Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
The National The Official JCI United Kingdom Quarterly Publication Available Online and on Paper
Inspiring Challenging Rewarding President’s Day & National Community Day [read more page 2]
National President’s Message To me, JCI is all about opportunities and we have certainly had those in the last quarter and have even more coming up. To find out more, read on. A particular example of unique JCI events are the:
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JCI Scotland National Conference [read more page 3]
JCI Japanese Academy where Deputy National President’s meet, learn and grow. Charlie Best is participating in this prestigious event.
Conference Organisers Academy [read more page 4]
JCI UN Summit in New York - Charlie is participating with Karen Jamieson, National Admin Director and a new member of JCI London, Augustine Temienor.
JCI European Conference [read more page 5]
JCI European Leadership Academy in Sweden where 4 of our Deputies are participating in this great experience.
JCI UK National Conference [read more page 10]
We are also entering into the time of National Awards. The last date for your st submissions is 21 October 2008. Preparing your submission is a great way to reflect on all that you have achieved and is a great record to hand over to your successors. If you do go onto win, then it’s a great way to market your chamber and raise your profile in your local community. It’s another opportunity within JCI. Something happened recently that brought home to me that life is for living and so, go on, go out and grab those JCI opportunities – you never know where they may take you☺.
Best Practice: How to fill the room [read more page 12] World Congress [read more page 14] Business Directory & Easy Fund Raising [read more page 15] National Board list and Diary [read more page 16]
Sarah-Jane Mills National President 2008 JCI United Kingdom
JCI UK Welcomes Its Newest Members In The 2nd Quarter Of 2008 Chris Lowry JCI Belfast Glyn Roberts JCI Belfast Ryan Murray JCI Belfast Gary More JCI Belfast Cerys Richards JCI Cardiff Amy Vickers JCI HEY Lisa Mann JCI Jersey April Prendergast JCI Leeds Samantha Glover JCI Leeds Steve Parks JCI Leeds Augustine Temienor JCI London Darren Amott JCI London Els Bindels JCI London Emily Smith JCI London Helen Collier JCI London Oxana Andreeva JCI London Robyn Lipnicki JCI London Cheryl Mullan JCI Londonderry Andrian Read JCI Portsmouth
Paul Thwaite JCI Portsmouth Natasha Lanfear JCI Reading Nicola Harrison JCI Reading Clare Bayliss JCI Reading Amy Ward JCI Sheffield Andrew Whitham JCI Sheffield Chris Hoy JCI Sheffield Elaine Mitchell JCI Sheffield Emma Gray JCI Sheffield Isabelle Lambert JCI Sheffield Kelly Richardson JCI Sheffield Maxine Hewitt JCI Sheffield Nichola Atherton JCI Sheffield Rachel Hutchinson JCI Sheffield Rajan Shah JCI Sheffield Sally Blaydes JCI Sheffield Thomas Senior JCI Sheffield Tom Draper JCI Sheffield
Wendy Burroughes JCI Sheffield Andrew Ryde JCI Sheffield Charles Perves JCI Sheffield Jennifer Walker JCI Sheffield Jessica Zeun JCI Sheffield John Anderson JCI Sheffield John Green JCI Sheffield Liam Kenealy JCI Sheffield Lynn Selkirk JCI Sheffield Paul Dorward JCI Sheffield Richard Ofield JCI Sheffield Shirley Pinn JCI Southampton Alexia Sutton JCI Southampton Amy Gibbs JCI Southampton David Jones JCI Southampton Maria Forbes JCI Southampton Rachael Williams JCI Southampton Tabytha Cunningham JCI Southampton
JCI United Kingdom Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders . . . Today
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
President’s Day – 10th May The day began with our National President, Sarah-Jane Mills inviting us to reflect upon why we do what we do. JCI is a voluntary organisation and at times it’s a challenge to keep all the plates spinning. SarahJane asked us to identify some key things or people within JCI that we had found Inspiring, Challenging and Rewarding in the first part of 2008. It was an interesting experience and reinforced the power of reflection. At National Council, members of the National Board gave overviews of their year to date and the opportunity was given to ask questions. Our Area D Vice President, Brian Kavanagh (Sarah-Jane’s direct report to JCI) attended from the US and gave an insight into certain international matters. There was some lively discussion followed by an even more lively lunch, when we had the opportunity to mix and mingle in the bar of The Jury’s Inn, Islington where we were sponsored for the day by AltruWorld Limited (www.altruworld.com). Senator Andrew Mills then led us through a TetraMap session where we learn to understand ourselves better and also, those around us. It was informative, relevant and fun and JCI Sheffield’s President, Lucinda White enjoyed it so much, she asked Andrew to run a session for her team. Whilst National Board met, Deputy National President Charlie Best led us through a technique developed by JCI Belgium for brainstorming ideas. We used it for 2009 planning purposes and came up with some great ideas – see more in 2009! For those of us that fancied a night in the Clink, we went off to JCI London’s Annual Dinner which was part of the wider event around the weekend – The European Capitals Meeting – but that’s another story. Will Noble Regional Group Chairman – The South
National Community Day – 21st June The JCI UK chosen charity for 2008 is The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity (www.rainbowtrust.org.uk). Chambers around the country were invited to participate in the JCI UK st National Community Day on or around 21 June to raise funds for charity, either The Rainbow Trust or their own local charity. I am very pleased to say that many Chambers project managed events and in particular, JCI Wakefield (ably hosted by Amanda Stone) organised a social evening where anyone attending paid an entrance fee and that went to The Rainbow Trust. It was a very simple idea that turned into a great night. Catherine Berry JCI UK Projects Director
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
JCI International
JCI Scotland National Conference This year, I had the pleasure of attending my first JCI Scotland National Conference and, boy, what a weekend!!! I will definitely be there again next year. The Conference is similar in format to the JCI UK National Conference with lots of socialising, partying and some fantastic training and debating.
