What is Professional Networking?

Today, I had the pleasure of being accepted into a local Sherwood Park BNI Chapter. For those who haven't heard of BNI, it stands for Business Networking International. It is an association that consists of chapters all across the globe; it is an association that allows professionals to get together to help each other's businesses grow by utilizing the power of referrals.

Most businesses talk about "word of mouth" advertising, this just takes it to a whole new level. This group meets for breakfast each week and has a very focused meeting that is designed specifically to know more about each other's businesses. BNI's core philosophy is "Givers Gain."

How this plays out in the real world is evidenced in the operation of a successful chapter. Most businesses can benefit from being a part of a network such as this, and as such attending as a guest is strongly recommended. You can visit a local chapter to see what its all about by finding one near you at www.bni.com. (Our local chapter can be found HERE) -as of today, my membership isn't yet listed, but I should be listed on this page shortly...

The meetings run from 7am until 8:30am and are run with a clock-like precision - we're all busy professionals and without respect for each other's time, not much can be achieved.

I visited the chapter twice, as well as a few other chapters before I decided to submit my application. Unlike most networking groups whose sole membership qualification is the prospective member's ability to clear a cheque, a successful BNI applicant has to pass a background check including references of existing clients, as well as successfully navigate an interview process.

As referrals are an extension of our own reputation, it is IMPERATIVE that only true professionals are admitted as passing a referral on to an untrustworthy individual not only can be frustrating for the person that is searching for a needed product or service, but it can be devastating to the reputation of the person that extended the referral. For this reason, if there are any members that don't respect referrals received by their chapter members, they are immediately removed from the chapter. These folks take their business extremely seriously!

Beyond the commitment to learn about each others' businesses each week, members are expected to meet each other for an in-depth one-hour meeting in which the actual operations of member businesses and information about what makes them special are discussed. In short, by the time a referral is made between chapter members, you can be assured that whoever is benefiting from the product or service in-need will be in excellent hands and treated with the utmost respect.

The in-depth knowledge chapter members have for each other's businesses ensures that by the time a referral is extended, the chances of the professional being recommended being able to provide PRECISELY the needed service are extremely good. It is not uncommon, for example, for multiple types of insurance brokers to be represented within a chapter - each with specialized knowledge and products specifically tailored to dealing with a specific scenario. The best person to talk to if you seek disability coverage, isn't necessarily the same person that would get you the best deal on car insurance, nor are they specifically trained to discuss some of the investment aspects of some life insurance products.

If "Bill" needed some new maple flooring installed, he may ask his brother "Bob" if he knows anyone that can help. "Bob" may have a friend that works as a general contractor and think that may be the perfect person for "Bill" to speak with. If "Bill" decided to ask me the same question, I can look at my professional network to determine who would be the best fit for Bill's needs. In this case, there is Carolee that deals in new home construction, there is Richard who specializes in renovating existing properties, and then there is Blair. Blair is someone that specifically deals in hardwood flooring. While "Bob" may feel that his general contractor buddy is the best person to talk to, I am completely confident that Blair is more knowledgeable in this area - although may not know the requirements for pulling a permit to allow for a new electrical panel to be installed.....

If you are lucky enough to know someone in the BNI world - if they offer to connect you with someone in their network, take the opportunity to meet with the professional involved. They have not only been pre-screened to ensure they are a knowledgeable professional, they are also bound by the BNI Code of Ethics to make sure you are treated fairly.

By all means, do your due diligence as a consumer and make sure there is a fit between what you need and what the professional offers, but rest-assured, you will be treated fairly and with respect!

For more information on BNI and to find out if you could benefit from association with a group of true professionals, please visit a chapter near you. To come out to visit our chapter in Sherwood Park, please email me directly to discuss. If after talking it over, we both feel it would be of benefit to you, let me buy you breakfast and invite you to join us as our guest!

The Joker's Evil Plot Extends Outside of Gotham! Is it a Conspiracy?

Very interesting - last night, Carri and I were over for dinner at Mark & Jeannine's - great meal of buffalo striploins with fresh salad and maybe the world's best potatoes. Anyway, after dinner, we settled in for a few pops and Mark and I got talking. Recently, a colleague and prominent local businessman at the Chamber was promoting the Relay for Life in support of cancer research as he'd just lost a friend to cancer.

The conversation turned to media and if there was manipulation or "social engineering" going on. Its sad, but we see things like this relay, the walks, the marches and all kinds of fund raising going on for cancer treatment - but at the point where treatment is required, prevention is out the door. I'm not suggesting for a second that we don't need better ways to treat cancer, but it would seem ultimately more-effective (long term) if we put more efforts into PREVENTING cancer.

Its not like we don't know the causes... In the 80's, I remember it was almost a punchline that seemingly every day, something new was found to be a cause for cancer. I think that ultimately desensitized the public to the point that if "everything causes" cancer then really what can we do? From there, it just seems to be ignored.

This is a near and dear issue for me as I've had friends and family struggle with cancer over the years (who hasn't?) Some were successful, like my aunt and uncle who over the years both developed and subsequently beat it! Some were not successful - like my best friend in junior high, the kid that sat behind me in Grade 11 French class, my grandfather....

Anyway - when I see the pain in people's faces as they deal with this - whether it is a personal battle against the disease, or trying to support someone going thru it, it really makes me wonder.

I was talking with another business owner at the Chamber on Thursday - she runs a business offering a "chemical free alternative" for cleaning your house. Instead of sprays and harsh chemicals, she shows people how to eliminate the need and use natural products and water. Personally, our business removes the chlorine from the entire home's water supply. We also remove chemicals and allergy triggers from the air we breathe, as well as sanitizing surfaces and protecting them from mold, bacterial and viral infection.

