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Who's on your speed dial?
Contacts are crucial for gay professionals and network clubs are catching on
"You could say we're a sort of gay Rotary Club. Would a straight Rotary website allow people to get their genitalia out online?"
Business networking can often be a fruitless and frankly expensive endeavour at the best of times. Just how many business cards should one print? Will you ever hear from Chris, Head of Global Resources? Are there any other gay members, or are you the proverbial pink elephant in the corner? Thankfully, gay professional networks such as Jake and City Pink are paving the way for pink business people, providing a place and, in the case of Jake, a virtual space where you can meet like-minded gay professionals with a view to both networking and socialising.
Ivan Massow, financial entrepreneur and multi-millionaire, is the brains behind Jake, a gay social networking phenomenon, which over the past decade has become a firm fixture in the lives of many aspiring gay male professionals.
Described by one magazine as “a 21st Century, pink, virtual Masonic Lodge”, Jake’s membership nudges close to 30,000, reflecting the growing interest in websites specifically aimed at the gay professional community.
For a small monthly fee, members have access to all of Jake’s online interactive services including blogs, discussion forums, instant chat and “Jake Mail”. It also buys a little slice of exclusivity, with members entering a world of comfy dining rooms and plush luxury at weekly E-events, held at prestigious clubs secreted around London’s West End. Activities range from dining and speed networking, to film shows and talks by other gay business professionals on anything from finance to meditation.
The one thing you won’t see on Jake is overt sexuality – a deliberate decision taken at the start of the enterprise, according to Ivan: “This site is used by teachers, city workers and even politicians when they are at work on their PCs. Our busiest ‘online’ sessions are during the day, not at 3am. Jake needed to be a site that people could be proud to be seen using, and leave open on their work computer if they strolled away from their desks. You could say we’re a sort of gay Rotary Club. Would a straight Rotary website allow people to get their genitalia out online?”
Jake may not be everyone’s cup of tea – it’s a professionally run outfit for gay businessmen, the majority of whom are in the 25-40 age range, but it remains faithful to what it says on the tin. It’s where gay men meet to talk business. Many members have achieved business success, in some cases citing Jake as the reason behind it. One is even reputed to have generated over £500,000 worth of business in two years through Jake alone.
But gay men aren’t the only ones to reap the benefits of social networking. A number of organisations have sprung up for women, with City Pink leading the way since 2004.
Setting itself the laudable aim of advancing the visibility of gay professional women, City Pink hopes to attract the savvy, suited and booted ladies from the scene.
Andi Schembri, 34, and Anna Whowell, 37, founders of City Pink, say it all started with a big diversity drive in the banking world. “We wanted to create a space that was fairly low-key, open-minded and very welcoming,” explains Andi. ”What we have created is a platform to enable businesswomen to professionally network, but there is also a space for social networking, too. Meetings are held once a month in settings that its website identifies as being “sophisticated and elegant”. Like Jake, City Pink clearly hopes to invite its members through the same doors as those used by the privileged and well-connected few who have access to private members’ clubs. And it isn’t an empty boast. Networking drinks are regularly held at Adam St, a classy venue in beautiful 18th century vaults beneath The Strand. You have to be seriously connected to get access to a space like that.
Keen to attract a certain kind of gal, City Pink initially drew its membership from the financial and legal sectors, which have dress codes that forbid the wearing of jeans and trainers.
Over 1,500 women are on City Pink’s “guest list” and Andi and Anna hope more will follow. With many other gay professional networks and sites planning to follow in the footsteps of Jake and City Pink, gay networking is one phenomenon that looks set to make great strides.
