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The member:
Leonard Shostak

About him:
Lenny is the chief executive of a consulting business called Box of Rain (the name comes from a Grateful Dead song). He works with everything from hippie music festivals to power companies helping them improve how they do business and use technology. One day he might be setting up wireless access for a stage in a field and at the same time providing phone support for an EPA monitoring system at a gas power plant.

Why he joined:
"I wanted to present a more polished package," he says. SEC Roughriders has helped him do just that. Now, he’s more confident whether he’s meeting a prospect for the first time or trying to get his budget approved for a million-dollar infrastructure upgrade at a large client.

His first speech:
Lenny’s first Roughrider’s speech was the first time he actually prepared a speech instead of just winging it. "Boy, was it tough! I grabbed the podium tighter than tight," he says. But the positive support of his evaluator and the other Roughriders in the room helped put him at ease.

His proudest SEC Roughriders moment:
Lenny fondly remembers when he gave a speech that went way over the allotted time and nobody noticed-- including the timer. "They were so absorbed in my story and how I presented it!" he says.

How he's served the Club:
He’s taken on various roles in meetings including Table Topics Master. "I’d like to work on some kind of youth outreach in the future," he says.

His advice to prospective members:
“Come, even if you’re not speaking,” he says. Lenny says you can learn a great deal by listening and supporting the other speakers.

His public speaking tips:
"It doesn’t matter whether you’re standing in front of one person or one million people, you’re still the same person," he says.