Episode 38: “International Networking Week”

January 23rd, 2008

Synopsis

International Networking week is a BNI initiative—but other organizations are welcome to participate. Chase’s Calendar of Events has already recognized International Networking Week.

International Networking Week starts the first Monday in February (that’s February 2^nd for 2008). This year there will be major events in 10 countries and special activities in thousands of BNI chapters worldwide.

We’d like chapters to invite top community leaders to BNI to show them what BNI is like and expose them to the “Givers Gain” philosophy.

Bring someone different to BNI in February and show them how BNI is changing the way the world does business!

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Watch the International Networking Week video.

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 038 -

Priscilla Rice:
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by networkingnow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley California and I’m joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you?

Ivan Misner:
I’m doing great, Priscilla, thank you very much.

Priscilla:
It�s great to have you on the phone today, Ivan. What do you have to share with us?

Ivan:
Well, this is a great podcast for me. It’s an important one because it’s about International Networking Week. BNI now has over 5,000 groups all around the world in dozens of countries. International Networking Week is an initiative of BNI, and it is absolutely welcome to many other networking organizations around the world to celebrate and recognize this program of relationship networking and business networking globally.

Now, since our first ever international networking meeting which was last year, we’ve had a lot of organizations and even government agencies recognize International Networking Week including the State of Nevada, the County of Los Angeles, and both the Assembly and Senate for the State of California in a recent joint resolution. We are expecting a lot more from all over the world, and as it happens we will definitely share that with members.

We even had this year — this is kind of big actually — the 2008 international Chase’s Calendar of Events recognized International Networking Week as a week to be honored each year. They don’t usually recognize it so quickly. When we first told them about it and applied for I, they said no and that it takes years. There is already a National Networking Week in United States.

After the first International Networking Week, when we showed them the literally hundreds of major events and the thousands of BNI chapters that recognized it, they immediately in the second year put it in their calendar, their book, which is very unusual. It has already gotten some great press in the media and a lot of exposure. Of course, it’s good exposure from BNI. It’s good exposure to help teach people how to improve networking skills in their business.

Priscilla:
What makes it international? Is it that everyone is doing it simultaneously all over the globe?

Ivan:
Right. It’s the same week all over the globe. It begins on the first Monday in February. This year in 2008, that’s February 4. So February 4 through February 8 is International Networking Week this year. We expect major activities in about 10 countries around the world. By major activities, I mean big events where hundreds of people come. We are expecting thousands of BNI chapters in at least two dozen of the countries we operate in- maybe all 37 countries that we operate in- to do special activities during International Networking Week.

Priscilla:
What are the goals? Where are the actual activities and you are planning?

Ivan:
Well, networking is a very powerful process, and we want people to see what we do in BNI. Since our theme for 2008 is �changing the way the world does business� - and I really believe that BNI is changing the way the world is business - I really thought it would be good to do something different, something that we’ve never done in BNI. It�s something that we don’t recommend the chapters do this after International Networking Week, but it’s a great opportunity to do it on this International Networking Week.

That is to bring in top community leaders who are almost never normally invited to BNI meetings to come see not only what it is that BNI does, but how we are changing the face of the business world with this grassroots business networking and relationship networking. We’re suggesting that chapters invite top community leaders to come and celebrate International Networking Week which will expose them to BNI and to our philosophy of givers gain. It will create, I think, a community and strategic connections for BNI members and continue to build the BNI brand.

Priscilla:
So when you invite them to the next meeting, then they just witness a meeting, a normal meeting that we do, or is there a special kind of presentation that you would like us to make?

Ivan:
If you would like to do a special presentation, that’s great. We want to leave this to be your individual events in the chapter. We’re trying to get enough notice to all the chapters. That’s why this podcast is coming up a couple of weeks before International Networking Week. So if there is some recognition that you want to do, that’s great. But our goal in doing this sort of meeting stimulant is to give an opportunity for chapters to bring in people who wouldn’t normally come and wouldn’t normally be invited, like maybe members who are senior executives with the Chamber of Commerce, business professionals who wouldn’t normally be invited to a chapter or possibly government officials. The mayor - you don’t usually invite the mayor or city officials to a meeting. But here, we want them to see how we are impacting the local community in terms of business and we think International Networking Week is a great opportunity to reach out and do that.

Priscilla:
That’s a great idea. I’m just imagining inviting our mayor to our meeting. People might get a little shy, but I think it would be perfect.

Ivan:
We don’t want to turn this into something political. That’s not what we�re looking for at all. If you have the mayor say something or have them speak- of course, everyone is allowed to speak for a minute so they certainly have a chance to do it. We would like to do it from the perspective of networking. How is networking helping the community?

If the mayor or city official wants to say something, we would like to have them limit their remarks to that. We certainly don’t want political speeches. BNI is not a political organization one way or the other. We want to focus on how we are helping business people.

We don’t have the final numbers in yet, but it looks like last year the organization will have passed over 5 million referrals and you will have generated over 2 billion US dollars worth of business for our members all around the world. We are changing the way the world does business. We are helping people increase their business through networking and building relationships. That’s the kind of communication that we like to pass on and would like to have them share what they think of it.

Priscilla:
What happens at the events that are organized by regional directors? Are they special?

Ivan:
There are a number of special events that are being done. I want to separate that out from what I’m suggesting here as a meeting stimulant. Many chapters are just having their regular meeting and we want to make sure that they recognize International Networking Week. In other areas, they are doing large regional events.

If your region is doing a large regional event, by all means, go visit that regional event. There are a lot of activities that are being done, and there are a lot of speakers. I recommend that you do go to that if you are doing them.

If not, here’s something else that your chapter can do: There is a video, and we will put a link up on this podcast where you can go to watch an eight minute presentation of me talking about International Networking Week. I share an experience that I call the butterfly effect of networking, which I talked about in a previous podcast and how it led me to spend a week on Necker Island with Richard Branson. It’s an interesting eight minute video for International Networking Week. If your chapter has an opportunity to show that video, it is up at you too. We will have a link to that so that members can go to that and include it in their meeting.

Priscilla:
Well that’s great. Do you have one last thought that you would like to share with us? I think we’ve come almost to the end of the podcast.

Ivan:
Networking is not only a great way to get business but it’s a great way to do business. What we want to teach is relationship networking, building long-term relationships to build your business. International Networking Week celebrates that, and I would really, really like to see chapters through out the world participate at some level with the second annual International Networking Week. If you do, by all means, please post something up here on this podcast about how it went and what you did. We would love to hear from you.

Priscilla:
That�s great. It sounds like a lot of fun. I’m sure our chapter is going to be doing something. Thank you so much, Dr. Misner. I just want to let all of you know that this podcast has been brought to you by networkingnow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. Thanks for listening. This is Priscilla Rice. We look forward to having you join us again next week for another episode of the Official BNI Podcast.