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BNI Clerkenwell meeting, May 3, 2012

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Fifteen years and going strong: a great 10 minute presentation, lots of referrals, and a sad farewell. All in a morning’s meeting at BNI Clerkenwell.

The room was abuzz with business before this week’s meeting, with members welcoming and getting to know the guests and subs visiting the Chapter. We were graced by a visit from BNI director Laura Hurren as well. Laura brought special badges recognising two founder members of the Chapter, Howard Graham and Peter Callomon, who have now been members for 15 years. Laura promised that Michael Strelitz, another 15 year member, will receive his badge soon…

Pre-meeting (when all the really important stuff happens), Ali chats to visitor Jane

Ian chats to visitor Karen

Chandra chats to VIP visitor Laura

and Carol chats to John

The meeting is just about to begin, and Lina and Ali are already having a great time

Chapter Director David Miles presents the Notable Networker certificate to John Brandler in acknowledgement of his contributions to the Chapter and his fellow members (grip and grin photo courtesy of Charles Gervais)

Laura brought special badges, presented by Chapter Director David Miles, for our 15-year members (Howard Graham, Peter Callomon, and soon for Michael Strelitz)

“Grip and Grin” is photographer jargon, here is another example (thanks David and Peter for demonstrating so effectively)

Anuschka Fritz announced that this would be her last meeting. She’s moving back to Germany after many years in the UK. Anuschka will leave behind a legacy of great web design, merciless time-keeping during the 60 second presentations, and chocolate, lots of chocolate. We’ll miss you Fritzie!

The members’ 60 second presentations were excellent, as usual, with Quentin Bargate making a particular impression on two of our visitors (and feeling pretty good about it after)

Smiling as always, Simon Manuel enjoys his fellow members’ presentations

Chandra Sharma runs through the Membership Coordinator’s report

Laura Hurren is looking for business people in Rome for BNI chapters there

The John Magee Silver Tongue award is given back to David Miles by Howard Graham. David was specific in his requests for business contacts (echoing Laura Hurren’s informative Network Education presentation on making sure you give your fellow Members enough information to be able to refer you effectively to their business circles)

It’s not all business at Clerkenwell, the pastry plate makes its rounds

Lina Christodoulou of Christo Print and design gave an excellent 10 minute presentation. Prior to speaking, she said that she was quite nervous, but a vast array of beautifully printed materials saw her through in fine style, and she made a great impression on the Members and visitors.

Referral time, and Howard gets a Mexican Wave from the Members for a precedented (by him) but still impressive 10 referrals (or was it 11?)

15 year member!

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

Happy 15th Birthday Clerkenwell BNI!

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Happy Birthday to the oldest chapter in London! 15 years young, and still going strong.

This week’s meeting was graced by both cake, courtesy of Howard Graham (The Made Simple Group) and one half of a lovely string quartet (Helen Bower and Abigail Dance of the Benzaiten Ensemble).

David Miles of Divadani holds court with this week’s Networking Education slot.

Members, subs and guests give their 60 second presentations. Ratan of Westbury does an excellent job of drawing in David Taylor of Savvy Social in to his presentation.

Carol Couling of SRS Bureau is justifiably proud of having sourced and placed an award-winning nurse (Karen Graham, working in Libya, has won The Robert Burns Humanitarian Award).

Ricardo Rodrigues of Portuguese Story listens intently to the 60 second presentations, along with his BNI colleagues.

Anuschka Fritz of Moustique Design shows off her newest website creation, live!

Anuschka Fritz

Micah Jorrisch shows us a calendar promoting Karen Darke, paralympian, who is making a trip to the South Pole, to promote the Back-Up Trust. Incredible story.

Chapter Director, Mandy Hetherton of Insight to Action, inducts new member Julian Fox of TechRelate. Welcome, Julian!

As a very special treat, we were treated to exquisite music from Helen Bower and Abigail Dance of the Benzaiten Ensemble (thanks for bringing them along, Anuschka!). Oh, and they played Happy Birthday too.

David Taylor, Anuschka Fritz, John Wright

David Miles of Divadani Design awards Charles Gervais, of Both Hemispheres Photography, this week’s John Magee Silver Cup Award for the best 60 second presentation (note the self-portrait, with remote camera!). Charles gave over his 60 seconds to tell the chapter about his Father’s (Humphrey Gervais, former member and CD of BNI Clerkenwell) climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Still time to donate!