I will argue strongly that chlorine is necessary for the safe delivery of water to a home, but once it is delivered, the chlorine does nothing but harm - people usually think about the effects of drinking it, but that's only a small portion of chlorine absorption. It is absorbed thru the skin directly in the bath and shower (and TEN TIMES more than what you'd get drinking your 8 glasses a day to boot!)

Then there is the most-dangerous form - inhaled chlorine. This is when the chlorine aerosolizes in the shower, bathtub, doing laundry, washing dishes by hand or machine... We also remove the byproducts of disinfection - something that has been even more-strongly linked to cancer than the chlorine itself.

The food we eat is highly-processed. The soils are depleted of nutrients to the extent that today's foods have less than 1/2 the nutrient content of foods grown 50 years ago. We have been spraying with fertilizers, pesticides, selective herbicides (Monsanto is probably the scariest company I've ever heard of!)

The air we breathe has never been more polluted. Whatever side of the "greenhouse gas issue" you sit on, I think we can all agree that global warming/climate change aside, pollution is "BAD" and it affects the air we breathe.

Just two weeks ago, we learned that Cheerios (and subsequently all "O's" style cereals) have trisodium phosphate (TSP) in them - that is a cleaning product used to prep walls for painting - but apparently that's in what the government calls an "allowable range" under their guidelines. (Why we have a "safe limit" for how much industrial solvent is permitted in the food we eat is beyond me.)

This reminds me of the original (hmm - ok, I think it was the second) Batman movie - the one with Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Joker attempted to poison society by adding chemicals to products the public used every day. No single one in particular would do anything noticeable, but when used in combination, they were deadly - I clearly remember the news anchors in the movie who then weren't showering, shaving, wearing make-up, etc. Funny how life imitates art! This is exactly what's going on with the chemicals and poisons the government allows in our daily lives.

This is one of the reasons Carri and I have chosen to live a cleansing lifestyle. We have to submit to some of these pollutants getting into our bodies. I have purified air and water in the home, we cook our own meals from scratch, we don't use any chemical-based cleaning products - everything in our home is "green" in that respect - but I can't purify the air outside, I need to drive in traffic, I eat at networking mixers and social functions and have to stay in hotels with untreated water, etc. Its impossible to completely avoid all this, but cleansing allows us to shed them from our bodies and ensure that perfect nutrients are available for cellular repair and replacement. (It also has led to my losing 35 pounds - so there goes another long-term risk factor!)

So what happens when we live in these toxic environments? All these pollutants link together, react and our bodies eventually shut down! Polluted air, spraying our bodies with chemicals and byproducts, eating nutrient-depleted foods laced with solvents, fertilizers and pesticides - eventually the body just has to give up. I mean really, are we trying to kill ourselves???

That's where the whole topic of "social engineering" came up last night. We started wondering if all these chemicals and poisons are "allowed" for exactly this reason. If we're all living longer, eventually something has to kill us. Are all these environmental poisons "permitted" just so that we will actually succumb to something? Is it governmentally-intended that we all get cancer and die?

In the US, healthcare and "big pharma" are bigger industries than energy! This isn't an accident. There are lobbyists to convince (buy) government support for smoking, drug use, chemicals and steroids in our foods, poisons like fluoride, chlorine and ammonia added to the water supply.

I can't say that I have an answer or am even qualified to comment on it, but it sure sounds like a good question. The evidence certainly does support it. When there are government approved levels for poisons in our food, water and air, then I guess it certainly at least has to be asked!

Talking with my colleague that runs the "anti chemical" company, she shares a common frustration with me. Its easy to see these things are all bad for you, but no-one seems to want to do anything about it. They label the very people trying to help as "radicals" and return to the ostrich position - burying their head in the sand, then weeping and sobbing when they get cancer and start to get sick. THEN they see the light, but unfortunately, for many, its already too late.

The World Health Organization is predicting a 50% increase in cancer rates by 2020. The American Cancer Society tells us that our risk of developing cancer is one in three over a lifetime.

Does this surprise anyone? No - but does anyone want to do anything to avoid being part of these morbid statistics? Maybe - some do. For them, it takes some new knowledge and some lifestyle changes. They are not difficult changes, but they are conscious ones. It requires taking an inventory of your lifestyle and honestly looking at where your risks are.

Is it the air? The water? The food? Do we actually get around to exercising? What products do we use in our homes on a daily basis? A great example is the chemical misting devices that have either a timer or a motion sensor to apply a dose of toxic chemicals on a continual basis - all in the name of "fragrance"! Are you kidding me?!!?!? The company then has the nerve to close their tv ads with "SC Johnson, A FAMILY COMPANY" A very nice sentiment, but SCARY! Its the everyday products like this that scare me the most - chemicals being dosed into the air we breathe under the guise of "home improvement." There are WAY more effective methods of odour elimination as well as better ways to add scents to our home. (If you like the smell of potpourri, how about using it instead of chemicals that smell like it??!?!)

All I ask here is that we, as consumers, open our eyes and start to question things we do and the way we live. We cannot assume that government is there to make sure things in our homes are safe - it just simply doesn't work that way. Like the Joker's evil plot, probably having "one" thing on the hit list in your home or daily use isn't going to be the problem - its the cumulative effect they play on our body. Sooner or later, the fatal straw is added to the camel's back and it breaks. That friends, is how we voluntarily let cancer into our lives.