JCI Leeds's blog | Read the latest updates here

Fashion Bites Back - Update

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:47:13 +0000

So it’s now August and I am currently sitting at home listening to some funky African music, feeling very excited about the Fashion Bites Back event, which will take place on Saturday the 8^th of October at Northern Ballet. The JCI Leeds Community event planning team are having so much fun organising this charity project and I am pleased to report that plans are going very well. There has been a huge interest in the event and we are already close to selling out of the VIP tickets.

I don’t really know where to start with this update as so much has happened since I last wrote about the event, but firstly we are delighted to announce that Gavin Mintus has agreed to present Fashion Bites Back, Gavin currently works for the BBC and has a whole host of presenting experience. We are also very excited that Gwenny Rose Robson will be opening the show with a contemporary dance performance, which will be inspired by African rhythms. In addition, we have recently welcomed Penny Wood to the team. Penny is an incredibly talented and experienced choreographer and will be using her expertise to help the models perfect their walk on the catwalk.

The designers are now at the stage where they have been working on their garments for a number of months and we are all so excited about seeing the finished collections. In particular, while visiting Bozena Carter’s shop at Bird’s Yard in Leeds last week, I was lucky to get a glimpse of a netted garment that she is making for the event. I am not going to spoil the surprise by telling you more about the garment, but I will say that it is stunning and you won’t want to miss out on seeing these incredible designs. Make sure you join us on the night to experience our designer’s ideas, sketches and fabrics come to life in these beautiful creative garments.

All profits from the event will go towards the United Nations Foundations Nothing But Nets campaign, which helps to protect families in Africa from malaria through the distribution of bed nets. So by attending this event you will be supporting a very important cause and helping to save lives.

To book your ticket for the event just visit the Northern Ballet website at http://northernballet.com/boxoffice/booknow3a.aspx?PerfID=153. We will look forward to seeing you there for what promises to be a night of fantastic entertainment.

See you there!

Georgie x

Georgina Abbott

JCI Leeds Community Director

Fashion Bites Back

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:30:37 +0000

Fashion Bites Back!

This year JCI Leeds is continuing to support the United Nation Foundation’s Nothing But Nets malaria campaign.

On Saturday the 8^th of October JCI Leeds will host Fashion Bites Back, a charity fashion show that will raise awareness and funs to help eradicate malaria by sending bet nets to Africa. We have a fantastic community team working on this project and I thought I would update you on some of our progress and successes so far………

Last Saturday the community team interviewed a number of fashion designers who are interested in showcasing their designs at the show. We were all blown away by their talent and creativity and can’t wait to see the designs on the catwalk. The designers will be showcasing a collection of garments that will be modelled with African style make-up and they will also be creating a netted garment, which will fit perfectly with the theme of the event.

We will be hosting a model casting day on the 30^th of June. If you are interested in modelling at Fashion Bites Back or you would like more details about this, please contact Janita at janitakajese@googlemail.com, our model casting manager.

We will also be holding a raffle on the night and we have already secured some amazing prizes, including a little black dress donated by French Connection UK, and ESPA body massage courtesy of the Academy Spa in Harrogate and £100 of vouchers to spend in NEXT. Stay tuned for more exciting prizes to follow.

Our website will be going live shortly and if you would like to register your interest please visit http://fashionbitesback.com/

I will look forward to writing again soon with more of our community news.

Georgie x

So what happened in May (and the start of June!)

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 11:16:26 +0000

Another exciting month in world of JCI Leeds!

Great Bar of the Month at Mojo at the start of May! I remember when I used to live in Manchester and attending the Mojo there. Great music, beers, great nights! Attending Mojo in Leeds was a chance to relive that spend some time catching up with friends .

We had a very well attended training session on Emotional Intelligence presented by local businessman Richard Norman (of Brand Yorkshire, Recruitment 200 and The Commerce Intelligence Group to name but a few) who has been very supportive of JCI Leeds.

We also had our first business tour which was of Drax Power Station. Nearly 20 people attended what was an insightful and educational tour of the biggest coal-fired power plant in the UK and which currently provides 7% of the UK’s electricity (see! I was listening!)

There was June’s Bar of the Month at Wardrobe which was another social highlight but I had to miss it sadly...because I was at the JCI European Conference!

This was my first European Conference and it did not disappoint! 1,700 attendees flocked to Tarragona in Catalonia to hear speakers, take part in training, sight see and, most importantly, PARTY!

