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!