Across the Globe - Australia/Asia
New Zealand
66th Chapter puts BNI NZ on Top of the World

The net gain of 60 members in one month has taken BNI membership in New Zealand to 1,554 members. This addition, plus the launch of their 66th chapter, puts BNI NZ on top of the world.

BNI NZ has grown by 12 chapters since this time last year. 66 chapters - far more than the original 60 planned for this country - makes New Zealand one of the most successful countries in the world at embracing the reciprocity concept of networking. This is by no means the end of BNI growth in NZ because there are plans for seven more chapters in Nelson, Christchurch, Wellington, the Bay of Plenty and Auckland.

National Director Graham Southwell says the 'giving nature of Kiwis' is one reason why New Zealand won the BNI award for the highest average membership per chapter in the world.


New Zealand
BNI launches "Breakfast is on us" Campaign at Expo

At the BNI booth at the Small Business Expo in Auckland: BNI Assistant Directors Fiona Powell, Lance Spalding, Emma Uvhagen and National Director Graham Southwell.

BNI NZ hosted an exhibit at the recent Small Business Exhibition at the Auckland Show Grounds to raise the profile of BNI and encourage visitors to attend various chapters.

Hundreds of small business owners and sales people from around New Zealand visited the BNI stand to talk with National Director Graham Southwell and the assistant directors who helped out at the three day expo. More than 7,000 people visited the exhibition.

BNI NZ also ran a "Breakfast is on us" voucher campaign to encourage visitors to attend a local chapter meeting. The voucher came complete with details on who to contact to arrange a visit.


New Zealand
BNI NZ donates more than $NZ12,000 to Hospice

Graham Southwell, hands over the cheque for $12,538.65 to Hospice New Zealand President, Dalton Kelly.

BNI chapters throughout New Zealand pulled out all the stops during Hospice Week and raised $NZ12,538.65 for hospices around the country. BNI NZ pledged to donate two dollars for every dollar donated by its chapters - taking the total to $NZ12,538.65.

BNI NZ donates five percent of its profit to Hospice and money from this 'challenge' forms part of that contribution.

Special congratulations must be extended to the Hibiscus Coast Chapter which went way beyond the call of duty and raised a fantastic $634.40. Thanks to the generosity of chapters like Hibiscus Coast, the Hibiscus Coast Hospice will receive a donation of at least $1,800.00 from BNI. The rest of the money will be split amongst the chapter nominated hospices throughout New Zealand.

Hospice cares for the terminally ill and is responsible for ensuring that these patients have access to quality hospice palliative care.

Well done!


Australia
Business People Line Up to Join BNI River View Chapter

River View's New Members

The city of Taree is located along the great Manning River on the North Coast of New South Wales where specular views are plentiful. So the newly chartered Taree Chapter is aptly named "River View". The core group of 19 not only has a great waterfront view but a clear view of their future.

At 7:15am on River View's Kick-Off Day people were still lined up to get into the venue. Taree businesses had come out in force with 125 business people in attendance. It was nothing short of remarkable! When Russ Holland, Executive Director, asked them the question "so who wants an application?" more than 50 hands went up…what a response!

The successful kick-off was directly linked to the core group's commitment. They diligently worked for several weeks sending a total of 567 invitations, which were then all diligently followed up on.

After a highly successful Kick-Off day the River View Core Group Members needed to follow up and follow through. And that they did!

Within 48 hours the chapter had received 26 new member applications. So the new membership committee was truly baptized by fire. Four members of the leadership team came together reviewed all the applications and resolved the inevitable category conflicts.

The team handled themselves as the professionals they are. The final result was 20 new members inducted on Charter Day. A staggering 41 members are now part of River View, making it the largest chapter in Australia.

Congratulations to all the members of River View. What a great example of what can be achieved!


Australia
BNI Gold Coast is Going Places!

I got the idea to convert my car into a moving promotion for BNI when I realized that it was too old to trade-in and too good to get rid of. I decided to turn it into a mobile billboard.  It is affectionately known as 'The Beast', by my team, but I call it the BNI Mobile (always a Batman fan).

It is quite eye-catching and I often get comments from people as they pass.  I have had about nine enquiries directly from the car and I believe two new members.  But that wasn't the reason I did it.  As with all good businesses, any business owner should enhance the brand.  Now on the Gold Coast here in Australia, everyone knows the car and people are constantly asking, who are BNI.

I felt that people need to be able to see a presence, not just hear about BNI from others.  If I can generate new members because of the car, great, but I would rather do something different and have people talking about BNI and enhancing the benefit to my members as they join our chapters.

Submitted by Leo Petrik, BNI Executive Director, Gold Coast Region


Malaysia
Workshop Motivates Members

Three chapters: Achievers, Success and Laurus, recently organized a Referrals Skills Workshop for their members.

"The Referrals Skills Workshop was just great! Besides referral skills we learned everything from personal development to business development skills," said Kelvin Chin, DSOP Office System & Supplies SDN BHD of BNI Success Chapter Penang.

From the evaluation forms and the testimonies received everyone learned a lot from the 6 hour workshop. The members were motivated, energetic and very passionate about making BNI work for them.

The objective of the workshop wasn't to give everyone a thorough overview of what BNI is all about and how to work the system. However, a lot of information was shared and it will definitely take a while for the members to digest it all. But members can begin using what they learned immediately by picking up a few of the more relevant things and putting them into action.

The Leadership Teams will also be working with members to put all the key elements into place and to provide necessary support. It would be very difficult to find another organization with so many people caring about each other and wanting to see their businesses succeed!

Submitted by YP Lai, BNI Assistant Director, Penang