It wasn’t quite around the world of BNI in 80 days, but BNI Kinesis Mark Pfeifer’s recent seven-week world tour took in a bunch of BNIs from Ireland to Paris, Vienna and Canada.
Pictured: Mark with the chapter in Galway, Ireland.
“All of the BNI’s I visited were pretty similar, but each one has its own nuances,” says the Christchurch accountant, who was particularly impressed with the friendliness of the Irish when he visited a chapter in Galway.
“The Irish were so friendly, the English at Charing Cross easy to get along with and even though I didn’t understand French or German, I was certainly made to feel like I was part of the ‘family’ of BNI.”
Mark said in places like San Francisco the chapter had two eight minute speakers and the members each had between 30 and 45 seconds to do their presentations.
“The guts of BNI is the same, but there were little differences. Some chapters had an A4 page with member photos and details to give to visitors. It’s a great idea, but somebody has to make it happen.
“One chapter had their business cards bundled up to hand out to visitors.”
During the trip Mark was able to promote his work as an international speaker and came away with several good contacts.
“I also told them about the Xero success story, and promoted New Zealand too,” he said.