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18 – 20 April Friday was packed with activities from a Golf Competition, to Dragons Den and then of course the JCI Scotland Public Speaking and Debating competitions which were of a very high standard, with JCI Aberdeen the victors!!! Friday ended with a very enjoyable Welcome Party, where we all got to catch up with old friends over a bottle or two of wine!!! On Saturday, we were inspired by inspirational leader, Rune MollerHansen Kiilstofte, who took us through two training sessions - Personal Development using Insights where we learnt more about ourselves, helping the individual to achieve better results, work more effectively and build better relations and Situational Leadership where we learnt more about our leadership styles, which guides you through the steps of diagnosis and how to apply the right leadership styles. Both are great sessions to attend especially as you learn how best to communicate/lead others in order to get the best out of them and what styles they react well to. Rune is an experienced trainer, having conducted courses in over 15 countries, including being Head Trainers on the Russian and European leadership Academies and being codesigner and a head trainer of JCI Lead.
“I will definitely be there again next year.”
If this has caught your interest, experience the “I” in JCI at the Irish National Convention the weekend of rd 3 October 2008. Contact Lesley Young for more details.
For lunch we had the pleasure of mingling with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and JCI World President Graham Hanlon at the Civic Reception at the Lothian Chambers. For those who were strong enough after the Friday night party, there was the opportunity to do a bit of whiskey tasting to finish the afternoon off (as well as some delegates!!!) or you had the opportunity to join the Old Town Tour. Alternatively, there were always load of shops around Edinburgh to visit. We then partied the night away at the Black Tie and Diamonds Ball in the glorious George Hotel, where we celebrated the achievements of the JCI Scotland Chambers with the Awards Ceremony. There was plenty of good food, an abundance of fine wines and some great company - everything to make a fantastic night!! It was great to catch up with friends from around the country and make new ones in Scotland. The brave then went onto the Afterparty and judging from the state of them at the farewell brunch on Sunday, it must have been a good one!!!
Catherine Berry JCI UK Projects Director
The rest of the weary travellers from JCI UK then jumped back in our cars and headed off back down country. What a great weekend and one that I would definitely recommend to everyone if you want to attend an "International" event that is just about on your doorstep. The Scottish definitely know how to put on a great event!!!
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
Conference Organisers Committee Academy 2008 COC Academy 2008, hosted by JCI Austria. Up in the Austrian Alps the main aim of this training camp was to gain knowledge on how to hold successful conferences and share best practice with those who have organised previous JCI European and World Conferences. What form did the event take and what was discussed/learnt? The Academy took place over 3 very full days and commenced on Wednesday 23 April. There were 39 attendees in total from 19 countries (not all in Europe) and after a welcome meal we were immediately organised into four alpine huts. Our overall task was to create one World Congress, one Area (European) Conference, one National Conference and one Regional Conference. However, each hut could only do one and so we had to negotiate with the other huts as to who got which conference. Team Orange ended up with the National Conference. Our goal on the first night was to create an initial outline of what our conference was about: Theme, Budget, Venue and Date and then present to the group at 08:45 the next morning. Sounds easy doesn’t it! However, we were given this task at 21:00 the night before and by the time we negotiated National Conference and assigned roles (mine was Finance Director) it was 23:00. After this we needed a plan before writing something out on paper and preparing an entertaining presentation. The first full day consisted of each team giving a 12 minute presentation (all team members HAD to take part) and then we were given various training sessions throughout the day (both theory in our own huts and practical team building exercises outside). The funniest of these outdoor activities involved blindfolds and guiding each other to metal buckets without being able to speak. For those of you who are intrigued, a system of clapping and bird noises was established. At this point I will pause from the antics of our day and explain that in amongst this we all had to cook our own food and so between the team we took it in turns for two people to cook for the entire group. During every meal break we still had trainers giving sessions on problem solving and avoidance of potential problems in a conference. These sessions