Considering yours truly had put himself forward as the person to help lead the UK delegates to the after parties I obviously had to partake in the various social events that happened (would be rude not too!).

The Belgians and Germans knew how to throw a party and a particular highlight was the UK being clapped in by the Germans when we arrived doing a conga!

The highlight of the trip has to be that JCI Leeds won two European Awards! Immediate Past President of JCI Leeds Claire Dempster won best local president of a medium sized chamber in Europe and our Nothing But Nets Calendar won a UN Millennium Goals award! Well, we certainly celebrated! Not only that but JCI Scotland also won two awards making it a great night for all! : ) Now for World Congress in Brussels! : )

So what happened in April?

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 11:17:07 +0000

It’s been another busy month for JCI Leeds!

We had a great Bar of the month at Distrikt where we had huge turnout of members and non-members.

I then attended JCI Cambridge’s Business Skills Day which was followed by President’s and Deputies Day. At the National Council Meeting, JCI Yorkshire’s bid to host the JCI National Conference was approved and Solveig Mlvik was also voted in as Deputy National President of JCI UK.

The following weekend the JCI Scotland National Conference in Aberdeen. Fantastic event with a great turnout from the Yorkshire regions. As always, the Scottish hospitality was amazing.

The training session for the month was Extempore (off the cuff public speaking) where Emma Eastwood (Past of JCI Leeds) delivered the training. A great deal of fun was had by all!

24 April was Global Malaria Day and you should have received our save the date email for our “Fashion Bites Back” Charity Fashion Show which aims to raise funds for Nothing But Nets.

Membership engagement project - first team meeting!

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:20:50 +0000

This evening JCI Leeds members Alex Byers, Peter Barnes, Hazel Kajase and myself (Claire Dempster!) who recently attended JCI UK's Marketing Academy shared with Ryan Webster (Marketing Director), Brandina Kajase (Membership Director) and Michael Best (Membership team) what we learnt with respect to membership engagement with a view to developing further information that chambers throughout the UK could use locally.

Over many cups of tea and the odd chocolate chip cookie we looking at some of the excellent examples of new member packs already being used by local chambers, including JCI Sheffield and JCI Manchester, and the new member welcome letter sent by JCI UK National President, Allison Cowell.

We thought a useful starting point for this project would be to map out the journey that a potential member takes from first hearing about JCI to joining and then becoming a full member. This then helped us to identify when and how we should communicate with our members to help them to get the most out of their membership.

We've all taken away tasks to follow-up on and we look forward to sharing our findings back with JCI UK and other chambers - wouldn't it be great to produce something that all chambers could use, so we can concentrate on getting out there to engage with our members!!

Finally.....JCI is run by its members, for its members so if you're reading this and have any good ideas about how we could engage with our members then get in touch (membership@jcileeds.org.uk) or post a comment below.

Leeds socialites hit Distrikt

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:06:46 +0000

Social directors Louise French and Dan Taylor organised another fabulous 'Bar of the Month' last night in Distrikt bar. Members and a hand full of new faces turned up after a hard day in the office to meet friends and do a bit of informal networking....it had nothing to do with the 2-4-1 cocktails, honest!

It was great to meet first timers from one of our corporate partners KPMG, Morgans City Living, Lucy Walker Recruitment and HSBC - they seemed to really enjoy the event and we hope to see them again soon.

A great night was had by all, including Debbie Tills and Gemma Fletcher, past presidents of JCI Barnsley (and members of JCI UK National Board), who also popped in say hello!

Rumour has it that we'll be bringing back the cocktail making at the next 'Bar of the Month' so watch this space for more information!

So what happened in March?

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 11:18:12 +0000

It’s been another busy month for JCI Leeds this month.

So what’s been happening?

First, there was Bar of the Month at BRB. Great turnout with a private room. The cocktails and the pizza were flowing!

Next there was JCI Presenter at The Mint Hotel. For those who do not know, Presenter is a course to help develop your public speaking skills and we had 10 JCI members taking including Sheffield’s Deputy President and a new member of JCI London. A great day was had by all with everyone delivering a great presentation at the end. Thanks again to Emma Eastwood and Adam Woodhall for their excellent training.

