The month of August 2004 will be remembered as the month of The Big Breakfasts!  BNI New Zealand held the inaugural 'Big Breakfast' in the three main centres, and these were a huge success.  With 280 members attending the Auckland breakfast, 100 attending in Wellington and 120 in Christchurch - nearly 40% of the entire NZ membership attended one of these three events.  Two members from Rotorua even travelled to Auckland the night before and stayed at the venue in order to be there!

The main event of each breakfast was a workshop on "The Untapped Power of Word of Mouth Marketing" - prepared and presented (in Auckland) by Geoff Wake - an International Sales Trainer and former BNI President of the Newmarket chapter.

"Following the success of these events, it is my intention to hold Big Breakfasts twice a year from this point onwards" says Graham Southwell - National Director of BNI New Zealand.  Some examples of the feedback received include:

“Great atmosphere and very good personally to see so many BNI networkers. The speaker presented a subject that was very relevant and a confirmation that where I am heading now is right.”
Hugh Shields, Tauranga

“The breakfast provided topic for discussion on our trip back to Hamilton. We’re going to present the networking ideas that were suggested by other BNI members at our table to our next meeting.”
Lorraine Eves, Murray East Tours and Travel, Hamilton

 

The Advocates Chapter of Christchurch recently held a night which incorporated a Mad Hatters party, Quiz night, dinner, chapter member presentations and watching the All Blacks Australia/New Zealand game all rolled into one!  The group was set up into their “geographical locations” depending on where their businesses are situated in Christchurch - CBD, City Fringe, Riccarton, Sydenham, Saltburn and North - adding another level of ‘competition’ to the evening.
Everyone who attended was given a ‘silly’ hat to wear for the evening - as a way of adding a little ‘light heartedness’. After the dinner a quiz was held consisting of general knowledge and BNI questions, which took them to just before the rugby started. The results of the quiz were announced during the half time break of the rugby and prizes handed out.
Even though the All Blacks lost, a fantastic night was had by all who attended and thanks must go to the members who helped organise the night: John Parlane of DPS Print for organising the venue, Ann Wilson of Anderson Lloyd Caldwell, Solicitors, and Gavin Ryan, MB Cook & Co Commercial and Industrial Real Estate for organising the quiz and ‘silly’ hats and Mike O’Halloran of Business Visuals NZ Ltd for supplying the projection equipment.

 

 

The Mid Term Leadership Team dinners were introduced by BNI New Zealand as a way of saying "Thank You" to those members who take up the challenge of running the chapters for the six months term in office.  Whilst these are all subsidised events, in Auckland, thanks to the generous contribution of the sponsors, it has been possible to turn this into a night to be remembered.  Over 90 members, from as far afield as Tauranga attended the Leadership Dinner held at the Auckland Club recently.
Once again, a night well worth attending with generous sponsors and an inspiring presentation from guest speaker - David Nottage, the 1996 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking.  Nottage spoke on how he achieved his World Championship - practice, practice, practice. He told us that “practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect”.
All who attended were entertained with his hilarious stories of public speaking and some of the hurdles he overcame to become World Champion.
Without the generosity of the sponsors listed, the night would not have been possible. Thanks to DS Wireless -Vodafone, Kilpan & Associaties, Positive Embroidery and Apparel Ltd and Synergy Financial Solutions Ltd.
Also special thanks to Joy Thompson of Flowers with Style (025 739 612)  for the floral centrepieces and Anja Gallas of Anja Gallas Photography(027 622 1155) who kindly took photos. 

 

Hamilton BNI chapter member James McAllister has won the prestigious 2004 Mortgage Broker of the Year Award.  The award was presented at the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association (NZMBA) annual conference in Wellington recently.

A Mike Pero Mortgages franchisee, McAllister beat three other finalists after a process of written submissions, interviews, client surveys and input from lending institutions.

The selection was overseen by a NZMBA appointed panel of judges.  

James also won the title of Waikato Regional Mortgage Broker of the Year.
McAllister said he was over-the-moon with the title. He has been in the industry for ten years and has tried to develop best practice models and benchmark them as a means of measuring improvement. "
Photo above: James McAllister of Mike Pero Mortgages, centre with Brian Berry (left) and Simon Swanson (right).

 

It is time to say adieu to Rose-Marie Nathan, Assistant Director for Auckland Central/West chapters.  Rose-Marie, pictured with Graham Southwell is taking some time out from her role as BNI Assistant Director to continue her education. We wish her every success in her chosen field.

 
Rose-Marie’s replacement is Wilma Ham, who will be taking over responsibility for her three West Auckland chapters - with the other two chapters still to be reallocated.  Wilma joins Lance Spalding and Fiona Powell as the two newest Auckland Assistant Directors to the eight strong managment team.   Fiona, Wilma and Lance all have vast experience in their leadership roles, particularly Fiona who will be known to almost all women members as the founder of “Her Business” magazine.

 

BNI New Zealand is enjoying huge growth at present and has recently opened the 54th chapter in Levin. The new chapter currently has 18 members and is growing fast. Due to demand, Christchurch is to set to open the 55th chapter in September, which will compliment the existing seven chapters in the region. Potential areas for new chapters - Wanganui, Mount Maunganui, Cambridge, Taupo, Hawkes Bay and Nelson - are all in the planning stage at present and hope to be up and running by the end of this year/early next year. It is Graham Southwell’s vision to have a total of 60 chapters in New Zealand, and a chapter average of 30 members per chapter within the next year.  Who do you know who would be interested in joining a chapter in one of these planned regions?

We hear that a member (who shall remain nameless) from the Tauranga chapter was so eager to attend the Big Brekkie in Auckland last month that he arrived on time - only a month too early!
He couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a crowd waiting outside the venue that morning, and after waiting a considerable amount of time, consulted his diary only to discover he had the date, time and venue right, but alas wrong month!
You’ll be happy to know that the early bird attended the actual meeting and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to network with other ‘eager’ members!

 

The Auckland Metro chapter of 22 current members recently celebrated its third birthday with a dinner at the Horse and Trap in Mt Eden. The dinner was attended by partners and previous members of the chapter. The evening included their weekly meeting, at which Graham Southwell provided the 10 minute address. A humorous award ceremony for current members was also conducted and a great night was had by all! The chapter would like to thank Graham and guests for their attendance and Jack Out for organising the evening. The Happy Huddle (left to right) Front row seated: Michael Cave, Royden Shotter, Graham Southwell, Alan Franklin; Middle row: Peter de Valda, Colin Hardacre, Ray Treadaway, Dianne Corin, Samantha Fieulaine, David Moon, Malcolm Brown, Robert Taylor (with 60-second enforcement mechanism!); Back row: Danny Sunkel (previous member), Jack Out, Paul Meyer (BNI), Kevin Ball, John Green, Bruce Williams (previous member), Craig Stevens, Marilyn Nicholls and Robin Eade.

There is a goldmine of information available to all members on the BNI website.
Check out the SuccessNet newsletters which are posted by other BNI chapters from around the world - www.bni.com/successnet
To find SuccessNet, click on “newsletters” (left hand panel) then go to “BNI Happenings” (right hand panel) and choose which part of the world you’d like to explore: Africa/Middle East; Europe/North America; Australasia/Asia or Europe.
In Europe you can find the story of how Susan Godding passed a staggering 696 qualified referrals in a single meeting!
North America has held its first ‘American Business Idol’ which was held over five weeks and had a judging panel of qualified business leaders.
If nothing else you might find a different way to add a bit of life to your weekly meetings or even better, someone who you can pass a referral to.