On Saturday 9th June, I attended a talk from Peter Ward from the travel / social networking site Where Are You Now (WAYN) at Brunel University. Peter is a passionate entrepreneur and his talk was very inspiring. He represents a growing number of UK entrepreneurs that are embracing Web 2.0 technologies to build their businesses.
Based in London, WAYN unites travellers from around the world. Founded in 2002 by friends Pete Ward, Jerome Touze and Mike Lines. WAYN secured initial funding from Steve Pankhurst, founder of Friends Reunited in 2003. Today, WAYN has grown into a travel social networking community with over 8 million active members!
WAYN offers a unique blend that combines social interaction and user generated content with location based services. Users can log their trips, see who is where and make new friends. The site offers travellers a way to interact, share experiences, keep track of friends and meet people from around the world.
WAYN Top 5 Fast Facts
- WAYN is an 18+ member site, with 52% male and 48% female split
- WAYN’s members are located in over 220 countries, including the UK, US and Canada
- Membership has grown from 45,000 in March 2005 to over 8 Million to date
- WAYN has a top 2000 ranking on Alexa
- WAYN receives strong press coverage across UK in national papers, BBC and ITV, and some recent press in the US.