were on every subject from logistics to delegate reservations. As the evening drew in we were informed that a “Larrissa Bigbucks” was flying in at 08:45. She had a lot of money to spend and was allowing each team a ‘slot’ to present for potential sponsorship. Again, due to the late hour we set to work straight away as other members of the team started cooking an evening meal/supper. Another late evening ensued and again we were up at 07:30 for our presentation. The second full day consisted of lots more training and a humorous presentation to a cocky Larissa Bigbucks. However, this is where we became unstuck as due to bad advice from one of the trainers we made a catastrophic error and ended up with NO SPONSORSHIP!!! As a result we had to do a grovelling plea to Team Blue who had more than they needed. The final overnight task was to prepare our final bid in full. The bid book had to be entered by 23:00 and the bid presentation given by 08:45 the next morning. Yet again a 03:30 morning and a 07:00 get up, but we had so much adrenaline for this task after our bad performance from the previous day that we blew the competition out of the water and the JCI Event Director from HQ in St Louis, USA even commented that if it was a real conference he would love to come. A few more training sessions and a final chorus of Row, Row , Row Your Boat finished off a very enjoyable academy and then receiving a certificate from the JCI World President is an event that will not be forgotten. What was the outcome of the event – what feedback would you give, what did you take away from the session, what does it mean for the future? As well as learning several best practices and coming away with several good ideas for our National th Awards Weekend 2008 (the weeknd of 28 November in Manchester), the best part of the weekend for me was to make so many new friends. We have all joined together on Facebook and will keep in touch. This is what JCI is all about. Lee Williamson Deputy President JCI Manchester Event Director – National Awards 2008
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
European Conference 2008
JCI International
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Well, we certainly shared some Sparkling Experiences at EC2008! I am very proud to announce that in the face of strong competition:
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Simon Bucknall of JCI London won the European Public Speaking Competition;
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Joe Richardson of JCI Hull & East Yorkshire, Andrew Morton of JCI Hull & East Yorkshire and Joanne Baldwin of JCI Doncaster won the European Debating Competition. It is worth noting that this is the second year running that JCI UK have won the European Debating Competition and Joanne was on both teams! Graeme Forrester of JCI Manchester was named as the Most Outstanding President in Europe (in the category of 50-100 members in a chamber).
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“Sparkling Experiences” •
Heartfelt congratulations to all of our winners, who will represent JCI Europe at the Word Congress in New Delhi, India in November. In addition, I would like to recognise:
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the JCI UK football team were runners up in the European Football Competition to JCI Switzerland. This was an absolutely fantastic result particularly as there were a series of injuries to our team due to throwing themselves 110% into the competition!
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Angela Chapman of JCI Hull & East Yorkshire and Andrew Baxter of JCI Sheffield for all their help in organising our delegation;
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Over 50% of our delegation attended the international level for the first time, four of whom were assisted by a Senate Bursary;
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Senate Bursary recipients were invited to the Senate Bar and enjoyed a Pimms or two!
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UK Senator, Clare Ashton was voted in as the Chairman of the European Senate;
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Adam Woodhall of JCI Leeds presented three training sessions before and during the conference;
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Five of our members participated in and graduated from JCI Presenter;
• • • Lesley Young JCI UK International Director
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Jason Smith of JCI Boston and JCI UK Finance Director judged part of the European Awards; Angela Chapman again for judging the Debating Competition; JCI UK had 11 award entries in the European Awards; Charlotte Best of JCI Doncaster and JCI UK Deputy National President had the honour of presenting one of the awards during the Awards Ceremony; And last, but not least, the great photographs to record such a great event – check these out on the JCI UK website: coming soon.
My thanks to all who participated in the European Conference and who contributed to making it such a great success! A Sparkling Experience indeed!!
