GBN Policies & Procedures

GBN is a place where business professionals come together to network, refer and learn. Members and guests alike should feel comfortable sharing ideas and information about their businesses without the use of profanity, sexism, racism or bigotry. We strive to grow, learn and profit. To that end, we expect that each meeting attendee, whether member or guest, will conduct themselves in a professional manner from the initial introduction to the exit.

All members must renew their membership on their individual anniversary date at the rate determined by the GBN Board. If dues are not paid within 10 days of the anniversary date, the member will be withdrawn and should they decide to return will be subject to a new member application fee, annual dues and voting process by the Membership Committee.

All GBN Chapters follow the open/close schedule of the school district the Chapter is in, except for the Summer Break. Should the local area public schools for that district be closed for teacher work days, bad weather, or holidays, the Chapter will also close. The Chapter Leadership should notify all members, GBN Staff, and their meeting venue that they will not be meeting as soon as the school district has determined to close their schools. All Chapters meet during the summer break.

All members must attend personally or have a substitute attend all meetings. We allow our members to miss no more than three (3) meetings or have a up to three (3) substitutes in a continuous six (6) month period. If violation of this rule occurs, the Chapter Leadership Team can revoke the membership. If the membership should be revoked, no refunds or credits will be given.

We gladly welcome Networking Marketing representatives to all applicable Chapters. We do allow multi-level marketing organization or members of them to join. To protect to sanctity of the time of the meetings and the reputation of our organization, no recruiting information/pitches are allowed to be mentioned during any GBN Minute presentation or during the Spotlight presentation. Violation of this will result in immediate removal from the Chapter. If the membership should be revoked, no refunds or credits will be given.

Members should only pass referrals that they have spoken to and know that are currently seeking another member’s services. GBN does not approve of members passing “cold leads/cold calls” to each other.

When turning in closed business reports, please report the largest number in the transaction. Example: Should a realtor sell a $300,000 home, that is the number reported. Not their commission.

• Be on time.
• Do not speak out of turn, respecting the other people that are talking in the group.
• Be professional and please regfrain from use of profanity, derogatory talk, gossip, and other negative communication.
• Please silence all electronic devices and limit their usage during the meeting.
• Tip the servers well and be polite at all times to the hosting staff/venues.
• Have your order request ready before the server gets to you.
• Please wear professional attire that corresponds to your industry. Remember first impressions go a long way.
• Be polite and welcoming to all other members and all visitors regardless of personal conflict, conflicting industries, etc.
• Follow the instructions/directions of the Chapter Leader or event host at all times.
• You are to positively speak about the chapter, regional, and corporate leadership at all times.

Chapter Leader– If a Chapter Leader resigns from leadership before the annual voting period, a member of the group leadership team will serve as the interim Chapter Leader until said person can be voted into the Chapter Leader role by group members. The Executive Officer for the Chapter gets first option to fulfill this role. If no leadership team member wants to assume the Chapter Leader position, any member can nominate themselves for the role and upon GBN Board of Directors approval they will become the new Chapter Leader. If more than one person desires to fulfill the new Chapter Leader role, a Chapter vote will take place and the majority vote winner will become the new Chapter Leader.

Leadership Team Member- If a leadership team member resigns before the annual vote, the Chapter Leader can appoint a member to the leadership team if the member desires to assume the role that is open. If more than one person wants to fill the leadership team member role, it is up to the Chapter Leader to decide who to choose.

Should a member conflict arise for either two members of a similar industry wanting to join or a complaint against a member by another member arise; the entire leadership team must vote on an action to be taken on the matter (either allowing both members to stay/join or removal/denial of a member). Should ANYONE be denied or a membership be revoked, their information should be forwarded to membership@gbnonline.com and the Area Director.

1) 3 or more members of the Chapter can request the Chapter Leader be removed. This should be done by notifying the Area Director.

2) If majority of the Chapter requests that a member be removed, the Chapter Leader or a GBN Area Director will remove the member(s) from the Chapter. This is only accomplished by a legitimate reason for the removal.

3) Members filing the complaint can transfer membership to another Chapter or can partner with Great Business Networking to start a new Chapter that does not conflict with the existing Chapter (same time and day).

For a Chapter to be added to GBN as an official group, the Chapter must have 10 Active Members, or GBN Board approval, to start a new Chapter. The first step is to have 8-10 business professionals interested in starting a Chapter. We then hold a Discovery Meeting to introduce GBN and provide an overview of the organization. In order to be an Active Member, your dues must be paid in full.

For a Chapter to be closed, the Executive Director must request approval from the GBN Board with applicable reasons. Upon approval, GBN will issue a letter of credit to all remaining members for them to be able to transfer to any other Chapter or join a future Chapter. No refunds will be given.

Any purchase over $1000 needs a majority vote by the GBN Board. The Executive Director is allowed to make purchases under $1000 without approval.

GBN Board must have a majority vote to remove a current GBN Board Member. The Board must also have a majority vote to add a new GBN Board Member.

All Board Members must be a GBN Member in good standing. Must attend 10/12 Monthly Board Meetings. Must adhere to all GBN Ethics Policies. Must not engage in any form of inappropriate communication or actions with a GBN member or visitor, as deemed by the GBN Board vote.

Membership dues are placed on hold for the following during their term: GBN Board Members, Executive Director, Regional Directors, Area Directors, Chapter Leaders, Executive Officers, Membership Directors, Social Media / Event Directors and the venue where the meetings are held if they choose to join GBN. In order for the venue to revieve their dues frozen, the must be an active member. The dues are placed on hold while the member serves in that position. Once they are no longer in an approved position, their membership dues will return to a charged position.

GBN is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safest online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the GBN website and GBN Mobile App and governs data collection and usage. By using the GBN website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement and approve of the content we do share publicly including your name, business name, address, profession, phone number, email address and photo.

GBN secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. GBN secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

GBN collects personally identifiable information, such as your name, business name, address, email and phone number.

There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by GBN and the marketing partners of GBN (Google Analytics, Stingray Branding, and other third-party marketing companies). This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. This information is used by GBN to provide general statistics regarding use of the GBN website.

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through GBN public message boards, referral systems, or other information input systems this information may be collected and used by others.

GBN encourages you to review the privacy statements of Web sites you choose to link to from GBN so that you can understand how those websites collect, use and share your information. GBN is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on websites outside of GBN owned/operated websites.

GBN collects and uses your personal information to operate the GBN website and deliver the services you have requested. GBN also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from GBN and its affiliates. GBN may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.

GBN does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. GBN may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, GBN may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to GBN, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

GBN does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.

GBN keeps track of the websites and pages our customers visit within GBN, in order to determine what GBN services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within GBN to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

GBN websites will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on GBN or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of GBN; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of GBN, or the public.

The GBN website use “cookies” to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize GBN pages, or register with GBN site or services, a cookie helps GBN to recall your specific information on following visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same GBN website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the GBN features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the GBN services or Web sites you visit.

GBN welcomes your comments regarding these policies. If you believe that GBN or its’ members/leaders have not adhered to these policies, please contact GBN at info@gbnonline.com.
Updated March 2022. All Rights Reserved.