BNI Tech Talks: BNI+ Putting It All Together
Session date: October 2, 2026
Presenter: Jeremy Walsh, BNI Director of Support
Series: BNI+ 107
Quick Summary
In this BNI Tech Talks session, Jeremy Walsh wraps up the BNI+ series by walking through the complete weekly meeting process, from preparation to follow-up. The session reviews checking leadership roles and member profiles, assigning helpers, preparing the agenda and presentations, confirming visitors, and testing the meeting setup—including downloading an offline backup. Jeremy also demonstrates managing attendance and making adjustments during the meeting, then preparing and sending a newsletter to keep members and visitors connected afterward. The session concludes with questions about access, regional templates, supported presentation files, and delegating responsibilities, bringing the series together into a practical routine for running chapter meetings with BNI+.
Watch the Recording
Complete Summary
This final session brings together the previous BNI+ topics in a practical walkthrough of a chapter's weekly routine. Jeremy organizes the process into five stages: getting the chapter ready, preparing the meeting, completing a final check, running the meeting, and following up afterward.
The demonstrations and answers reflect the system as presented during the October 2, 2026 recording.
How Much Preparation Time Should You Allow?
Jeremy estimates approximately one to two hours for the initial setup, particularly when a chapter is starting with BNI+ or a new leadership team wants to review every setting. Once the setup is established, routine weekly preparation should generally take around 10 to 15 minutes. The time required will depend on the chapter's content and familiarity with the system.
Preparation can be shared. Any chapter member can be assigned to help with appropriate sections of the meeting. Jeremy emphasizes that involving more members builds visibility, connection, and a sense of contribution to the chapter.
1. Get the Chapter Ready
Confirm leadership roles and access
Sign in through MyBNI and open BNI+. Review Chapter Roles to confirm that the president, vice president, secretary/treasurer, visitor hosts, education coordinator, and other positions are correct.
These role assignments come from BNI Connect and cannot be changed on the BNI+ Chapter Roles screen. Missing or incorrect assignments should be corrected in BNI Connect by the appropriate director or regional team. Jeremy describes synchronization as approximately hourly and recommends making corrections the night before the meeting, rather than a few minutes before it starts.
Review members and profiles
Open the member list and confirm that everyone who should be there is included. Increase the number of items displayed per page if needed. Open a profile and use the next-member navigation to check photographs, logos, and other profile content. Contact members with missing information so they can prepare their weekly presentation slides.
Check chapter settings and responsibilities
Review meeting times, presentation timers, section responsibilities, and newsletter recipients. Assign the people responsible for tasks such as preparing the education moment, managing featured presenters, and sending the newsletter.
Under Admin > Notifications, select an available notification and click Send Now to resend a reminder. If no person has been assigned to a task, its notification may not be available to send.
2. Prepare the Meeting
Assign helpers
Open the meeting agenda and select a section, such as Networking Education. Choose the member or members who will prepare it. Multiple helpers can share a section. Assigned helpers can receive reminders, upload presentation material, and control their portion of the meeting.
A small red person icon indicates that helpers have been assigned. Hover over it to see their names, or open it to check the prepared material. The demonstration also shows resending an education reminder after helpers have been assigned.
Review the agenda, script, and presentation content
Check the meeting agenda and script, preview individual slides, and confirm that the correct speakers and presentation files are ready. Enable or hide slides to suit the meeting format. For example, slides relating to online connections may not be needed during an in-person meeting. Add any slides required specifically for that week.
Review the home-screen sections for:
- Section speakers and featured presenters.
- Visitor information.
- Member recognition.
- Closing quote.
- Events, core values, and power teams.
Chapter performance and member recognition are separate. Chapter performance statistics synchronize from submitted PALMS reports in BNI Connect. Recognition recipients and their figures are entered manually so the chapter can recognize improvement and other contributions, as well as numerical leaders.
3. Complete the Final Preflight Check
Run a test meeting
Use Test Meeting under the delivery options to review the slide selection, script, and presentation together. Resize the columns as needed. Click through the meeting, check member photographs, and run featured speakers' uploaded presentations.
Review regional performance information as well. Regional teams maintain regional settings and Key Values; chapter performance numbers come from PALMS.
Another way to test is to open the presentation screen and meeting controller separately. Jeremy also notes that the controller can be used from a mobile phone. Confirm that each presenter understands how to take control, or arrange for the main meeting operator to advance their material.
Download an offline backup
Jeremy recommends downloading an offline copy before every meeting, particularly when the internet connection may be unreliable.
- Open Offline Meeting.
- Choose the desired format and click Generate.
- Allow time for the file to be prepared.
- Return to Offline Meeting and download the generated file.
The HTML version provides an interactive click-through experience similar to the controller. The PDF version is a flat document that can be presented page by page. Keep the downloaded file available on the device running the meeting.