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
Confessions of an EC First Timer “So, what are you going to Finland for? Is it a holiday?” In the run-up to my departure, this question seemed to be asked with increasing frequency and I still didn’t know the answer! What was I going to Finland for? I knew that it was for the JCI European Conference, but as for what I was going to experience, I didn’t really have a clue. Asking EC veterans for their take didn’t really help, as every person that I asked gave a different opinion, so, with an open mind, I packed my bags and stepped into the unknown (or Stanstead Airport as it is often called). At the JCI UK briefing, I was amazed to discover that 50% of the JCI UK delegates were, like me, first timers at the European Conference. Easily identifiable by our lime green dangly bits (from our security passes!), I realised that they didn’t really know what to expect either, but with the Opening Ceremony rapidly approaching, we’d soon start to find out. I think the scale of the Conference was the first thing to take me by surprise - over 2000 like minded people, from 45 different countries, all in one place and by choice! I knew that this experience was going to be like nothing I’d seen before. As we ascended the ramp to the Welcome Party, being cheered and clapped by the Finns, I certainly did feel very welcome indeed! The following morning, feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed (honestly!), we set off for the First-Timers Meeting, perhaps this would shed a little more light on what we could experience at our first EC? I’m afraid to say that this was not the case. For lunch, courtesy of the Power of Facebook, I met up with other EC delegates who will be attending the European Leadership Academy in Gothenburg. My busy first day continued with a guided tour of Turku, seeing the sights and learning more of Finnish history and culture. In the evening, I attended the excellent German/Hungarian Night, marvelled at the crayfish and continued to enjoy myself late into the night at a bar that was serving half price drinks (an essential discovery when you’re unused to paying Finnish prices). Unfortunately, the bar had underestimated the drinking power of the collection of EC delegates and rapidly put a deadline on the offer – this resulted in the most expensive round in history, even at half price, when we decided to bulk buy! Friday dawned with a slightly foggy head, but that didn’t stop me attending an excellent training session on The Art of Successful Negotiation followed by a number of rounds of the Debating Competition, supporting the UK team (who went on the win the competition – well done!!!!!). Next it was off to the BANZAI reception and having recovered from the night before, it was time to start again with the Danish night. Here I got to experience the mysterious world of the Senate bar, as a guest of the British Senate following the award of a Senate Bursary. Following Pimms mixed in a bucket, another late night ensued. On Saturday, I joined a delegation (kept in line by Andrew Mills and Alexander, our youngest delegate) on the trip to Moomin World – a surreal yet enjoyable experience. Watching a show aimed at pre-school children was always going to be a little odd, but especially so when the actors are speaking in Finnish! Once back to civilization, I was off to watch the ‘UK and special guests’ football team in the semi-final round against Turkey in the European Cup and was surprised to be their only supporter! Following an exciting match from which our boys emerged victorious, I felt I should stay for the final against the muchfeared Swiss team and was happily joined by Nigel Wilkinson – the supporters club had doubled!!! Sadly the heat and assorted injuries had taken their toll and we couldn’t hold off the Swiss for long, they went on to win 6-0 (worth noting that this was their smallest winning margin – well done boys!). A mad dash ensued as I rushed to get ready for the Awards Ceremony and Christmas-themed Gala Dinner. Sadly, I missed seeing Simon Bucknall of JCI London being awarded the prize for winning the European Public Speaking Competition and also, the UK Debating team being announced as winners of that competition, but I still got to celebrate with them later! The Gala Dinner and After-Party heralded the end of the conference for many of us, so as we enjoyed ourselves and chatted with new and old friends. On the last bus home, I realised exactly why the European Conference is an essential part of many members’ JCI calendar. Its pull cannot be attributed to any one aspect, it’s a combination of many: experiencing a new city and its culture, taking the opportunity to ‘be better’ and most importantly for me, strengthening the existing friendships I have and forging brand new ones . . . see you next year!!!!! Deborah Tills Deputy President JCI Barnsley
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008 JCI International
European Conference Turku Finland th
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“Talk about being better through JCI” “I had never fully appreciated quite how much JCI has to offer until spending time in Turku”
It was my Chamber President’s idea… “Hey Simon, did you know JCI hosts a World Championship of Public Speaking competition? Why don’t you enter?” That was nine months ago - and I’ve just returned from competing in the European Final of the contest held in Turku, Finland at European Conference. What an experience it’s been! There were twelve contestants in all, each representing a different national organisation – from Iceland to Italy, from France to Finland. Ever since joining JCI, I’ve been conscious of the diverse and international dimension to the organisation. But, European Conference takes things to a whole new level! On the first day of the Conference, each contestant delivered a 7 minute speech on the theme of “Be Better Through Active Citizenship”. A big auditorium… a podium… microphones… and national flags fluttering in support of the speakers. If you’d been there, you’d have seen some remarkable speeches. Who can forget Guolaug Bjornsdottir of Iceland tell her story of the low self esteem and shattered confidence that plagued her throughout her childhood. Even when joining JCI, she could scarcely bring herself to speak out loud. Yet here she was, proud to represent her country at European Conference… in a public speaking competition. Talk about being better - through JCI. A panel of judges decided on three speakers to progress to the Final, held in front of General Assembly (comprising the Chief Delegates of all National Organisations attending the Conference) – Denmark, Netherlands and…the UK. Come the day of the Final, you could sense the tension in the air – at least amongst the three contestants! Close to half the population of Denmark seemed crammed into the visitor gallery at the back of the room. Needless to say, I was outside focusing on my speech, trying not to hyper-ventilate. And then the words of the Contest Chair, “Let the contest begin…”
Simon Bucknall JCI London European Public Speaking Champion 2008
European Conference provides a wonderful opportunity to experience the world beyond your local Chamber at first hand. I had never fully appreciated quite how much JCI has to offer until spending time in Turku. If you attend National and International Events, you will meet new people from extraordinary places. Your eyes will be opened to ideas and opportunities you’d never considered before. And, who knows you might also find yourself up for an Award, in front of 2,000 JCI delegates on the night of a Gala Dinner! So why not come to Delhi in November? Oh, and if you do, drop in on the World Final of the Public Speaking in Delhi. You never know – there might even be a JCI UK contestant on the platform!
