Nearly five months to the date that the Gathering Spot (TGS) founders stood on a stage at their networking club and addressed their rocky relationship with then-parent company Greenwood, they were back there again.
“We’ve reacquired TGS to continue the work we’ve started in the same spirit that we started it in,” Ryan Wilson, CEO and co-founder of the club, said in a video that opened Monday night’s members-only town hall.
Wilson and his co-founder, T’Keel “TK” Petersen, then presented their vision for the future in this new phase of TGS – which they are calling the “All of Us” era – and answered questions from members in the wake of last week’s surprise announcement that TGS was splitting from Greenwood and would be an independent company again.
Dozens of members came to the town hall in Atlanta and thousands tuned in online from the other locations where TGS has a physical club (Washington and Los Angeles) or one of their “connected cities,” which are communities that gather for events and programming, just not at a TGS club (Chicago, New York, Houston, Detroit or Charlotte), Wilson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Petersen and Wilson did not get into the details of their separation from Greenwood just a year and a half after they were acquired. “It’s a conversation about us, not other people,” Petersen said.
But they did discuss some of the impact the lawsuits traded between Greenwood and TGS this summer had on the networking club.
TGS lost over a quarter of their members between July and September because of the turmoil, Petersen said. They now have around 12,000 members across the U.S., down from their peak of 15,000. Members under 30 pay $100 per month, or $1,000 annually, while members over 30 pay double.
Now, the two are hyper-focused on the future of the club in three ways: improving the offerings for current members by addressing the dining, programming and hospitality experiences; leveraging new technology to better facilitate community building; and making the club more inclusive of people who may not be able to afford the membership dues.
Currently, members have access to a coworking space, private restaurant, small offices, private events, speakers and networking opportunities, but sometimes the offerings haven’t lived up to the community’s expectations.
“We’re not a perfect club, but we’re trying to be,” Wilson told the audience.
But while Wilson and Petersen presented many ideas on their vision for the future, they were light on the specifics, saying they were focused on listening to members right now.
The founders did announce a few things coming at the beginning of next year for the TGS community.
The two will be raising venture capital — though they did not disclose their target — but a portion of the raise will be reserved for members to invest in the club.
In mid-March they will be announcing a new club in one of the five cities where they have a community.
And in the first quarter of next year, they will be launching a new members’ app that will use artificial intelligence to leverage the professional connections in the TGS community.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
One of the biggest moments came when someone asked if their membership dues will still be going to Greenwood? Wilson said “no,” and the room applauded.
“We’re hungrier than we’ve ever been,” Petersen said. “We look forward to proving the community right in saying that we were the right stewards for this.”
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