Jonathan, Thanks for citing the Freelancers Union story on PBS. The outfit has an interesting backstory. Originally Freelancers Union was called www.workingtoday.org <http://www.workingtoday.org/> to aim at freelancers of all kinds-not just writers. It received significant help from www.newprofit.com <http://www.newprofit.com/> , which itself was primarily backed by the Monitor Group (www.monitor.com <http://www.monitor.com/> ). The descriptive language for Working Today went beyond the health insurance topic with its Marketplace Community concept as follows. Working Today is a national organization representing America's growing population of independent workers (currently 30% of the nation's workforce) through advocacy, information, and services. Working Today harnesses technology to reach large numbers of independent workers at a low cost, providing access to services previously available only to a traditional, full-time, long-term workforce. [Working Today grew] by 75% (from 4,696 to over 8,200) the number of individuals covered with health insurance through Working Today. In 2006, Working Today plans to launch the Marketplace Community, a website linking independent workers to potential employers, discounted professional service providers, government agencies, and each other in the hopes of enabling a higher degree of economic stability by providing jobs, services, and community. Looking at the Freelancers site, I'm thinking Freelancers initiated the Marketplace Community with their toolbar for things such as Gigs, Insurance, Yellow Pages (member self promo), and so forth. The overall Freelancers site concept would seem to have features and functions that would be helpful for fresh functionality on Hidden-Tech.net, or alternatively could be an alliance partner to expand the utility, value, and footprint of both sites. I suspect scope and scale has something to do with site success, and might be worth exploring. David David Morf Market Data Consulting Complexity, context, pattern 136 Dartmouth Street Holyoke, MA 01040 413-536-0944 (direct) 413-426-6059 (cell) davidtoday at comcast.net A founding member of the Center for Semantic Excellence www.semanticexcellence.org <http://www.semanticexcellence.org/> _____ From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of Jonathon Podolsky Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 5:11 PM To: Hidden-Tech Tech Subject: [Hidden-tech] Freelancers Union and Last Night's Now on PBS freelancer's union: http://www.freelancersunion.org/ last night's show about freelancers -- Now on PBS: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/407/index.html All the best, Jonathon Podolsky Producer at WholeHealthExpo.com Voice: 413.584.0010 Toll-Free: 877.WHE.EXPO Toll-Free: 877.943.3976 Fax: 413.586.5846 Click <http://www.wholehealthexpo.com/information.php?infoid=6> here for Whole Health Expo website including information about our events and applications Upcoming shows: Northampton, MA March 8-9, 2008 Portland, ME April 5-6, 2008 Portsmouth, NH April 26-27, 2008 Other shows TBA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.hidden-tech.net/pipermail/hidden-discuss/attachments/20080218/66f06a6d/attachment.html