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Ecademy is a business-oriented social network.
Correction - it is not a social network in the sense that you can socialise. Or have an opinion. It is more a business oriented totalitarian regime.
Ecademy was launched in 1998 by Penny (http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=1001) and Thomas Power (http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=8) and Glenn Watkins (http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=2). The three entrepreneurs had a belief in, and a goal of, building a community of people spreading emotional and financial wealth around the globe. It was their personal dream to see groups of people helping each other, learning from each other, laughing and sharing. Penny, Thomas and Glenn were pioneers - in 1998, there were no other online business networks to learn from. Penny says "our members helped us to learn from them, they told us when they were unhappy, and they told us what they liked."
This initial beginning has developed into the organisations stated cause: "to build the world's premier trusted network, connecting business people to share knowledge, contacts and transactions." They define a trusted network as "a business exchange that connects users to knowledge, contacts, support and transactions using unique tools for building trust and relationships online and face to face".
Ecademy is essentially a network of ordinary people - working, running businesses, leading their lives. The entire network has been built on winning by sharing (http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=31751), one example of the philosophies that Ecademy considers to be the keys to it's success. For example, there is an inherent assumption that everyone is honest and professional. As Penny (http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=1001) goes on to say "We are not building a chat-room or a social club; we are building a serious business network. However, to build a strong business relationship, you must first gain trust from one another through having a personal relationship, this is critical before you can expect to move onto a relationship where a transaction can take place. Networking is not selling or personal promotion, it is about building a group of people whom you understand and help and in turn they may one day help you".
Members join to learn and practice business networking for contacts, knowledge, support and business transactions through the website's unique networking tools and face to face at networking events.
By using the Ecademy advanced online networking tools and by attending networking events, you should be able to make new contacts, generate fresh ideas and gain connections to the business world thus creating a wealth of opportunities.
Basic membership of Ecademy is free. To use even the most basic networking features (e.g. you can have 20 networking contacts) requires a subscription of GBP25 + VAT per year. To make full use of the networking features costs GBP120 + VAT per year. There is also a limited option at a cost of GBP3000 + VAT per year, which includes personal introductions and mentoring.
Ecademy is still privately owned and run by the original management team but, critically - and uniquely - with input from key members. The network is visited by over 45000 members in over 170 countries which means there is a very large cross-culture, racism and prejudice is strictly not allowed, nor is swearing. Occasional conflict can and does arise; however, aggression or rudeness towards any other individual is not tolerated. This self-governing is achieved by the Ecademy Complaints System (http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=31756) and the Ecademy Jail (http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=31754).
The management of Ecademy seek to encourage a positive environment for members to network and the following list of preferred values and ethics are published on Ecademy. Interestingly, the list has been generated by members as well as by the management team and reflect the values that Ecademy began with in 1998.
Ecademy Values and Ethics
1. Members should be polite and courteous in their written tone, sadly, without the face to face advantages of our offline events, body language cannot be read and therefore sarcasm and innuendo can be mis-interpreted and cause offence.
2. Honesty is critical and we will not tolerate mis-representation of names and services. Dont be afraid to reveal the real you as well as the business you, people like to do business with people.
3. Kindness towards your fellow member is encouraged, being willing to help, listen, advise and pass referrals is a core principle at Ecademy. Help one another by giving not taking and never ask for something in return.
4. Being open-minded to the opinions of others will help you get more from Ecademy, many opinions are shared here, being over-sensitive or closed-minded will restrict your opportunity to learn. Remember, constructive criticism can be very valuable.
5. Giving personal criticism or airing your views against a member must be directed carefully as a message direct to them, public attacks on individuals are noted by members and the management team, if they occur regularly from the same individual warnings will be issued to the offending member with the appropriate explanation of the way there behaviour has offended.
6. Treat others as you would like to be treated, a great saying, and so true here. Act with professional maturity if you join debates and always keep focused on the topic of the debate that you are joining. They are great fun when treated with humour and courtesy.
7. Thank and acknowledge members who deserve it, if someone has been kind then add this to their Guest Book as a testimonial.
8. Welcome members from around the world into your network, they can provide you with help on business issues, cultural questions, travel, holidays, the best restaurant to visit on their city and even retrieve a teddy left on holiday (it has been known!).
WARNING!
If you fall foul of the increasingly unilateral regime, they have the right to ban you without notice, regardless of the length of your membership. All the time and money that you have spent building a network will therefore be wasted.
External links
Ecademy (http://www.ecademy.com/)
Ecademy Testimonials (http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=4155)
Ecademy - the online North Korea? (http://enk.tribe.net)
Ecademy Watch - Keeping an Eye on Ecademy (http://ecademywatch.tribe.net)
Ecademy Watch
In the light of certain inconsistencies regarding Ecademy a watch dog site has been created to give members the opportunity to voice their opinions as well as any concerns they may have outside of the community.
Inconsistencies include: Manipulation of the stats which could be deemed as fraud as Ecademy is a pay to use site. Symptoms of cult like activity, which includes psychological profiling of members as well as the possible use of NLP (neuro linguistic programming) to influence people. Ecademy also has off-line meetings which, makes it different from many other on-line communities. These meetings which are held globally are for business people only and may be linked to Masonic organisations.
Visit: http://ecademywatch.tribe.net to join the discussion
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