BNI Business Power Network uses “Survivor Fiji” to grow chapter – by Brittany Helton, Ollis & Co.

Much like the hit TV show Survivor, where contestants are thrown into the jungle to face many challenges and oppositions, we as professionals face many challenges we have to “survive” every day.  To begin this game, separate your chapter into teams, or “tribes”.  Make sure to mix it up to help form some new bonds or alliances between members who don’t normally get a chance to mingle. Below are some example names you could use for the tribes. They are Fijian words with a BNI connection when translated to English:Survivor Fiji - Vulagi Tribe

Mana – “Power”  Working in power teams.
Tauvu -“Sharing”  Giving referrals to chapter members.
Curu – “Enter”   The door!  Attendance is important to your chapter’s success.
Vulagi -“Visitor”   Invite visitors to the chapter.
Voli Taka – “Passing Money”  As in Show Me The Money — the reason we’re all here!

Each tribe nominated a tribe leader, who was responsible for adding up the total points their tribe earned each week; we tracked them on a dry erase board at the front of the room.  The team in the lead each week got possession of our traveling Immunity Idol, which came with a very special privilege:  that tribe was allowed to steal 15 points from any other tribe, and add them to their total score.
Just like the real game of Survivor, we added some interesting twists.  If you were absent without a substitute, your team had to deduct 15 points from their score that week.  To make the competition fierce, if a tribe member converted a visitor to a new member, the new member joined that tribe, so some tribes grew larger than others — giving them an additional advantage.
Survivor Fiji - Tribe Table CardWe assigned points to behaviors that strengthened the chapter, and to BNI key success factors. The point system was distributed to the chapter on cards that fit neatly into the front cover of our BNI card holders. This photo shows an example created by our chapter’s graphic designer, but your group can create their own variations with tweaks on the rules if needed and your own chapter name.  Click HERE for a link to the game cards.
Our education coordinator introduced and led the game, which ran for 8 weeks. It was a really fun competition that turned out to have great results for our group. Not only did we “survive”, this game helped our chapter THRIVE!
Good Luck!
– Brittany Helton, Ollis & Company