With Christchurch having such a rough time and so many people still in limbo, BNI New Zealand members (mostly SME owners and the self-employed) around the country banded together to pack the surprise Christmas hampers full of ‘love and goodies’ for their fellow members in the earthquake struck city.

Pictured above: Dennis Inkster (BNI Kinesis) collects his hamper. In the background, left Denise Robinson (BNI Otago Director) and right BNI New Zealand National Director Graham Southwell.

The entire initiative was co-ordinated, planned and carried out by BNI Auckland directors Mariska Mannes and Rosemary and Paul Meyer.

Mariska said BNI is about comradeship between members who do business by the mantra ‘Givers Gain’, and the surprise Christmas hampers are a great way to articulate that comradeship and that spirit of mutual support.

Christchurch members, many teary-eyed, were clearly overwhelmed and touched by the gesture and, while there was hardly a dry eye in the house, there was certainly joy on every single face.

BNI Canterbury director, Sam Williamson, said people were very emotional.

“’Blown away’ were the words used often. People said they were really just humbled that other people up and down the country would show such a sign of support.

“Everybody was very surprised; they had no idea whatsoever. I’ve had a huge number of messages from people with their thanks – many want to get in touch with whoever made their box, to pass on their thanks.

“It certainly lifted our spirits to know that people are thinking of us and that we haven’t been forgotten,” said Sam.

BNI New Zealand National Director Graham Southwell told the breakfast that sometimes the toughest times are those that follow a tragedy or disaster, when everybody else has started moving on with their lives, leaving those affected to pick up the pieces.

“This is our way to say that you haven’t been forgotten. That we are still thinking of you, still supporting you and we are here to help in any way we can,” he said.

Mariska Mannes says she got the idea for the early Christmas surprise when talking to Kathryn Mountain, a member of BNI Epsom in Auckland, about how they felt quite helpless and not sure of how to help people in Christchurch.

“Kathryn remarked that it would be nice to send them a Christmas hamper, and that really was how the idea got started.”

Julie Cunningham (BNI Hibiscus Coast Chapter) and Mariska Mannes drove a van across New Zealand to collect the hampers, with the road show culminating in Christchurch on Tuesday 29 November at the big breakfast in the city.

“Chapters around New Zealand put in a phenomenal effort to raise money to pay for the boxes, ribbons, cards and goodies for the hampers.

“The road show started when I collected hampers in Northland in mid-November, and included a big breakfast in Auckland where 128 people gathered for a big breakfast to assemble the boxes, write the cards and pack the goodies.”

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker was the guest speaker and took the opportunity to challenge Cantabrians to be innovative, and to think long term about rebuilding Christchurch into something truly unique for their children and their children’s children.

Chapter representative Adrian McKibbin says the $20,000 donated to Te Omanga Hospice last year helped the hospice purchase a specialised scanner.

“It is envisaged that funds raised this November will go to renovations to the Inpatients Wing of the Hospice, including 10 specialist medical beds.

“We have learnt from last year and we believe our $50,000 goal is achievable.”

Adrian says that BNI New Zealand has for some years chosen Hospice New Zealand as its charity of choice and has effectively encouraged its 2,650 SME members – including those in the Hutt Valley – to support that appeal.

“In 2009, BNI Hutt City Chapter held an in-house auction during it’s last meeting of the year and raised in excess of $6,000 after an idea from one of the chapter members.

“Late last year BNI members in the Hutt Valley held a dinner evening at the Petone Workingmens Club (a donated venue) to raised funds for the Te Omanga Hospice. The result was a little over $20,000 raised towards a specialist scanner.

“As a result of that success, and the knowledge that we could step up again from the results achieved, we are on our way to what should be a fantastic evening.”

• Date – Tuesday 22nd November 2011 from 6.30pm
• Venue – Silverstream Retreat;
• MC – Kath Beir, DJ for The Breeze radio station in Wellington (Kath is a very good DJ and Master of Ceremonies);
• Guest Speaker – Keith Quinn, sports commentator, public speaker and Te Omanga Hospice patron;
• Auctioneer – Euon Murrell (who masterfully controlled last years auction);
• Goal – $50,000 for renovations to the Inpatients Wing of the Hospice, including 10 specialist medical beds;
• There are 220 tickets for sale at $55 each (or $500 for a table of 10), which includes a two-course dinner and a drink on arrival.

This year tickets are only available for purchase through the Lower and Upper Hutt ISite’s (information centres). Tickets may be purchased by telephone using a credit card, which will then be posted. They can be contacted on 04 560 4715 or 04 527 2141, or you can visit the centres at 25 Laings Rd, Lower Hutt or 90 Main Street Upper Hutt.

