1980s Winners’ Circle to assemble once again

Honolulu presentation coach Pam Chambers is assembling a reunion of the Winners’ Circle Breakfast Club, a successful motivational, service-minded business club from back in the day.

It is challenging to remember how we planned events, gathered RSVPs, networked or did pretty much anything else before the Internet (thanks, Mr. Gore!), but somehow people did all those things.

Way back in the Stone Age of June 1980, the Winners’ Circle Breakfast Club was born at the Ala Moana Hotel, with Len Merson as the master of ceremonies and with a keynote speech from Capt. Gerald Coffee, said Chambers, who eventually served the organization as director.

The event was introduced in Honolulu by then-residents Roger Lane and Samantha Hampton, who had attended a Winners’ Circle event by founder Terry Cole-Whittaker in San Diego.

The Honolulu event "was an instant hit," Chambers said. Meetings were from 7 to 8:30 a.m. each Tuesday and followed precepts that included valuing people and speaking only with good purpose.

A then little-known Tony Robbins once spoke to the group about his goal to become the world’s best motivational speaker.

Chambers wants to put the band back together, to borrow a "Blues Brothers" concept, and Lane, now based on Maui, will give a keynote address on "What it Means to be a Winner" at the Nov. 9 event.

"I anticipate a huge amount of energy — squealing, shrieking and back-thumping and ‘Oh my gosh I haven’t seen you in years,’" Chambers told TheBuzz.

She didn’t want to make it sound like a high school reunion, however.

"We weren’t teenagers, we were New Agers, with Birkenstocks and our dreams, eating granola and yogurt, and then we grew up, and that’s why Winners’ Circle kind of came to an end."

Members found confidence and a sense of "security about what we’re supposed to be doing in this world and we’re doing it," she said. "And how great would it be to find out what that was for everyone?"

The group would gather and sing "We Are the World," that No. 1 hit on the charts in 1985. "Every week we did that," she said.

It wasn’t all touchy-feely, airy-fairy, "Kumbaya" stuff, though. Attendees could promote themselves or their businesses by renting display space, and seven tables will be available at the November event at $15 for half a table or $25 for a full table.

Attendees also can sign up to make a one-minute announcement about their business for $10, or for $100, a three-minute onstage interview with Chambers. Those opportunities are limited, but there is no limit on the purchase of $1 raffle tickets, the proceeds of which will be donated to the Hawaii Food Bank.

"This is not a profit-making event," she said. "I’d certainly like to break even … but we’re not doing this to make money."

She is hoping 100 people will attend, "and if people are clamoring, I wouldn’t see why I wouldn’t be willing to make it a quarterly event."

Pre-sale tickets are $30 and reservations are being handled through Chambers’ website.

Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Advertiser. Reach her by e-mail at erika@staradvertiser.com.