On the evening of 3 December 1935, George McNicholl, Treasurer of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works and Chairman of the Australian Institute of Secretaries (AIS), moved a very gracious vote of thanks to a guest speaker from the SA branch of the AIS. Afterwards, some SA residents present asked McNicholl how he became such a good speaker. He told them about Rostrum. This discussion lead to the first South Australian meeting. It was held in Adelaide on 18 February 1936 in the inner suburb of North Terrace.