The Boardroom Handbook
Meeting Format (Approx 60 minute meeting)
Sign-on and Settle-in
Activity
Opening remarks by leader/Announcements
1 minute Commercials
Business Education/Presentation/Round-table Discussion
Referrals/Highlights & Questions for Members/Guests
Closing remarks

General Policies
 Only one person per business category is allowed to be a member of a Biz-Pod.
 A member may only participate in one Biz-Pod at a time.
A Member may be a member of any other organization like The Boardroom at the same
time.
 A member is allowed six absences during the 12 months of their membership term. You
may send a representative in your place at any time, and will not be considered an
absence
(A representative may not be a member of your Biz-Pod. See Chapter Etiquette for
guidelines on sending a representative). There are medical leaves available with
Membership Council approval and following the medical leave guidelines set forth by the
organization. Members who regularly arrive late or leave early during the meeting may
have their membership put on probation or forfeited by the Membership Council.
 Members must follow up with referrals in a timely and professional manner.
 Members who want to change their business category must submit a Business
Category Change Application and be approved by the Membership Council.
 Members must attend New Member Training and complete their member profile
on www.usbb.us within the first 60 days of their membership. Members
will not be added to the Speaker Line Up until both tasks have been completed.
 Members who want to transfer their membership to another Biz-Pod or to
 someone from their company must be a member in good standing and the appropriate
application and payments must be submitted.
 Members who belong to a multi-level marketing company should focus their
marketing efforts on the products and/or services, not the “business opportunity” part of
their business.
 Memberships may be put on probation or forfeited by the Membership Council of
the Biz-Pod for failure to adhere to the Policies or The Boardroom Etiquette of the
organization.
Organizational Policies
 Payments collected are non-refundable. Upon request, credits may be issued to members
in good standing.
 Annual membership renewals are due 30 days prior to the expiration of membership. If
not paid 10 days after the expiration date the member will be officially dropped from
the Biz-Pod.
 Remaining membership is transferable, however, a Transfer of Ownership Application with
payment must be produced. (Membership must be renewed to a twelve-month status for
incoming member if the new member is representing an entirely different
company/industry. The appropriate payment must be included with the new member’s
Transfer of Ownership Application and must be approved by the Biz-Pod’s Membership
Council.
 All Leaders are required to attend training.
 The Boardroom’s intentions are to establish Biz-Pods across the United States and in
communities where there is a desire to have one. The Boardroom reserves the right to
open more than one Biz-Pod per city/community when there is enough request by
potential members.
 Policies are subject to change. Members will be advised of changes in writing via email.

Biz-Pod Etiquette/Member Participation
• Membership requires that you invite guests to the meetings on a regular basis.
• Members should be prepared at each meeting to give their One Minute Business Commercial.
• Speakers should present an offer that other members can either utilize or share with their
centers of influence.
• Members should present their undivided attention to the meeting and not to their phones or
other work tasks during the meeting.
• It is recommended that members consult the Membership Council relating to any issues they have
regarding members or procedures.

Guidelines for Substitutes
• A member should have a substitute attend for them if they are unable to be at a meeting. If you
send a sub you will not be considered absent.
• You may send a sub as many times as you like, however, that sub must only talk about the
member’s business.
• A member should prepare the sub on what to expect during the meeting and to deliver a
business commercial for the person they are representing and report any referrals and/or
highlights the member has.
• Suggestions for a substitute could be a partner, employee, client, friend, family member, a
member of another Biz-Pod, or from another category exclusive group.

Guest Visitations to The Boardroom
A guest may attend The Boardroom three (3) times without submitting an application for
membership. Prior to the fourth (4th) visit, the guest must have submitted an application and paid
for membership. If the guest is attending as a Substitute of a member, and is in a completely
different category, that substitution visit counts for one of the three.
If a guest submits an application prior to their third visit, they are electing to forego their rights to
any further visits without paying for membership.
Visiting other Biz-Pods of The Boardroom
On occasion members may want to visit another Biz-Pod to show support, get ideas, extend
goodwill, etc. When visiting another Biz-Pod the following guidelines should be followed:
 Visiting members should contact the Biz-Pod Leader and advise them of their visit.
 Visiting members should may not present their commercial is their category is already
taken in that Biz-Pod (The Leader will advise the visiting member about this before the
meeting begins)
 Visiting members should announce they are visiting from another Biz-Pod.
 Visiting members should follow the same protocol set for regular visitors.

Emailing Members in Other Biz-Pods
On occasion members may want to email members in different Biz-Pods to provide information,
solicit business (when appropriate), schedule coaching sessions, etc. When emailing members of
other Biz-Pods the following guidelines should be followed:
1. The member who wishes to send the email should contact the Leader of that Biz-Pod and advise
them of their intentions. The Leader Director will coach you on the best approach to get the results
you desire.
2. The member who wishes to send the email should not compete in any way with members of the
Biz-Pod they are contacting.
3. If there is a member of the Biz-Pod that shares the same category/business type, the member
who wishes to send the email should contact the member for a coaching session first, to review the
content of their email.
4. If the member wishes no content to be shared, the member who wants to send the email should
respect their response.
5. If any member expresses they are not interested in products or services offered via email, the
emailing member must remove them from their email distribution list immediately.
6. If any questions or concerns arise, contact your Leader to discuss further matters.