4. Run the Meeting
Confirm attendance and last-minute visitors
Before starting, open the Attendance Console and mark the people who have arrived as present. Someone synchronized from BNI Connect may initially show as registered and still need attendance confirmed.
If an unregistered visitor arrives too close to the start for a BNI Connect update to synchronize, add them directly in BNI+ so they can be included in the meeting.
Synchronization is one-way from BNI Connect to BNI+. A visitor entered directly in BNI+ does not synchronize back to BNI Connect. Enter that person's information in BNI Connect separately afterward.
Manage introductions and presenter handoffs
Visitors can have an introduction slide. Substitutes speak during the represented member's weekly presentation slot, and the substitute can appear on that member's slide. During the session, Jeremy clarifies with assistance from Sean O'Hara that guests can also be configured to appear in the visitor section.
Make sure presenters are ready for their sections. If someone cannot operate the controller, the meeting operator can continue advancing the slides for them.
Make adjustments as needed
In Member Weekly Presentations, uncheck absent members so their slides are not shown. The operator can also jump between slides or skip slides that are not needed. For example, the chapter can show one performance slide during a particular meeting rather than every available reporting period.
5. Follow Up After the Meeting
Prepare and send the newsletter
Prepare the meeting newsletter while the details are fresh. It keeps members informed and provides an opportunity to thank visitors promptly.
Under Newsletter > Meeting Newsletter, work on either the meeting that just ended or the upcoming meeting. You can prepare upcoming content in advance, but you cannot work several weeks backward or forward.
- Add meeting-specific information, visitor thanks, contact details, and relevant events.
- Choose Set Newsletter Layout to add, remove, or reorder content blocks.
- Include sections such as substitutes, guests, and top performers where appropriate.
- Preview the newsletter.
- Send yourself a test to check how it looks in email.
- Select Send Newsletter, choose the intended recipients, and send.
Refresh events for the next meeting, follow up with upcoming presenters, and update helper assignments when responsibilities rotate. Jeremy describes the overall routine as prepare, present, and follow up.
Questions and Answers
Do directors need separate logins for different regions?
Use the BNI Connect account through MyBNI. Access to the relevant regions should carry through to BNI+ and the other connected platforms. The BNI Connect mobile app is downloaded and signed into separately.
Where can I find training or request help?
Use the question-mark menu in BNI+ to open Help Documentation or Submit a Request. Earlier Tech Talks provide deeper demonstrations of the topics covered in this wrap-up.
Is BNI Academy leadership training the only training required?
Check with the executive director, managing director, or area director. Local requirements may include in-person training as well as online learning.
Can several regions share a master template?
Yes. Jeremy demonstrates selecting another region as the Region Template, allowing changes to its agenda, script, and related settings to flow through to regions using it as their master.
A one-time copy is different: it copies selected settings and overwrites the destination's corresponding configuration. Use the option appropriate to whether the regions should stay linked or only receive a one-time reset. Access depends on permissions; contact support if assistance is needed.
Which presentation files are supported?
Jeremy describes support for common Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, Apple presentation/document formats, and major image formats. Uploaded presentations are flattened into static slides, so PowerPoint animations, transitions, and sequential bullet reveals do not carry through.
Who can access BNI+?
Members can access their profiles where BNI+ is available. The president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer have full chapter access by default. Open BNI+ through MyBNI.
What was shared about availability in India?
At the time of the recording, approximately 150 chapters in India were using BNI+, with expansion planned through the fourth quarter. Participants were directed to their executive director for local information.
Why might a regional team member assigned as a featured speaker not receive a notification?
An attendee reported that selecting a regional team member produced a “no future speaker assigned” message, while selecting a chapter member worked. Jeremy said the issue needed a support ticket and investigation; a resolution was not confirmed during the session.
Can a different member prepare and upload the education moment?
Yes. Open Meetings > Agenda, select Networking Education, and assign the member as a helper. Multiple helpers can be assigned.
Who corrects missing members or incorrect leadership assignments?
Roster and official role corrections generally go through the regional office and are made in BNI Connect. Authorized leadership team members can then manage the chapter's agenda, add slides, and make other meeting adjustments in BNI+.
Can this session count toward CEUs?
Jeremy invites participants to record one hour of CEU credit for attending the session, using BNI Connect or the mobile app.
Key Takeaways
- Allow time for the initial setup, then build a consistent weekly preparation routine.
- Share responsibilities with helpers and use reminders to keep preparation moving.
- Correct official roles and roster information in BNI Connect before the meeting.
- Test the agenda and presentations, and download an offline backup.
- Confirm attendance and enter last-minute visitors in BNI Connect separately if they were added directly in BNI+.
- Send the newsletter promptly and prepare the next week's presenters and helpers.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.