Biznik networking that doesn't suck?

OK, you've probably heard this one but I'll risk eliciting groans and quote it anyway:

"...our playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do."

-Marianne Williamson (c'mon, say it with me), Return to Love

I just read that again on Rachel Whalley's blog and came back here because it made me think of Sierra and her post.

David, that's a great reminder. That quote was SO powerful for me when I first heard it.

Shine on, Sierra!

When we first launched the articles section on Jan. 2, the only place where articles were being displayed was on the Learn section. So when an article came in that didn't meet our editorial guidelines, my only option was to decline to publish it.

But an interesting thing happened! As I was turning down more and more articles, I realized it was a huge missed opportunity - just because they don't fit on the Learn section doesn't mean they aren't relevant or interesting to the person who is posting it. And, by extension, anyone who is considering hiring or working with that person would gain some insight into them by reading anything they want to publish. So, the obvious solution: instantly publish every article that is submitted to the person's profile who wrote it. It is, after all, your profile, and you should be able to publish pretty much anything you want on it as long as it doesn't violate Biznik's Terms of Service and Code of Conduct.

So that's what we've done. Now, articles that fit into our editorial guidelines, we promote to wider visibility on the Learn section and also on the home page. Ones that don't, will simply appear on the member's profile.

In your case, Sierra, your article had been deleted so it didn't automatically appear under the new approach. I've un-deleted it, so it now appears on your profile. Here's a link, so everyone here can read it: Company Ink.

Nice, Dan.

This is the cool thing about this community: We learn and grow together. I love the fact that Biznik founders always listen to our feedback and accommodate our needs in a way it feels authentic to them and fits their vision! I am happy about the outcome of this discussion. Thanks Dan! :)

Hear, hear!

I had the thought that articles that don't fit neatly into the guidelines might also be accessible from the Coffee Break forum...

Its seems to me that "healing the deeper issue" is a topic best suited for a different forum. From the outside looking in, it seems like all this talk of censure and restriction are being used as vehicles to passively voice other grievances of some sort.

If promoting your business is the most important objective, it shouldnt matter what your other proclivities are, whether you're (fill-in-the-blank) friendly or not. In the course of meeting others, you'll discover who has those same thoughts and objectives, and you'll network accordingly.

At some point, we have to decide how important rocking the boat is compared to building our businesses. It seems like this thread is intent on promoting the former moreso than the latter. If that's the case, then perhaps a forum with less of a business leaning is more appropriate.

I've waited until now to make a comment, because I really wanted to hear what everyone in the community has to say on the topic. Thank you all who has participated in this discussion so far - you're awesome. And thank you, Sierra, for airing your concerns and frustrations. You've been a part of the Biznik community since the beginning in 2005, and have had a front row seat watching Biznik grow and evolve.

Biznik has evolved from being a community into being a community that is also a business, and Dan and I face the same task that most of you do in building your own businesses: balancing what your customers need versus what we need to keep the business viable and growing. We are the first to admit that at times we make mistakes. Choosing not to include the words "kink-friendly" in an event title was a business decision. We have nothing against the term personally. If this community feels that it's appropriate, than we have no objection.

So I'd like to put this question back to the community:

Are you comfortable with seeing the words "Kink Friendly" in the title of Biznik Events?

Do you feel it could potentially damage the reputation of a growing business and community?

We're very interested in hearing your responses.

To address just a couple points made above:

: Getting "kicked off" Biznik. Very rarely are members "kicked off" for "bad behavior." Bad behavior is outlined in the Code of Conduct which each member agreed to when they signed up, but if you read it, you'll find that it mostly addresses uncivil and unlawful behavior like Rachel mentioned: "personally abusing others within our community (flame wars, un-constructive negativity, harassment, etc.)"

The only other activity that immediately comes to mind that will get a private message from either Dan or I followed by a boot are spamming of any kind, and members of MLM and direct sales companies who recruit other members for their business opportunities. More on Biznik's, "No-MLM Policy" can be read here.

We do not kick out people who rock the boat. It's simply not our style. I'm a boat rocker too. I love that Biznik is full of boat rockers. I'd fall asleep if I spent too much time in a steady boat and life's too precious and too short to sleep the whole thing away.

: Flag feature. Biznik has a flag feature that puts the power of monitoring behavior into the hands of the community. If someone feels another member's post contains offensive or inappropriate content, they can flag them. What happens to that flag? An email is sent to the Admin (Dan and I), we investigate and take action on a case by case basis.

: Biznik's focus. Biznik is a community for small business people interested in making connections related to business. A myriad of social networks exist for those interested in socializing, those interested in classical music, those interested in indie rock bands. Thank you, Banu, for sharing the link to the National Coalition of Sexual Freedom's Kink-Aware Professionals site.

: Inclusion at Events. Yes, all events are open to all members. Though an event host may target a specific audience in an event description (i.e. health care professionals or Eastside attorneys), they may not exclude any members who wishes to participate.

: Editing your article. Articles can be edited at any time by the author. Sierra, if at any time you're uncomfortable about something you wrote in your article, you can edit it or drop me a line and I'll remove it entirely from your profile (in fact, we will soon be adding a "delete" button so you can do that yourself).

I'm interested in hearing more opinions about Biznik and our services - keep 'em coming!

RE: whether or not "kink-friendly" is cool -- Personally, I would much rather be a part of a community where the status quo is challenged. There's a reason I choose to make Biznik my primary network rather than a "non-compete" group like BNI. That reason is that I want to do business and collaborate with REAL people. People who aren't pretending to be perfect posterboards so they can make the sale. People who are messy and interesting and fully human.