Howard Graham of the Made Simple Group gave the 10 minute presentation this week.

Perfect referrals for The Made Simple Group:

Cake during a 10-minute presentation? The perfect accompaniment!

40 referrals were passed this week, including this one from Ratan of Westbury to Ian Selvan of Centrepoint Software.

Simon Manuel of Simplicity Copywriting draws this week’s door prize for… John Wright of Opus Business Systems (the prize was a valuable place on a Business Made Simple course, to be given to a chosen client).

A delicious cake-over-coffee combination, yum!

Founder members of BNI Clerkenwell: Peter Callomon of Positive Solutions, Howard Graham of The Made Simple Group and Michael Strelitz of Datasafe Services. 15 years at BNI Clerkenwell, congratulations gentlemen!

I’ve only been a member of BNI Clerkenwell for 5 years, but I am honoured to be among such a dynamic and supportive group. I wouldn’t be where I am without the referrals, advice and direct business I’ve been given over the years. Here’s to 15 more years, Clerkenwell!

Charles (Both Hemispheres Photography).

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, Centrepoint Software, Datasafe Services, Divadani, Insight to Action, Mandy Hetherton, Moustique Design, Network Education, photos, Portugese Story, Positive Solutions, Simplicity Copywriting, SRS Bureau, TechRelate, The Made Simple Group, Uncategorized, Westbury | Comments Off

Christmas already at BNI Clerkenwell!

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

A well organised, festive, and delicious Christmas Do for BNI Clerkenwell took place last Monday (Dec 5) at The Fence, near Farringdon Station. A great time was had by all!

Many thanks to Jean Ligget, Properties of the World, for all of her hard work. It is the opinion of this humble blog-poster that, if Jean does half the work for her clients as she did to organise this party, then they are very lucky clients indeed.

Photographs courtesy (mostly) of Charles Gervais, Both Hemispheres Photography.

Quentin photographs the photographer with what he says is a phone but looks more like a monolith from 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Simon, Colleen and her bun hold court as King and Queen of the table (all of the other Kings and Queens didn’t seem to object).

Pretty good loot from the crackers (I’m enjoying my new nail clippers).

David shows how much he loves to have his photo taken (John takes the high road, and just ignores the camera).

The gang digs in to their appetisers.

Crayfish and avacado, yum! (beer, yum! cider, yum! wine, yum!)

Chandra was his usual jolly self!

Quentin shows his true colours (another excellent visual metaphor for business).

Daniel corners the market on sprouts.

Colleen announces the quiz (where we had to predict the future)

Quiz + wine = bad predictions of the future.

Nick enjoys some scrummy Xmas pud!

The quiz masters (probably)

Lord of all he surveys, David holds court

Ali, David and Anuschka hold court too (wait, that’s a lot of royalty for one table)

Peter seems to be the only subject amongst all the Kings and Queens. Seems pretty happy about it too!

Ian (and the back of the lovely, and greatly missed, Emma) having a good time.

Did you know, Michael, that on this day in 1971, Mozart died in Vienna? Aged only 35? (and just before Christmas!)

Ian and Carol share a lovely red wine…

John is really holding court, captivating his audience.

The snifters are out, time for the talk to get deep…

More photos of David and Emma, they just couldn’t get enough of the camera! (you should hear how much they like the camera…wait, there is video, who wants to hear how much they love having their photos taken?).

Wasshail!

Someone cruelly turns the camera on the photographer. Oh, the humanity!

Merry Christmas indeed!

Look, party poppers blow their own smoke rings! Makes up for what I now see is, frankly, a rather sparse amount of streamers inside (next year, let’s get one of these!)

Merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays) Everyone!

Charles

Posted in Bargate Murray, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, Churchill Image Consultants, Druces, Energise Personal Training, Mandy Hetherton, Moustique Design, photos, social, Tangent Office Resources, Uncategorized | Comments Off

August 4th @ Clerkenwell BNI

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

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)

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, Energise Personal Training, Mandy Hetherton, Network Education, photos | Comments Off

June 30 @ Clerkenwell BNI

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

We began today’s meeting with Michelle Fanus (Event Manager, Dynamyk Events) once again sitting in for our Chapter Director Alison Trickey (Florist, Pollen Nation), who is poorly (get well soon Alison!). Michelle did an excellent job holding together the herd of cats that is Clerkenwell BNI, our thanks.

