IPNCONNECT ENJOYS EARLY SUCCESS
Just 50 days after it was born, ipnconnect has held a members event to celebrate reaching 200 members.
And in a mixed economy, when the business world is reeling from an election, a hung parliament and a radical new budget, all on the back of the recession, ipnconnect seems to be answering the needs of many of the business people in the region.
Attended by over 100 of the region’s prominent business people including Bill Midgley, OBE, who is working closely in support of ipnconnect, the drinks evening at ‘As You Like It’ in Jesmond, was sponsored by some of the youngest members including dovcor, stereografix and sms events.
With 250 initial memberships, only a fifth of the places are left, at which point founder Paul Lawton will be closing membership until he is confident that the collaborative platform is working efficiently for its initial members.
Unlike the more traditional networking organisation, ipnconnect is keen to work with affiliate membership bodies, even naming a few of them amongst its membership. With ipnconnect’s offering being so different, Paul says it makes sense to work together, rather than against each other.
ipnconnect offers a variety of different ways for its closely vetted members to connect, including bi-monthly exhibitions, monthly dinners and regular interactive gatherings, as well as offering a members only online website with a protected procurement platform inside.
Paul predicts that by the end of 2012, more than 27,000 businesses will be members of ipnconnect across the UK and is aiming for more than 100,000 businesses worldwide.
He said: “It’s been a rollercoaster ride launching ipnconnect and it’s very gratifying to see the response we have got. So much so, that we are very close to the initial intake of 250 members until the membership is satisfied with this unique model and so are we. The numbers need to be kept manageable in order for ipnconnect to make business happen for our members, so we are monitoring the number of spaces for memberships in growth stages.”
Chris Jones, of IMPACT Plus (Goal Set), one of the newest members, said:
“I just want to say what a great event the ipnconnect one was. I’ve not been a great fan of networking in the past – in fact I’d come to dislike it intensely – but the ipnconnect approach does work, and it fits in nicely with my beliefs about working together to tap the abundant opportunities out there. We got some excellent leads from our first event, which we’ll be following up quickly with further discussions.”
Claire Walton, Strategic Change Solutions, is a new member too and is quickly becoming a fan:
“There are many networking organisations you can choose to join for lots of different reasons. I have joined ipnconnect because there is so much choice for how and when I can meet up with likeminded people who genuinely want to help each other. I have 3 clients through ipnconnect already!”
More information is available by visiting www.ipnconnect.com / 0191 2566235. PR queries to Antonia@quay2Media.com