“It costs over $6m a year to run Te Omanga Hospice alone, of which over $2.3m must be raised from the local community – so without the support of groups like ours they couldn’t hope to continue the free support to the 600 plus patients each year.

“The BNI motto is ‘Givers Gain’, so please dig deep with ticket purchases and donations of products and services,” said Adrian.

Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English gave a big pat on the back to all small business operators in New Zealand last month at the BNI North City meeting.

He said that small business getting on with its business and creating more business activity was right in line with Government thinking and intentions as it strove to increase economic growth, create jobs and hold spending.

Mr English was one of two Cabinet ministers attending the chapter that day. Ms Hekia Parata, Acting Minister of Energy and Resources, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Associate Minister for ACC, and a list MP, also attended as she is standing for the Mana seat in the forthcoming General Election.

About 45 people attended the meeting which was run on the standard BNI agenda, with BNI members making their 60 second presentations and passing raps and referrals. Visitors were able to enjoy the speakers and get an insight into BNI, its networking and businesses referrals system, and, through reality checks, the value of the business being passed around the room.

Mr English’s presentation was off the cuff, informal and humorous. He was happy to answer questions and mix and mingle with members and visitors before leaving for another engagement within the electorate.

He was generally upbeat about the economic situation, and the impact of Government policies. The Government was on track to return to surplus in 2014/15, with the recovery continuing to pick up pace, he said.

The Treasury Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) forecasted average annual growth of almost 3 per cent between 2012 and 2016, more than 150,000 new jobs over the forecast period and strong growth in wages and household incomes.

“The Government has put in place a comprehensive programme over the past three years to improve the economy’s competitiveness and build faster growth. The economy has now grown in eight of the last nine quarters and growth in the first half of this year has been stronger than Budget 2011 forecasts. This has contributed to the creation of 43,000 new jobs in the past year – 20,000 more than forecast at the time of the Budget,” Mr English said.

“A solid growth outlook, combined with the Government’s responsible economic management, has ensured we remain on track to move from a forecast deficit of $10.8 billion in the current year to a surplus of $1.5 billion in 2014/15.

“Getting back to surplus as soon as possible is one of the most important things the Government can do to lift national savings and rebalance the economy towards our productive sectors,” he said.

However, while New Zealand is relatively well placed, the global waters are getting rougher. Growth is forecast to peak slightly lower than expected in the Budget, but off a higher base. Growth of 3.4 per cent is still expected in the March 2013 year and average almost 3 per cent a year across the forecast period.

“That growth outlook underpins Treasury’s forecasts of more than 150,000 new jobs and average annual wage growth of almost 4 per cent between 2012 and 2016,” Mr English said. “In the Budget, Treasury predicted an extra 170,000 new jobs over the forecast period. The new estimate of 150,000 jobs recognises that actual jobs are already 20,000 ahead of Budget forecasts.”

“While the outlook for many developed countries has weakened, New Zealand is expected to benefit from our growing trade links with Australia and the faster-growing Asian economies, which now take about 60 per cent of our exports.

“The Canterbury rebuild will also support growth, with Treasury revising its damage estimate from the earthquakes from $15 billion to $20 billion, meaning the rebuild will be longer and contribute more to economic activity,” he said..

“Household saving is expected to continue to strengthen after becoming positive in the past year for the first time in over a decade. This will have a dampening effect on growth in the near term, but build a stronger platform for future growth.

“It’s crucial we stick to our programme of responsible financial management and policies that build a more competitive economy if we are to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead,” Mr English said.

Caption: Canterbury Directors Rob Bakker (left) and Sam Williamson (far right) present Auckland Director Mariska Mannes with a thank you gift. All photos by Cassandra McKnight Photography.

BNI members from all over Christchurch gathered recently for the BNI Christchurch Shakedown at the Westpac Hub – to have a drink on BNI, to thank BNI members around the country for their support and to kick-off the ‘lets get on with it’ phase of the city’s recovery.

BNI Christchurch Director Rob Bakker said the event was a “let your hair down” night for BNI members, an opportunity to reflect on the last 6-12 months and to spend time with other members who had shared experiences.

“Given that we’re now well into the ‘lets get on with it’ phase of things, it was also a really good opportunity to look forward, with the announcement of the membership drive.

“We also celebrated our longest serving members by presenting 10 year certificates and badges to those members who were here at the beginning of BNI in Christchurch, over 10 years ago.”

Rob said they were also able to recognise and thank Auckland BNI Director Mariska Mannes for here outstanding efforts in organising the BNI cabaret to raise funds to make the evening possible.

