At the BCCJ annual general meeting on 26 April, attendees elected a new executive committee, comprising 15 members, to serve the membership during the 2012–13 chamber year.
The committee meets every month at the British Embassy Tokyo’s Number 4 House, by kind permission of our ex-officio member Sue Kinoshita, director of UK Trade & Investment. There the team agree organisational policy, discuss general BCCJ business, and review progress in promoting the interests of all members.
Certain executive committee members take responsibility for specific areas of BCCJ growth and development, and this often includes heading a task force charged with specific objectives, such as events, communication, legal issues, finance, CSR, the European Business Council, and the British Business Awards (BBA).
More generally, team members are asked to attend and host as many BCCJ events as possible (40 were held in 2011–12) to mix with guests, help everyone feel welcome, and solicit feedback on the BCCJ. The secretariat welcomes feedback and encourages members to familiarise themselves with executive committee representatives, in order to express thoughts and opinions that will lead us to providing the highest levels of service for the membership at large.
Executive committee members are, essentially, ambassadors for the BCCJ. They introduce new members, invite guests to events, and support organisational goals.
You will be hearing more from individual members of this 2012–13 committee in subsequent issues of ACUMEN. Should you have any questions for executive committee members, please email: info@bccjapan.com.
2012 British Business Awards
In response to feedback over the years from the executive committee, for the fifth British Business Awards we will encourage more nominations across all categories, to create even more of a buzz in advance of this headliner event—this year slated for 2 November at the Conrad Tokyo hotel. The more nominees, the more attendees—and the more opportunities for business development for everyone.
YouTube
As part of the BCCJ’s communications strategy, we now have our own YouTube channel, designed to drive traffic to the BCCJ website through search-engine optimisation, and showcase the diversity of our events programme, this year led by Graham Davis of the Economist Group. A number of videos, including “BCCJ British Business Awards 2011”, have been uploaded. Stay tuned to see more BCCJ member firms featured in the weeks and months ahead.
Steve Crane, chief executive of Business Link Japan K.K., and winner of the Person of the Year prize at the British Business Awards 2011, said recently: “Following on from the BCCJ’s comment about utilising videos to maximise opportunity, there has been a steady flow of viewers to my BBA video (360 so far). Many prospective clients have watched it, and have gone on to do business with us. Since winning the award, I have seen a clear upturn in our sales, which suggests that (a) winning a BBA has a clear, positive effect on business, and (b) capturing the moment and putting it out there on social media is a very good thing!”
