Imagine you're new to a foreign metropolis and looking for an occasion to socialise with fellow expats: How about a skiing trip to the Swiss Alps? An Independence Day champagne brunch in New York City? A French-cuisine dinner in Shanghai?In 2009, nearly 50,000 expatriates worldwide took advantage of such an opportunity, and as of today, more than 8,000 expats meet up in global hot spots every month. True to the spirit of the Web 2.0 era, they got organised through an exclusive social network tailored to expats' needs: internations.org.The Munich-based start-up, which recently celebrated its third birthday, has already hit the 250,000 members mark.Internations was founded by three German entrepreneurs, Christian Leifeld, Philipp von Plato and Malte Zeeck, and has been online since early September 2007.
During their careers as international consultants and foreign correspondents, the founders faced typical expat issues themselves: How do I find an English-speaking dentist? Which relocation company would you recommend? Is there a partner for my tennis double in town? With financial support from VC business angels, they came up with an Web based solution for the‚ real-life 'problems' of the expat community.The members of Internations are diplomats, managers and employees of multinational companies, IGOs and NGOs, foreign correspondents as well as their families. They are well-educated, career-oriented, dynamic and internationally mobile-true global minds.
Due to their huge interest in real-life networking, the site is no longer imaginable without the casual Internations get-togethers. Hosted by so-called Ambassadors, such as Janice Learmond-Criqui, Ideal Life Certified Professional Coach, in Trinidad & Tobago, they serve as a valuable addition to the site's online services and bring the foreign community together.Internations GmbH is the international social networking service for expats and global minds worldwide. Members actively discuss both local and global issues and also meet in over 230 communities on a regular basis.