We then had our second training event of the year which was Top of The Tree Leadership Training delivered by David Marsh of The Blue Water Partnership. Wrigleys Solicitors very kindly providing the venue for the event. Insightful session which generated a lot of discussion.

I attend Regional Forum in Bradford which is the gathering of the local presidents from Yorkshire to discuss their chambers, events and regional events. A large part of the evening was spent working on JCI Yorkshire’s bid for JCI UK National Convention which will be submitted this weekend. If any JCI Leeds members are interested in being on the committee, please do get in touch.

The JCI UK Marketing Academy is taking place this weekend. Sadly, I could not attend but JCI Leeds are being very well presented by member Hazel Kajese. I will be attending JCI Barnsley President Vicky Savage’s birthday celebrations this evening though.

Business lecture

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:36:13 +0000

Great first planning meeting for the business lecture tonight led my Michael Best, JCI Leeds Secretary.

Lots of ideas (which are top secret fror now!) but it promises to be a great event!

Also good to see two very new members wanting to get involved which is fantastic.

What a great Past Presidents' Dinner

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:33:27 +0000

Myself and some of my fellow directors attended the Past Presidents’ Dinner last night at Moortown Golf Club.

We’re very lucky in Leeds as we are probably the only chamber in the UK where the current President gets to meet the Past Presidents to update them about the running of organisation.

Yesterday was a unique dinner as it open to my whole council team and we had a great turnout.

It was a fun night but very educational too as we heard some great stories about the history of JCI Leeds.

A good time was had by all!

Past Presidents' Dinner

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:05:15 +0000

Hi all

Just finished my speech for the Past Presidents’ Dinner tomorrow.

JCI Leeds has a great tradition where every year, once a quarter, the president of JCI Leeds is invited to a dinner to speak to the Past Presidents of JCI Leeds about what is happening with the organisation.

It’s a great means to maintain a relationship and contact with presidents past and allows you to really appreciate the history behind JCI Leeds. The past presidents are very supportive and I’m looking forward to it!

This particular dinner is quite special because, for the first time, the dinner has been opened up so that my respective directors can also attend.

Wish me luck!

January is already over? How has February started?

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:55:10 +0000

With a bang actually! I was fortunate enough to be a top a table guest of Richard Kerr, outgoing JCI Glasgow Chair, at JCI Glasgow’s 74th Colquhoun Dinner.

JCI Glasgow is a twin of JCI Leeds (with JCI St. Louis, JCI Dortmund and JCI Dublin being the others).

It was an amazing night held at the magnificent Trades Hall. I met some great and very high profile people from Glasgow and the food and drink flowed. The Scots certainly know how to through a party! I was given the honour of giving the Loyal Toast (a JCI Tradition where you toast the Queen).

The next day I was treated to a traditional Scottish fry up for breakfast, followed by a tour of the Auchentoshan Whiskey Distillery which was then followed by a very large lunch at Cottiers. The Scottish hospitality is unmatched and it was a very memorable weekend.

Thanks again to Richard and his girlfriend Jacqui for taking care of me over the weekend.

Having visited Edinburgh last months, Glasgow this month and Aberdeen to follow at the Scottish National Conference in April, Scotland is my second home! : )

January round up from the President

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:33:50 +0000

Well, well, well what a start to the year!

I’m already exhausted but having fun!

Things kicked off on 3 January 2011 with a further planning meeting (I know, we met on the Bank Holiday!). Very positive meeting with great energy and enthusiasm for the year ahead.

Being President of JCI Leeds did not really hit home until my first council meeting on 11 January 2011. Working through the agenda, approving the last set of minutes, running through the actions, getting the updates from my team...thought it went well for a first go!

On 15 January 2011, my team took part in JCI Discover at the Mint Hotel who very kindly provided us with a room. JCI Discover is a JCI course designed to give members new and old a good grounding in what JCI is. It was a great teambuilding exercise which ended up with a quiet drink at the Granary Lounge bar after.

Friday 21 January 2011 was JCI Barnsley’s Annual Dinner. I was a top table guest of outgoing President Gemma Fletcher and being my first official engagement, I got to wear the presidential chain! Needless to say, many drinks ensued and a fun night was had by all. I later retired to my executive suite (which was amazing and only £25 for the night with a huge Yorkshire sized fry up the next morning!).