It was Debatable…
JCI International
The annual JCI European Conference in Turku, Finland saw JCI UK enter the Debating Competition. Confidence was high amongst the team which consisted of Joanne Baldwin of JCI Doncaster, Andrew Morton of JCI Hull & East Yorkshire and myself. The competition had undergone some rule changes which meant that the team captain also had to speak rather than just coach, and it was a format that worked well. Preparations began the night before with a practice session, discussing tactics and practicing our Extempore (off the cuff speaking) skills!
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On the day itself, Andrew and I missed the 8.30am bus, (rumours that
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008 hangovers were behind this cannot be commented on!). However, we made it to the Conference Centre in the nick of time. First up was JCI Netherlands and we were arguing for “Community service to be mandatory for all for one year”. The debate was close until a timely ‘Point of Information’ intervention by Joanne stole the show and the Judges awarded a comfortable 3 – 0 victory. Next up were the formidable opponents from JCI Scotland, and we were given the opportunity to argue against “Mobile phones should be banned whilst driving”. This debate was regarded by many as the highlight of the day being both heated and humorous. JCI UK won through with some excellent ‘off the cuff’ rebuttals by Andrew and myself. Needless to say we are not booking any trips to Glasgow in the near future!
“Andrew’s ‘less chocolate, more sex’ was particularly memorable.”
We were debating against JCI Sweden in the semi – final and were arguing for “The introduction of an additional tax on fatty foods”. We all put in flawless performances and the Judges were unanimous in their verdict of victory for JCI UK. Andrew’s ‘less chocolate, more sex’ was particularly memorable. JCI Germany had quietly been going about their business in getting to the final beating the much fancied JCI Belgium in the other semi – final to set up a fantastic debate against ‘the old enemy’, (relax, there was no chance of any penalty shoot outs!). The topic of the debate was “Entry to museums should be free of charge” and JCI UK were arguing for. The German team put in an excellent performance but were still no match for JCI UK who were announced the very proud winners the following evening at the Awards Ceremony. It was a very impressive display by all three of us and it was really pleasing to see us improve as the day went on. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and would also like to acknowledge Sam Summerfield, the UK Debating Champion who unfortunately could not make it and Angela Chapman who did a sterling job as one of the Judges.
Joseph Richardson President JCI Hull & East Yorkshire
Debating Champion Learns To Present… I decided to do JCI Presenter first to develop my skill in presentations - useful in nearly all areas of my life - secondly, to see what the JCI "University" had to offer after I had heard so much about it over the last few years and finally to meet more JCI people! All these requirements were completely satisfied as I had a fantastic time doing the training. Some of the content I already knew and it is great to be reminded and to hear someone else's perspective on it, especially from the other students from all over Europe. The course centres around how to be an effective presenter, how to direct your presentations to different audiences and generally gives you tips on how to improve the skills you already have - whether you know it or not! It was challenging - one of my tasks during the day was to present the concept of JCI to a room full of "World Presidents"(!) which taught me how best to present to experts on the subject that I was presenting. It was inspiring - I got some great tips from the trainers and from the other participants as well as inspiration to carry on and do other JCI University courses. Finally, it was rewarding - lots of new friends and a "Graduation ceremony" that none of us will forget! th
JCI Presenter is being held in the UK on 20 September in Manchester and I highly recommend that you take up the opportunity. Joanne Baldwin Regional Group Chairman - Yorkshire
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008
JCI International
European Conference Turku Finland th
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Graeme ready to take on the World! Graeme Forrester became Deputy President of JCI Manchester in 2006 at which time the Chamber had only 12 members, no patrons/corporate partners, held no events and had no profile within the city of Manchester. By the end of his year as President in 2007, JCI Manchester had 60 members, 9 patrons/corporate partners and had a full programme of events that covered all the “areas of opportunity”. Articles appeared in the local newspapers and business magazines and the Chamber had a high profile within the Manchester business community. The year ended with JCI Manchester sweeping the board at the JCI UK National Awards in December 2007, winning more awards than any other Chamber. The transformation of Manchester into one of the UK’s leading Junior Chambers was recognised at the JCI European Conference in Turku, Finland in June when Graeme won the award for being the Most Outstanding Local President in Europe (Chamber size 51 – 100).
"This award is for the whole of JCI Manchester and the hard work that all my directors and Helpful hints and tips from Graeme…in no particular order… members have • Venue – always the same venue or if in a big city move venues between put in over the corporate partners offices to attract their staff to attend. last couple of • Events – make sure all events are well organised and of a high quality. Better years in to have a few high quality events than a lot of poor ones. transforming the • New Members evenings – advertise as a party with free food and drink. Invite Chamber into all your exiting members as well. Make it an informal event, only one or two the UK's leading “presentations”. One to one chats with potential new members is the best way. Junior Chamber”
Graeme Forrester 2007 President JCI Manchester
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Communications – very important. Update website regularly. Issue a newsletter telling people how great past events were and what future events are.
