BNI Clerkenwell Blog

BNI Clerkenwell

BNI Clerkenwell meets at a new trial venue.

March 25th, 2013

BNI Clerkenwell met at a trial venue this past week: the lovely J+A Cafe just off Clerkenwell Road. The long table was a departure from our familiar wide rectangle, but we still managed to hear everyone speak. As usual, lots of business was passed and there was a fabulous breakfast to boot!

The J+A cafe was a welcoming venue.

Daniel Lloyd-Morgan (DLM Garden Design) digs in to the breakfast, while John Wright (Opus Business Systems) and Laurence Summers (London Blue Badge Tour Guide) look ready to dive in.

Every day should begin with a healthy breakfast! (not seen: scrambled eggs and fresh pastries, yum!)

Karen Topp (Karen Topp Consulting) signs in a visitor to the Chapter.

Breakfast of Champions!

Ready to do business.

The meeting is poised to begin, as the Chapter members and visitors finish their breakfasts.

Peter Callomon listens to James Bridgeman (standing in for David Miles, Chapter Director) start the meeting,

Jean Ligget (Properties of the World) gives her 60 second presentation.

Poised to take notes (with a Christo Print pen, there was one for everybody today, thanks Lina!).

Michael Strelitz (Datasafe Services) gives his 60.

A carefully prepared presentation.

Chandra Sharma (Tangent Office Resources) gives his final presentation as Membership Coordinator (thanks for all you’ve done, Chandra!).

James did an excellent job running the meeting this week.

Obviously, Simon Manuel (Simplicity Copywriting) agrees with everything James has to say.

Helen Anslow (Lionel J. Wiffen Ltd.) enjoys a clever 60 second presentation.

The chapter is intent on a 60 second presentation, while Adam Tarr (Display Architecture) writes down an idea triggered by what’s been said.

Referral time (note the pink box), and Karen hears something she likes.

John Brandler gives a referral. This photo was taken with a tilt-shift lens loaned to the chapter’s photographer by Quentin Bargate (Bargate Murray), who is a talented photographer in his own right, and who also happened to have a bag full of photo kit with him this morning for the photographer to play with (many thanks Quentin).

Jean reads out a well-deserved testimonial.

The A+J Cafe was littered with yummy, and aesthetically pleasing, food all ’round…

…plus lots of spring flowers (as I write this, it’s snowing outside, so the gesture was greatly appreciated!).

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Successful Visitors’ Day at BNI Clerkenwell, February 7, 2013

February 8th, 2013

Here are some of the images taken by Charles Gervais (of Both Hemispheres Photography) at last week’s successful Visitors’ Day at BNI Clerkenwell.

Adam Tarr (Display Architecture) warmly welcomes a visitor to the Chapter.

Adam, Ratan Lele (Westbury Accountants) and Chandra Sharma (Tangent Office Resources) man the welcome desk.

Chandra has a pre-meeting chat with VIP visitor Laura Hurren (BNI Executive Director).

Breakfast keeps us going through the meeting.

The meeting is so well attended that Daniel Lloyd-Morgan (DLM Garden Design) had to bring a chair from home (or perhaps just had to move one around the table).

A visitor.

All the ingredients to make a visitor seem welcome to the chapter.

Amruta Lele (Table Matters) listens carefully.

Chapter Director David Miles (Divadani) gives this month’s Notable Networker Award to…

…Andrew Pegg! (Midas Corporate Consulting). Congratulations Andrew, it’s well deserved.

Former member, and now Visitor, Kay Soyemi (Esskay Services) offers his ready smile up to the camera.

A very well attended meeting!

Everything you need for a successful BNI meeting (and more!).

Andrew gives his 60 second presentation.

Tim Boeckmann (Bureaucloud), Carol Couling (SRS Bureau) and Visitor Stevie Good listen to a 60 second presentation.

The Thank You for the Business Box gets passed reverently along.

