IVAN R. MISNER, PHD, is the founder and chairman of BNI® (Business Network International), the largest business-networking organization in the world. Founded in 1985, BNI® now has thousands of chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Each year, BNI® generates millions of referrals resulting in billions of dollars’ worth of business for its members.

Dr. Misner’s doctoral degree is from the University of Southern California. He has written nine books, including the New York Times best seller Masters of Networking and his number one bestseller Masters of Success. He is a monthly columnist for Entrepreneur.com and is chairman of the board of the Referral Institute®, a referral-training company with trainers around the world. He has taught business and social capital courses at several universities and sits on the board of directors for the Colorado School of Professional Psychology.

Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by Ecademy.com and the “Networking Guru” by Entrepreneur magazine, Dr. Misner is one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, as well as numerous television and radio shows on networks such as CNN, CNBC, and the BBC in London.

Dr. Misner serves on the board of directors for the Haynes Children Center. He is the founder of the BNI-Misner Charitable Foundation and was recently named Humanitarian of the Year by the Daily Bulletin. He is married and lives with his wife, Elisabeth, and their three children in Claremont, California. In his spare time (!), he is also an amateur magician and holds a black belt in karate.

MICHAEL MACEDONIO spent more than twenty years in restaurant management, including managing the highest-volume restaurant in the nation. As part owner of several BNI® franchises, he trained business professionals how to create and operate professional business-referral groups. During his nine years with BNI®, Michael was involved in building his region to more than seventy chapters with more than fifteen hundred members in three states. He also received numerous national awards from BNI®, including the National Director of the Year Award.

Michael’s great passions are mountain climbing, cycling, and endurance sports. He has completed numerous marathons, biathlons, and triathlons, and in June 2005 he summitted Mt. Rainier in Washington State.

In 2001, Michael became a trainer at the Referral Institute®, where he focused on consulting with and coaching individuals and companies on how to build their business by utilizing referral strategies. In 2003, Michael was hand selected to be the managing partner for the Referral Institute®. Since then, the Referral Institute® has grown from a handful of professional trainers, collaborating and working together, to a franchised organization. In fact, Michael was responsible for spearheading the acquisition of thirty-five new franchises in six different countries in just eighteen months.

Today, as president of the Referral Institute®, Michael works directly with his franchisees and is responsible for showing them a results-orientated system for building their training and coaching businesses.

Ultimately, Michael is confident that the training programs offered by the Referral Institute® will allow his franchisees worldwide to provide new and effective ways for local business owners to create more business by referral. Michael has three major goals for the Referral Institute®: (1) to have extremely successful franchise owners, (2) to have extremely successful local business professionals in each franchise who have implemented the training materials and created documented success from the programs, and (3) to develop the Referral Institute® into “The World’s Leading Referral Training Organization”!

MICHAEL J. GARRISON (Mike to his friends) is vice president of the Referral Institute®. For over a decade Mike was directly associated with BNI®, the world’s largest referral organization, leading multiple award-winning franchises in diverse markets in the United States. He credits BNI® as the premier environment in the world to develop real-world networking experience on a weekly basis.

Mike is a sought-after speaker, coach, and consultant on business networking, referral marketing, and Christian business topics. He has spoken internationally and cannot wait for his next opportunity to both share and experience how other cultures develop effective business relationships that produce results. He is proud to be a contributing author to the number one bestseller Masters of Success.

Mike, his wife, Jocelyn, and their son, Robert, live in Roanoke, Virginia. He loves living in the Blue Ridge Mountains and spends many hours outside playing golf, mountain biking, and hiking. Mike reads as much as he can about business, history, and religion. He credits his success to his faith and to the relationships that God has blessed him with.