Two new BNI chapters starting in Kent

As the summer holidays are now drawing to an end we have exciting news of two new BNI chapters starting in Kent, with meetings both being held in September.

This is an ideal time to visit them, with many people returning after the summer break and looking to grow their businesses over the coming months.

Due to popularity of BNI, being the worlds number one referral organisation, several professions may be locked out of local chapters – this is also an ideal opportunity to visit a new chapter.

 

 

The first chapter is in Shoreham, meeting on Tuesday 13th September at Darenth Valley Golf Club on Station Road – very close to Shoreham Train Station.

Please contact Helen Locking to find out more details: hlocking@chambersplanning.co.uk

 

The second is in Gillingham at the Honourable  Pilot Premier Inn on the Gillingham Business Park – on the old A2 between Chatham and Sittingbourne. They are also meeting on a Tuesday. Their first meeting will be held at the end of September.

Please contact Roger Howes to find out more details: roger@bnioffice.com

BNI Connect is bringing success to members in the South East

BNI Connect, the private Social Network for BNI members, is already bringing success to members following its rollout.

Here are just two of the many success stories:

• Samantha Jones , the photographer at Faversham picked up a ladies calendar girl shoot via a BNI member in Putney. She used BNI Connect to find a female photographer  in East Kent & Sam’s name came through from the system.
• Lucas Douch , RBS Nat West manager from Herne Bay chapter got a deal from a source he linked up to in London via BNI Connect. He wouldn’t have heard about it unless he used BNI Connect to forge the link.

With members already benefitting from the system, now is the ideal time to make sure your own profile is up to date so that you can be found.

Jason Turcotte, a BNI member in the US, created this video to talk members through the process of updating your profile:

…and with the new public aspects of BNI Connect planned to go live in the coming months there are extra benefits available there too.

New BNI chapter launching soon at the famous Cobham Hall in Kent

Gill Russell, award winning Assistant Director for BNI in Kent, will soon be launching the Cobham (Kent) chapter, with meetings to be held at the famous Cobham Hall:

Cobham Hall is a country house in Cobham, Kent, England. There has been a manor house on the site since the 12th century.

The current building consists of a pair of Tudor wings built for William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham in the 16th century and a later classical central block, and a kitchen court to the rear added in 1771-73.

The most notable feature of the interior is the two storey Gilt Hall – where the BNI meetings are held:

Cobham Hall remained the family home of the Earls of Darnley until 1957 and is now an independent girls’ boarding and day school for ages 11 to 18. It is open to the public on a limited number of days each year.

The building has also been used as a film set, with several films being shot in the grounds and the Gilt Hall.

BNI is the world’s number one referral organisation.

There are currently 5,866 BNI chapters and in 2010, BNI members gave 6.5 million referrals, leading to business worth £1.75 billion.

In the UK and Ireland alone, there are 666 BNI Chapters that in 2010 gave 696,258 referrals, leading to business worth £245 million.

Venue information via Wikipedia

BNI Chapter Team Building / Member development opportunity

This may be of interest to BNI Members and is a great opportunity for chapter team building as well:

Project associates

What we do We provide training and development experiences that engage people, make them think, make them smile and help them learn. These can be offsite events, conference energisers, or programmes of facilitated learning on your site.

How? Odyssey associates all have a background in experiential training and development. Our approach is to provide practical experiences and engage people in situations in which they can apply new ideas and practice skills and behaviours to improve performance at work.

Why we do it We are not just in it for the money! At least not for ourselves. We operate as a social enterprise. The profit from Odyssey associates business is invested in the Odyssey project. A charity whose purpose is to help people with cancer regain their self confidence and enjoyment of life:
www.odyssey.org.uk

Who we are The Odyssey associates are a group of experienced trainers, facilitators and coaches brought together by a shared commitment to the Odyssey project. Each brings a different approach and skill set to business improvement with an emphasis on team working and leadership development.

Why choose us? Our team of associates are all highly skilled and respected practitioners in their own fields. We bring a wealth of experience having worked with businesses in many different sectors both in the UK and internationally. Banking, insurance, engineering, public sector, education and retail. We want to offer training and development experiences that meet your needs, your budget and help you support a worthwhile charity and social enterprise.

Interested to find out more?

We are offering ‘taster’ days for individual decision-makers from a range of businesses at a venue in East Kent on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th September 2011.

Come along for an interesting, challenging, exciting and fun day out. Learn how we could help your company and its personnel to benefit from our training expertise in the future. The programme for the day will include the opportunity to take part in dramatic team challenges, as well as focussed discussions on how to develop teams and individuals within your business.
You will leave feeling energised, refreshed and inspired!

The cost is £150 per delegate for the day including a light lunch and refreshments.

For more information and to book a place please either call Hugo Iffla, Odyssey Project Director on 01654 710225, or email hugo@odyssey.org.uk

BNI Success due to Social Media

This letter has just been published in the Summer edition of Successnet Magazine:

When James McBrearty (the Twittering Tax Man) and I connected on Ecademy we discovered that we were both members of BNI. As a BNI director, James also helps members in our region to make the best use of social media.

This morning, James left home at 5am to visit my M20 Ashford Chapter (where I’m the Education Coordinator and a Membership Committee member) for our weekly meeting. He delivered a director’s presentation to help us all to promote our businesses and our chapter via social media sites. Some of our members are fully up to speed with the latest social media but most are not, so while some were enlightened, others were sceptical.

However, the presentation immediately resulted in the re-launch of our Property Power Team (PPT). All 10 PPT members are now signed up to Twitter. They are getting their names and businesses ‘out there’, promoting each other, passing referrals, connecting daily and building up their SM profiles.

None of this would have happened if James and I had not met via Ecademy, so it’s yet another example of how Ecademy brings proactive people together and helps things to happen.

If we can do it, so can you. Happy referring!

John Murray

BNI M20 Ashford