Laurence Summers (certified Blue Badge Tour Guide) contemplates the message in a fellow Member’s 60 second presentation.

Visitors are the lifeblood of any good chapter, their business cards are valuable keepsakes.

Quentin Bargate (Bargate Murray Solicitors) waxes poetic on the finer points of being a member of the Commercial Law Firm of the Year.

The iPad of John Wright (Opus Business systems), always well prepared for his 60 seconds.

It was a big meeting, at an early hour, but everyone was focussed on the messages they were hearing.

Laura watches regally from the head of the table during the 60 second presentations, with a thoughtful Visitor at her side.

Talented multi-taskers get even more done!

Carol Hustler (TEDs Friend Ltd) gives her usual informative 60, while Peter Callomon (Positive Solutions) contemplates her message.

Once all of the Chapter Members have given their 60 second presentations, each Visitor did the same. Most did very well on their first outing, well done.

A Visitor, but also a former Member, Kay always presents well.

60 second presentations are the core of any BNI meeting, but it’s the numbers that tell all.

All eyes are on the speaker…

This week, Andrew Pegg was tasked with awarding the John Magee Memorial Silver Cup for the best 60 second presentation. Several made the list of Honourable Mentions, but it was Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography) who took the honours this week.

The hallowed Cup holds a place of honour, overlooking the meeting from on high.

Chandra gives the Membership Coordinator’s report.

Referral slips are being filled out, to record what it’s all about: the passing of business.

Laura gives a 5 minute talk on the value of BNI. The fact that bamboo grows meters in a single season, but first needs to take sufficient time to establish its roots, is an excellent metaphor for how BNI works.

That’s a lot of referral slips, meaning, that’s a lot of business being passed at BNI Clerkenwell!

Referral slip poised!

Chapter Director David Miles briefly discusses a referral he’s passed to a Chapter Member.

Networker extraordinaire Howard Graham (The Made Simple Group) passes yet another record batch of referrals.

Amruta mentions that one of the strengths of her business is the excellent financial advice she’s getting from her accountant, Ratan Lele (who she’s known for her entire life).

There is some argument as to which part of a BNI meeting is the most important, but judging by the close attention paid by everyone on this photo, the referrals round is right up there.

A referral is passed along the table towards the lucky recipient.

Adam takes a bow (or is about to fly about the room…).

Time to count the referrals, it’s a big pile this week!

The formal part of the meeting is over, but business is still being done, BNI Clerkenwell style. Soon, we’re going to need a bigger box.

Mark Gomer (Energy House Digital) and Ian Winsley (Selby Carpets) have a post-meeting chat, while in the foreground, Carol and John do the same.

Chandra and Ian Selvan (Centrepoint Software) finalise some business.

Always a friendly face, Nevan Burke (The Best of Islington).

A leave-behind is a great way to maintain your marketing message. John Brandler (Brandler Galleries) has a good one.

Sitting, standing or walking, BNI Clerkenwell Members are always working hard to create business for their fellow members.

Mark Gomer is just about last out of the room (besides your intrepid photographer).

Posted in 10 minutes, 60 seconds, Bargate Murray, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, Divadani, photos, SRS Bureau, Tangent Office Resources, The Made Simple Group, Uncategorized, visitors, visitors day, Westbury | Comments Off

first meeting of 2013, at BNI Clerkenwell

January 5th, 2013

Here are some of the images taken by Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography) of the first meeting of 2013 at BNI Clerkenwell.

Highlights include a visit from intrepid under-10-year old Sophie Miles (subbing very effectively, and even giving a referral to photographer Charles Gervais), an informative 10 minute presentation by Tim Boeckmann of Bureaucloud, and a triumphant win by a respected member of the Chapter of the John Magee Memorial Cup for the best 60 seconds. What a great way to start the year!

Indeed, thanks for the business!