Howard Graham, stepping up to give the Network Eduction talk, detailed: “10 Tactics To Stand Out From The Crowd“. It’s worth it to visit this link to really settle these tactics in your memories.

A lively round of 60 second presentations set the tone for the remainder of the meeting, with our visitors and subs (Serge, Nicola, Robert and Simon) keeping up quite admirably, when it came to their turn. Particular mention should be made of Mandy Hetherton’s 60, today’s winner of the John Magee Cup (neé “the Silver Tongue”). Her very specific requests for Chief Execs of charities (Eddie Stride of City Gateway, Jan Tallis of School-Home Support and Rob Owen of St. Giles Trust) will help her fellow members refer her more easily to exactly whom she’s looking for. Much better than Charles’ vague request for “portrait clients” (you want more out of BNI? Be more specific Charles!).

Andrew Greenfield makes a strenuous point during his 60 Seconds

Michael Strelitz entertains during his 60 ("Did you know...")

Our 10 minute presentation today was given by Chandra Sharma of Tangent Office Resources (office supplies). Chandra began with a nod to the legacy of Mr. Wonderful, John Magee, and then proceeded to demonstrate why Tangent should be the supplier of choice for just about any profession (and especially for serviced offices). His presentation was supplemented by three take away items: the latest Tangent newsletter, a pamphlet detailing Tangent’s strengths, referral requests & testimonials, and a “goody-bag” full of useful stationery items. Good job Chandra, it’s great to have you back (and not merely for the chocolate biccies that Tangent sends on with their deliveries!).

Just one of the areas that Tangent offers superior products and services

Chandra dispenses Tangental wisdom

Wisdom received

Referrals today were very strong, we’re averaging in excess of two good referrals/member/meeting. Now all we need to do is to add to our strengths by becoming Visitor Inviting (and conversion) machines!

David gives out what would normally be a very respectable 5 referrals, if he'd not just followed Howard Graham's 11

Andrew Pegg smiles as he gives his referrals

Speaking (writing!) of visitors, please take note, everyone, of our next Visitor’s Day, July 14. This time we’re focussing on the Weddings and Events sectors, so please think of whom you could invite to support this sector of our Chapter (suggestions: wedding planner, venue manager, makeup artist, hair dresser, lighting company, DJ, Limo rental company, video production company).

Until next time!

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, chocolate, flowers, Mandy Hetherton, Network Education, Pollen Nation, visitors day | Comments Off

Success at The Mad Hatters!

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Last Thursday night (June 16, 2011), we were treated to a grand evening at The Mad Hatters fundraising event for Bliss, at the Carnivale Bar in the East End of London. The evening was a celebration of the massive fundraising effort by the BNI 3 Peaks team, who handily conquered the three highest mountains in England (Scafell Pike), Scotland (Ben Nevis) and Wales (Snowdon). You can read more about how the Clerkenwell team met the challenge in earlier BNI Clerkenwell blog posts.

With many prizes to be won (both in the raffle and fabulous silent auction), blackjack & roulette, massages, a standup comic, delicious homemade cupcakes, music, and conviviality on tap, a great time was had by all. I also hear that a milestone funding target was achieved on the evening (though you can still donate to this worthy cause here). Well done everyone!

There were two photographers attending the evening: Paul Lewis of PGL Productions was taking party photos, printing them out on the spot, and generously giving them to the attendees (know of any events that might appreciate his team’s fun and versatile services?), and Charles Gervais of Both Hemispheres Photography (who prefers portraits and advertising work, but was once a dab hand at event photography). Charles has put up a full gallery of photos from the evening here, but you can get a sneak peak at a selection of photos below:

Yum, cupcakes! (I hear and obey, oh sign on the table...)

John rakes it in on the blackjack table

Andrew Blisses out near the silent auction board

Fabulous auction prize: Banksy self portrait (kindly donated by John Brandler)

Ian stands, formidable ("Where Sage is your bouncer solution")

Emma's cupcakes! Yum! Yum! Yum!

Ian gives an ego boost to a height-challenged colleague

: The Silent Auction bids go up, and up!

: Ali, Andrew and Emma hold court on the stage (Mad Hatters all)

: The gang is all here! (and over there, and up there, and out there…)

Nick and Ali, King and Queen Mad Hatters

Black 11 is a winner!

Until next time.

Posted in BNI UK | Comments Off

May 26 @ Clerkenwell BNI

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

We were in the showcase “Westminster Room” at The Old Sessions House this week, lots of room to move, speak and mingle.

