Please contact director@jciimpact.org.uk if you would like to join. We still have place for more people!

All the best,

Conference Organising Committee

Registration for the JCI UK National Convention, including National Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on the HMS President, is closing on 16 November.  Sign up now to make sure you do not miss out on this fantastic event!

Ever made a decision at the last minute that turned out to be one of the best things you’ve ever done? I know I have. Sometimes you discover new opportunities around the corner and you just must grab them. Life is fantastic and we all have the right to be happy and enjoy ourself.

Yesterday I was invited for lunch with former JCI London members and presidents at the Guildhall in London. It was fantastic to see that they still keep in touch 30-40 years beyond their JCI membership. It was truly inspiring to listen to the history and Solveig Malvik and I told them about what is happening in JCI UK today.

To go to this lunch was a last minute decision, I am very busy producing a film at the moment, but I decided that I can’t do much about what’s happening in the edit suit. Off I went, and I am very happy I did. We met amazing people and got a deeper understanding of the power of networking.

The last weekend of November we will gather together in London meet, greet and celebrate an outstanding year. Join us and grow your personal network. It might change your life!?

Cheers Sofie

Over the past two weekends I have travelled to Belgium and Ireland to attend the two countries’ National Conventions.  During these fantastic events I have:

- Experienced a walking tour of the picturesque city of Mechelen

- Watched JCI London President Solveig Malvik giving an emotional and inspiring speech about the Staines Memorial Award

- Dressed up in my finest pshcyodelic outfit for a 70s party and kareoke night

- Taken part in a tripartite debating competition (the topic of our round being “Abba should reunite immediately and go on a world tour”).

- Learned a lot about myself and others whilst having lots of fun in an extremely interactive and practical task-orientated training session on team styles.

The highlight of the conventions for me was being able to get to know JCI members throughout all of these great activities.  The JCI UK National Convention will be another fantastic opportunity to interact with JCI friends, both old and new – we hopefully convinced many of the Belgium and Ireland convention delegates to come to London in November!

Sarah Beckwith

Convention Director

Today is last day for early bird for JCI UK National Convention.

Join us for a great weekend in London! 

Interview with Key Note Speaker Richard Mullender
 
Richard Mullender is a former Scotland Yard hostage negotiator and Lead Trainer at the National Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. Richard has taught staff at the UN security forces in Afghanistan, FBI agents and the Metropolitan Police.
Richard will be the Key Note speaker on Friday the 26th of November.

How do you describe yourself and your expertise?
I would describe myself as a communications trainer committed to helping people listen better so they can really understand each others needs and worries.

You are a former hostage negotiator, what does that really mean?
Hostage negotiation deals mainly with people in crisis such as suicide interventions domestic sieges and occasionally crimes gone wrong and international kidnaps.

Our role is to understand the needs of the person in crisis and then help them find ways to get their needs met without hurting themselves or any other people.

Communication is a very important skill for everyone. And people make mistakes everyday, we can all be better at communicating.

What’s your best communication tips for people in everyday situations?
- Stop believing you know what they are going through
- Really listen to what they are saying.
- Listen for their values and beliefs and stop trying to empathise
- We all have our unique model of our world and we must listen carefully to understand the person we are communicating with.

I just read this article by Jack Canfield, famous leadership author. This kind of problems seem to be common all over the world. I would like to remind you to show appreciation to the people around you over the next couple of weeks. You say something positive, something nice comes in return.

A recent management study revealed that 46% of employees leaving a company do so because they feel unappreciated; 61% said their bosses don’t place much importance on them as people; and 88% said they don’t receive acknowledgement for the work they do.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, manager, teacher, parent, coach or simply a friend, if you want to be successful with other people, you must master the art of appreciation.

I’ve never known anyone to complain about receiving too much positive feedback. Have you? In fact, just the opposite is true.
Consider this: Every year, a management consulting firm conducts a survey with 200 companies on the subject on what motivates employees. When given a list of 10 possible things that would most motivate them, the employees always list appreciation as the number-one motivator.

Managers and supervisors ranked appreciation number eight. This is a major mismatch, as the chart below so clearly shows.

Notice that the top three motivators for employees don’t cost anything, just a few moments of time, respect and understanding.

Read the full article

I think John Cleese would have loved to be a Member of JCI. Read his thoughts about creativity!

“We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned.

Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful.

If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies. When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don’t waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the “closed” mode.

But the moment the action is over, try to return to the “open” mode—to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.”

- John Cleese

Hi, I recently read two articles about networking and why being member of an organisation as JCI can be good for your career.

To sum up: Active participation helps you to develop yourself and your network. It will give you new opportunities in life, which most of us want?! More and better opportunities will help us when we want to improve things about us, am I right?

Read: Why participating in professional organizations sharpens career skills
http://www.unlimitedmagazine.com/2010/09/how-to-learn-without-trying/#ixzz0zy2tCOZQ

In the FT: When networking, think quality, not quantity
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4579732-aae7-11df-9e6b-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

One question many new JCI members ask is: How is JCI good for my career and CV?

Curriculum Vitae (CV) means ‘the course of your life’. With JCI, you can get involved in projects that will broaden your skills and improve your talents. It will help potential employers notice you and you’ll broader your network. So yes, JCI is great for both you and your resumé.

If you want to get to know other JCI members and network online join our new LinkedIn group. Here is an interesting post about “what you get our of JCI”.

I am looking forward to network and meet with all of you 26-28 November in London.

Cheers Sofie

PS. We were checking out the Gala Dinner venue yesterday. Looks fab with a view over the river

Did you know that included in the price of the JCI UK National Convention you will get:

- Dinner on Friday
- Lunch on Saturday
- Lunch on Sunday
- Welcome drink, 3 course meal, ½ bottle of wine and coffee at the Saturday gala dinner

And that’s just the food!

Traditionally in the UK there have been two big national events costing over £100 each, both held in different cities meaning members wanting to attend both would have to pay registration, travel and accommodation for both. By having just one event you will only need to pay one set of costs. The convention is slightly more expensive than one of the past events, however, the weekend will be longer with many more activities packed in.

We have already booked 6 brilliant speakers and trainers and there will be more to follow. We estimate that if you attended all of the training sessions we have planned you could log up to 12 hours of CPD across the whole weekend.

There will be more choice, with different sessions happening at the same time so you can choose what to participate in according to your personal interests.

Lots of national sessions, plus a trade show to showcase local chamber activities are planned to maximise networking between chambers and sharing of best practice.

This is THE national event of the year and a great opportunity to catch up with other members and celebrate everything great we have achieved in JCI UK this year. Early bird registration ends on 30 September, so sign up now: http://www.jciimpact.eventbrite.com

It is now just three months to go until National Convention. The team is working hard and we’ve had some great new members join the COC recently and get stuck straight in.

More exciting developments regarding the gala venue and trainers will be announced shortly.