President's Weekly Letter, Champions SoCal BNI

Wooooooooo, CHAMPIONS!

I affectionately refer to the image above as "Management" for a couple of reasons...#1; Greg Beck, AKA the Sheriff and part time CFO; Rosanne, the controller of the currency; and I, your faithful President and acting CEO, played a part in the Doug Luchansky keynote today. #2 The Management team with whom I have shared the dais for these past nine months will not be management anymore after September 2011 as the new leadership team was announced...more on that in a bit. Doug used his ten minutes to "build a company" by appointing various Champions with leadership roles in the new company. I was selected to be CEO...chapter presidents and CEOs have something in common...they all rely upon others to "do the work!" Greg was CFO...a role with which he is intimately familiar, and Rosanne was the controller...quite a stretch!
Very creative use of members to illustrate how ACI consulting uses ALL of these positions to integrate into its software solutions.

The International Tabasco Award with a Patriotic extension...literally!

Any Champion who used a patriotic theme in their SMM today received an extension of fifteen seconds from the normal thirty second time frame. Several of our members "exercised their right" to extend their Fourth of July holiday weekend as well...including Robert Perez who was today's ruler. Even with the diminished numbers...the competition was fierce. We had four Champions that were finalists...Donna Cahoon, Jim Sando, Bo Lowe and Bill Edman. Bill took home the pepper as he impersonated the statue of liberty by standing on a chair...very creative Bill! You now join a long list of "two time winners"! Brett Adolph...even with a sub...was a "specific ask" away from his first win. I really wanted to award it to you buddy...just didn't have that ask! Rumor has it that our applying visitors (Kris) are vying for a taste of the pepper as well! Happy that you have embraced the fun that is the ITA.

You can nominate a Champion to be a star!

Just click here and you will be directed to a link. You can then nominate a "star" of our chapter that will be awarded at the Evening Among the Stars in October. Do you know someone that embodies the Giver's Gain philosophy? If so, you can nominate them here!

The New Improved Management Team for 2011-2012:

Our Director, Director of Training for SoCal BNI, and Trainer of the Year for 2009 and 2010, Lem Bucago introduced the new President for the next term............Gary Lorge (who also keynoted)! Gary then announced his cabinet:

VP- Aric Gless
Membership Committee- Randy Clement
Sec/Treas- TBD
Visitor Host- Kathy Penton
Member Mentor- Jim Sando
Education Coordinator- Allen Buchanan
GRC- Greg Beck

Gary will have a practice flight of the Champions next week and will solo on the 19th as your faithful President will exercise his right to attend a trade show with Mrs. Buchanan in Chicago...did I mention that she is speaking?

The EC Moment courtesy of Mr. Sando:

Focused upon the five reasons that people rarely ask for feedback from their clients and referral sources. This snippet was taken from the 29% Solution...a book written by Dr. Ivan Misner.

Champion Spark Plug Winner:

This week's winner, Steven Stakley, is a charter member of the Champions and has worked diligently with our mentors to mentor our membership. Steve has endured quite a bit of turnover with his team but has maintained a constant "product" and our retention numbers show it! Congrats, Steven!

Announcements:

"Evening" October 7th
Office Hours July 11th
Java with Jenni July 18th

Please sign up for Hidden Opportunities that will be held tomorrow, July 6th at 2:00 PM at the Meridian...we all can find that. Don't forget, this training is necessary to complete your FULL eight sessions of workshops offered by SoCal BNI. I will be there, will you? Click here to be directed to the SoCal BNI website for registration.

Please remember:

An admirer looks at the stars with admiration, a Champion climbs a mountain and grabs a star. So are you a Champion or an admirer?

Please make it a Champion week everybody!

Your faithful President,

Allen Buchanan