Seats were scarce during this week’s meeting of Clerkenwell BNI. It was a slow-motion game of musical chairs, as members, subs and visitors mingled (and did lots of business) before the meeting, and then hustled for seats as the meeting began. Luckily, someone mis-counted, and there were enough chairs for everybody when the music stopped (but only barely).
The chapter is very healthy, at 30 members, and the visitors and subs we had today were well received. They included:
- Karl Wayt, Sports Bar and Grill (Farringdon)
- Andreas Krueger, LockRite (locksmith)
- Lucy Long, WPA (health insurance)
- Peter Sherwood, Sherwood Diamonds and Gems (jeweller)
Mandy Hetherton (Insight to Action) ran a very good meeting, despite being let down by her alarm clock. Sounds like a referral-in-waiting for Chandra (Tangent Office Resources)
David Miles (Divadani)) entertained us with an amusing (and slightly tongue-in-cheek, or at least I hope it was!) Network Education slot focussing on “Gender-proofing your 1-1s“.
As usual, the Clerkenwell members gave informative, often amusing, and (mostly) targeted 60-second presentations. Standing out from the crowd was our visitor Lucy Long, whose dynamic demeanour and liberal scattering of money (sadly, only the Monopoly sort) won her the John Magee Cup for best 60 seconds of the meeting (we’re quite liberal here in London’s oldest chapter, and are very happy to recognise when visitors have outdone the members when presenting. It only raises our game). It was nice to see Adele Theron (Naked Divorce) back from her speaking tour Down Under. Also returning after short absences (fully subbed, mind you) were the Dynamic David Duo of David Taylor (2010 Media) and David Miles.
A slight deviation from the standard BNI meeting format saw us gathered into groups to discuss the sort of businesses we’d all like to invite (and add) to the chapter. Among the numerous suggestions were doctors, a solar panel-fitting company, wedding planners, builders and kitchen fitters. Special mention was made of the desire for businesses to compliment Ali Irving of Energise Personal Training, who is holding solitary court as the only business in the Health and Wellness sector in the chapter.
Next week we are holding our meeting at the newly opened Sports Bar & Grill (Farringdon), at which today’s visitor Karl Wayt is the General Manager. The address is:
Sports bar and grill Farringdon
19-25 Cowcross Street
London EC1M 6Dq
Personally, I’m looking forward to it, as I enjoyed a post-BNI 1-1-1 there with Chandra and John Wright (Opus Business Systems). Excellent cappuccino, plus a quite tasty second breakfast/really early lunch (the sacrifice had to be made, in the name of research!) served up by the attentive yet unobtrusive staff, left me with a very good impression.
Until next time!
Charles (Both Hemispheres Photography)