Welcome back John Wright (Opus Business Systems) and Daniel Lloyd-Morgan (DLM Garden Designs), so eager to reconnect, they’re still wearing their outdoor coats.

Our fearless Leader, David Miles (Divadani) confers with our fearless Membership Coordinator, Chandra Sharma (Tangent Office Resources), prior to the meeting.

Intrepid visitor to the Chapter, her second successful appearance, Sophie Miles (subbing for Matt Ross, of Catalyst). Let’s give her a big hand!

Sophie (s)Miles at BNI Clerkenwell!

This week, Sophie wielded the bell with great aplomb; ruthlessly (and correctly) dinging any member who strayed over their allotted 60 seconds.

Congratulations Chandra, it’s the first of the month and you are, deservedly, our Notable Networker!

David and Chandra effortlessly guide the members through the established, and proven, BNI agenda.

Matt never had it so good, having an outgoing and erudite sub like Sophie to speak for him, the audience was enraptured!

See: rapt attention as Sophie speaks for Matt.

John Wright speaks well, and gets his message across: he is looking for MDs of companies who want to easily be able to track their employees’ and company’s performance via highly integrated telecoms solutions.

Teeny, tiny, but fully functional, Raspberry Pi computer, anyone? Julian Fox (TechRelate) brings in a complete computer in a little plastic box, as evidence of his total commitment to his field (it’s even what he does for fun!).

Tim Boeckmann, of Bureaucloud, begins his 10 minute presentation.

Don’t have an in-house IT department? Don’t want your equipment on site (loud, at risk, takes up space). Move to the cloud, you’ll never have to buy or maintain server equipment again.

David and Chandra pay close attention to Tim, as best they can, over the extremely loud fans and drives of the demonstration server Julian Fox brought in to support Tim’s presentation. Who wants something like this in their office? Better to go with the cloud, and a warehouse full of these things, but elsewhere!

Once again: rapt! Even Sophie is learning about cloud computing (luckily, the server has been turned off, having served its purpose).

Tim describes his ideal referrals…

…and here they are.

Quentin gives his 60-second presentation…

…and he has his eye on the John Magee Memorial Cup! (given for the best 60 second presentation of the meeting)…

…and he wins, triumphantly holding up his rather large carton of Jaffa Cakes (while Karen Topp is likely thinking: “hmm, I sure could use a Jaffa Cake right about now, but Quentin looks un peu fou, so I’ll just sit here quietly, and smile.”).

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Xmas at BNI Clerkenwell (final meeting of 2012)

December 22nd, 2012

All Hail David Miles, Chapter Director, for his successful running of the final meeting of 2012! The excitement of Secret Santa, the impending (and demonstrably false) Mayan doomsday predicted for the following day, the anticipation of a lie-in the next Thursday morning, and all of us doing the 60 second presentations of the person to our left, caused us to regress to pre-teen behaviour, making the phrase “herding cats” something for David to aspire to.

It was a great meeting, lots of prezzies given out, mince pies a go go, silly hats, and we still got some good business taken care of. This is BNI Clerkenwell.

Thank you for…the mince pies!

Jean Liggett (Properties of the World) and Chandra Sharma (Tangent Office Resources) share a pre-meeting laugh with Karen Topp (Karen Topp Consulting).

Quentin Bargate (Bargate Murray) exercises his photographic creativity, while Nevan Burke (The Best of Islington) looks on. On a related note: in 2013, look for the new, avant garde piece: “Yellow Balloon” in the Tate Modern.

No, not rubbish: Secret Santa presents! Woo hoo!

Karen karefully kaptures the koolest Kringle kontribution.

Score!

Julian Fox (TechRelate) and Tim Boeckmann (Bureaucloud) are very pleased with their Secret Santa gifts. Hmm, Julian is maybe a bit too pleased.

Helen Ainslow (Lionel Wiffen Ltd) is Santa’s elf-helper this year. Ratan Lele (Westbury Accountants) benefits from her beneficence.