The breakfast certainly helped wake me up and boy did I need it for the mammoth journey to Edinburgh for the Burns Supper that evening. Cab to the station, then train, then (delayed) coach and then finally the train to Edinburgh. My travel companion (JCI Aberdeen President Steve Wilson) and I were very fashionably late but I got to wear my chain again, eat some Haggis and enjoy a Ceilidh dance. Needless to say, the night carried on into the early hours. The Scots, very much like the good folk of Barnsley, know how to throw a party!

The biggie this month was our Launch Event on 27 January 2011 at the Mint Hotel in the Granary Lounge. Thanks again to Mint Hotel for their support. We had just under 50 people attend. There were lots of new faces all interested in learning about JCI Leeds and we must have impressed as we had nine people join up the night! Again, there was great buzz and energy in the room and people had a great time! I was very pleased with the event and all the hard work that my team had put in in preparation and on the night itself.

The night also saw the debut of our revamped quarterly newsletter. This first edition was kindly sponsored by printers Kall Kwik Leeds Pavilion so thank you. Members should now also have received their copy.

Friday 28 January 2011 was the JCI London Annual Dinner at the House of Lords! Very swish indeed! Yorkshire were well represented and another fun night was had by all. Although we had to drag ourselves out of bed the next day, we got to Reading to enjoy Inspiration Day (JCI UK’s first national event of the year). Inspirational speakers, a treasure hunt (with my team being one of three teams tied for first place but losing out in the tie break) plus a few words from me were then capped off with a nice meal and some 80s music in the evening. An Inspirational weekend!

Anil Champaneri
President
JCI Leeds

JCI Leeds member survey 2011

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:46:09 +0000

JCI Leeds is a membership organisation, run by its members...for its members! The 2011 team have put together a short survey for you to participate in and help us establish why you joined JCI Leeds (or are thinking about joining), which events you would most like to attend and how we can best communicate with you regarding future events and projects.

If you provide your name and email address you will be entered into our free prize draw to win a place at our next training events for the next three months.

Take the survey >>

Many thanks,

Anil Champaneri
President
JCI Leeds

Happy New Year from Anil Champaneri, 2011 President of JCI Leeds

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:06:47 +0000

2010 was a great and successful year for JCI Leeds under the leadership of outgoing President Claire Dempster. I personally had a fantastic time attending the European Academy in Sweden, organising the Annual Business Lecture, posing naked for a calendar, travelling to Japan for the World Congress and attending the UK National Conference in London (where I captained the winning team at the National Debating competition!) to name but a few things!

I'm very much looking forward to my year as president of JCI Leeds this year but was does 2011 bring? First and foremost will be our launch event which will be held at the Mint Hotel (formally City Inn) on Thursday 27th January 2011. This will be a fantastic opportunity for members and non-members to learn a little about JCI Leeds, meet the council team, find out about upcoming JCI Leeds events and share a drink. Everyone is welcome.

Our business events are being revamped to make them different and a little bit unique. More details to follow! We’re also going to be a bit more social this year so on top of our usual bars of the months, we’ll be looking to organise bigger group events. I am also introducing a chance for businesses and individuals to become patrons of JCI Leeds. This will give current members the opportunity to represent JCI Leeds at international events.

There is also another large scale Nothing But Nets project in the pipeline which will be taking the work done for our calendar to another level. I’m also hoping to take large contingent from Leeds to both the JCI European Conference in Tarragona, Cataluña (cocktails on the beach!) and the JCI World Congress in Brussels, Belguim.

So where will you find more information? On our brand spanking new website launching later this month. Watch this space!

I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can during the course of what will be an exciting and no doubt memorable year!

Anil Champaneri
President
JCI Leeds

Christmas message from Claire Dempster, 2010 President of JCI Leeds

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:39:31 +0000

It has been another successful year for JCI Leeds and it has been a great honour for me to lead the 2010 team. JCI Leeds has a very active, engaged membership and over the last 12 months we have achieved a huge amount.

Our members have taken part in two volunteering weekends in the Lake District; travelled to international events in Sweden, Denmark and Japan; hosted a hugely successful business lecture about social media; produced a charity calendar, held our annual dinner and all on top of our regular programme of training, business and social events.

This year our hard work has been recognised with a number of awards, at a regional level we won most outstanding: marketing and PR programme; regular publication; current member (Sarah Jane Robertson); new member (Gerogie Abbott); trainer (Emma Eastwood); training programme; business event (annual business lecture); president (me!) ...and overall most outstanding chamber!

