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2011 International Directors Conference a Twittering Experience

Marked by an international Twitter presence, the conference is a global hit!

From Thursday, November 10th through Saturday, November 12th, nearly 600 BNI directors from all over the world gathered together at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, California, for three days of networking and powerful motivational and educational presentations at the 2011 BNI International Directors Conference.

Thanks to the global Twitter conversation surrounding the event, which was broadcast throughout the conference via a live Twitterfeed on www.twitter.com (click here for an explanation), BNI members and Directors around the world were able to take part in the event and get details on conference happenings as they occurred. If you have a Twitter account, log in and enter the hash tag "#bnilb" in the search field to get a bird's eye look at what went on during the entire three-day event.

An Event that Invigorated

The BNI directors who attended, as well as the nearly 250 members in attendance for the Members Day on Friday, left the event newly invigorated with knowledge, motivation, inspiration, and the excitement of having connected with new contacts from nearly every populated continent across the globe.

Here are some of the biggest highlights from the 2011 International Directors Conference:

Networking, 1-to-1 meetings, and Group Dance Cards

An entertaining, inspiring, and informative Chairman's Report by Dr. Ivan Misner (complete with a magic trick that the entire audience participated in!)

A hilarious, cutting-edge, captivating presentation by Frank De Raffele, Hazel Walker, and Ivan Misner on "Business Networking & Sex: Not What You Think!" The audience roared with laughter while perched on the edge of their seats, energized by the dynamic new information about how to best communicate and network with the opposite sex.

A CEO Report packed full of information given by Norm Dominguez and BNI's Executive Management Team

Members Day on Friday, the 12th--a day that was bustling with activity and energy from the time it kicked off to the closing hours. It included an hour of open networking between the 800 or so attendees; fantastic presentations by the main speakers of the day (the Business Networking and Sex co-authors first and Stephen M.R. Covey second); six dynamic motivational, educational, and inspirational break-out sessions; and, nine diverse educational Group Dance Card meetings.

The keynote presentation given by Stephen M.R. Covey, entitled "The Speed of Trust," which hit home with the entire audience. Many people remarked about how impressive it was that, from beginning to end, it was apparent that Stephen came in not as a visitor or an outsider but as someone who deeply understands the importance of BNI's foundation of building trusted relationships. "He has obviously taken the time to research and get to know what BNI is all about because his presentation could not have been more perfectly tailored for the BNI audience," said one BNI member.

Twelve compelling break-out presentations given throughout the conference on diverse subjects by several highly skilled and enterprising speakers from across the globe.

The BNI Awards Banquet, which featured a reading of the latest BNI poem, "We Come as One," by BNI's Poet Laureate Elaine Betts. The banquet concluded the conference with a heavy dose of positive energy as over 200 BNI directors were recognized for their exemplary efforts in their respective BNI region(s) and their valued contributions to the BNI organization.

Thank you to all who attended this year's 2011 International Directors Conference and/or supported the event through participation in the global Twitter conversation surrounding the conference. You all helped make it an outstanding BNI event and we cannot wait to see even more BNI members and directors come out to Long Beach, California, next year for the 2012 International Conference!

BNI wishes to send out an enormous amount of thanks to the following sponsors of the 2011 International Directors' Conference: