Social Media Part II: Human Connection (or What Gather and Bermuda have in Common)

One year ago, a few hundred Gather pioneers (mostly friends and family of the team here in Boston), began to publish here. They came from all walks of life - from roller-coaster fanatic to poet, from political activist to proud dad. Most of them had never met before. It was, for many, their first time dipping a toe in the world of online publishing and community. And they began to share a little about themselves.

Day after day, they invited friends, family, and colleagues to join them. Soon, we heard from Gatherers embedded in Iraq. A Gatherer reported a first-hand account of the mining tragedy in West Virginia. Another, through postings by a cousin, described her experiences and emotions in Israel as the recent conflict began.

Gather members also shared their love of food, their love of our planet (and desire to preserve it for generations to come), their love of art and imagery, and even tales of their own travels. Some shared the stresses and joys of parenting, others their fears for and reflections on New Orleans both before and after Katrina. 

In November 2005, we opened Gather to the general public. A few months later in January, Gather passed 10,000 members.  Today, thousands of people join the community each week, and the conversation gets better as we add engaged, informed minds on topics across the board.

We've learned something in this first year with all of you. When we started Gather, we knew we were building what financial analysts call a "social media" company. Social media companies are media companies, typically advertising-supported, that generate most of their content from members. That content tends to be more relevant and more trusted than content created in traditional media. And we believed that by bringing a strong demographic together, we'd be creating a community capable of building the best content online. 

What we learned, though, was that the social counts at least as much as the media. Human connection matters at least as much as what we are connecting around (be it food, politics, travel, sustainability, human rights, or parenting). And what Gather members keep telling us is that it's the caliber of the community - the people they meet here and interact with every day - that matters to them most.

As Gather nears the first anniversary of our public launch, we thought it made sense to celebrate, Gather-style. That means interesting people, coming together to explore, learn, break bread, and perhaps even bake bread. Together.

Today, we're pleased to announce the first Gather cruise, from Boston to Bermuda, aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas! This October, we'll bring together hundreds of members of the Gather community for a five-day GatherIng with great authors, cooking demonstrations, and opportunities to meet the real people that make Gather such a special place. I hope you'll join us on this first adventure. I can't wait to meet all of you who go.

I know some Gatherers won't be able to make the trip this time. (They just don't make ships that big!) For those who can't join us on the cruise, I hope we can connect in your neck of the woods and that you'll reach out and connect with one another, as well.

To help make this happen, I'm pleased to announce a new group for listing GatherIngs at ings.gather.com. The GatherIngs group is a place to publish events meant especially for Gatherers. We here at Gather HQ will use it to announce upcoming trips and invite all of you to join us for a coffee or a beer as we venture around the country (and beyond!). I hope you'll do the same to meet Gatherers in your town and to bring your Gather groups together, too.

Both the Gather Cruise and the local GatherIngs bring the very best part of Gather together: all of you. I look forward to connecting with each of you and enjoying the fellowship we have here on Gather.com - both on the high seas and in coffee shops and bars around the world.

 
PS: Space on the cruise is limited and will sell quickly. Please book early if you really want to join us there!

PPS: My first GatherIng trip is this week, in New York City. Gatherers in New York, who's in?