by Vince Vigneri and the entire BNI Heartland Team!
February saw many events take place across the Heartland. We held events to celebrate the success of you, our members and chapters, we commemorated the 9th Annual International Networking Week, and we cannot forget the blizzard the forced us to postpone a couple of training events and one awards event.
Now that it is March, and all the events took place, we can officially announce, congratulate, and recognize the Heartland leaders for 2015.
First, I would like to recognize Josh Larson and his wife Lacy. They were our 2015 Member Extravaganza winners. They traveled to Long Beach, CA in November and attended events for members at our International Director's Conference. As a reminder the 2016 winner of the Member Extravaganza will also travel to CA in November. All you need to do is sponsor a new member, and when you chapter sponsors 8 new members by the end of June, your name will be in the drawing for the trip in November! (See flyer for more information!)
Next I would like to celebrate the success of our Chapters who led the region in different categories.
Most Referrals per Member
BNI Rushmore Chapter – Rapid City, SD – 65.55
BNI Breakfast Club Chapter – Lincoln, NE – 62.26
BNI Happy Hour and a Half Chapter – Omaha, NE – 55.64
BNI Elite Referral Partners Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD – 40.30
Most One-To-Ones per Member
BNI Seward County Chapter – Seward, NE – 76.99
BNI Professional Partners – Sioux Falls, SD – 53.52
BNI Connect 4 Dollars – Omaha, NE – 48.30
BNI Rushmore Chapter – Rapid City, SD – 40.42
Most Visitors per Member
BNI Elevated Connections Chapter – Rapid City, SD – 5.63
BNI Paying It Forward Chapter – Omaha, NE – 5.13
BNI Nothing But Business Chapter – Lincoln, NE – 4.09
BNI B.E.S.T. Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD – 3.40
Most Chapter Education Units per Member
BNI Seward County Chapter – Seward, NE – 99.54
BNI Paying It Forward – Omaha, NE - 66.99
BNI Rushmore Chapter – Rapid City, SD – 41.75
BNI B.E.S.T. Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD – 28.68
Most Thank You For Closed Business per Member
BNI Beatrice Fiscal Fusion – Beatrice, NE – $86,999.84
BNI Black Hills Chapter – Rapid City, SD – $64,656.29
BNI Professional Partners Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD – $48,357.63
BNI Network Connections Chapter – Omaha, NE – $36,434
We also recognized BNI Business Boosters Chapter - Lincoln, NE and BNI Elite Referral Partners Chapter - Sioux Falls, SD for reaching Platinum Medallion Status for reaching and maintaining the size of their chapter! These are the first two for our region, so your chapter could be next!!!
Longevity Pins
The next recognition we handed out went to our members that have been part of BNI for more than 5, 10, and 15 years. We recognized 8 new 15 year members, 9 new 10 year members, and 73 new 5 year members! We all look forward to handing out the next 100 pins next year, and moreover look forward to award yours to you in the future!
Chapter Member of the Year
Each chapter had the opportunity to nominate the person they felt exemplified the philosophy of BNI, Givers Gain, in their respective chapter. I am pleased to let you know that EVERY chapter had a minimum of 5 votes cast, and one chapter had over 25! To all of you that were recognized as this 2015 Chapter Member of Year for your chapter, congratulations to you all!!!
We also recognized 13 members who became Gold Club Members, for sponsoring 6 new members in to BNI, and 3 members achieved their 2nd recognition for sponsoring at least 12 new members!
In addition we recognized Regional Leaders in the following categories:
Regional Chapter Education Unit Leader
Margie Heard, BNI Rapid Referrals Chapter - Rapid City, SD
Todd Bradwisch, BNI Professional Partners Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD
John A. & Jill Wild, BNI Seward County Chapter – Seward, NE
Tom Ramsbottom, BNI Happy, Hour and a Half Chapter – Omaha, NE
Regional Visitor Leader
Tim Goodwin, BNI Elevated Connections Chapter – Rapid City, SD
Aaron Rietsema, BNI Elite Referral Partners Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD
Brock Shelton, BNI Breakfast of Champions Chapter – Lincoln, NE
Scott Koethe, BNI Money Makers Chapter – Omaha, NE
Regional One-To-One Leader
Cory Kopp, BNI Integrity In Action Chapter – Casper, WY
Shari Gannon, BNI Professional Partners Chapter - Sioux Falls, SD
Kerwin Roth, BNI Seward County Chapter – Seward, NE
Angela May, BNI STARS Chapter - Omaha, NE
Regional Referral Leader
John Hudson, BNI Rushmore Chapter - Rapid City, SD
Kevin Unzen, BNIElite Referral Partners Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD
John A. & Jill Wild, BNI Seward County Chapter – Seward, NE
Susan Clark, BNI Happy, Hour and a Half Chapter – Omaha, NE
Regional Thank You For Closed Business Leader
Leroy Rankin, BNI Black Hills Chapter - Rapid City, SD
Jeff Heibult, BNI Referrals Plus Chapter – Sioux Falls, SD
Rusty Wellman, BNI Tuesday at the Top Chapter – Lincoln, NE
Michael Danahay, BNI Success Alliance Chapter – Omaha, NE
Our evening events concluded with the recognition of our 2016 Regional Members of the Year. The finalists were made up of each chapter's Member of Year, and then data in BNI Connect was used to determine the recipients!
Bart Miller, BNI Network Partners - Rapid City, SD
Aaron Rietsema, BNI Elite Referral Partners Chapter, Sioux Falls, SD
Kerwin Roth, BNI Seward County Chapter - Seward, NE
Lisa Powell, BNI Happy Hour and a Half Chapter, Omaha, NE