3…..2…..1…..Lift-Off!

For a website founder, there is nothing more exciting than the hum of new search engines cranking into life for the first time. 

At 6.00 am on Thursday 21 July, 2011, we launched the Look After Me ‘concept’ when V1 of our website went live. Although the Rugby World Cup was not our main focus, we timed the launch of our website 50 days out from the Rugby World Cup.  Rugby World Cup Fever was in full flight with Tamati’s tour around the country in his various themed Roadshows, showcasing the Cup and inviting locals to participate with live filming on Breakfast TV.

We (Amanda Hamill and I) celebrated in Rotorua, where we had our own film crew, from Big Voice filming our involvement in launching Look After Me to the general public at the Rotorua Museum.  It was wonderful to be involved in the Roadshow, enjoying the Russian themed performances and meeting (and kissing!) the gorgeous Tamati Coffey. You can check out the 3 minute launch clip on our website.

Why Look After Me? A lot of people ask me – where did the idea for Look After Me come from. 

When I was a scientist, I travelled a lot – both nationally and internationally. Although great at first, the novelty of staying in hotels by myself soon wore off. I was braver than most and would venture out into the unknown streets of undiscovered cities in search of an evening meal. But more than once I got lost and frightened. Where I could, I would stay with friends, relatives or even friends of friends (always leaving them with a quality gift in appreciation of their hospitality). 

This lead to the idea that it would be really great to have a whole network of ‘kin’ or friends of family, I could stay with, where ever I went, whatever the reason I needed to travel. I asked around and others thought this would be a good thing too.

It got me thinking that there are already well-established networks of warm-hearted and community-minded women all over NZ, in fact, all over the World, and that some of these women might be interested in opening up their homes for paying guests.  I was already part of the Zonta International Network and had been an active member for 10 years of the Zonta Club. I asked some of the women in our Zonta Club and the positive reaction I received encouraged me to launch the Charity Travel Concept – where hosts donate a percentage of their profits to a Charity, or service organisation of their choice.

So I refined the idea to include our own brand of toiletries, personal vetting of each property to assign our own Quality Mark of Trust in one of three accommodation standards. I also took myself to Business School, studying part-time at nights for a year to put together a comprehensive business plan, conduct market research and strategise for taking the concept to market.

I had the good fortune to meet Dave Moskovitz and Stefan Korn from Webfund who loved the idea so much, they encouraged me to launch just 6 weeks after our initial chat. At the time it was all pretty whirlwind but working together, with their advice and a small team of quality folks, we launched.

Special thanks to Amanda Hamill for all the behind the scenes work, our logo designer Jamaine Fraser, the web developers (WebPartners) and suppliers - Seriously Good Chocolate Co;  Jeymar Soap and Body and Commercial Signs for all their good work bringing our brand to the market.