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| BNI -HQ |
December 2006 |
BNI Launches in Romania!
Lansarea grupului Crema BNI
BNI excitedly announces the opening of BNI in Romania!
The first BNI chapter in Romania, CREMA BNI, held its veritably successful, event-filled kickoff on Friday, December 15th, which marks the existence of BNI in 36 countries! The event drew more than 70 people and the 15 core members along with their Executive Director, Ana Prodan, worked indefatigably to make the kickoff a professionally organized, memorable occasion that was not only notably productive but also rich in celebratory fun.
A particularly special highlight of the day's proceedings occurred when Norm Dominguez, BNI's CEO, surprised the chapter by joining them live via videoconferencing and excited the audience into an eruption of applause by displaying a sign with a colorful representation of the Romanian flag as well as the words "Welcome to BNI" written in Romanian.
Ionut Toader (of Relevance Company), the first member of the chapter, produced a big screen presentation which displayed information about each member, complete with photos, during their individual 60 second introductions; and the audience delighted in laughter at the inclusion of some members' charmingly silly childhood photos. To add a festive ambience to the affair, each person received a small, star shaped box, designed by Lucica Gheorghe (of Display Company), which was filled with chocolate (donated by Heidi's Chocolate) and can be hung from a Christmas tree.
Executive Director Ana Prodan and National Director Sam Schwartz welcomed the members of CREMA BNI into the BNI family during a short ceremony and Schwartz, in accordance with Romanian custom, presented each woman with a rose. Celebration ensued as the members joined with their partners to revel in the excitement of their newly established BNI chapter. The festivities were further intensified by a simultaneous surprise birthday party for National Director Sam Schwartz who said about the day's events, "I would like to give a special thanks to the pioneer members who had the vision to lead the way, and to the Bucharest Executive Director Ana Prodan - without her aspiration, this would not have happened."
Schwartz further expounded upon his visit for the Romania Launch by saying, "(It) was a great success because we achieved our goal to Launch on the day we had set. I also had the opportunity to provide some training and workshops for the members. In addition, I was pleasantly surprised to see the personal change and development in all the members since they joined BNI and the way they took to the philosophy of Givers Gain . . . I see a great future for BNI Romania; especially now that Romania has become part of the European Union and I have noticed Romanian business people embracing new ideas with ease."
All in all, Romania's kickoff was a bona fide success! Four of the guests submitted applications on the spot and others will bring applications with them to the next meeting. In addition, the second pre-core group is already in the making as a result of the Launch!
Congratulations and welcome, BNI Romania! You have set a high standard for the future Romanian chapters to follow!
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