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New Web Site Helps You Find
Friends While Traveling on Business
by Judy Babcock WylieWilliam Wesley Richards of London knows how lonely it can be on the
road for those traveling on business,
particularly in far-flung places where one doesn’t speak the language. He often
wished he could contact others in the same situation whose paths he might cross
as he traveled. But it was years before the technology was available that could
make it happen. Thanks to the Internet, it’s now possible, but it took Richards
two years to set it up and work out the details. At his new site which opened in October, at
www.biztravelclub.com members can post
their trip itineraries before they leave to find out who else might be in that city at the same time. Then the
two travelers can arrange to get together for a lunch or a drink, making the
road a little less lonely. The first two years of membership are free as http://biztravelclub.com collects a critical mass of names. I checked out the site for the cities of London, San Francisco and New York and found ad executives, interior designers, journalists and movie producers all had listed their itineraries and noted the kind of person they’d enjoy chatting with, usually someone in the same or allied professions. He knew this would work for major
cities, but Richards feels it’s even
more useful for those sent to remote locations to work. Now, even the most
far-away locations are accessible by
computer. “I visited Kerala, India, at the very tip of the Indian
sub-continent, and was strolling Kovalam Beach in my bathing trunks, when I came across a thatched-roof shack with two
computers in it!”. When you log onto the site, you can enter the Club Lounge, where participants can select cities they’ll be visiting and post their itineraries. They are protected by listing only their email address . If you wish, you can also list your hotel, so messages can be left at the front desk. Richards suggests the two travelers arrange to meet for the first time in a public place such as a restaurant. “What’s surprised us is that women are very keen on this and feel safe. In fact, more that 60 percent of our members are women.” Before I spoke with Richards I thought you’d have to travel with a laptop
computer to make this work, but you don’t. You can set up the connection before
you leave home, or on the road by using
a computer at a cybercafe, a hotel’s business center, or a colleague’s office.
So far members are mainly Europeans and Americans, and all postings are entered
in English. |
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TM