Music video based on Supertramp's Breakfast in America wins overall national competition after going viral on YouTube & Twitter

BNI (Business Network International) local group 'BNI Hogarth' who meet at 6.30am every Thursday morning at Carluccio's on High Street Chiswick to pass each other business referrals, won the overall prize for the 'YouTweet' competition - a national challenge set to hundreds BNI groups across the UK.

A group of 35 Chiswick entrepreneurs have won a national challenge to promote their local business networking group at the same time as having garnered global praise and numerous prizes for their efforts.

The competition required each local group to produce a video about themselves which was posted on YouTube and promoted on Twitter.

BNI Hogarth won the overall competition, beating hundreds of other entries submitted from all over the UK in the categories of Best Social Media & Social Networking Campaign, in addition to Best Chapter Video. The video featuring a special rendition of Supertramp's 70s hit, Breakfast in America, went viral on YouTube and had thousands of hits and comments of praise from all over the world. All members of BNI Hogarth participated in the music video which was filmed in Carluccio's and on High Street Chiswick in the early hours of the morning and in freezing temperatures.

The award and £1000 cheque was presented by BNI's national director, Tim Cook, while further prizes were awarded by Penny Power, well-known business personality and founder of social networking organisation, Ecademy.

BNI Hogarth's spokesperson, David Stoch, commented: "Having won this national challenge, in more than one category, proves you can have fun and present a solid business message together. Behind the singing and laugher, a lot of serious business is done between the members of BNI Hogarth every week, resulting in hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of business, all though 'word of mouth' referrals - vital to our success as Chiswick business owners. The recognition from BNI and superb business leaders such as Penny Power has been an incredible morale boost for us all and has only encouraged us to pursue more initiatives like this looking ahead."

BNI which has more than 15 000 SME members in the UK, that activity engage in structured business networking every week, increased the amount of business passed between members in 2009 by 21 per cent which translated to £230 million - up from £185 million in 2008.  This is the single biggest annual increase in the organisation's 14-year history in the UK.

All local businesses in Chiswick are able to visit BNI Hogarth's breakfast business networking meetings every Thursday morning. Notify BNI Hogarth Chapter Director, Jane Johnstone on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it