myers (3), who has been faithfully at my side for many a year, her loyalty never wavering, my esteemed collegue Jonathan Donahue and his wife Laura (4), who proved to me that nothing is impossible, and last but certainly not least all my former employers at International Exports in Washington and Credit Dauphine in London who never stopped believing in me (5).
Thank you. Only connect."
Annotations by Marshall Flinkman, made for the CIA archive while transcribing said speech from the televised broadcast:
(1) Okay, point. So his recruitment skills were really something. I always said the man is an evil genius. Evil, but genius. I mean, he did recruit Syd and Dixon and, well, me.
(2) I guess poisoning the world's water supply to genetically modify everyone gives us something in common, yeah.
(3) Syd's alias for the missions she had to share with him, like the one where they stole that microwave laser in Bejing. Okay, Syd stole it. Sloane just made small talk and distracted everyone by dancing with her. Why didn't I get missions like that?
(4) Mr. Bristow and Irina Derevko. See, Sloane isn't a complete jerk. Almost, but not completely. He didn't break their cover by naming their names!
(5) Okay, so we know the former Senior Partners of the Alliance are all dead or in jail. Anyone ever heard of what became of the guy who was director at the time Sloane deserted the CIA?