Laurence Summers (Blue Badge Tour Guide) celebrates…something…with great gusto!

Julian is particularly pleased with his chocolates (hey, who copped out and put in mere chocolates? Imagination people, imagination!).

Karen helps Tim adorn his new winter beanie (see, now that’s a good Secret Santa gift!).

Yep, super-pleased. Too bad he didn’t have it during the shoot for his new super-awesome corporate portrait!

An American Christmas to you all! (different from a Canadian Christmas, really different).

We can’t see it, but the expression on Ian Winsley’s (Selby Carpets) face is one of transcendent jubilation at the reveal of his new desktop ping pong set. Everyone gathers ’round, their expressions ranging from stupefied awe to jejune blaséness.

Alright, alright, who thought it’d be a good idea to give knives to the barracuda lawyer?

Confusion reigns, but then Helen has a really great idea!

Daniel Lloyd-Morgan (DLM Garden Design) gets his heart’s desire: lovely, scented, feminine lotion and soap.

Some people just think that, just because they have a phone that is larger than a coffee table, they can take photos as well as the pros can. Oh, you foolish fools, put that massive phone away and let the guy with the overly large camera get all those candid photos instead!

The calm before the storm, moments before the pitched minced pie fight, David Miles (Divadani) reigns supreme from the Top Table.

Always impeccably styled: Elizabeth Floyd (Business Training Made Simple) shows off her new adornment.

Mark Smith (Simplexity Travel) waxes poetic on themes of “Simplicity” vs “Simplexity”.

Contented hat-wearers Karen and Tim listen to their fellow members’ 60 second presentations.

Christmas-themed Lina Christodoulou (Christo Print & Design) successfully hides from the camera, while Jean Liggett and Merle Wilson (Improve Confidence) laugh on.

An alternate angle of Tim (aforementioned hat-wearer) and Julian (maverick non-hat-wearer), still enjoying their fellow members’ 60 second presentations.

Laughing together are Elizabeth, Ian Selvan (Centrepoint Software) and Jean Liggett.

Andrew Pegg (Midas Corporate Consulting) violates numerous health and safety statutes while: standing on a chair, man-handling a £1700 camera lens, imitating (poorly) the chapter’s photographer who has the power to put an embarrassing photo of Andrew online for everyone to see. Could this end well for Andrew, y’all?

Nope, it didn’t end well. Poor Andrew!

Herding cats can’t be that hard, look at the fun Helen, Chandra and David are having!

Despite his risky mick-taking of the Chapter’s photographer, Andrew is awarded the John Magee Cup for the best 60 second presentation, by the Chapter’s respected resident stand-up comedian, Ratan Lele. The Chapter’s photographer admits that some could have seen it as a funny presentation…

Minced pies for the Chapter’s top performers! Well done Made Simple!

Down to some serious business: Ian Winsley gives an effective 10 minute presentation on what Selby Carpets offers its customers. Here is he showing of a sample book of flooring, while his slide details what Selby Carpets does.

“Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year”, any questions for Ian?

Selby Carpet industrial carpet swatch book, lovely stuff!

Karen Topp (Karen Topp Consulting) reads out a well-deserved testimonial for James Bridgman (Silverleaf).

I leave you with: The Leaning Tower of Pie-sa! (contender for worst joke of 2012).

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BNI Clerkenwell Christmas Party 2012

December 19th, 2012

Here are some of the images taken by Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography) at last week’s fabulous BNI Clerkenwell Christmas Party.

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Thursday, November 1, at BNI Clerkenwell

November 4th, 2012

BNI Clerkenwell starts November off with a lively meeting

BNI Clerkenwell’s first meeting of the month was a lively one, kicked-off by Chandra’s education slot with useful tips for giving more referrals.

Louisa Ballard from Rational FX was inducted as a member before Lina won the John Magee cup for her ‘show and tell’ 60 seconds.

