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To coincide with International Networking Week in February 2012 the BNI Blaze Chapter will be holding their next Open/Visitors Day on the 16^th February. The theme is “The Million Pound Drop”, due to the amount of business BNI Blaze generated for its members (£1, 068, 752.23!) in 2011.

If you would like to attend the event and learn what networking can achieve for your business, please fill in the below form. Alternately you can attend via LinkedIn.

To register for the event, simply fill in your details below.

I thought you might like to hear about an interesting meeting we had in our Chapter last week. We all turned up in Santa costumes for the meeting in aid of a local charity, The Garden House Hospice in Letchworth Herts http://www.ghhospice.co.uk/

It came about when the Corporate Fundraiser for the hospice, Tina Fletcher, came along to one of our meetings as a visitor. In her 60 seconds she told us about the ‘Wear a Santa Suit’ day the Hospice were promoting. They were asking local businesses to buy Santa suits for £10 each and then wear them for the day to raise money for the hospice. We loved the idea and decided to join in as a Chapter and buy the suits. Every member of the Chapter joined in and we raised £270 for the Hospice.

Several of our members also took part with their own businesses as well, raising additional funds. It’s a great example of how bringing a visitor along to a meeting can bring unexpected benefits. Apart from donating to a worthwhile cause it was a great team building event for us and has generated lots of goodwill and publicity for the Chapter.

All local businesses are welcome to attend Blaze and if interested people should contact Fred McBreen on info@base52.co.uk. Since April this year the Chapter has generated over £600,000 worth of business for its members which has helped them to do well in difficult trading conditions.

Rob says:

“I became aware that my client was looking to improve the way in which they handled event administration. They seemed to think that an online booking solution was required.

I immediate thought of Phew Internet. Phew would not only have the technically ability to write the source code but more importantly, with Matthew at the helm, Phew would set about devising a workable solution not only addressing the immediate perceived need but a workflow that would be integrated seamlessly into their CRM database.”

As Rob mention when I first met the client, they “sort of knew” what they wanted, but they were certain knew that they had a problem.

They had a 3rd party events system, an out of date internal database and no time.

What they wanted was a simple system to allow clients to book courses and events online. The system to tell them who had booked, what pudding they wanted, and to print the badges for them without having to use word templates, and finally to report lots of different things every month.

That’s just what they got.

The value of BNI membership comes from the power of BNI referrals.

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Article Submitted by Matthew Burgess, Founder and MD at Phew Internet

“What a fantastic result in a time when all we seem to hear is doom and gloom for SME’s, this really proves that local businesses supporting each other and helping to generate work for others really shows outstanding results.

BNI Blaze’s previous best month was in July 2010 when £78,000.00 worth of invoiced business was recorded followed by October 2010 which resulted in £68,000.00. It’s no wonder that BNI Blaze is going from strength to strength and becoming one of the most popular networking groups within the local area.

In this edition, you’ll find:
1. “Three Trends in Business Networking” by Dr. Ivan Misner.
Times are changing, and so is networking.
2. “10 Things You Need to Know to Deliver a Power Presentation” by Scott Gerber.

An excerpt from Never Get a “Real” Job.
3. “I Have a Problem” by Duane Christensen.

Why your 60-Second Commercial should point to a solution.
4. Words of Wisdom.

“The Winning Edge.” from Brian Tracy.

*NEW* Productivity Tip: “How to boost your productivity with business cards.”
5. Breaking News about the 2011 International Networking Week and The BNI-Misner Foundation Campaign for Schools in India.
Plus, coverage of BNI happenings held across the globe, mentions in the news, recommended reading, and testimonials from members like you.

Be sure to take a moment to submit a comment to my article or to post your own BNI story.