The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [77]
http://www.pad4pad.com
Permanent House Trading: Facilitates permanent home exchange.
http://permanenthousetrading.com
ProfVac: Home exchange service for educators.
http://www.profvac.com
RoofSwap : Offers international home exchanges.
http://www.roofswap.com
Swaptogo: Home exchange service based in the U.K.
http://www.houseswaptogo.co.uk
3rd Home: Luxury home exchange program.
http://wadeshealy.3rdhome.com
Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO): Online space for homeowners to advertise their vacation properties.
http://www.vrbo.com
SKILLS
Using Internet-enabled share platforms, the Mesh makes it easy for people to connect with others and share expertise. Organizations will allow an individual to display her skills on the Web or find others who have the expertise she needs. Through share platforms, users can then build relationships, make agreements, and share or swap their skills. In this category you will also find Meshy companies that help small businesses get expert advice from creative professionals.
FriendlyFavor is an all-purpose request tool that enables you to easily ask, offer, and manage online favors. Whether you’re looking for a ride to the airport, a recommendation for good eats, or a dog sitter, FriendlyFavor will help you reach out to your “peeps”—your trusted network of friends, family, and colleagues. And it’s efficient. Instead of sorting through endless e-mail threads, FriendlyFavor sends an appeal to your peeps using your existing e-mail lists and then archives any responses (Think Evite). The Web site also helps you repay the favor with an exchange of services, gift certificates, or charitable donations.
Amazon Mechanical Turk: Marketplace for work.
https://www.mturk.com
crowdSPRING: Offers affordable graphic design and writing services to small businesses by connecting consumers with creative professionals.
http://www.crowdspring.com
FriendlyFavor: Request tool that enables users to ask, offer, and manage favors online.
http://www.friendlyfavor.com
Guru: Members find freelancers at Guru’s online service marketplace.
http://www.guru.com
Ideas Culture: Offers a team of Idea Agents to help create a company’s next big idea.
http://www.ideasculture.com
Spudaroo: Helps you solicit expert advice on your project.
http://www.spudaroo.com
Squidoo: Passionate experts share advice and direct seekers to best resources.
www.squidoo.com
Swapaskill: Swap something you can do for what you need.
http://www.swapaskill.com
TaskRabbit: Service networking. Users network to get their errands done.
http://taskrabbit.com
SOCIAL NETWORKING
The newest wave of information technology enables Mesh businesses to unite people with common interests through social networks. Members of these online platforms can engage in conversation, exchange information, share photos, and form special-interest groups. Other Mesh companies in this category use advanced data capacity for tracking and aggregating information to analyze and report trends that develop on social networking sites.
Do, learn, share, or change something. That’s what you’ll do as a member of Meetup, a network of local groups that meet up face-to-face. Driven by the goal to improve their community or themselves, more than 2,000 groups get together in their local communities every day. And with 68,000 local groups to choose from, you’re likely to find a group that meets your needs, whether you want to learn how to pair wine and cheese, practice Arabic, or play flag football. But if you don’t find an appealing Meetup group, you can start one yourself. The Web site will help you pick a theme, find members, make plans, and schedule your first Meetup.
Fotolog: Social networking site for photo bloggers.
http://www.fotolog.com
Green Drinks: Meetups for people in the environmental field.
http://www.greendrinks.org
inCampus: Social networking service for students.
http://www.incampus.com