President's Weekly Letter, Champions SoCal BNI

Woooooooooo, CHAMPIONS!

In this week at the "after the meeting" interview, we highlight four special people to Champions SoCal BNI...you are ALL special but these three plus one are your incoming Leadership Team for next term which commences October 1, 2011 (our first meeting is the 4th). Watch here and learn what each new leadership team member learned from the recent Leadership Team training. We also hear from Lem Bucago, the Director to the Champions and Director of Training about what he teaches the Vice Presidents and Membership Committee members.

...And once again, our President select, Gary Lorge is the copious note taking guest blogger for this week.

“We started a little late but really got cookin’. Our visitors really brought the energy up in the room. They were: Patrice Sorokin, Alex Ribble (second time), Bryan Mataya, and our Director Lem Bucago.

Our EC got us thinking: Am I playing the child’s game “telephone” with my customers? If we don’t have a short and simple elevator speech we may be. We need to be concise and memorable in order to give those valuable referrals.

Our leaders for last month in 1:2:1 meetings: Greg Beck, Donna Cahoon and a tie for first place with 15 1:2:1’s with Bo Lowe and Kris Hansberger.

Our ITA took a swerve and was awarded to a first time winner this week. Past winners were not eligible. Brett missed his chance as he was away this week and the award went to Jim Salem. Congratulations Jim!

Our Keynotes delivered spot on presentations. Robert Perez explained why he is the best choice for video production. He has a broad background and is able to do many of the tasks that his competitors farm out. This allows him to keep costs down. We know that his quality is second to none. The list of products that he offers is amazing.

Joe Salazar made it perfectly clear that we should not be yelling at our computers, we should be calling him. He had some great ones: “Jiminy Cricket, Holy Moly, and a Disco dance were all used and I came right back to the office and made sure I was backed up. The Net Whiz is truly a whiz and brought his “A game” to the Keynote speech this morning.

Jim Salem and Kathy Penton were delivered their 4 star ribbons by the small but mighty Lem Bucago. And lastly our President reminded us that we don’t want to be the slow gazelle- so hit the ground running in the morning.

Until next week….”

And as prefaced...A lion awakes early, running hoping to catch a speedy gazelle. A speedy gazelle awakes early running hoping to outrun the slowest among him lest he be eaten by the lion. The moral...whether you are a lion or a gazelle, you better rise early running

Make it a Champion week everybody!

Your faithful President (almost EC),

Allen Buchanan

Presidents weekly letter, Champions

Wooooooo, CHAMPIONS!

Many thanks to Gary Lorge, incoming Prez and guest blogger while I'm away supporting Mrs. Buchanan in her speaking career. We are eating our way through Chicago and having a blast. VERY much miss the Champions, however. Here are the facts, Ma'am:

Allen is missed as he attends the conference in the windy city.  We have 5 Visitors in the room:
Dr Janet Jackman: Optometrist
Tom Morris: Real Estate Appraiser
Joe Salazar: Senior network Consultant
Lem Bucago
Another fantastic educational moment with Jim Sando.  Jim had great thoughts about “getting out of your comfort zone”.  Reach out beyond your typical networks in order to positively impact the number of referrals you are receiving.  You never know where a quality referral will come from!
Dr. Hercules Real took over the awarding of the ITA. Hercules is a multi – time winner and always delivers the goods. After much consideration (Many delivered the sought after trifecta) Dr. Real awarded the hot stuff to Angelo Dionisiou who obviously has no problem operating on minimal hours of sleep with a new baby in the house.
Angelo took the award and then took the floor to review with us a topic I am always riveted by: Commercial Insurance. He explained how he visits clients in person to make sure they are properly covered and to uncover all savings.  Thank  you Angelo for a great presentation.
Visitor Day is announced. Greg Beck took the GRC moment and ran with it as he revealed the plans for a Champions Visitors Day in October.  Excitement is brewing as we shoot for our goal of 100 people in the room.
Our leader was missed and we all look forward to his return to the helm next week!  Have a safe trip back enjoy Allen.

President's Weekly Letter, Champions SoCal BNI

Woooooooo, CHAMPIONS:

That handsome man to your left is one of the original Champions...a charter member, The Sheriff, our vice president, my dear friend and one of our keynote speakers today! If you guessed Greg Beck...ding, ding! You are a winner. All of the Champions have a better understanding of entities, and the tax impact of sole proprietorships, C-Corps, S-Corps, and LLCs. Thanks for all you do for the Champions, Greg! We love ya dearly!

Our other keynote speaker today was another original charter member of the Champions, Dr. Hercules Real...the first winner of the Champion Spark Plug award, a former VP and also my dear friend and a MAJOR contributor to the ITA! The images were informative and the questions to ask to get you referrals were well received. Thanks for all that you do for Champions, Dr. Real!

Maiden Flight:

The Champion's next President, Gary Lorge, flew the plane today and with only minor turbulence during flight, Mr. Lorge proved why he was the choice...energy and presence...you cannot teach that! I believe that ALL of the Champions will benefit during Gary's term. Nice Job Gary! Next week the solo as your faithful President will be in Chicago.

The highlights:

ITA winner: Awarded by Bill Edman to Gary Lorge...several great performances here. One can only wonder if the choice was politically motivated...hmmm!

Champion Spark Plug: To Mr. Aric Gless for his efforts this week on the membership committee.

Visitation:

David Woods of Green Worx Solar...app submitted
Todd Hamo from Copy Editing...made a great connection with Jim Sando
Brad Goldston of Expo4Life...I noticed our newest member chatting him up

We LOVE our visitors as it is ALL about you!

Welcome Kris Hansberger!

The Champions are thrilled to welcome Kris Hansberger! We are so pleased that Kris chose to resume her illustrious BNI career with us. Kris will also serve as the Champion's Secretary Treasurer next term! See you Friday, Kris! Dr. Paul will mentor Kris.

Announcements:

July 26th will be a special day as we will tape for our "Evening" video and swap 1-2-1s and deliver each others SMMs...so who wins the ITA?...hmmm!

Make it a Champion week everybody! See y'all on the 26th,

Your faithful President,

Allen Buchanan