BNI member Jon Mackenzie who MC’d the event, while Cassandra McKnight was the official photographer. Jay Ganda developed the ShakeDown Facebook site and She Chocolate provided some wonderful chocolate as a thank you gift to Mariska.

“Our objectives were achieved in two ways. The members were very appreciative of the efforts made by their colleagues in Auckland and by Mariska and others in organising the event.

“They also responded very positively to the membership drive, and the use of the funds raised to help them in building their chapters.”

A short recorded speech from BNI Chairman Ivan Misner in Los Angeles was also delivered.

“We did some good networking where a lot of members met new people, reacquainted themselves with old contacts and enjoyed the evening. Our thanks to Westpac for providing the venue.”

BNI member Joy Coughlan, of Investor Mortgages, said it was great to meet and socialise with people from other chapters.

“The room had a great energy and feel, and I think other people also appreciated the opportunity. Keep up the good work!”

A definitive finding was that SMEs like doing good, so long as it is within their close sphere of influence, namely around supporting staff and their local community by donating their time and money.

The study also revealed that while SMEs are conscious of the environment, they don’t know what to do about it. This is in keeping with the finding that SME’s keep their altruism local, while seeing things like the environment as a bit too big picture for them.

BNI New Zealand National Director Graham Southwell launched the findings of the study on national television this morning, in the first stage of a national media rollout.

View the segment here.

The more than $8,500 raised for Christchurch by a recent cabaret on in Auckland isn’t going to the Red Cross — it has a more unique (but no less admirable) purpose, to help kick-start business in the area.

BNI Assistant Director Mariska Mannes said the money raised by Auckland business members of BNI New Zealand would likely be used to help small businesses in Christchurch.

“Many networking venues have ceased to exist, so the money will be used to help facilitate meetings and venues for networking, to get business going again,” she said.

More than 130 local business people met at the Fairway Lodge Auckland’s North Shore (Friday May 6) for an inter-chapter challenge, in which various networking groups challenged each other in a cabaret talent contest.

The overall winner of the cabaret contest was Hayley Kennedy for her expert, mesmerising and massively energetic hip hop dance routine.

Speaking from Los Angeles, the founder of BNI (which now has more than 130,000 members worldwide), Dr Ivan Misner, said he first started BNI networking from a car boot, but the money raised would go some way to making sure Christchurch businesses owners didn’t have to do the same thing.

The BNI Misner Charitable Foundation stepped up to help with a $14,000 donation to the New Zealand Red Cross.

Besides the BNI Cabaret challenge, other fun and fundraising activities included a raffle and auction of services and products.

Sam Williamson – a Christchurch based regional director – put together a slide show of the devastation in area, with particular emphasis on how various venues, such as cafés used for BNI breakfast meetings, had been destroyed.

“We will support those businesses that were destroyed,” he said. “When they are rebuilt we will be back there and supporting them in any way we can – even if we have to find alternative places to meet for now.”

BNI New Zealand Director, Graham Southwell, said the cabaret fundraiser was a great example of what can happen when people start working together.

“Putting money towards causes is one thing, but putting on an event like this is more inspiring – a testament to the people who worked behind the scenes.”

Pictured: Concert organiser, Chris Bull, supported by fellow BNI Members, Ian Taylor, Andrew Smit, Anne Faulkner and Marion Jackson, presents a cheque to Jennifer Kent from Hospice South Auckland.

Around 250 people enjoyed a lovely afternoon within the beautiful, private grounds of Valley de Sol, whilst listening to a selection of talented performers, including fabulous music duo Wilde and Riche, Courtney Janssen and Chloe Bartlett.  All of the entertainers gave up their time for free.

The aim of the concert was to celebrate the last days of summer, whilst raising as much money as possible for Hospice South Auckland and the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.  The concert raised $22,159.00 which will be split evenly between the two charities.

Fundraiser, BNI member and venue host, Christine Bull said:  “We are completely overwhelmed and absolutely delighted with the success of the concert, not just because of the money raised for Hospice and Christchurch, but because the event involved more than 60 local businesses who generously offered donations and support.”

The concert helped raise awareness of Hospice South Auckland, which offers inpatient facilities where people go for respite care, symptom and pain management, or during their last days.  Hospice services are completely free of charge and rely on the generosity of the people in the community for donations to help meet costs.

“A Summer Wrap @ Valley de Sol” was organised by Howick’s BNI Business Brunch, which is a group of 16 business owners who get together every week to network and promote their businesses.

Saturday 26th March, 7.30 pm

1127 Scenic Drive, Swanson.

Tickets $25 per person.

More info here: BNI Invite