Howard used his 10 minutes to do a quiz about The Made Simple Group’s services which was won by new member Mark Smith. His prize was a free Business Training Made Simple training course.

Chandra then announced a new game so that everyone stays on their toes all the way to Christmas.

There were plenty of smiles as you can see from Charles’s photos below. To cap it all, the meeting ended with referrals galore.

Someone seems to be tickling Carol under the table as Howard, in the background, writes out yet another referral slip

Chandra weighs up how easy it is to find referrals

Louisa shows off her new member’s pack

Tour guide Lawrence warms up his audience before Monday night’s BNI outing: A Jack The Ripper walk.

Another ‘show and tell’ from Lina. This time it’s the John Magee Silver Tongue trophy

Chandra outlines the rules of the new BNI game – the equivalent of explaining the offside rule to a group of seven-year-olds

Howard handing out the quiz papers as Mark looks on

Your starter for 10…

Books, biro, bacon…

Everyone taking the quiz very seriously…except Mark Gomer

A cheery Adrian answering the quiz questions

Pens at the ready

A rueful Julian realises where he went wrong as Howard reveals all

It’s a tie-break and Simon is pipped by Mark Smith to win the quiz – to Mark Gomer and David’s amusement

Ricardo answers the quiz on his laptop

A referral ‘liking’ Ricardo’s facebook page

…and another one

The business card box

A visitor reads the membership list

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Successful Visitors’ Day at BNI Clerkenwell

October 3rd, 2012

Here are some of the images taken by Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography) during last week’s successful Visitors’ Day at BNI Clerkenwell.

We hope that all of our visitors enjoyed the meeting, and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

The calm before the storm

Two visitors exchange cards

“You’d be crazy not to join”

Ali raising a smile from a visitor at 6.45am

“Yes, my name is Julian and I’m in computers, what’s so funny about that?”

Artist John Patrick Reynolds is either taking notes or drawing a cartoon

Michael Strelitz: A member for 15 years and still making everyone laugh

Andrew Pegg’s Midas leaflet doing the rounds

John Brandler : “There’s Damien Hirst and then there’s real art…”

Architect Adam Tarr showing evidence that his buildings are so good, even the builders take photos of them

“Pick a card, any card…”

Jay from Catalyst explains why a good web designer makes sure your website works on smartphones and tablets as well as on the web

“Don’t mess with me, my name is Quentin Bargate, litigator.”

Food, glorious food – the best breakfast we’ve had at Clerkenwell for 15 years

The stunning Westminster room

Clerkenwell BNI legend Howard Graham was at the group’s first meeting 15 years ago and is still going strong

John Patrick Reynolds talking about his Comic Art (or possibly the fish he caught last week)

Severine Foisy d’Angicourt bringing a smile to Merle’s face

Badge wearing Ratan Lele is a notable networker

A visitor doing his 60 seconds, with Ian Selvan looking on

Q: “How was the food?” A: (in usison) Excellent!

BNI director Laura Hurren tells the meeting that not joining BNI is bad for business

Referrals: The name of the game

Laura Hurren itching to pass some referrals

Top-table team James, David and Chandra

Peter Callomon – another 15 year member

Chapter Director David Miles leading from the front with another referral

A happy Nevan Burke

Visitor Nick Richmond describes how he shoots his videos

Ricardo threatening to open a bottle of his Portuguese wine at 7.00 with a bemused Daniel and Julian looking on

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demo portraits from Charles Gervais’ 10 minute presentation, 2012-08-16

August 16th, 2012

Many thanks everyone for the attention you gave me during my 10 minute presentation today, it’s always a pleasure to demonstrate the craft to a willing audience. I usually have an hour to set up my studio before a shoot, so I’m really glad I got everything working in the 30 minutes I did actually have!