Moving, speaking and mingling with the best of them, Michelle Fanus (Dynamyk Events, event manager) was sitting in the centre seat at The Top Table. She was standing in for our illustrious Chapter Director, Alison Trickey (Pollen Nation, florist) who was “buried in roses” this morning, while she prepared for three big weddings this weekend. Michelle did a great job her first time in the Big Chair, the meeting went smoothly and we hardly missed Alison at all (kidding! Her absence left an almost immeasurable void in our lives… too much?).

David Miles (Divadani, internet marketing) thought that sitting beside the chapter’s photographer (Charles Gervais, Both Hemispheres Photography) would ensure that he’d avoid the unblinking gaze of the lens, and inclusion in this blog. David forgot that Charles’ camera, while large, is entirely portable, and that he could get up and shoot from a different angle (Charles and David obviously need to have another 1-1). Turns out that this was a good thing, because David had a lot to say during his Network Education Slot about finding and converting Visitors (this was an interactive Education slot, with several members adding their own strategies). Some of the approaches chapter members use for finding visitors include:

1) seek out people who are already part of networking groups, and ask them if they want to extend their networking circle (with the number one BNI chapter in London!).
2) talk to your clients and suppliers
3) when a cold caller calls you, turn the tables and invite them to BNI. This has been a particularly successful strategy for Ian Selvan (Centrepoint Software, accounting and CRM software)

Any other strategies? Share them in the comments.

There was a good round of 60 second presentations today, with our subs Claudia (Made Simple Group) and Riki Hutchinson (Drinks Lover, wine merchants) fitting in quite nicely to the rather unique chapter that is BNI Clerkenwell.

The 10 minute presentation was given by Debbie Neville (Neville & Rowe Ltd, business reporting software). Debbie used a polished visual presentation to detail the how’s and why’s of their business analytics software: “ImpactEdge”. Some of the members were surprised to learn that ImpactEdge was developed entirely in-house. Debbie is looking for referrals to Finance Directors of Manufacturing and Productions Companies, Hedge Funds, Pension Funds and to “Introducers” (accountants and businesses advisors).

The BNI-ness of the morning didn’t end with the conclusion of the formal meeting. As usual, many BNI Clerkenwell members retired to local cafés to have follow-on one-to-one meetings:

Until next time!

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, Druces, Network Education, Uncategorized | Comments Off

3 Peaks update

Monday, May 30th, 2011

**an update from Emma Wilson**

Hi Clerkenwell,

Just to confirm as the last live update couldn’t be sent from my dead phone – we did indeed conquer Snowdon getting safely down at about 10.30pm just as darkness settled in last night. I will let the rest of the team tell you about quite how tough it was and the extremity of the weather conditions at the meeting on Thursday…needless to say it was a huge mental and physical challenge and very testing especially with the sleep deprivation involved.

Thanks from all of us for the donations on the justgiving page, the words of encouragement, the amazing raffle and auction prizes so far as well as help with printing and designing tickets – and for the excellent driver who drove the Made Simple bus that we shared who was fantastic at having our hot food ready each time we came down off the mountain and keeping us motivated. Be great to keep up the momentum to gain donations on the page http://www.justgiving.com/BNI-3Peaks-Challenge-Clerkenwell up to the event on the 16th. Intended to send photos of the team on the peaks but have currently misplaced my camera lead so coming soon – in the mean time here are some of the weather conditions as caught on camera by one of the other teams.

Hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday - from the three peaks team.

Subject: Three peaks live update 2

From: emmavwilson@hotmail.co.uk

Date: Sun, 29 May 2011 15:55:05 +0100

To: bniclerkenwell@raycon.co.uk

Hi clerkenwell,

Team completed Ben Nevis at 10pm last night and completed scarfel this morning. It’s another world up there – snow blizzards on Ben Nevis and 70 mile per hour winds on scarfel. Been very tough weather conditions up there and we got lost on journey to scarfel so all running behind but determined to finish the last mountain. Our legs have seized up now, blisters come out and all completely exhausted running on just a few hours sleep in the mini bus. The pyg track at snowdon is lots of vertical climbing we should arrive there about 5.30 and straight up to get done before nightfall.