I don't think that makes us less businessy. I DO think that may turn off some people and prevent them from feeling like Biznik is the place for them. And I think that's a good thing, honestly. I would rather this network attract those who are open-minded and willing to be authentic. That's who I want to serve and be served by.

My own two cents: I don't think sex has anything to do with business in this context. And it should be kept separate. There are already plenty of forums all over the Internet where you can express your sexuality. Biznik has a different focus: expressing your business self.

Sierra, thanks for being open and honest and expressing yourself. As Karrie so eloquently stated, Change Makers throughout history have had an uphill battle. And Change Makers and Trail Blazers have given us so much of what we take for granted today. We appreciate you for challenging the boundaries. It takes a real brave person to do so. You rock, girl.

I, too, often feel like a strange bird. As a young female entrepreneur, Biznik is perhaps the closest thing to "home" I have ever felt. There are so many business networks out there that seem to draw lines in the sand for those that "aren't worthy". At those places, I have often felt like I was either too young, too female, too sexy (yes, I said it), too edgy, too bold, too cute, too funny, too energetic, too whatever. The list could go on for days. Like you, I'm tired of being a robot. I just wanna be me—in all of my shameless cartoon glory. And so far, for me, Biznik has been the safest place for me to thrive. But I understand what you feel, and we hope we can make you feel welcome.

Peace out—g

And to answer Lara's question:

I personally am comfortable with the term "kink friendly" in the title of Biznik events. I think it's possible to maintain our individual authenticity and still raise our collective professionalism.

I also agree with Rachel. If people are turned off by the authentic aspects of Biznik, then maybe they're not a good fit. If we negate our authentic voices, we run the danger of becoming one of those "other" business networks (shudder). You know, the stuffy kind.

Rock on, indies.

This reminds me of how important it is for us to finish the Groups feature - once we have Groups, you'll be able to create a group for anything you like related to business. You can make them private, semi-public or public, and you be as kinky as you like within the group without fear of giving offense to the larger community here. I know we've been promising Groups for months and months, so I hesitate to even mention them again without getting booed, but they really are coming!

I don't even consider things like kink-friendliness because it's just not part of how I think. It's not a matter of "eww, how awful," it's more like, "uhh..what? Ok, sure, whatever."

Whether an event or article is sex-positive or kink-friendly... frankly, my dear, I just don't give a damn. Would it damage the reputation of a business community? That's a harder question, but really, I don't see the point of labeling events aside from the theme or topic at hand. Why is it necessary?

If I host a biznik event to get people in PDX networking and call it gay-friendly, then one could assume that other events are not gay-friendly.

Labeling it as anything-friendly is simply beside the point. If biznik people want their kinky friends to come to the event, then just invite them. Jeez, is it really that complex an issue?

One can overthink these things.

I didn't expect it to, but this discussion has made me think long and hard about the whole concept of networking and what it means to my business.

I got into business to make money on my own terms and in my own way. I wanted to escape the corporate restraints I was formally under. There were too many people labeling me as weird or "out there." I didn't fit the model but I played the game to make a high salary. It got boring.

Now I find myself creating online profiles for various networking communities and yes, I want to make myself look as appealing as possible to potential clients and partners. I read articles on "elevator" speeches and marketing blurbs and branding and how to cultivate my network and not to sell even though that's what every single person in the room is trying to do. How I should be authentic and come from the heart but be prepared to hand out business cards at every opportunity. Criminy, my head is spinning.

I'm in business to make money, period. I like money, it pays for things like rent and food. I prefer to make money doing something I enjoy more than anything, but since drinking beer isn't very lucrative I chose art.

What I do is fun. I present myself as a happy-go-lucky, goofy kind of guy because that's how I am. It's not a marketing gimmick, I like goofy humor and happy stuff. So sue me, I don't use sex or profanity in my business. Does that make me less open and more "tight" or "closed?" OK, if you say so. Is giving credit to others and issuing due compliments ass-kissing? I guess it depends on your perspective.

I'll be frank: I HATE NETWORKING. It sucks. It takes a lot of energy and thought. It's a full time job itself. It feels fake, even when I'm just being myself because I can't turn off the part of my brain that says I'm behind on the rent and need a commission. Web sites like biznik made it much easier for me (there's some ass-kissing for ya, Sierra).

What's ironic is that I came back to the West coast and PDX to be in a more laid-back community of like-minded individuals and I find myself being referred to as "tight" and "closed." Now that's funny, you gotta admit.

After participating in this thread I've realized that I am just not a network playah.

How's that for authentic?

I think that if there's a business networking site that does the job, it's biznik. I really appreciate the work that Dan and Laura have done to create it, but I'm so... burnt out. I like a little back-and-forth, a little banter, but I just gotta get back to what I do best.

I think I'll hire someone else to do my marketing and networking and I can go back to making happy trees. Sheesh. This is too much to think about when all I wanted to do was make some business contacts.

I feel compelled to make one last comment:

This is a great community and biznik has a lot to offer. No one person or comment made me take action. I think I just need to take a sabbatical from the networking stuff. I get so caught up in it and I end up taking so much time that I get away from actually creating any content, which is what my true purpose is. It's a fault of my own, not biznik's or anyone else's.

There's nothing wrong with networking itself, of course, I just need to meditate and breathe for a while before I get stressed about it. :)

It's not you, Honey, it's me.

Ahem.

I am pretty new here and I am being myself.

I went to Lara's "How to network the Biznik Way" last week and learned things that were different from my assumptions. And that's fine as long as I know the assumptions were mine and now I know the intentions behind the designed Biznik Way.

Later on, when I have a different idea than the Biznik Way, I would lobby my idea from the point of supporing biznik's intention instead of rocking the boat.

Again, that's me. And, for the record, the debate teams I was in always won. :)