We then went on to convert four of these to national awards, including most outstanding regular publication; current member, new member and trainer which is the icing on the cake!

As I have already mentioned one of our largest projects this year has been the Nothing But Nets calendar. Thousands of JCI members around the world have committed to raise funds to donate one million bed nets by 2015. Your fellow members bravely wore ‘nothing but nets’ to feature in the calendar with the target of raising £10,000. If you have not already bought your calendar or would like to buy one as a Christmas present for friends, colleagues or family you can do so online at www.onecalendaronelife.co.uk.

Thank you all for being a part of our successes in 2010 and I hope you are looking forward to working with the incoming president, Anil Champaneri and his team and that you embrace all the opportunities that 2011 brings you.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Yours sincerely,

Claire Dempster
2010 President
JCI Leeds

JCI Leeds supports Nothing But Nets

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:40:14 +0000

Members of JCI (Junior Chamber International) Leeds have posed for charity calendar to raise funds for Nothing But Nets, a global, grass roots campaign to raise awareness and funding to combat malaria.

At the moment, every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from a malarial infection. You can help to improve this statistic and reduce the amount of suffering that African families face.

For just $10, a family of four can sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net, safe from malaria, for four to five years. The insecticide kills and repels mosquitoes so that they can’t move on to infect other people either, providing protection to whole communities. Nets are a simple, life-saving solution.

By buying a calendar for just £10, you can do something incredible. You can save lives.

Background

In 2008, Junior Chamber International (JCI) established JCI Nothing But Nets in partnership with the United Nations Foundation to provide JCI members the opportunity to take action against malaria through education and fund raising in their communities.

JCI members around the world have committed to raise funds to donate one million nets by 2015. This is just one of many projects around the world that will help achieve this objective.

Do something incredible today. Buy a calendar. Save a life.

Find out more about Nothing But Nets.

Net gains from calendar project

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:54:53 +0000

We're delighted to see that our press launch for our Nothing But Nets project, One Calendar One Life, has featured in the Yorkshire Post:

MORE than a decade ago, the women of Rylstone WI started a trend by stripping for a charity calendar.

Now young business people from Yorkshire hope to emulate their success by disrobing for a good cause.

Members of JCI (Junior Chamber International) Leeds have decided to pose, wearing nothing but nets, to raise cash for a United Nations campaign to halt the spread of malaria.

The cheap nets can protect children from mosquitoes.

Julia Goodfellow-Smith, of JCI Leeds, told Diary: "At the moment, every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria – a disease which is both preventable and treatable. That's the same number of children who die each year as the entire population of Leeds. Our message is simple; one calendar can save one life.

"For just $10, a family of four can sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net, safe from malaria, for four to five years. Nets are a simple, life-saving solution and for every calendar we sell, we can buy a net and save someone's life."

In 2008, Junior Chamber International (JCI) established JCI Nothing but Nets in partnership with the United Nations Foundation to provide JCI members with the chance to take action against malaria through education and fundraising.

The calendar is being launched on Wednesday, October 6, from 6pm, at O'Rourke Reid, which is based at 17-19 York Place, in Leeds.

The orient is coming to Leeds in celebration of JCI World Conference in Osaka, Japan

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:13:43 +0000

JCI Leeds Annual Dinner - Saturday 23 October

The orient is coming to Leeds in celebration of this year's JCI World Conference in Osaka. Join us at City Inn on Saturday 23 October for a Japanese-inspired evening, good company and awards.

Tickets are £45 for members and £50 for non-members and include a four course meal and half a bottle of wine and dancing into the small hours! There will also be an after party, details to follow shortly.

For more information and a booking form please email Claire Dempster, President of JCI Leeds.

Date: Saturday 23 October
Time: 19.00 till late
Dress code: Black tie and cocktail dresses, Japanese dress optional
Tickets: £45 members and £50 non-members, includes a four course meal and half a bottle of wine. Tables of 8 people.
Bookings: Payment must be received in advance of the event by cash, cheque or via http://jcileedsannualdinner.eventbrite.com/
Hotel: City Inn are offering dinner guests a special room rate, £79 for double/twin rooms and £69 for single rooms (ref JCI Leeds)
Contact: Claire Dempster, President of JCI Leeds

JCI Leeds member travels to JCI Global Partnership Summit in New York

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:08:14 +0000

One of JCI Leeds’ newest recruits Georgie Abbott recently travelled to her first international event after only three months of being a member!

