That whole line about six absences allowed sounds so like the members are subservient to the group. I think that will appeal to those who have an employee type mentality but I'm sure that most of us here grew out of that long ago.

Networking is a service to it's members. It should never be perceived the other way around. There are many good networking groups out there and also many good websites such as this one where people help each other.

For anyone interested in joining netwroking groups try this site : www.meetup.com/

Many accountants in practice use it to find groups as a common requirement is that you should be a member of twenty groups that nobody else in the practice is a member of. Always remember that you are as likely to find work or new business opportunities being a member of a sailing club as one dedicated purely to business networking.

lol. far from it Joanne. You seem to have amassed a lifetimes supply of them. It was Dave whose Get out of jail free cards seemed to have a 24 hour timeframe, lol.

BNI seems to be one of those groups that people attach themselves to with Evangellical fervor. But I have seen no evidence to suggest that those who are part of a group are any more or any less likely to find additional work as those who are members of any other group.

I am sure that they have some very good chapters but talking to local accountants what seems to happen is that all they do is send along a trainee to the meetings just in order to ensure that no other accountancy practice can network via the group. The trainee will be fully qualified and not told that the reality of why they are networking. And to give BNI their due it does help trainee's to come out of their shell talking to business owners (just the same as if they were a member of any other networking group).

How I read it though is that there is no expectation of making profit for the firm but rather the excercise is about stopping other firms having access to the group so really a blocking excercise.

The key to this is that the site neither approves or condones BNI. They should be viewed equally to absolutely any other group without bias. Where they fail in my view is the whole idea of getting your wrist slapped for not attending a few gatherings unless you have a note from your mom to say why you were not there.

Maybe we should start our own cult... sorry... Networking group Joanne. Lol, if only there were more hours in the day!

Yep. must drop Dave a line soon. Been a few months since we last spoke. Begining to wonder if he's takenn to heart our long chat about life in Thailand and he's now sat on the beach there.

I try to be fair to everyone and find the silver linings (even with cloud offerings which is really, really, really difficult!). But from some of the reasons for expulsion I can see that having two possible effects. Strong minded individuals knocking it on the head regardless as to whether or not they are expulsed because people should not be treated that way. Or alternatively those who are not given the push getting a sense of pride from such which binds them closer to the organisation and then perpetuating theat treatment.

I would be in the first category as I (very much like yourself) have real difficulty with anyone thinking that they can tell me what to do or how to do it.

I totally get the logic behind BNI, it just isn't for me. The forced attendance and expectation of referrals really put me off.

Accountants and bookkeepers do seem to do very well out of it though. It is generally an easy referral for the other members as most of their business contacts will need one.