BNI HAPPENINGS — UNITED KINGDOM
World's Highest Referral
Unless someone knows of two astronauts in BNI who have passed a referral while circling the Earth, we believe this photograph confirms the world's highest referral.
BNI husband and wife team Amanda and Paul Clarke, members of the Rossett and Knutsford Chapters respectively, are pictured giving a referral to BNI Executive Director Martin Bailey at Mount Everest Base Camp - some 17,500 feet (or 5364 meters) above sea level!
All three were on a fund-raising trek for Hope and Homes for Children, a charity that builds homes for children around the world who have lost their houses and families through natural disaster or war.
The trek took place over a three-week period and followed the classic route taken by those who have conquered the world's highest mountain. After a brief stopover in Kathmandu, the approach to the trek was by a hair-raising flight through the Himalayas to land on a very short and steeply angled runway on the side of a mountain at Lukla. From there the trek involved a grueling three-week climb through the Himalayas up to Everest's Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier.
Paul, a director of Chester-based Promote Corporate Communication, a marketing, design and multimedia consultancy, told SuccessNet: "There were constant new challenges included temperatures at night down to minus 15C and ever reducing amounts of air to breathe as we got higher. Nearing base camp, there is only 50% of the oxygen we normally breathe when living close to sea level."
Amanda, who is used to scaling the heights running her executive coaching business, Optimum Training, said: "As if the altitude, the extreme cold and the physical exertion weren't enough, on the day we arrived in Kathmandu, a national state of emergency was declared as Maoist terrorists launched new attacks against the Nepalese Government in the Everest region."
Getting used to the local diet of daily garlic vegetable curries was also "interesting" for all three intrepid BNI climbers for 21 days. Amanda added: "If you couldn't stomach the continual diet of curry, which also meant sampling the local toilet facilities (or rather the lack of them) on a frequent basis, then the only alternative was surviving on Pringles and Mars Bars - all readily available in even the most remote of places, but for a price!"
Having reached 17,500 feet, Paul and Amanda recorded the moment by photographing the passing of a business referral to Martin, Executive Director for South Derbyshire and The Black Country.
Now safely back home, having jointly (with the 35 other trekkers) helped to raise over £100,000 for charity, the world's highest BNI referral team is looking for a company to sponsor their colorful talk about the fund-raising trip.
Anyone interested should call Amanda at 011-41-1244-342133 or Paul at 011-41-1244-401811.
BNI HAPPENINGS — UNITED KINGDOM
RBS and BNI—a blossoming partnership
BNI has just celebrated the fifth anniversary of its arrival in the UK and Ireland with the opening of its 330th chapter in Exeter, and a commemorative celebration among members of its very first UK chapters at Harrow and Northwood.
With thousands of businesses belonging to chapters from Galway to Gravesend, and Plymouth to Perth, BNI's growth has been substantially faster across the UK and Ireland than in any other country throughout the world, including North America where the organisation's roots were laid in 1985.
While there was an inkling of BNI's likely popularity from the launch of the first chapter in Harrow, back in December 1996, nobody could have anticipated it would become the UK's biggest business networking organisation quite so quickly.
Significantly, around one-third of Harrow Chapter's current membership comprises founder members who attended that first meeting, and have seen their businesses flourish over the past five years. "None of us had any idea what to expect, but after that first breakfast meeting I knew that BNI would be good for my business and, five years later, I'm even more certain," said Nigel Loli, who reckons membership has increased the annual turnover of his vehicle engineering business, Cartwrights, by an average of £25,000 a year.
Nigel was among the many members and guests when the Harrow and Northwood chapters held a joint fifth anniversary breakfast at Batchworth Park Golf Club, Rickmansworth just before Christmas, when special five-year ribbons were presented to 11 members who have been in BNI since it was launched in the UK.
National Director Martin Lawson said: "For BNI to be represented in nearly every major conurbation across the UK and Ireland, is a tribute to all the directors, leadership teams and members, but even more importantly, it demonstrates the huge benefits that BNI's 'Givers Gain' philosophy brings to any and every business community."
The key factor behind BNI's rapid expansion is the obvious and immediate proof that membership is a highly valuable asset to nearly any business. In the past 12 months alone, UK members have developed around £100 million worth of business for each other.
Martin added: "Probably the best testimonial for BNI's popularity is that we have never sought to open groups in any new area without being asked to do so by the local business community, so the fact that we are now represented in most parts of the UK and Ireland speaks for itself. Other business networking organisations may come and go, but BNI is here to stay."
BNI HAPPENINGS — UNITED KINGDOM
Dublin's Top Networkers Gain Unique Recognition
Eleven of BNI's best networkers from the Dublin region have received unique recognition for their 'Giver's Gain' contributions over the past year - in the shape of limited edition prints, hand drawn by Fingal Chapter's designer Padraig Horgan.
The framed prints of Irish stately homes were presented at the recently-staged Dublin Members' Day, after Executive Director Pat Guiden had asked the membership of each of Dublin's then 10 chapters to nominate one person from their chapter who most deserved a special prize for effective networking.
Sponsored by Michael O'Connor of finance brokers Finplan, a member of the city's Airport Chapter who presented the Giver's Gain Awards, the initiative drew a huge response from members. Graham Smith, another Airport Chapter member who acted as co-presenter said: "It was quite a close run thing in some chapters, where just one or two votes separated the nominees, and in the case of Pembroke Chapter, two nominees tied for the award."
To view the recipients of the Givers Gain awards, please click on www.bni-europe.com/news/news.htm and select Winter 2002 Edition.
BNI HAPPENINGS — EUROPE
Five Years Young - And Growing Strong
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BNI Anniversary Cake and Total Number of Referral Slips in Five Years. |
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Writer's Guidelines for SuccessNet
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The types of submissions we are seeking are for Chapter Brags, Memory Hooks, BNI Happenings (your regional news), any other special announcements, success stories, or things your chapter has tried that have been successful.
Thank you!
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