If we can get just giving upto £750 this weekend – that means with giftaid we are upto £1000 for this weekend which would be very very motivating! please help us spread the link

http://www.justgiving.com/bni-3peaks-challenge-clerkenwell Sent from my iPhone

Posted in BNI UK, Energise Personal Training | Comments Off

May 19 @ Clerkenwell

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

This week’s Network Education slot, given by David Miles (Divadani, internet marketing), was derived from this excellent Dr. Misner posting: “Top 10 Ways to Waste Your Time in BNI“. Definitely worth a read (you can listen to a podcast too).

David captivates the Chapter

Michelle Fanus (Dynamyk Events, events manager), our Chapter Membership Coordinator, talked us through why we hold the number one spot in London, but pointed out that we are still quite poor at converting visitors to members. Some wisdom, guidance, and whip cracking from the Top Table could be helpful here.

We're #1! We're #1! ...at most things

Mandy Hetherton (Business Coach) gave her first 10 minute presentation, after recently joining the chapter. Judicious use of illustrative props (including a spaghetti jar full of balloons, a map and compass, and tube of Vanish), as well as an engaging speaking style, had several members wondering how the presentation went by so quickly. She talked us through three case studies: 1) helping a busy MD to make better use of her time by delegating effectively, 2) enabling a newly-promoted senior manager to gain confidence and find his way, and 3) a quick session of “spot coaching” to help a chief executive make a sparkling presentation. Mandy asked us to listen out for people who say they don’t have enough time; who are lacking confidence; or who have an event such as a presentation which they are dreading, and to tell them that she offers a free 30 minute consultation to ensure that coaching is right for them.

Introducing: Mandy!

Mandy in action

Mandy keeps 'em interested

Until next time.

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, Mandy Hetherton, Network Education | Comments Off

May 12 @ Clerkenwell

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

We started today’s meeting at BNI Clerkenwell with the very under-stated announcement that Clerkenwell has regained the #1 spot in London! (but #1 in London does not a #1 spot in the UK make: we were gently informed that we are merely 25th in the UK, so there is lots of room for improvement).

Chapter Director Alison Trickey (Pollen Nation, florist), inducted new member Nick Ainsworth (Churchill Insurance Consultants) today. This brings our numbers up to an even 30. Welcome to Clerkenwell BNI Nick! (that’s “Nick” everyone, not “Nigel”. Nick Nick Nick).

After a very educational education slot, given by Simon Manuel (Druces, LLP) on the subject of “Memory Hooks”, our normal 60 second presentations were spiced up by some new, very much on-the-fly, memory hooks from a few adventurous chapter members. Some of those might need a teeny tiny bit of polishing, but they got the message across in, well, a memorable way.

Special VIP guest Laura Hurren (Executive Director of BNI UK) gave a compelling 10 minute presentation on Power Teams. As an effective demonstration of where our strengths lie, she quickly organised the chapter members into their existing Power Teams.The “Weddings”, “Creative/Marketing” and “Property” Power Teams all had only a few members each,

while “Health & Wellness” was represented solely by Ali Irving (Energise Personal Training). The “Finance” dwarfed all of the other Power Teams combined (leaving Ali looking very lonely indeed).

This was an ideal opportunity for Laura to point out the very obvious benefits of building the smaller Power Teams in the chapter (one extra “Wellness” member would give Ali a single new relationship, but 7 more members would give the team 28!). If all that extra business sounds like a good idea, why not attend the special BNI Power Team Workshop being held on Tuesday the 24th of May, from 17.00 to 19.00 at MWB Business Exchange, WC2.

On a final note, Anuschka Fritz (Moustique Design, web designer) was given a special 1.5Kg gourmet chocolate egg by Charles Gervais (Both Hemispheres Photography) as a public thanks for the stellar referral she gave him last Winter. This referral led to his most successful commission to date (Charles hastens to point out that the next chocolate egg will only be awarded to the person who tops that referral…).

Until next time.

Posted in 10 minutes, BNI UK, Both Hemispheres, chocolate, Churchill Image Consultants, Druces, Energise Personal Training, memory hook, Moustique Design, Pollen Nation, power teams | Comments Off

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BNI Clerkenwell

Archive for the ‘BNI UK’ Category

BNI Clerkenwell meeting, May 3, 2012

Happy 15th Birthday Clerkenwell BNI!

August 4th @ Clerkenwell BNI

June 30 @ Clerkenwell BNI

Success at The Mad Hatters!

May 26 @ Clerkenwell BNI

3 Peaks update

May 19 @ Clerkenwell

May 12 @ Clerkenwell

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