C (2:42)

We won is called the most people attending a Business speed Networking Event. And Yeah, we achieved 1108 in Sydney, New South Wales on 20 November 2025. That's the official that's what it says on the official certificate.

B (3:03)

Yeah. And, and so this is official where BNI is a Guinness World Record holding company. And I thought you were crazy when you told me you were going to do this. I thought you were absolutely crazy. And let me just officially say I was wrong. You were right. And well done, Frederick. I'm very impressed.

C (3:27)

Thank you. It was a thrill. It was a big thrill to achieve that because as you know, Ivan, nothing worthwhile is easy.

B (3:38)

That's for sure. Yeah. So why did you want to go after the Guinness World Record?

C (3:43)

Well, I was with my marketing director and we were going over her focus areas and, and my focus areas. And as you know, Ivan, you know, BNI is sometimes the world's best known marketing secret. And you know, we wanted to make the most of everyone coming to Australia for the global convention. And we were just brainstorming and I said to Heather, Heather, you know, it'd be great if we could do a Guinness World Record or something, but for some reason I thought that Guinness didn't like it when this happened in conjunction with a conference of some kind. And she challenged me on that. And next thing you know, we were seriously considering it. But the reason, I guess, other than brand recognition and all that, as you know, Ivan, a lot of people in the world today don't know what networking is. I mean, believe it or not, you know, a lot of people still think networking is selling and that bothers me. And we really wanted to get the message out there, especially in the context of today where there's AI everywhere, people are afraid. It's, it's a big change. And I feel human connection is more.

B (5:08)

Important than ever, isn't it?

C (5:10)

Absolutely. I feel that, you know, human connection is amplified by, by networking and, and therefore I feel that BNI in the future is going to be even more important because people are going to, going to value human connection even more when there's going to be all this AI around us.

B (5:28)

Yeah. You know, I read a book many, many, many, many years ago, Megatrends by John Nesbitt. He contributed to a book I wrote called Masters of Networking. And he said we're moving into a high tech, high touch society that the more technologically advanced we become, the more important it is to have a connection with people. And we've arrived. We are absolutely there. He wrote that in the 80s and he.

C (5:48)

Wow.

B (5:48)

Boy, he had a crystal ball when he said that one. So let me ask you a question. Did anything happen during the attempt that surprised you or was unexpected?

C (5:58)

Oh, okay. Well, everything that we, as you can imagine, we sat down and we thought, okay, what can go wrong? And everything that we thought of that could go wrong went wrong. And it wasn't just wrong. It was just like the worst possible scenario materialized. And so, just for the record, I.

B (6:23)

Didn'T witness that and I was there. So you covered it up really well.

C (6:28)

Well, we were. So the first thing that happened, that happened, that was really unexpected was that the room looked empty. And in that, Brian, the adjudicator from Guinness World Records said to me, frederick, I'm a little bit nervous. And I went, okay, yeah, me too. Anyway, but what happened then was teamwork. I have an amazing team of executive directors. They had their directors lined up, they moved the room in their seats. We had 18 zones organized rows of four rows, you know, groups of four rows with 20 plus people. Because you see, the challenge was that we needed to do 20 plus rounds. Every single person needed to do 20 plus rounds of 3 minutes of speed networking. And that was a big challenge to make sure that everybody could fit that in in the time that we had. And, and it worked.

B (7:25)

It worked. But you ran into some problems, which I think, here's, here's the lesson I think that we can share is that Murphy's Law, what can go wrong will go wrong. And the more you're prepared for what can go wrong, the more likely you are to be successful. Have you ever heard Meisner's corollary to Murphy's Law?

C (7:43)

Tell me.

B (7:44)

It's a two part corollary. First part A is Murphy was an optimist. Part B is what can't go wrong will go wrong. And I've tried to live by that, to prepare myself for what can go wrong or can't go wrong. And you guys clearly did both because it came together despite all of the challenges that you, that you talked about.

C (8:12)

There absolutely came together. We did over 20,000 rounds of one to ones in under 90 minutes.

B (8:20)

That's amazing, just amazing. All right, so you've accomplished this world record. What now? What do you want to do next?

C (8:26)

Well, look, it's clear, it's clear that speed networking is popular. Okay? We've, we've been doing speed networking events face to face. We've been doing them online. It's a big thing. And now that we are the Guinness World Record holder, we can get even more people interested in, in, in, in, in us helping them enhance their events. And so every single executive director in Australia has a world record, you know, certificate and you know, they're Going to go out to business associations, to our, our alliance partners. We have over 200 organizations in Australia, Ivan, that have three or more members of, of BNI in the, you know, in our community. And so we're going to work with those people and enhance their conferences. You know, just, just, just. Yeah, speed networking is, is actually very powerful and the way that we do it. Using the gains exchange.

B (9:31)

Yes.

C (9:32)

Is a secret sauce.

B (9:35)

Yeah. I've got a little speed networking gains exchange card I'm happy to send you if you'd like.

C (9:40)

Oh, please do.

B (9:42)

And I know you can get COP award, the Guinness Award when we're offline. I need to find out how to get one because I want to put one up in my office. Even though I said I thought you were crazy for doing this, I'm gone on record saying I was wrong. You were crazy smart for doing this.

C (9:58)

Well, thank you. And one's on its way, Ivan. Don't worry about that. There's one on its way. I'm excited to share that and I want everyone to know, everyone in the world to know. I mean look, Guinness World Record is a, is a very well known brand. As you know, if you're a Guinness World Record holder, you're the best. Well, guess what? We are the best in networking. That's it. And you know, we need to associate ourselves with this brand that people recognize to help us with brand recognition.

B (10:29)

Well, everyone listening to this podcast just know that we bni because of Frederick and his team are now a Guinness World Record holding organization at networking. And Frederick, I appreciate you so much. Any last thought before we wrap up here?

C (10:44)

Well, let's get out there and do more networking. The world needs networking more today than ever before and I'm really proud of my team and everyone. So Wendy Lloyd Curley was the MC together with Alvin and without them and Heather and Abby Sequeira, we would never have been able to accomplish this. So I thank them very, very much.

B (11:10)

Well, I appreciate them. I appreciate you and I'm really excited that we got this. Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you at the next international convention, my friend. And almost 20 years now, right?

C (11:23)

Absolutely. Ivan in Panama in 2027. I'll be there collecting my 20 year anniversary pin.

B (11:30)

I want to be the one to give it to you. So you tell the team Ivan wants to give this to me.

C (11:35)

Thank you so much.

B (11:37)

Got it. All right, thank you, Frederick. Back to you, Priscilla.

A (11:41)

Okay, that was just great, Fredrik. Well, I think that's it for this week. This podcast is sponsored by MeisnerAudioPrograms.com these audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience. So check out the great material available to you@meisneraudioprograms.com and use the promo code IVAN5O for 50% off of everything. All of the proceeds go to the B and I Foundation. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the official B and I Podcast.

B (12:28)

Sam.