Licensing and Franchise: How Your City Becomes a Chapter of the European International Club

The European International Club has no clubhouse and no branches. It grows city by city, and behind every chapter stands one person: the Chapter Director. He or she runs the chapter independently, at their own account and with their own network, with the club's brand, formats, platform and team behind them. This article explains the concept.

Independent, not alone

A chapter is a business of its own. The Chapter Director decides which houses host the evenings, who gets invited, which partners suit the chapter and how fast it should grow. The club provides the frame: the name, the brand identity and the quality standards, which are the same everywhere. That keeps every chapter recognisable, and the Chapter Director benefits from a name that members and partners already trust.

Starting small is expressly welcome

Nobody has to open with a soirée for forty guests. Most chapters begin with small formats, and that is exactly the right way:

• an apéro for eight to ten people in a good bar
• a dinner at one table, six guests, one topic
• a business breakfast or a lunch by the water
• a walk followed by coffee, if the city lends itself to it

Small formats cost little, can be repeated regularly and deliver exactly the conversations the club stands for. Eight guests become twenty, the apéro becomes a dinner, and the dinner eventually becomes the big evening. The Chapter Director sets the pace.

What the club brings

• Brand and concept: the European International Club as an established name, with brand identity and standards.
• Formats: from apéro to soirée, from lunch by the lake to charity dinner. All proven, all transferable.
• Platform: the Members App with feed, groups and messages, the International Directory for all members worldwide and a chapter page of your own on the website.
• Guidance: personal advice from the founders, onboarding in the first months, a direct line to the team.
• Pilot phase: those who join now benefit from reduced fees, priority support and the title "Founding Chapter Director", which stays with the chapter permanently.

What the first steps look like

1. Enquiry. Through the form on the Become a Chapter Director page. City, background, motivation; that is all it takes at the start.

2. Conversation. We get in touch personally. It is about your city, your network and whether the concept suits you.

3. First format. Small and good: an apéro, a dinner, a breakfast. The first guests become the first guest list.

4. Regularity. One format a month is enough to keep a chapter alive. Members and partners join through the evenings.

5. The big evening. Once the circle is in place, the soirée or the dinner in a house with character follows. Not as an obligation, but as a result.

Zurich as an example

Chapter Zurich shows the concept in practice. Chantelle Götsch built it as Chapter Director and deliberately mixes large and small formats: the Spring Soirée at The Dolder Grand, a summer evening above the rooftops, the Charity Lunch by the lake, a golf apéro, an evening for all five senses and, in November, the Charity Dinner. Plus a chapter partner, Chantelle Jewellery, that matches the chapter's standard.

As Chapter Director, I was able to build something of my own from the ground up, with the concept, formats and support of the European International Club behind me.

Who the concept suits

We are not looking for event managers but for hosts with a network and an entrepreneurial mind. People who know the right people in their city or want to get to know them, who can tell a house with character from any function room, and who enjoy bringing people together. Event experience helps but is not required. Over time, many Chapter Directors build a small team that supports them with organisation, partnerships and member care. They remain in charge.

The most common questions

• Can I shape the chapter entirely to my own vision? You shape network, formats and partners independently, within the club's principles and standards.
• Do I have to start big? No. Small formats at the beginning are the norm, not the exception.
• Which cities is the club looking at? Major cities worldwide. Get in touch wherever you are; every application is reviewed individually.
• What does it cost to join? We discuss the terms personally. Fees are reduced during the pilot phase.

If you are thinking about opening a chapter in your city, you will find all the information and the form on the Become a Chapter Director page. We will get in touch personally.

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