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Europe
BNI HAPPENINGS — United Kingdom BNI founder "sees" UK's success
History was made at West Yorkshire's Members Conference recently when 250 delegates took part in the first-ever live video link-up with BNI's founder Dr. Ivan Misner, who was sitting in his California office nearly 6,000 miles away! The keynote speech delivered by Dr. Misner, followed by a lively question-and-answer session, was one of the event's highlights. It was made possible by the pioneering computer technology skills of Leeds-based Eye-D-Me, whose multi-site webcam software has opened up a new world of live video links over the Internet, offering a low-cost alternative to expensive tele-video conferencing. Niri Patel, BNI's executive director for North & West Yorkshire said, "There were a few teething problems, but the link-up worked extremely well and made a big impression on delegates. The feel-good factor in chapters after the conference was very high, and members obviously enjoyed being able to listen and talk to Ivan Misner—especially since he delivered his presentation on how to be a 'Master of Networking,' which Yorkshire members had missed when he gave the same address in London earlier this year." Niri added: "We've already started to plan next year's conference, which will incorporate training and educational workshops and other breakout sessions, as well as some keynote presentations." Zimbabwe loss is UK's gain—thanks to BNI
Today, just 15 months after landing at Heathrow Airport with all he owned crammed into a few suitcases, John is the UK head of the world's largest personal development franchise business-an achievement made possible only because he joined BNI's Didcot chapter within weeks of coming to the UK. "When I arrived in Oxfordshire from Zimbabwe I knew no one. I'd been a franchisee for SMI (Success Motivation International) in Africa, and my aim was to launch and grow the business in Britain, one of the few countries in the world where SMI had no presence. "The trouble was knowing how and where to start establishing new business contacts. I quickly discovered that the nearest BNI chapter was at Didcot, invited myself along to their very next meeting, and haven't looked back since." In his first year 12 months John says BNI referrals accounted for 42 percent of his business income, worth more than £34,000. But that's just the start. Once he had established his own solid client base—many clients coming through BNI referrals—John and his wife Ellie quickly used BNI's network to find new franchisees for their expanding business. "We now have four other franchise partners, all of whom are BNI members, including three who are chapter directors at Wimbledon, Bracknell, and Abingdon. I cannot speak too highly of BNI, without which our business could not have taken off like it has," he added. Using membership to the max! Paul Hawkins (Canterbury chapter, with a pass average of 120 referrals per week) just used the services of five members to buy out his competition. BNI has povided him with so much work, he has saved enough to expand greatly. Not enough of an example of how BNI works? He also got engaged to another member: Allison Kelly of Boiler Know How.
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