The 2nd Annual BNI Founder’s Daystring(34) "The 2nd Annual BNI Founder’s Day"

July 11, 2022
, , BNI, Founder's Day, Ivan Misner 5

In April of 2021, I announced something that I had been contemplating for quite a while: a special day of one-to-one meetings with BNI Members from around the world. The idea came to me from “The West Wing” TV series – the episode titled ‘The Big Block of Cheese,’ which was based on something that U.S. President Andrew Jackson did in 1835. The tradition from that episode motivated me to begin a networking variation of the idea.

As the Founder of BNI®, I will have one day each year that is full of meetings with BNI Members who want to talk with me about their networking and business questions.
This year, during the 2nd Annual BNI Founder’s Day, I had the honor to meet with twelve members from around the world:

Anshu Harsh, India
Alpesh Mehta, India
Muhanthis Ehsan, Sri Lanka
Bhawana Satwani, UAE
Paulo Roberto Freitas, Brazil
Karina Megna, Argentina (with translator Gabriela)
Chayne Riggs, USA
Chris Vezina, Canada
Angelica Lobo, Mexico (with husband Alberto)
Angel Hammering, USA
Paulita Baclig, Philippines
Daryl Lee, Singapore

It was great to talk with each of them! These twelve members were selected from more than 220 requests that were received this year. I was so impressed with all the submissions that came in that I decided to offer a group meeting to all of the other members who sent in a request. Through these two invitation-only Group Meetings I had the pleasure to visit with dozens more BNI Members. I intend to continue this new tradition during the annual event.


Additionally, through social media, I asked BNI Directors and Members to hold their own BNI 1-2-1 meetings during Founder’s Day, which many people did – thank you. Next year, I will again suggest that the BNI community use Founder’s Day as a day of intentional one-to-one meetings with other members in their chapter, region, or country.

I am so appreciative of everyone who participated in this year’s event and look forward to doing it again next year.

BNI Members, watch for my social media announcement in April 2023 for YOUR opportunity to be part of the 3rd Annual BNI Founder’s Day on June 29th.  

Wishing you all continued networking success!

BNI Founder’s Day

The First Annual BNI Founder’s Daystring(36) "The First Annual BNI Founder’s Day"

July 1, 2021
Founder's Day, Ivan Misner 2

In April of 2021, I announced an idea that I have been contemplating for some time: a special day of one-to-one meetings with BNI Members from around the world. More than 170 requests were received, and sixteen Members were selected to meet with me to ask any business and networking questions they had.

Last week on June 24th we had the first BNI Founder’s Day, an enjoyable and fun day of exclusive meetings with amazing BNI Members that I was honored to meet. It has been quite a while since I was able to have 1-2-1 meetings with Members and I found the questions and conversations to be very refreshing.

I want to say Thank You to the following BNI Members for their contributions in helping to establish this new tradition.

Elbert Or, Philippines
Chandana Bandara, Sri Lanka
Mahadevan R, India
Praveen Samuel, India
Soaham Panse, India
Jayant Agarwal, India
Michel Smeets, Belgium
Piotr Muszynski, Spain
Faye Goodwin, South Africa
Ilaria Salonna, Italy
Marjanne Deelen, Netherlands
David Whitehouse, UK
Ryan Sarkkinen, USA
Phyllis Whetsel, USA
Libby Bigolin, USA
Ingrid Misner, Canada

I invite everyone to join me in having a day filled with your own 1-2-1s next year when the second annual BNI Founder’s Day is held on the last Thursday in June.

BNI Founder’s Day

2021 BNI Founder’s Daystring(24) "2021 BNI Founder’s Day"

June 21, 2021
, , , , Founder's Day, Ivan Misner, world tour 2

Welcome to the 2021 BNI Founder’s Day. Later this week, I start a new tradition at BNI. I selected 17 BNI members from around the world for a one-to-one meeting with me on June 24th. These seventeen BNI members represent eleven different countries. I am looking forward to these 17 individual one-to-one meetings.

The 2021 BNI Founder’s Day

It is going to be an amazing BNI Founder’s Day as I have one-to-one meetings with our BNI members. Furthermore, I am anticipating great questions from the BNI members during our one-to-one meetings on Thursday. The purpose is for BNI members to ask any business or networking-related questions during their meeting with me. Congratulations to those who were selected for a one-to-one meeting on June 24th.

187 requests were submitted from my April 15th blog. Thanks to the more than 170 additional BNI Members who also submitted request forms.  I wish I had the time to have a one-to-one meeting with all of you. Founder’s Day will become an annual event on the third Thursday of June every year. I recommend that you reapply again next year (starting in 2023, it will be the last Thursday in June each year).  Therefore, I will be planning to schedule another day full of individual one-to-one meetings with BNI members from around the world. The 2022 BNI Founder’s Day will be on June 30th, 2022. Look for the announcements in mid-April 2022 and submit your request form to my assistant by mid-May.

Celebrate Founder’s Day by Scheduling One-to-One Meetings this year on June 24th 

I invite all my followers to help me celebrate BNI Founder’s Day 2021 globally by scheduling several on June 24th too.

Your one-to-one meetings should be both structured and social. The more you can find overlapping areas of professional and personal interest, the more successful your one-to-one meetings are going to be. The Gains Exchange form (Available on BNI Business Builder for BNI members) is an effective tool for discovering these common interests. There is a direct linear correlation between the number of one-to-one meetings conducted and the number of referrals. Those who do three or more one-to-one meetings per month give and receive twice as many referrals as those who do one or fewer one-to-one meetings in a month. More One-to-Ones equal more referrals.

BNI Founder’s Day, on June 24, 2021, is an excellent opportunity. Schedule your own one-to-one meetings with your fellow chapter members or even BNI members from around the world. Reach out and invite other business owners and professionals to have a conversation with you to learn more about their business. Share your G.A.I.N.S. profile and ask some questions. It can be a great way to build and strengthen your business relationships.