Manhattan BNI Chapter 61

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Leadership

President
Ivonne (IVY) Diaz

Vice President
Kristina Latour

Secretary/Treasurer
Karen Yanco

Membership Committee
Kristina Latour
Alina Vladimirova
Joseph Feliciano

Visitor Hosts
Sultaan Mokal
Sean Coonerty

Education Coordinator
Damien Bosco




Event Coordinator
Hima Dasika

Raffle Coordinator
Gary Chipurnoi

TimeKeeper
Gary Chipurnoi

Website Coordinators
Ivonne (IVY) Diaz
Kristina Latour
Karen Yanco

Chapter Guidelines

ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES
Attendance at every meeting is essential. Members are encouraged to secure substitutes when they are unable to attend. Having a substitute attend does not count as an absence. BNI policy states that a member who has three absences is a six-month period forfeits their position.

1st Absence - No Action.
2nd Absence - 1st letter encouraging member to attend or to provide a substitute.
3rd Absence - 2nd letter warning that member status is in jeopardy. (There is an MSP proviso recommended along with the letter).
4th Absence - You are out.

EXIT INTERVIEW
Conducted either in person or by phone by a member of the leadership team, it serves to document the member's experience with the chapter, especially if leaving is voluntary prior to expiration of their dues period.

LATENESS/LEAVING EARLY
Timely attendance at BNI meetings is also important. 6:00 to 6:15 pm is your time to network. This time is critical for members to form working relationships, especially with new members and visitors. Arriving late diminishes the importance of our meetings. Arriving after 6:15pm and leaving early is also disruptive.

Just to clarify the late policy regarding absences assessed for lateness. The following absence appointment has been assigned to discourage lateness:

  • For Members who arrive after 6:15pm (when the President calls meeting to order), they don't get a 1/2 absence unless they fail to show up until after 6:30pm, but these Members are not allowed to give their Commercial.
  • Arriving after 6:30 pm - 1/2 absence
  • Arriving after 7:00 pm - 1 absence
  • Leaving before 7:00 pm - 1/2 absence


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:
  1. The leadership team encourages members to work out any disagreements or disputes with each other.
  2. If this does not resolve the problem, then a verbal complaint can be made to the leadership team for guidance in resolving the problem
  3. If this does not resolve the issue satisfactorily, then a written complaint can be made to the leadership team to document the situation should further action be necessary.


All complaints will be handled with discretion and with every effort to maintain full confidentiality.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE
A leave of absence of up to eight weeks can be requested in writing for medical reasons only. As long as the member has sufficient time remaining of his/her membership, the seat remains protected. If membership expires during leave, membership must renewed and dues paid; if not, the seat will be opened. After eight weeks of leave, additional medical leave is at the discretion of the Membership Committee.

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:
  • Attendance/overuse of subs (see Chapter Guidelines for clarification as to what constitutes the overuse of subs)
  • Leads Passed/Received
  • Adherence to the BNI Code of Ethics
  • Timely payment of membership and breakfast dues
  • Complaints received by the Membership Committee from chapter members
  • Acknowledgements and other recognition received by the Membership Committee from chapter members
  • Participation in the chapter (serving on committees, leadership roles, etc.)


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.

REFERRALS
BNI policy states that each chapter set their own guidelines for an expected number of referrals passed each month to keep every one of its members focused on BNI outside of the meetings.

In order for all members to receive the greatest benefit from BNI, we have implemented a strongly recommended minimum number of referrals to be passed. To maintain good standing in the chapter, 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. 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 referral slip to that person, explaining why they are not good referrals. Should this happen frequently, please alert the Membership Committee.

BNI 61
21 Members

Alina Vladimirova
Chesky Klein
Clemens von Reitzenstein
Damien Bosco
Gary Chipurnoi
Hima Dasika
Ivonne (Ivy) Diaz
Janice Davis
Joseph Feliciano
Karen Yanco
Keith DuVerney
Kristina Latour
Maggie Kaminer
Paul Kenney
Rahul Siddharth
Sandy Wagner
Sean Harris
Sean Coonerty
Sharif Khalek
Sonia Rehani
Sultaan J. Mokal


BNI - Changing the way the world does business.