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Europe
BNI Spreads Its Wings Across Europe BNI HAPPENINGS — Netherlands Eighteen months after the first mainland Europe chapter was launched in The Hague, BNI's expansion in the Netherlands is now gathering pace. Six chapters have already opened and five more core groups are being developed. There are currently three active chapters in The Hague, two more in Amsterdam and another in Utrecht. Amsterdam Regional Director, Lidia Pieternella-Afolalu, believes BNI is already gaining a name for itself. Lidia said, "By the end of the year, we hope to have doubled our current numbers in key business communities such as Amsterdam and Utrecht, giving us a very sound base for more substantial grown next year." She added, "Although it is still early, we are very optimistic." BNI HAPPENINGS — Germany BNI Launches in Frankfurt
More than 110 visitors attended the launch of the city's first BNI chapter—Rembrandt—in early October. Such has been the wave of interest among Frankfurt's sophisticated business circles, that 10 visitors became members—swelling the chapter to over 40 members and guests at its first meeting—with more applications under consideration. A delighted Regional Director Benno Dembowski said, "This launch was very significant because, for the first time, we can now demonstrate to local businesspeople how BNI's philosophy works in practice. The quality of our visitors was extremely high and our phones have not stopped ringing since the launch—so much so that we already have two further core groups being developed. "The enthusiasm that has greeted BNI's arrival is even more notable, given how many other business clubs and networking groups are based in Frankfurt. When we followed up the launch meeting by calling every single visitor, we got a very positive response from 98% of all those who attended, and we are already being asked to form further core groups in and around the city." Rembrandt Chapter's launch took place in Frankfurt's prestigious Metropolitan Hotel and Benno added: "It was a fitting venue for BNI's very stylish arrival in the city. There is no doubt that our presence and expansion plan is causing a ripple of excitement among the business community." Meanwhile, the southern German city of Stuttgart welcomed its second chapter (Step) a few weeks earlier (it already has more than 30 members), and core groups are also under construction in Bonn, Darmstadt, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim and Munich. Berlin Update BNI may be little more than a year old in Germany, but already it has all the signs of healthy growth—and good-natured rivalry—among its first Berlin chapters, which all take their names from proud members of the animal kingdom. Four chapters were launched in Berlin during the first 12 months—the Berlin Baer (Bear) was the first, quickly followed by Tiger, Lion and Eagle—and, as SuccessNet went to print, October launch dates had been finalized for the new Panther and Jaguar chapters. Significantly, every chapter launch to date has attracted more than 150 visitors, indicating a huge interest among Berliners. Regional Director Tom Jaeger said: "I chose animals as the link for all our chapter titles, because of their proud status in nature. That is exactly the way it has been with our first chapters. When members from our different groups have met each other, they have been proud to say: 'I am a Tiger' or 'I belong to the Eagles.' It has helped not only to bond each chapter, but to make members recognize that as well as being part of a particular chapter, they are also part of the worldwide BNI family. Our early results suggest this closeness is motivating members to help one another, irrespective of their chapters; which is why we have had such a good first year." Last month also saw the launch of Frankfurt's first chapter, Rembrandt and another chapter, Step, in the southern German city of Stuttgart which, after just seven weeks had grown to 30 members! Core groups are also under construction in Bonn, Darmstadt, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim and Munich. BNI HAPPENINGS — France BNI Launches in Paris France's first BNI chapter, Creteil, has just been launched in the Parisian business suburb of the same name. Some 120 visitors joined the core group of 20 members to celebrate the milestone event at the end of September. BNI's first regional director in France, Marc-William Attie, confirmed that a significant number of new applications had been received as a result of what he described as "a wonderful and exciting occasion." He added, "Of course it is early days here for BNI, but there is every reason to believe it will become as successful here as it is in the UK." Two further core groups in Paris expect to launch this autumn, giving BNI a solid foothold in the French capital. BNI HAPPENINGS — United Kingdom I took over the directorship of the Great Barr Beacon chapter last December. At that time, the chapter was already two years old but in a state of disrepair. Nearly half of the 'members' were not BNI members at all! The Leadership Team and I began ruthlessly pruning, from 20 to 12, the number of chapter members. Those that remained have developed into a tremendously strong core membership. As of this month, I am pleased to announce we are now at 30 members and generating over 150 referrals per month.
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