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Advertise Events – send out flyers 3 weeks before an event. Send another one out 1 week before the event. Send a reminder out the day before the event.
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Corporate Partners/Patrons – can be of great benefit to the organisation. A source of members and facilities. Talk to them, meet them and keep them up to date on your activities.
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Membership – make new members or potential members welcome at meetings. Make sure a Council member talks to them. Have a buddy system that new members don’t know about such that Council members keep in regular contact with new members. It’s important to get them involved and make them feel wanted.
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Get in the local newspapers and business magazines. Produce regular press releases to raise the profile of your Chamber. Meet up with the local paper’s business editor. Let them know who you are and what JCI is all about.
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Delegation – don’t be afraid to delegate tasks and let the team make mistakes. That’s how people learn and that’s what the organisation is all about!
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Even the smallest change can make a big difference. Don’t be frightened to try new things.
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008 JCI UK
National Conference Nottingham Conference Centre 5th – 7th September 2008
“Exploring Inspiration: 80 years of JCI!
Exploring Inspiration Friday afternoon – Business Reconnaissance Registration is from 1.30pm until 2pm at Base Camp
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A Conversation with…a Key Note Speaker. A Life in a Day – a panel of three business people, telling their story: Jason Smith, JCI UK Finance Director and spare time entrepreneur; Kay Croot, Commercial Director of Alliance Boots Limited; Steve Parks, Entrepreneur, Author and Speaker www.steveparks.co.uk. Just One Thing…a time for reflection on the day and an opportunity to discuss in more detail that one thing you have taken from the day or brought to the day.
Friday evening – JCI Preparation & Welcome Party
Platinum Sponsor: Boots
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JCI UK National Council – local President’s and National Board of JCI UK meet and decide upon any matters to move forward the activities of JCI UK. Members welcome. 80’s themed Welcome Party.
Saturday – daytime – Tactical Manoeuvres Registration is from 9.30am until 10am at Base Camp
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JCI World Trade Game taster session (experiential learning of negotiation, team work, leadership and fun!). Buffet lunch and networking. Extempore (off the cuff speaking) Final with guest speaker– JCI European Public Speaking Champion, Simon Bucknall of JCI London. Two simultaneous training sessions from the JCI UK Training Academy. Leadership in Turbulent Times – Sean Chapple “The Ice Man” www.seanchapple.co.uk
Saturday evening – The Expedition
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Champagne Reception – sponsored by AltruWorld.com 1920’s themed Black Tie Dinner celebrating 80 years of JCI.
Sunday: Revival
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The Senate Breakfast (dedicated to life-long members of JCI) Deputy President Training (dedicated to 2009 local President’s) Possibility of a business visit or an excursion
Base Camp Accommodation is on site at Rutland Hall – mainly single study rooms with en-suite bathroom facilities. Some limited availability of single rooms joined by a study room.
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July/August/September 2008
JCI UK National Conference Saturday Evening Expedition back to the 1920’s
1920’s Themed Black Tie Dinner Celebrating 80 Years of JCI UK Champagne Reception
~ Leek and potato soup with garlic croutons
~ Slow Cooked Lamb Shank on a Bed of Rosemary Scented Roast Vegetables and Mint Gravy
OR: Grilled Aubergine, Pepper, Courgette and Red Onion Stack topped with Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese and Served with Vegetable Jus
~ Eton Mess (berries, meringue and cream) OR: Cheese and biscuits
~ Tea/Coffee
Note: wine on table included Thereafter, a paying bar
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Junior Chamber International United Kingdom
July/August/September 2008 JCI Best Practice
How to fill the room By Mark Stockhill Deputy President JCI Southampton
How to fill the room How to guarantee that your JCI event is well attended Organising a JCI personal development event can be challenging. You have your venue booked and now comes the hard work; arranging a speaker and then encouraging people to sign up and attend. If you do it well you enhance people’s lives and if you get it wrong, you wonder what you can do next time to improve attendance. The truth is that people want to be involved in an informative and fun event with their friends and peers. Your job as the event organiser is simple - grab the members attention, make the topic sound interesting and make it easy for them to sign up. Do these three things and you will fill the room!
“Do these three The Speaker and the Topic Who do you choose to put your faith in to speak at your event? Our theory on this is things and you that we would rather have someone who the members can relate to and identify with, will fill the rather than someone who appears to come from a different world. Given the choice of having a person who has just sold their business for £10 million or someone who room!” has been running a business for 2 years and is now just becoming successful, we would choose the latter every time. JCI is about self improvement, and self improvement is best achieved by taking small and important steps toward your goals. If members can identify with the speaker, they will be more interested in the presentation, contribute more to the event and rave about it to their friends and colleagues the next day.
“Let’s take food and nutrition as an example”.
“What you need to do is give the event and the speaker a focus.”
