Black Card Circle: Connectors, Influencers, Alphas
TechZulu recently caught up with Lotay Yang, Founder and President of BlackCardCircle.com. Also joining us was Krystle McEachron, Membership Chair, and Alice Wang, Web Development Chair. According to McEachron, Black Card Circle is, “an exclusive social business and networking organization.” Potential members are influencers in their respective industries or networks. They do not necessarily have to have financial capital, but may have social capital. Yang described them as being C.I.A., meaning, “connectors”, “influencers”, and “alphas.” They are certain caliber individuals and within that, provide an organic and intrinsic networking benefit to other members.
Black Card Circle differentiates themselves from their competitors by three main points. The first is the caliber of members. All members have to go through a patent-pending authentication process, which is the second point. It is a multi-layer process and there is an algorithm that qualifies potential members. The third is the offline element that provides immense benefits to members. Black Card Circle works with various corporate partners to provide a mutually beneficial partnership for both the member and their corporate partner. One example of this is the Black Card Circle branded events hosted at their partner’s venues. Corporate partners have the benefit of influencers attending their venue, while Black Card Circle members receive a certain level of access to benefits they may not otherwise have. One partnership is with Tao nightclub in Las Vegas. Black Card Circle members have front of the line privileges and complimentary access. All Black Card Circle branded events are offered at no additional charge to members.
Black Card Circle will have fee-based memberships, with different levels of membership offered. Each level offers distinct benefits. Their business plan is focused on the member. They are very concentrated on providing components that members are requesting and look to crowd sourcing for future development.
Black Card Circle is very proud of their global component. So far, they have received inquiries from all over the world, including, Paris, London, Dubai, Shanghai, and several others. They want to capture the global market, but have a localized feel. They are planning on creating communities all over the world for members to have access to each other and expand the offline element.
Yang’s background is in banking and investments and he worked in private wealth management. He was one of the youngest VPs at Fidelity Investments and Northern Trust. Black Card Circle was created in 2005 as an offline organization and is based in Lake Las Vegas. When asked why he wanted to create this organization, Yang said he was looking to fulfill a need that Centurion/Black Card holders were missing.
The Black Card Circle inaugural launch event is 08.08.08. They are excited to introduce influencers they have personally invited to others who will be attending. The private beta launch of BlackCardCircle.com is also 08.08.08. Don’t delay checking it out, as membership will eventually be capped. Check out BlackCardCircle.com for more information.
