Laurence Lowne's Page

Wherever I turn, I see Laurence, the architypal and incorrigeable networker in London and Surrey. We go back many years and I would thoroughly recommend him as a colleague, a good listener and an excellent friend-for-life

Arnie Fabius

Hi Laurence

Absolutely right - it is (currently free to join) - in brackets, because it refers directly to the immediately adjacent panel which clearly spells out the cost of Membership:
"Please use our FREE listings to plan your networking diary - just click the Events tab...
Membership - at the introductory price of £15 per quarter - allows you to post your own networking events and blogs etc..."

Sorry if you missed that - and I do take your point that it should be beyond doubt, so I'll change the wording. I need to discontinue the 3-month free offer anyway, as we've hit the magic 100 Members in record time.

There's never been any intention to mislead, or disguise the fact that Membership is not free indefinitely. You're not committed to any Membership period and there's no joining fee - so it is currently 'free to join' in that sense, and the first three months are also free. Members can opt out at any time, and unless we demonstrate clear value in belonging, they may well all do so when we ask them to start paying. But hey, we'll take that chance because we're confident (and positive feedback confirms) that the site fulfils a need.

The software we use is free on condition we allow Ning to put their Google ads on, but otherwise there's currently no ads and no sponsorship, because I'd prefer to be independent. We did consider charging organisers to list each event, but that would defeat the object of the free listings section, because we wouldn't be drawing upon the whole range of events.

Our initial investment is therefore minimal - apart from our time. I'm currently working between ten and fifteen hours a week on developing the site, and funding it out of my other business activities, loving every minute - but once the site has momentum, and consequently increased value to Members, we'll be charging as advertised. If it doesn't work, we'll close it down.

Hope that seems fair - and thanks again for highlighting this.

BRs

K

Hi Laurence

Our charging policy appears at the top of page one - just hit the Home tab!

The Events listings will always be free - because the web's all about free at 'entry' level. So anybody networking in Surrey (or organising events) can use it to plan their diary and find new networking opportunities.

Membership will be charged for, so we can continue to offer the listings, and provide a range of other resources to promote face-to-face networking in Surrey - we prefer to avoid corporate sponsorship.

So, the people you meet at the events are those you find on the site, where you can 'friend' them (makes following up a doddle!) and engage onine in the usual social networking way (for example arranging to meet at networking events for 1-2-1s). Members can post blogs, and their own events. We will be introducing other Member benefits, but we prefer to under-promise and over-deliver, so please watch this space...

The 100 places for the 3-month trial are pretty much taken now, and once the 3 months are up, Members will be asked to pay a quarterly sub (in advance, no commitment, no refunds). This will initially be offered at £15 per quarter (fiver a month) for Foundation Members who help us to build the community to critical mass, then once we have reached our quota (yet to be decided) it will be £20 a quarter to new Members.

Future thoughts include introducing a joining fee of £10 and also making Membership by invitation of an existing Member only, but of course, in order to do all of this we need to demonstrate added value to being a Member, or nobody will want to play!

Hope that's all clear and seems reasonable - all feedback (pro and con) gratefully received :0)

BRs

K