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Links Leadership President |
Chapter Guidelines ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES
SUBSTITUTE LIST Our Chapter maintains an e-mail list of individuals who have agreed to be contacted to substitute for members. Please continue to locate people who would like to be on our list. Forward their contact information via email to the Chapter Vice President, and they will be added. Up-to-date sub lists will be posted on this site and emailed to you on a regular basis. Please be advised: It is your responsibility to arrange for your own substitute and provide them with a 45-second commercial about your business. If for any reason your substitute does not make it to the meeting, you will be counted as absent for that week. OVER-USE OF SUBSTITUTES There is no penalty if a member has a substitute attend in their place. In fact, we encourage it. However, on a case by case basis, if the substitute is attending more than the original member and the substitute is not fully participating in meetings, i.e., passing leads, bringing visitors, or volunteering, then the leadership team may inquire as to the member's intentions to participate. COMPLAINTS Members may have issues with fellow members for various reasons. If this occurs:
All complaints will be handled with discretion and with every effort to maintain full confidentiality. LEAVE OF ABSENCE A leave of absence can be requested in writing for medical or family emergencies. The letter should state the length of time, the member's substitute plan, and whether the leave is protected or unprotected, i.e., protecting the member's profession or leaving it open. A protected leave can be taken for up to eight weeks with continuous dues. An unprotected leave can be taken with dues suspended. BREAKFAST DUES Breakfast dues for members are payable bi-monthly on or before the first meeting of each month. Any payment made after the 1st meeting of the month is considered late and will incur a $10.00 per month late fee. We collect dues 1 month in advance. (Payments due on the 1st meeting of May are for breakfasts in June.) New members must pay for 2 months when they join. Dues are $20.00 per week when paid on time. A $10 penalty is charged for late payments. The excess goes into the kitty to cover breakfast charges for guests. Make checks payable to BNI 42. EVALUATING PARTICIPATION OF EXISTING MEMBERS As part of its role, the Membership Committee will review the participation of existing members on an on-going basis. This is done to assist members in giving and receiving quality leads. The committee will also review members prior to renewal of their membership. It is our desire to meet with each member prior to his or her renewal. However, if time does not permit and there is no question the Committee recommends renewal, some members may not have a face-to-face meeting. The criteria we have currently determined for review are:
CONFLICT/OVERLAP OF PROFESSIONS The Membership Committee reviews all classifications of new applicants carefully for conflicts. However, in some cases, due to the nature of an industry or profession, there are specializations and distinctions we are not aware of, and so a conflict is not obvious. If a visitor attends the meeting who is representing a business/profession that is or may be in conflict or overlap with your seat, please inform the Chapter Vice President, who is Chairman of the Membership Committee, immediately. If you speak with the visitor, do so only with at least one member of the Membership Committee present. The Membership Committee will consider the potential conflict/overlap during the application process; however, depending on the nature and degree of overlap, the Membership Committee may choose to admit the applicant as a new member. REFERRAL QUOTA BNI policy states that each chapter set their own guidelines around a quota or expected number of referrals passed each month to keep every one of its members focused on BNI outside of the meetings. Unlike other chapters that have a strict number per month to meet, Chapter 42 has adopted a different policy to make our leads generation even stronger. In order for all members to receive the greatest benefit from BNI, we have implemented a quota - or a strongly recommended minimum number - of referrals to be passed. To maintain good standing in Chapter 42, each member is expected to pass at least one (1) referral per month OR to bring at least one (1) guest to our chapter meetings each month. Referrals are averaged over a three month period. When a member has not met the quota, we invite that member to meet with the Membership Committee to review the referrals he/she has generated, and to offer support on how to meet the quota effectively. The Membership Committee will then review the referrals generated by the member during the subsequent three-months. We strive for the passing of high quality of referrals. A valid referral is one in which a call from a BNI member is expected. Should you find that a member of BNI is passing referrals that are not valid, please return the referrals to that person, explaining why they are not good referrals. Should this happen frequently, please alert the Membership Committee. |
Barrington Edie |
