Ever since we lifted the lid on Guardian Membership, the response has been overwhelming. Twitter streams have cascaded with messages from members supporting the open exchange of ideas, emails have flooded in with ideas for the potential of Guardian Membership to create change; and, most humbling, thousands of you signed up to become Patrons, Partners and Friends. Although it’s barely a fortnight old, the community is already alive and thriving.
This sense of community is most evident when among the 2,000 people who have attended a Guardian Live event. Just as we had hoped and imagined, Guardian members are creating, joining and fuelling conversations that matter.
Given that Guardian Membership has been visited by people from all across UK and more than 80 countries around the world, it’s natural and promising that some of you have asked when we’ll be expanding our Guardian Live events programme to more towns and cities.
Our vision is that, in time, Guardian Membership becomes a self-organising community connected to conversations happening around the UK and the world. Right now, we’re in our beta (or learning) phase; trialling different kinds of events and digesting invaluable feedback from our Founding Members, so that we can build and shape the community around the ambitions of our most engaged readers.
Before the end of this year, we will have staged more than 20 events in London, and taken Guardian Live to Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh. We know this means you won’t be able to be at every event, so we are posting highlights to this website.
In October, we’re excited to announce that members will be able to watch our Russell Brand event live at over 100 cinemas across the UK. We will also be live streaming Naomi Klein in conversation with Owen Jones, right here on the Guardian. Also, whenever an event is taking place and you can’t be with us, please join the conversation by using #GuardianLive on Twitter – we’d always love to hear from you.
This is just the beginning of Guardian Membership. In the spirit of the community and the Guardian itself, we will be developing it in the open. As we add more features and have more news to share, we will update this blog. In the meantime, we hope you join the conversation.
Please keep the ideas for Guardian Membership coming, either by leaving a comment below the line or completing our feedback form. I’m also on Twitter. I can’t wait to hear from you.