Choosing a topic for a JCI audience interested in personal development event is simple. Career and personal development, health and well-being and worldly knowledge topics are always going to generate interest. Let’s take food and nutrition as an example. We all want to be more healthy and operate at our best and so how we treat our body and what we put into our body are very important. So you have your topic, now you need to find a speaker. Personal trainers, dieticians, or nutritionists would be a good place to start. Any professional person, if they have ambitions to be successful themselves, will jump at the opportunity to present to a room full of high calibre JCI enthusiasts. If they do not want to speak they are wrong for JCI. Keep looking because there are many good people out there in your area! Through you local network you find a detox specialist who has been running her own company for 18 months, and who recognises what JCI does and the type of people who are involved and says YES!! You agree on a date for her presentation and you swap conformation e-mails.
What do you do next? You need to create a flyer......... In her presentation, your newly found speaker could talk about many areas relating to her knowledge and expertise. What you need to do is give the event and the speaker a focus. I would advise doing the following: 1. You need to choose a high impact title, image and message to sell the event. 2. You need to confirm your title with the speaker. Can she work with it? It is at this stage that a brainstorming session is required. I have always found that my local president was the best person to do this with, however I am sure that this will vary from chamber to chamber. Write down every title idea regardless of how silly it may sound. Funny titles, long titles, descriptive titles, anything you can think of!! Think about what is important to you in your life that you might not be achieving, or that you are achieving and you would like to share with people. This is very important. If you do this well, what you are looking for will present itself. • Food, the final frontier • A Journey into the what, when’s and why’s of food
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• “You should do • • this with at least one other • • person as the • whole process is great fun and •
creative.”
“The strap line should confirm the reader’s initial impression of the title and draw them into the flyer, eager for more.”
“…we put the success of the event down to the way in which it was introduced to our members.”
Eat healthy, be happy What you eat and when you eat Eat sexy, be sexy Detox if not just for after Christmas, it’s for life Healthy fridge Healthy mind Healthy body (I like this one too) How I can perform at my best through eating well Etc.... Go until you run out of ideas!!
You should do this with at least one other person as the whole process is great fun and creative. If you do it on your own, your creative walls can quickly close in! What you are looking for is an angle or hook for the event. What title would make me want to know more about an event involving healthy food and healthy living. Before you know it one presents itself to you.
Performance Eating!! You have your title. You run it past your speaker and they love it. Performance eating works because it suggests performance at work, in sport and at home (bedroom performance included). All three of which are important to a JCI member. You then need a strap line and in this example ‘What you eat, when you eat it - a practical guide’ works very well. The strap line should confirm the reader’s initial impression of the title and draw them into the flyer, eager for more. We always find that a good image (or images) will set the tone for the event also. ‘Google images’ is a great place to find these. Before you know it you will have the introduction and branding for your event on ‘Performance Eating’.
Introduce the speaker Having some basic information on the speaker and some background information about what they have done is also important. You can usually get this from the speaker’s website or promotional material. If this is not available ask your speaker to write 2 or 3 paragraphs about themselves and their background with the understanding that this information is essential to bring in a good sized crowd to the event. Armed with this you can now create your flyer. We would highly recommend that you keep the flyer to one page. Any longer and you risk an information overload situation that will put off some members. The flyer is designed to inform the members about the event, but it also gives clear instructions as to when the event is and where it is being held. It should clearly state how much it will cost and where they can sign up. When you have finished your flyer, we recommend sending it to your speaker for final approval and then getting it out there. Uploading your flyer to your website is always very effective and e-mail it round to all of your members suggesting they print it out and put it up in break rooms and kitchens in their places of work. If you have not received a high take up for the event, you have a good reason to call your members and say, ‘Did you receive the flyer? What did you think of it? It is going to be a fantastic event. Can you make it?’. The above example was an actual event held by JCI Southampton that brought in record numbers and we put the success of the event down to the way in which it was introduced to our members. The above formula is working for us at the moment, however, I would welcome any input from other chambers on how they bring in good member numbers so we can keep ahead of the game and always produce and promote high quality, well-attended JCI personal development events. If you’d like to see the final flyer we used for ‘Performance Eating’, contact me. Mark Stockill Deputy President JCI Southampton mark.stockill@simplymirrortv.co.uk
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JCI International
Experience Exotic India…
World Congress Join thousands of fellow members of JCI at the World Congress in New th th Delhi, India on 4 to 9 November 2008.
New Delhi, India th
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4 to 9 November
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If you book before 31 August, the registration fee is 350 Euros. Check out the details at www.jciwc2008.in. I will be circulating summary information soon. Highlights include:
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Pre and post Tours with excursions during the Congress • Agra Tour (Same Day) • Agra Tour (1 Nts/2 Days) • Golden Triangle Tour (2 Nts/3 Days): Delhi - Agra - Jaipur • Golden Triangle Tour (3 Nts/4 Days): Delhi - Agra - Jaipur • Golden Triangle Tour (4 Nts/5 Days): Delhi - Agra - Jaipur • Golden Triangle Tour with Varanasi and Khajuraho (5 Nts/6 Days) Indian Night Opening Party General Assembly of JCI with Key Note Speakers
“Experience exotic India”
New members, don’t forget that you may be able to apply for a Senate Bursary to assist with the Registration fee of World Congress. Contact your Regional Group Chairman for more details.
