Hub Culture
Type | Private |
---|---|
Foundation date |
Hong Kong, China (November, 2002) |
Headquarters | Hamilton, Bermuda |
Key people |
Stan Stalnaker, Founder and Creative Director Tina Frank, Chairman, Board of Directors Meg Thomson, Executive Producer Edie Lush Executive Editor Jeffery Leung Commodities Director Mark Hamilton, Development Director |
Website | www.hubculture.com |
Alexa rank | 429,527 (February 2014)[1] |
Type of site | Social network service |
Registration | Required |
Available in | English (UK), English (US) |
Launched | November 2002 |
Hub Culture is an invitation-led social network service that operates the global digital currency Ven, and according to its website, is "the first to merge online and physical world environments."[2] It was founded in November 2002. The Hub Culture group of companies is privately held with offices in Bermuda, Hong Kong, London and New York, with a network of knowledge brokers in over 20 locations worldwide[citation needed].
As of July 2013, Hub Culture lists over 20,000 members and has exchanged over 20 million units of its virtual currency, Ven.[3][4][5] Members create profiles with tags tied to areas of expertise and knowledge, sharing information to help others in the network with business related activities. Members may build working groups to manage collaborative projects with wikis, file sharing, discussions and event planning, or exchange the virtual currency to acknowledge favors and benefits that come from the sharing of information.
Currency
Ven is a global virtual currency used by members of Hub Culture to buy, share and trade knowledge, goods and services globally with anyone in the network and can be spent at any Hub Culture Pavilion or used for micropayments on the Internet at large.[6] The value of Ven is determined on the financial markets from a basket of currencies, commodities and carbon futures. It trades against other major currencies at floating exchange rates. Global pricing for Ven is provided by Thomson Reuters.[7] Ven first appeared as an application in Facebook on 4 July 2007. In late 2008 the currency became tradeable to anyone with an email address, making it the first global digital currency to move from an online social network into the real world.[8]
In December 2009 Hub Culture began using Ven as a micropayment system for the distribution of content produced by members in the network, allowing users to charge access to individual articles or videos posted inside the network system.
In May 2010, carbon pricing contracts were introduced to the weighted basket that determines the value of Ven. The introduction of carbon to the calculation price of the currency made Ven the first digital Emissions Reduction Currency System.[9] An open API for Ven arrived in January 2011, providing new forms of distribution and access to the currency for the web at large via a developer interface at VenMoney.net.[10]
In April 2011, the company announced the first commodity trade priced in Ven for gold contracts between Europe and South America.[11] On Earth Day 2011, the first carbon credit trade priced in Ven was exchanged between Nike and Winrock with the London Carbon Market for Brazilian aforestation.[12]
In September 2011, Thomson Reuters became the independent calculating agent for Ven, making it the first digital currency to be tracked by the global financial markets, with live market pricing appearing on over 500,000 financial data terminals worldwide.[13] In November 2011, Hub Culture announced the availability of diamonds, investment grade wines and Ven Gold, a retail gold product sold in individual 1 oz. 22 karat units.[14]
Pavilions
In 2008, Hub Culture began rolling out Pavilions, member based workspaces in key cities that offer concierge and consulting services, meeting space, on an internet enabled technology platform. Hub Culture Pavilions, both temporary and permanent, have appeared in Cannes, Cancún, Copenhagen, Davos, Ibiza, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento and St. Moritz. Notable among these locations, in December 2009 Hub Culture opened a Pavilion in the heart of Copenhagen to coincide with COP15, a beachfront location in Cancún to coincide with COP16,[2][4][15] and a guest house location in Durban for COP17.
In 2010, 2011 and 2012 temporary Pavilions opened in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. "Hub Maison" arrived in New York City for New York Fashion Week in its first fashion oriented collaboration with Sportmax. The New York Pavilion became the first Pavilion to offer contemporary retail fashion selections for sale in virtual currency. In May 2010, Hub Culture opened the Cannes Clubhouse, a venue tied to the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in collaboration with Grey Goose. A private island in Croatia and Bali project also use Ven as a means of exchange. The 2011 Davos Pavilion made history with the first vehicles available for sale in Ven, with the all-electric Nissan LEAF on offer.[16] In 2012, portions of the Davos Pavilion became the first in Europe to be powered by zero-emission energy from the Nissan Leaf using the Leaf-to-Home energy system.[17]
References
- ↑ "Hubculture.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dryza, Kristina. (2009-06-03). "Hub Culture: For those who see the world on a global basis". DavidReport. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ↑ "The dollar alternatives". CNN. 2010-07-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Oppenheim, Leonora. (2009-05-12). "Hub Culture Creates Conscious Collaboration + Innovation Factory in London". TreeHugger. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ↑ Roth, Daniel (2010-02-22). "The Future of Money: It’s Flexible, Frictionless and (Almost) Free". wired.com. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ↑ Jordan, Andy (2009-09-09). "Wall street journal blog article about Ven". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Ven digital currency to be displayed on Thomson Reuters terminal network". Finextra. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Hub Culture: Ven is Hub Culture's cool social currency". DGC Magazine. 2009-07-14. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
- ↑ "Hub / Ven - Global Digital Currency / News". Hubculture.com. 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Ven, by Hub Culture". Venmoney.net. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Virtual currency used for commodity trade". Finextra. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "American Carbon Registry Offsets Retired in First Ven Carbon Transaction". Blog.americancarbonregistry.org. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Ven Digital Currency to be Displayed on Thomson Reuters Data Network". Finextra.com. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ Eric Savitz (2011-11-23). "Currency: Dollars Aren't Enough; Here Comes The Ven (Video)". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Global Biz Network with Workspaces for Members". 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ↑ "Video - Social Networking at the World Economic Forum - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ↑ "Renault-Nissan Alliance Electrifies the Alps". Wallstreet-online.de. 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hub Culture. |
- Official website
- Huffington post news article
- Wall street journal blog article about Ven
- Currency renegades and decentralized cash
- TriplePundit on the Hub Culture 2010 Zeitgeist Ranking
- PSFK: The best cities on the planet
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