The Morale Mechanic

Iowa Central Speaking Event

moralemechanic — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:02:30 +0000

I will admit it…I LOVE Iowa Central Community College. The Tritons have been awful good to me. So when I had the opportunity to speak to the Administrative Specialist program student in April I jumped at the chance.

I also got wind that the Culinary Arts students would be preparing the meal with is another bonus!

Willow Ridge Golf Course was PACKED with students and attendees and a great time was had by all.

It brought up an interesting dilemma however. Most of the audience was new so I did a great deal of material from my usual program. But I have spoken for Iowa Central before and there were a handful of folks that had seen me or hired me before. I had to throw in the new program, The Chaos Culture to keep them entertained.

As an Administrative Service person in today’s business climate you are constantly being asked to do more with less and cope with TONS of chaos. My program address many different topics under this umbrella all with my signature energy and humor.

The food was great, the people even better. I have to go back to the drawing board and write some new stuff in case they ask me back again sometime. It is easier to get a new audience than new material…

My favorite gig of the year

moralemechanic — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:00:28 +0000

When asked what my favorite gig of the year is, I always have the same response, THE LAST ONE.

My final gig of 2011 was a hot one. I traveled to Manning, Iowa and performed at a place called the “HausBarn”. It was an employee party for Manning Regional Healthcare Center and they good folks of Manning were up for a few laughs.The evening started with a bang as the food was THE best I have had in quite a long time. The cater was Lidderdale Country Store and they were awesome. I had to take care that I didn’t eat too much as I wanted to be light on my feet for my part of the festivities.

And what a crowd they were. The were laughing at the first joke and it kept building until my favorite interactive portion of the show. I brought an audience member, Cheryl Lehr, up on stage with me to do an old improv bit and she was hysterical.

Amy Dawson, the gal who booked me for the gig had this to say;

Gavin made our special evening a night to remember! His humor mixed with a great message for life made the event memorable. I am recommending Gavin to everyone I know…he is a great guy with a fantastic outlook on life!

A good time was had by all!

Guard Your Heart Conference

moralemechanic — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:03:34 +0000

I come from a long line of military people. Many of my uncles and cousins all served in various branches of the service. My father fought in Korea and passed away at the Iowa Veterans Home.

So when I got an opportunity to speak at the “Guard Your Heart, Military Marriage Conference” in West Des Moines, held by America’s Family Coaches, Dr. Gary and Barb Rosberg, I jumped at the chance.

Disability Mentoring Day

moralemechanic — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:01:47 +0000

Every once in awhile you get to work for someone who really “gets it” and understands how the world works. I had an opportunity to speak to an amazing group of students at Disability Mentoring Day held at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Gavin Opens for the Dalai Lama

moralemechanic — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:59:52 +0000

Not really, but Gavin had an wonderful opportunity to present his “Humor in the Workplace” program at the University of Northern Iowa a DAY BEFORE the Dalai Lama came to speak in Cedar Falls.

Great River SHRM

moralemechanic — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:54:33 +0000

Gavin debuts his new program, “Managing Your Energy in the Chaos Culture” for the Great River SHRM chapter in the Quad Cities.

SHRM Leadership Conference

moralemechanic — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:10:52 +0000

Lead with Laughter, the new program by Gavin Jerome was a huge hit at the SHRM Leadership Conference in Ankeny.

It is nice to stay close to home. All I had to do is drive down the road to the DMACC Conference center located in the Culinary Center to address the leadership of SHRM.

At the very least I knew I was going to get some great breakfast pastries…

For those who don’t know, SHRM is an acronym for the Society of Human Resource Managers. A fantastic organization, one that I have spoken to on a few occasions here in central Iowa. This group was different, leadership from all over the state gathered in Ankeny to have an all day workshop, which I was privileged to kick off.

The best part for me was my contact person, Sharon Dralle, who helped me create a new program with a leadership focus. She was also instrumental in helping me get my program approved for continuing education units or CEU’s for the SHRM attendees. Every so often you meet someone with real vision who understands what this is all about and pushes me to be a better speaker. From start to finish, this program lit up the Culinary Conference Center and the group was amazing.

And I got crum cake…scrumptious crum cake…what a great gig!

Gavin’s Book in it’s 7th Printing

moralemechanic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:50:47 +0000

What started out as a textbook for his class on standup comedy, The Comedy College Handbook has reached it’s 7th printing.

Filled with exercises and illustrations, this book promises to make you funnier. It can’t make you funny. Certain people suffer from such humor constipation that even a laxative of THIS magnitude will not unblock the system, but it will make you FUNNIER.

That begs the question, “Can humor be taught?”

Absolutely. Humor is a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it will become. Nobody is born funny. One of my favorite quotes on this subject comes from comedian extraordinaire Jerry Seinfeld. He recalls his early days in comedy and notes:

“I used to rush my jokes just to get to the funny one…”

This book takes you step by step, teaching you the basics of what humor is, why people laugh and how to create humor in four easy steps. It also reveals that there are only 7 forms a joke can take. If you learn these 7 tricks, creating punchlines will be a snap!

I sell this book via internet and at the back of the room after most of his presentation. It is a “must have” for any collection of humor books and instruction. Get your copy HERE.

NSA Speaker

moralemechanic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:41:36 +0000

For well over a decade, I have been a member of The National Speakers Association, THE leading organization for professional speakers.

The vision of NSA is to be the recognized community for developing the content expertise, platform excellence and business knowledge of those who speak professionally. It’s mission is to advance the art and value of those who speak professionally.

I was very fortunate to be a part of the NSA-Minnesota chapter at the beginning of my speaking career and the info I garnered.

I highly recommend this organization to anyone thinking of speaking as a business and anyone who is thinking of hiring a speaker should give huge weight to those speakers who fly the NSA designation on all their promotional material.

Joining NSA was truly the best move I ever made in furthering my speaking career. Check them out at HERE

Humor Stimulus Package

moralemechanic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:19:37 +0000

With everything going on in today’s business climate, we need to take a step back and find a way to deal with all the stress. Boosting employee morale is more important now than ever before. But what is a company to do? Budgets are tight and getting tighter every day.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Many companies are struggling and their morale is at an all time low. So the Morale Mechanic is rolling up his sleeves and pitching in.

The Morale Mechanic has announced HIS brand new Humor Stimulus Package specifically tailored to fit any and all companies, associations or budget. Gavin’s main morale boosting workshop now comes with several added elements dealing with the current crisis and presents it in a way to make every attendee smile and be re-energized.

“That is the really scary part of this economic climate. The one thing companies SHOULD NOT DO is forget the morale of their people. It is the employees that make a business great and it is your people who will keep it afloat during the tough times…”

A morale boost is often needed and concrete skills need to be learned in order to deal with this in a positive way WITHOUT losing perspective or your sense of humor. A humor stimulus package from the Morale Mechanic could be just the ticket.

And I will share it with your company at a discount…

If you or your company need a morale boost during this tough economic climate, contact the offices of The Morale Mechanic today and ask about the special Humor Stimulus Package and the deep discount it provides. You will be glad you did!