Blog

Well here I am again reflecting on month 2 of my presidential year and so much has already happened! If I thought January was busy, February has been a whirlwind but there is nothing more exciting than channelling passion and enthusiasm into JCI Barnsley. Our council meetings are growing in size each week, not only on the agenda but around the table with members and potential members coming to learn about us. We are also receiving very positive feedback from patrons and businesses who are following us on Twitter and LinkedIn so that is making me very happy and spurs me on.

I am also delighted and proud of the enthusiasm and involvement that our new members are having. Charlie Pearson is leading this year's Community project, Barnsley's Hidden Heroes and Oli Hyde is putting together videos of various events throughout the year to add to our website, and to act as more tools to help publicise just what JCI is.

Ian Bragger has also agreed to take on the role of Finance Director after only 5 months as a JCI member (He is an accountant after all!!). He is taking over the reins from Debbie Tills who has done an outstanding job of looking after the finances for the past 3 years and I want to say a huge thank you from all at JCI Barnsley to Debbie and a warm welcome to Ian joining us on the council team. I hope this demonstrates to those of you reading this Banter just what JCI can offer to help you develop your skills and experience.

This month the team have been building relationships with the local media, businesses and Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce. We have also been conducting an assault on the people of Barnsley via Twitter & Facebook!! I defy anyone between the ages of 20 and 40 to say they have not heard of us by December 2012. Join us on Twitter or our new fan page on Facebook to see just what we are up to.

Looking to the month ahead, the focus of March will be on 2 aspects; membership & training. We have 3 potential members ready to sign up so I look forward to announcing their arrival in next month's Banter and also a new Patron! March is an important month also as our personal development calendar kicks off. We have had 30 people reserve their place already for our Personal Development launch on March 15th. This was further publicised by Barnsley Chronicle featured a piece about our launch night and events programme as well as mentioning our great membership increase so far this year in their edition on 24th February. If you haven't reserved your place, Don't miss out, get on our Eventbrite page and reserve now, IT'S FREE!!

Roll on March, it's going to be a corker!!

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As a JCI member you never quite know what new experiences await you as you set off for an event... and last Friday night was no different!

Gemma, Charlie and I set off for Sheffield with expectations of meeting the World President, Bertolt Daems, supporting the Archer Project and watching some off the cuff public speaking (known as Extempore in JCI).

We got much more than we bargained for though! Our first task was to deliver pillows and blankets donated by the Holiday Inn Royal Victoria to the Archer Project. Squeezing ourselves and numerous bags of bedding into a little car, then trying to work out the best way to the cathedral, kicked off the night with plenty of giggles.

Once we arrived at the Archer Project we learned more about the fantastic work they do with homeless and vulnerable people in the city. To support the Archer Project, we all wore our favourite winter headwear for ‘Woolly Hat Day', an event to raise funds and awareness for the project.

After an address from the World President and some cracking pie and peas, the Extempore event kicked off to a flying start with our very own Charlie being drawn second to compete. New member Charlie hadn't even heard of this public speaking competition before, but she did us proud and gave a great performance talking about her unusual pets!

After a spot of catching up with old friends and meeting new members, we headed for home full of enthusiasm for the organisation and the opportunities it gives us to make a difference.

P.S. If you're interested, we had to stop at 33 pillows, 5 blankets, 3 Barnsley members and the Immediate Past National President!

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My first month as member!

The JCI is all about pushing your comfort zone to develop your self personally or professionally and in my first month as a member I have done just that! I have meet loads of new people, stood up to speak in front of an audience and have had crazy ideas that turned into real plans.

One main thing I have noticed this month is the willingness and trust the members of JCI Barnsley have towards a new member and their desire to get involved. After being a member for only a couple of weeks I have been able to take the lead on organising a soon to be amazing event without anyone having doubts (well none they have voiced!).

I think this shows just what an opportunity being a member of JCI Barnsley is. There are loads of different roles from local to national and I can't wait to try as many of them as possible and who knows what I'll learn along the way.

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The start to 2012 has been hectic but a brilliant start to our 60th year. We've had 4 new members join, a 200% new member increase on 2011!! I've been to Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce representative meeting telling local businesses all about JCI Barnsley and what we can offer to their staff and friends. We've also made a great connection with the Digital Media Centre in Barnsley, where one of our newest members comes from and I'm really looking forward to working with them over the coming months.

We've finalised our personal development programme for the year and have secured some fantastic trainers to help develop our members skill base. You can expect to receive training on goal setting, top 10 tips for confidence, what is networking?, how to market yourself, what is CSR?, how to make your life "lean" and presenting skills! We're particularly looking forward to welcoming Kate Senter, James Alcock and Dan Senter, JCI Sheffield members who are JCI trainers at the very start of their JCI training lives.

We've also been gathering ideas for our social events and these will include bowling, self defence training, an Easter themed event, clay pigeon shooting and fencing! Plus there will be the usual pub get togethers, meals out and the pub/quiz crawl in the summer. Never let it be said JCI Barnsley are not a social bunch!

2012 is all about spreading the JCI Barnsley word, raising our profile in the area and building a better person for the future. We'll be highly active on Twitter (jci_barnsley), Linkedin and Facebook this year so if you are using any of these social media sites, please connect with us. We've even created a new Facebook page so please come over and have a look, "like" us and share with all your friends.

I couldn't have wished for a better start to the year, I have a feeling the rest of the year is going to be just as good! 45 members left to find to hit our 60 target for the year!!!

Miss it, Miss out!!

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Meet JCI Barnsley Finance Director Debbie Tills who has been a member for 7 years!

What made you join JCI?

I joined JCI Barnsley in 2005 when I started working in Barnsley. It was my first ‘proper job' after leaving university and I wanted to improve my confidence, business skills and social network. My membership has delivered all these things, an much more!

How has JCI helped your finance skills?

I'm not a big fan of numbers, but I do like a good spreadsheet, so being Finance Director allows me to keep our income and expenditure on track against our budget and ensure that we use our funds to ensure our members get the most out of belonging to our Chamber.

You have attended many international events, what do you get from an international event that is different from simply being a local member?

JCI helps you to build your network, by attending events outside Barnsley you get to meet more people, which open up many more opportunities. So far my involvement in JCI has taken me up and down the country and beyond to Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Latvia and Cataluña.

What is your favourite JCI memory?

One day at the European Conference sums up everything great that JCI has to offer - in the space of 24 hours I had made it through the European Debating final with fellow Yorkshire President's Emma and Lisa; welcomed UK National President, Charlie Best's husband Andrew to the city after his epic cycle ride from Doncaster, raising funds for Nothing But Nets on the way; been sightseeing with friends; and finally had an amazing time at the German night party held in one of the famous baths. How will I ever top that?

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