International Networking Day

I spent last week at the International BNI Director's Conference in Long Beach, California. One aspect that I love about these conferences is the willingness of all directors to share their ideas with one another.

Early Friday morning at about 6 AM I had a "one to one" (BNI's vernacular for a meeting between two people) with Geoff Kirkwood while we walked along the beach. Heck, I was still on EST and Geoff couldn't decide what time zone his body was in either, since he'd flown in from Australia on Sunday. Geoff is the national director for BNI/Austalia and is also a very creative person. (He's also a major flirt!) I feel very lucky to have met him at last year's conference. He is the spark behind a new BNI initiative -- International Networking Week/Day. This first ever celebration is scheduled to happen the first full week of February from this point forward. This year (2007) it will be Feb 5 - 9, with the 6th being the official networking day.

Can you imagine what could happen if groups all around the world concentrated their relationship building on that one day? Gosh, maybe leaders would actually talk with each other instead of just posturing.

If you could plan an event for this day, how would you celebrate?