Linking together organizations

By Peter Walker for CNN

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- As well as getting the chance to leave business school with three magic letters after your name, there is another reason why people take an MBA -- the contacts.

Students generally finish their program with an address book crammed with useful names and numbers; not only go-getting peers from the course but professors, visiting guest lecturers and businesspeople.

Another key aspect of taking an MBA can be to formulate a business idea, especially though a class project.

One newly-minted MBA from the high-ranked Saïd Business School, part of Oxford University in the U.K., has managed to combine the two, turning a class project about an internet networking site into a fully-fledged business.

Web-based networking is big news, as shown by the purchase of the MySpace site by media giant News Corp. for more than $500 million in 2005. Similar site Facebook has been recently linked with a possible buy-out worth up to double that.

But what then-Saïd student Nabil Meralli realized while pondering options for an MBA project was this: MySpace and Facebook are primarily social sites, aimed predominantly at teenagers and other young people. What about networking between professional organizations?

Thus was HubLounge born.

Coming together

Formally launched in December 2006, HubLounge is a free networking site designed specifically for special interest and non-profit organizations, such as charities and non-governmental organizations.

Saïd has strong links with this sector through its Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship, one of a tiny number of business school divisions worldwide dedicated to organizations whose primary objective is positive social impact, not a profit.

"This Web site is unique in the sense that it is tailored to organizations rather than individuals. What we have endeavored to do is to create a tool to harness the power of social networking for organizations that may not have the infrastructure to facilitate such communication," Meralli noted of HubLounge.

"The idea for the Web site came to me just when I was beginning my MBA at Oxford. An opportunity then arose through a project-based assignment on the course for me to research the market need for such a virtual space and to produce a full business plan. Alongside the business considerations, we set to work on developing a truly innovative and exciting technology to underpin the site."

The name comes from the five hubs, or specializations, through which people can network on the site; cultural, professional, special interest, university/college alumni, and social.

Participants in the hubs use so-called "virtual lounges" in which they can interact in a dedicated and secure space.

Clients -- anything from a major global charity to a small local association -- can use the platform to improve collaboration among members, encourage feedback to a fundraising campaign, open discussions, recruit more members to the organization or even solicit donations or support from other groups also taking part.

"When people think of social networking they think of predominantly social-oriented sites like MySpace.com," Meralli said.

"There are a myriad of websites that cater to the teen and tween market. Hublounge.com strives to legitimize social networking technologies through its application and market -- it is a professional web-based platform for organizations and their members.

"It can bring organizations all the benefits of virtual networking with their stakeholders and members. The advantage is that an organization doesn't have to create this system from scratch. These virtual lounges can also be closed to only an organization's members or open to the entire Hublounge community. We hope social entrepreneurship organizations and other non-profit groups will see the benefits the site offers their stakeholders and will sign up.

"What we have endeavored to do is to create a tool to harness the power of social networking for organizations that may not have the infrastructure to facilitate such communication."

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