Six months ago, we launched Guardian Membership in beta, knowing full well that the scheme was embryonic, because we wanted to make sure that loyal Guardian readers across the world could help shape the programme into a community they’d love to be a part of.
The launch was an experiment, a journey into the unknown; a chance to redefine the relationship a news organisation can have with its readers.
On one hand, we believed there might be an appetite among readers to support and defend the Guardian’s ability to publish fearless, open, independent journalism without a paywall. On the other, we wanted to add a new dimension to the way in which the Guardian could be consumed, intensifying the ongoing conversation that happens between Guardian readers and journalists into a live experience.
Six months in, and the results have been very promising. Tens of thousands of you have become members from all around the world (thank you), with 90% saying that the chief motivation for joining was to support the openness of the Guardian.
In addition, nearly 20,000 have attended 70+ Guardian Live events - ranging from 2,000 in Central Hall Westminster for a climate change rally, to a show of solidarity 24 hours after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, through to Ottolenghi brunches, Oscar-winning film previews, and a handful of Patrons discussing the Guardian’s past, present and future in the editor-in-chief’s office.
Your thoughts and contributions, in their thousands, have been been very gratefully received and we are proud that 94% of you rated the live experiences as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, but that isn’t cause for complacency on our part. We asked what you’d like to see more of, and are now working hard to introduce your ideas into Membership.
Top of your wish list was more live-streaming of events, so that members can join the discussion from outside the room. You’ll be seeing much more of this (our Edward Snowden story event was streamed live on Monday), and whenever we’re doing it members will receive an email with details on how to tune in. We’re now publishing highlights of our events to our YouTube channel too, for those who can’t watch live.
You were understandably asking whether Membership events are planned for places other than London, and the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. In the coming months we’ll be launching some exciting new innovations that enable members to get together in many more places, more often.
You also wanted our live experiences to represent the diversity of everything you read in the Guardian; from foreign affairs to fashion, sport to social justice, so we’re thrilled to be introducing, alongside Guardian Live, events for members in partnership with like-minded institutions that we love, such as Birkbeck College, 5x15, and The Idler Academy who are bringing an incredible diversity to our programme.
The Guardian has always been a community of readers, contributors, organisations and journalists, and seeing that community come together, live and in person, has been truly inspirational. It’s been fantastic meeting with, and talking to members. These meetings have spawned new ideas that inform our journalism and shape our programme, and of course your support means we can keep on pursuing the costly (and occasionally risky) stories that other news organisations shy away from, like the phone hacking revelations, campaigning to end FGM, or the HSBC files.
We’ll soon be throwing even more muscle behind Membership to reach many more people and build a thriving community galvanised by the power of open access to information, ideas and opinions.
Now (until 31 March) is the last chance to join us as a Founding Member, meaning that the price you pay for Membership will never rise.
We’d love to have you with us.