Trade Show Yoga and Dance Schools Training Sessions before and during the Congress nd
2 November – JCI Presenter (1 day) and JCI Trainer (2 days) rd
3 November – JCI Designer (3 days) JCI Lead (2 days) Debating and Public Speaking Competitions Themed parties each night Awards and Gala Dinner Dedicated programs for Senators
All visitors coming from overseas will require a visa for India. Tourist visas are valid for six months form the date of issue and the cost may be approximately £19.00. During the month of November, the climate is normally pleasant and temperature varies from 15-20° C. Indian Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +5 ½ hrs).
Lesley Young JCI UK International Director
You'll find lots of accommodation and travel options on the website and the JCI UK hotel will be confirmed soon.
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Business Directory - Have You Checked It Out Yet? Find out more about our members, share information about your business. The business directory has been launched with the support of The Clear Thinking Partnership. If you would like to be profiled on the business directory please visit it and contact Bev Holden. http://jciukbusinessdirectory.bttradespace.com
Easy Money! There are now two easy ways for you to help JCI UK raise funds simply by logging on to the web.
Shop Online
easyfundraising is a shopping directory listing some of your favourite online stores including Amazon, NEXT, Debenhams, John Lewis, Toys R Us, HMV and over 400 other top name stores. Whenever you shop with any one of them using the links provided on the easyfundraising site, JCI UK will receive a donation of up to 15% of the purchase price every time! It really is that simple! There’s an extensive Business
Services section where you can purchase all of your office needs with big name retailers such as Staples, Viking, PC World and DELL. You probably use some or all of these suppliers anyway so why not log on to easyfundraising first and support us when you make your purchases. You can support JCI UK from the comfort of your desk. All you need to do is register with easyfundraising for free at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/jciuk
Search The Web
You can also raise funds for JCI UK every time you search online by using easysearch – a search engine with a difference!
Powered by 3 search engines: Yahoo!, Live Search and Ask.com easysearch works just like any other search engine, giving you fast, accurate results time after time. But the clever part is, when you search the web with easysearch, you’ll raise about 1p for JCI UK with each search you make. Search the web just 15 times a day and you could generate funds of over £25.00 a year – just by switching to easysearch! Check out our unique easysearch page at http://jciuk.easysearch.org.uk then set it as your homepage so you never forget to use it each and every time you search the web. Jason Smith JCI UK National Finance
Trends Team, Design Team and Website Team Our Trends Team keep an eye out for trends in the media that may be appropriate for JCI UK or your local chamber to focus on in our programmes. This is led by Andrew Morton of JCI HEY. Our Design Team are reviewing all our marketing materials to decide if we need to update them etc. This is led by Charlotte Best, Deputy National President. Our Website team are reviewing our website with a view to updating it. This is led by Sarah-Jane Mills. Do you want to know more or be part of any of the above teams? If so, please contact Sarah-Jane Mills on sarah-jane.mills@jci.org.uk .
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JCI UK Head Office PO Box 6638 Grantham NG31 9BX
National Board 2008
Telephone: 01476 404005 Fax: 01476 404006
Immediate Past National President - Amanda Fitzsimmons
Contact: Lorna Bainbridge
Administration Director - Karen Jamieson
National President - Sarah Jane Mills Deputy National President - Charlie Best
National Finance Director - Jason Smith
International Director - Lesley Young Projects Director - Catherine Berry JCI UK is part of Junior Chamber International www.jci.cc Sign up for newsletters on the JCI website to find out more about JCI Worldwide
Regional Group Chairmen:
Check out ‘members only’ resources and benefits on the JCI UK website www.jciuk.org.uk
RGC Yorkshire - Joanne Baldwin
RGC Northern Ireland - Mark Blackburne RGC North East - Karen Jamieson RGC North West - Richard Tong
RGC South - Will Noble
JCI UK Diary (July to September) July 2008 • 5 – National Board Meeting at Head Office th
• 10 to 21 – Japanese Academy for Deputy National President’s th
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• 28 to 30 – JCI UN Summit in New York th
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August 2008 • 1 to 4 – JCI European Leadership Academy st
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• 16 – National Executive Meeting, Doncaster th
September 2008 • 5 to 7 – National Conference, Nottingham – Exploring Inspiration: 80 Years of JCI th
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• 19 to 21 – JCI Belgium’s National Conference (2 th
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Nom2Nom)
• 20 – JCI Presenter in Manchester th
• 20 – JCI Manchester’s 60 Anniversary and Annual Dinner th
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• 25 – JCI World Awards submission deadline th
• 27 – National Board, London th
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