These terms come largely from the way BNI chapters work. Other networks (Rotary, Junior Chambers, associations) sometimes describe the same ideas with a different vocabulary.
The bizouk is the guest a member must bring to the next meeting when they have not reached their guest quota over a given period, in the way a BNI chapter works. Its status (pending, paid, exempt, already called) is tracked until the big table.
A chapter is the name given to a local group, that is, all the members who meet every week in the same city or geographic area. Each chapter operates independently, with its own board and its own meetings.
The Education Coordinator is the chapter board member in charge of organizing the education slot of each meeting, the time devoted to the ongoing training of members on referral and networking techniques.
The education slot is the part of a weekly meeting devoted to a short training point, usually led by the Education Coordinator or a guest member, on a topic related to growing the business network.
The feature presentation is the part of the meeting where one or more members present their business in detail to the group, at greater length than during the usual round table, to help the other members better know who to direct a referral to.
The big table, or "grande table", is the part of the meeting where all members and guests gather in a circle or a U shape, generally for the round table, announcements, bizouk tracking and feature presentations.
A guest day is a meeting specially organized to welcome a large number of potential guests, with the aim of making the group known and recruiting new members.
The Leadership Team is the board that leads a chapter, generally made up of the president, the vice-president, the secretary-treasurer, the Membership Committee and the Education Coordinator, elected for a set term.
The Membership Committee is the committee in charge of reviewing applications from new members, checking that there is no professional category conflict with an existing member, and approving the integration of newcomers.
A one-to-one, also called a 121, is an individual meeting between two members outside the weekly meeting, meant to get to know each other better so they can refer clients to each other with full knowledge.
A referral is a recommendation that a member passes to another, usually the contact of a potential client. The number and quality of referrals exchanged is the main indicator of a member's activity in the group.
A substitute is the person a member sends in their place when they cannot attend a meeting, in order to represent their business and keep their attendance rate.
A testimonial is a short statement a member gives during a meeting about a successful collaboration with another member, generally following a referral that came through.
The thanks slip is the document, paper or digital, that formalizes the value of a deal closed thanks to a referral. It is used to measure the return on investment of the group for each member.