Dear subscriber

Bumper newsletter with lots to share:
New programme of meetings
New members
New in The Learning Hub
Bragging rights
Hall of shame
Digital Markets Act

Ready? ...

After running a small publishing business for over a decade, Isse noticed that the best life stories are just collecting dust because most people who start writing never finalize and publish their work.

To give aspiring writers the opportunity to get past the obstacles, Isse has created the Calling To Millions Book Method™ - a simple process that gets books written and published.

If you'd like to know more, contact Isse on LinkedIn: Ismet Muratspahić (website coming soon)

New Style Meetings

Inspirational Speakers
Hear from people who are growing interesting businesses, building teams, doing good things. Guests welcome.
Ask the Expert
Our Premium Members are a very talented bunch and this is where you can ask questions about anything you'd like to learn from them. Guests welcome.
Subtle Networking
Drive's signature method of networking without the icky bits. Have real conversations and explore collaborations. Guest welcome.
Premium Members Meetings
Exclusive, private, intimate, supportive, hilarious, philosophical, practical, unpredictable, these meetings are the secret sauce that makes Drive so special.

Meeting dates and details

Should you be in this list?

What do a software developer, PR consultant, wine concierge, social media consultant, marketing trainer, branding consultant, translator, EFT expert, executive coach, graphic designer, proofreader, life coach, editor, book designer, font nerd, virtual assistant, eco gift supplier, photographer, careers coach, marketing consultant, money coach, bookkeeper, story teller, venue marketer, print and packaging expert, garden designer, small business tech expert, puppet maker, diversity and inclusion consultant, occupational psychologist, organisational change consultant, communication coach, TV producer, mental health coach, ESG consultant, Zoho specialist, disability influencer marketer, clinical psychologist, Gestalt counsellor, school careers provider, software developer, UX designer, neurodiversity coach, accountant, lawyer, blogging consultant, ghostwriter, website developer, leadership coach, story and speechwriting coach, lead generation expert, business development consultant, health activist, first aid for feelings trainer, Japanese calligrapher, and HR consultant have in common?

They're all Drive members!

In many cases there are more than one of them doing the same job or providing the same services - except they're not of course because they're all very individual.

What they really have in common is a belief that collaboration is a better business model than competition and that by supporting and learning from each other they're happier, healthier and more productive than trying to do everything on their own.

If you'd like to be part of this great Tribe get in touch!

New In The Learning Hub

How uncomfortable do we need to be to grow?
Annabel Harper on her trip to Svalbard

Drive members doing interesting things!

Jonathan Glazier's new programme Good Game Asia is where gaming meets reality and where content creators meet TV producers. Fiscally the largest entertainment industry in the world, gaming sits comfortably on TV and Jonathan has been at the heart of developing this new format. Glazier Media

Anne Bailey, CEO of Form the Future has been awarded the £10,000 Cambridge Social Innovation Prize by the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation. These annual awards are made to extraordinary leaders of social enterprises to support their development. Congratulations Anne!

Laurence Sarno was interviewed by The Business Travel Magazine about why the Mia Bazo climate impact tool lets digital nomads, frequent travelers and SMEs calculate the carbon footprint of their vehicles, properties and any mode of travel. Get your own free account at Mia Bazo

Annie Deakins wrote "Eight Steps for Business Confidence" based on the Drive Quest she did earlier this year. She shared them with other Drive members including Andrea Constable who in turn produced some video content for Rachel Extance (because that's how it goes). Now you can share them too: Eight Steps

Jo Bryant creates a whole range of puppets that are used by teachers, pediatricians and language therapists and collected by fans all over the world just for fun. The Slobbit (a combination of a sloth and a rabbit) is a favourite with Drive members and now they have their own handbook! Get help with thinking a little differently and make every day a little brighter! The Hands On Company

Helen Lindop would like you to take a holiday without your business grinding to a halt. Its simple to use tech to automate as much as you can, but without losing that human touch that clients value so much in a small business. To set things up so your business can run without you for a while and keep things ticking over if you do need to step away get in touch with Helen and she'll get Speedy the Robot working for you! Speedy Digital

Deceptive Design

Deceptive design practices (also known as "dark patterns") are tricks used in websites and apps that make you buy or sign up for things that you didn't mean to. The purpose of this site is to spread awareness and to shame companies that use them. Check out their Hall of Shame. Thanks Richard Slade of Slade Design for the heads up.

New Digital Markets Act

Yesterday the EU reached an agreement on the Digital Markets Act
– it’s a massive deal, the biggest digital legislation in the world. It is squarely aimed at Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft but we're all likely to see some of the effects as they trickle through ...

Here's a summary:“The Digital Markets Act puts an end to the ever increasing dominance of Big Tech companies. From now on, they must show that they also allow for fair competition on the internet. The new rules will help enforce that basic principle. Europe is thus ensuring more competition, more innovation and more choice for users,

Data - The gatekeeper companies will no longer be able to collect data from different services and sell targeted ads to users without that user’s explicit consent.

App stores - It will force companies like Google, who own the Android operating system, and Apple to offer alternatives to their app stores

Pricing - Businesses will be free to offer their products and services at a different prices or conditions in different marketplaces

Browsers, Search Engines and Virtual Assistants - A user must have a free choice over which browser, search engine and virtual assistant they want to use, rather than being pushed in the direction of the one that comes with the operating system or service they are using

Uninstallation of bloatware - Customers will be allowed to uninstall any piece of software that comes preinstalled with a service, for example an operating system on a mobile device

Messaging apps - Customers will now be able to send messages, files, videos and make video calls between different messaging apps, for example, making calls from to Signal

Transparency - Any publisher or advertiser must be able to have full transparency in the price that was paid for any ad and the amount paid to the publisher for that ad

Ranking – gatekeepers cannot artificially rank their products higher than the similar products and services from competitors

Let me know if you'd like more information on this - its a big report!

Phew!

That's it for this time. Let me know if you've got news to share. If you're not a member yet you can sign up here and be featured in the next newsletter.

Hope to see you at one of our meetings (all on Zoom) soon,

Ann Hawkins
MD and Founder
www.drivethenetwork.com

"Our happiness and well being is a reflection of the community we create for ourselves"