BNI SuccessNet - July/August 2003 - BNI Happenings


	Niri Patel teaches a member of BNI Sweden networking—the hard way.

BNI has been in Scandinavia for three-and-a-half years. Already there are over 40 chapters, and everything is escalating very quickly.

This past May, the second national conference was arranged for BNI members and directors. "BNI Convention 2003" took place in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The Member's Day attracted about 140 people, and many interesting speakers attended from Sweden and the U.K.

Special guests were Laura Hurren, Robert French, James Sanderson and Niri Patel. They were all much appreciated, but perhaps the audience found Niri Patel's "Black Belt Networking" presentation the most fascinating.

The members' evaluations after the conference showed very high scores. Gunnar Selheden, National Director for Sweden, was also very pleased with the conference. Planning is already underway for next year's conference.

Submitted by Carl-Magnus Hedin.

Stockholm Chapter Refers Millions


	This venue used to be the city prison in Stockholm. Now big business takes place here every week.

Sometimes you hear people claim that BNI only passes small business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Last fall, one of the chapters in Stockholm, BNI Långholmen, calculated the turnover of business for the members. The total amount was 25 million Swedish Crowns (approx. US$3.1 million). One member alone stood for almost US$2.5 million. That person works for Otis and sold several new elevators to one of the biggest shopping arcades in Stockholm, thanks to a referral from his chapter.

Submitted by Carl-Magnus Hedin.

BNI HAPPENINGS — United Kingdom
Member Balances Business and Fitness

Reigate chapter member, Julia Booton, recently celebrated 10 years of running her own business. After spending many years working in various cities in internal auditing, she started her own company, Julia Booton Accountancy Service. She provides such services as bookkeeping, year-end accounts and tax returns for small businesses.

In addition to running her own business, she is also a keen swimmer. She recently raised more than £300 for Macmillan Cancer Trust in a swim-a-thon at Donyngs, in which she completed 100 lengths in one hour 22 minutes—five minutes better than her swim the previous year.

Submitted by Graham P. Larcombe.

Chapter Receives Community Recognition

Gravesend chapter recently achieved the charitable accreditation "Community Mark" for the large amount of money they have raised for charity. They are a great chapter and are in line for a Founders Award this year.

Submitted by Robert French, Executive Director, U.K.

BNI HAPPENINGS — The Netherlands
BNI Netherlands Ready for Take-Off

The members of the two core groups in the Netherlands recently met in anticipation of July's official launch of BNI-Netherlands.

Submitted by Jos Essers.

We want to hear from you! SuccessNet Online needs your input. SuccessNet is truly YOUR newsletter. We ask you to consider the following tips when preparing your submission for SuccessNet:

Writing style should be clear and concise. Keep your sentences short and give us details. Be specific.
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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!

Editors