Georgie really has embraced everything that membership of JCI Leeds (and beyond!) has to offer by attending local events and council meetings, taking part in community projects and attending the JCI Global Partnership Summit in New York in her first three months of being a member of JCI Leeds.

Georgie was one of 300 delegates at the JCI Global Partnership Summit, a conference aimed at exploring ways that active citizens from all sectors of society – government, business, civil and the United Nations and its agencies can work both individually and collectively to enhance grassroots efforts to realise the objectives of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The summit also:

Increased awareness of the need for improved partnership to address issues of local and global concern.
Strengthened partnership among JCI Local and National Organizations and local businesses, governments an international organizations, including the Coca Cola Company and the United Nations Foundation.
Increased awareness of malaria as a global issue and reinforced the dedication of JCI to raise money for more than one million insecticide-treated bed nets by 2015.

The event included a variety of talks from senior members of organisations in relation to the Millennium Development Goals, such as Ban Ki Moon – UN Secretary General, Gillian Sorensen – Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation, Afzaal Malik – Vice President of International Relations at the Coca Cola Company and Adriana Logalbo – Director of the UN Foundation Nothing But Nets Campaign.

As well as the numerous high profile speakers Georgie also joined the workshop on fundraising through partnership, facilitated by Adrianna Logalbo. She learnt a lot which she is hoping to bring back to JCI Leeds community projects and helping JCI UK to coordinate a national awareness raising event for 2011.

Overall Georgie summed up her experience:

‘There are a number of things that I will take away from my experience at the JCI Global Partnership Summit in New York. Firstly it increased my awareness of JCI as a global organisation and made me realise that being part of JCI provides an incredible platform for new and exciting opportunities and for networking with people from all over the world.

‘Secondly I learnt from other chambers that you can achieve more in terms of fundraising when you come together on a national scale and I would definitely like to be involved in making this happen more in the UK. I also learnt that celebrating success is important as it helps to inspire others and create positive change.

‘Attending this event improved my knowledge of international challenges and gave me the opportunity to network with people to explore new ways to work in partnership. I learnt more about Malaria and why it is so important that JCI remain committed to their dedication to raise more than 1 million bed nets by 2015.

‘I will contribute towards achieving this goal by working with members of my local chamber in Leeds and on a national and international level. I would like to encourage other members of JCI UK to attend an international event, because I guarantee you will be very inspired and have a fantastic time!’

If you’d like to find out more about opportunities to attend international events contact our International Director.

Patrick Crane, Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn, joins us for Annual Business Lecture

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:00:21 +0000

Patrick Crane, Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn joined a panel of social media experts all the way from Silicon Valley via a live web link at the JCI Leeds Annual Business Lecture. The event was sponsored by Leeds Business School and sought to unravel the mystery of the social networking world.

Steve Parks, a former BBC radio journalist, entrepreneur and member of JCI Leeds interviewed the panel which also included Dan Evans: Co-founder of V Social, Christine Morris: Founder of Apps and Hats, Will Kintish, leading networking and LinkedIn training authority.

Keeping social media at the forefront, guests were asked to keep their mobile phones on, asking their questions via text messages, which then appeared on the screen.

Dan Evans opened the lecture with some astonishing statistics on social media, including the average age of Facebook and Twitter users, dispelling the myths that these platforms are just for kids.

Christine Morris spoke of the Smart-phone and how it is changing business as the internet is being accessed by ever smaller devices. As a massive fan of the iPhone since its launch three years ago she has set up an online review show of the some 200,000 apps now available, with a massive four billion downloads from the App Store so far.

Will Kintish, who claims to be the leading authority on business networking, lived up to the title by leading an engaging discussion on how LinkedIn can provide you with a valuable business tool but not forgetting the value of face-to-face contact when developing new business.

Patrick Crane is 'LinkedIn' with 900 people via his profile but you'll have to take his word for it unless you know him personally! This was one of his key messages about how LinkedIn can be used as an effective social networking tool and how it enables you to conduct business through trusted connections.

Claire Dempster, President of JCI Leeds, said: 'The lecture covered the importance of social networking for today's businesses and how companies should embrace it or risk being left behind.

'The event was a huge success and we received some fantastic feedback, one guest said it was the best JCI event they had ever been to!'