Karen Topp (Karen Topp Consulting) was very kind to help me out, I thought that you all might like to see some quickly edited results (with her permission, of course). The first photo was taken during my presentation, the second two were done immediately after the meeting, when she wasn’t the centre of attention. Relaxing the subject in front of the camera is crucial to getting a great business portrait, and I think Karen did impressively well, considering that having you all watching her was anything but calming.

Cheers!

Charles
Both Hemispheres Photography

edit: I’ve done a bit of extra editing on Karen’s photos and updated the images in this post (just a bit of hair and clothing tidying) plus I’ve created black & white versions (just to give everyone an idea of what I offer my clients).

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BNI Clerkenwell “Olympic” meeting, August 09, 2012

August 10th, 2012

BNI Clerkenwell joins in the spirit of the London Games this week with an Olympic-themed meeting. Interesting subs and visitors (including BNI VIP Laura Hurren), an excellent and informative 10-minute presentation, and a plethora of business passed, meant for another stellar BNI Thursday morning!

A breakfast fit for an Olympic Athlete (who values a good referral)

Pre-meeting: Laura speaks with Matt (Catalyst)

Pre-meeting: James (Silverleaf) welcomes a valued guest

Pre-meeting: Howard (Made Simple Group), a 14-year BNI veteran, chats with a visitor

The Top Table: James Bridgeman (Silverleaf), Chapter Director David Miles (Divadani) and Chandra Sharma (Tangent Office Resources), welcome everyone to this week’s meeting of Clerkenwell BNI

Chapter Director David Miles inducts our newest member, Nevan Burke (Best of Islington) into the chapter. Welcome Nevan!

Members’ 60 second presentations: Daniel (DLM Garden Design) shows some Olympic “Gold Meadow” photos

Members listen intently to others’ 60 second presentations, especially Quentin Bargate (Bargate Murray), far right, who will be awarding the John Magee Silver Cup award for the best 60-second presentation (this week, with an Olympic twist)

Karen Topp (Karen Topp Consulting) enjoys some 60 second humour

John Brandler (Brandler Galleries) shows some Olympic-themed work (official graffiti!) by the artist “Pure Evil”.

Quentin awards Gold, Silver and Bronze to the top three 60 second presentations of the meeting (see the end of this blog post for Olympic portraits of the winners!)

Time for some chapter encouragement. Chandra shows us all what we can do to improve the Chapter and, by extension, our own successes in business

David Miles gives this week’s 10-minute presentation (and takes direction very well from the photographer, from all the way across the room).

David calls himself: “The Google Adwords Guy”, and his presentation was very clear as to how he brings value to his clients.

The 10 minute presentation is all about educating your fellow members on what the presenter does, and how we can bring them more business (that’s what it’s all about, after all!).

Time for the most important part of the meeting: referrals! (and other contributions). Ratan Lele (Westbury Accountants) starts us off well

Chandra passes on a referral

John Wright (Opus Business Systems) explains his referral(s)

Olympic 60 Seconds Gold Medal Winner: Ian Winsley (Selby Carpets)

Olympic 60 Seconds Silver Medal Winner: Adam Tarr (Display Architecture)

Olympic 60 Seconds Bronze Medal Winner: Mark Gomer (Energy House Digital)

Photography and blog this week courtesy of Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography)

Posted in 10 minutes, 60 seconds, BNI UK, photos, visitors | Comments Off

BNI Clerkenwell goes social! (bowling social!)

July 16th, 2012

After a rousing many bottles of wine at the very lovely Vats Wine Bar in Holborn, we proud few made our way to All Star Lanes for a bowling extravaganza. A very strong showing by several members of our party spurred the rest of us on to actually knock down the occasional pin or three (note: nobody bowl against James for money, five strikes confirms that he’s a dark horse).

Many apologies for the quality of the photos below, a combination of several bowling beers and horrendous shooting conditions (for the photographers: ISO 10,000, f/1.4 and 1/80; candlelight would’ve been brighter!) meant for moments, not details.

Well done Julian for organising a really fun evening. Many thanks!

Charles