Global community platform launches for drinks industry
Industry veterans Marissa Johnston and Evonne Eadie have launched Shaker Collective, a global community platform for the hospitality industry that aims to ‘replace the chaos’ of group chats and social media.
Launching today (14 July), the Shaker Collective aims to revolutionise hospitality networking by creating a streamlined platform for job searches, collaboration and communication.
The platform addresses the inefficiencies of outdated Facebook groups and WhatsApp communities by offering a subscription-based service with tailored content for different career stages and regions, featuring a mix of pre-populated and user-generated content, moderated by community managers and guided by community guidelines.
Speaking exclusively to The Spirits Business, co-founder Johnston said: “We identified that there is an issue with how hospitality workers find jobs, collaborate, and communicate. They’re all kind of sitting in outdated Facebook groups, WhatsApp communities that are getting out of control and are on mute. So we have created a community that’s designed to cut through the noise of a lot of that, so people can find exactly what they need in a really streamlined way, but also find a way to connect hospitality communities around the world because at the moment, they’re really isolated.”
She continued: “We want to help take learnings from different communities, share resources more broadly, and particularly for more developing countries, give them access to the plethora of talent and resources that cities like London have.
“So we’ve built a platform called Shaker Collective, which is designed to be the go-to resource for people working in hospitality – to network, collaborate, find jobs and really start to kind of build a more for community.”
The platform is available on both app and desktop, and works as a subscription model with different levels. Depending on where people are at in their career, subscribers will receive access to different spaces within the community that are relevant to what they want to do or find.
The platform acts first and foremost as a networking tool that encourages members to get to know others in their local areas, or with those that share common interests.
It will also act as a central destination to support career development across all levels of the hospitality industry – where newcomers can access information on local brand events, foundational resources, and tailored job opportunities, and experienced bartenders have the chance to expand their network, share knowledge through mentorship, and collaborate on global guest shifts.
“We want people to choose what they want to go into,” Johnston added. “So we’ll set up the base level of their subscription on the core information. But then we’ve set up regions, so if someone’s in Australia, they can join the Sydney collective, and it’s got brand events happening there. It’s got relevant resources that are specific to Sydney. Or if they want bar tips, they can join the bar tips community. So it’s not overwhelming people with too much information.”
Freelancers and consultants will benefit from streamlined bookings, shift alerts, and portfolio sharing that connect them with venues and brands within dedicated collectives. Brand representatives can engage directly with their local on-trade, gather feedback, increase attendance by promoting educational events, and foster sincere and long-term advocacy.
Trade media and recruiters can also gain valuable access to real-time industry insights, emerging trends and rising talent.
User experience
Johnston and Eadie provided The Spirits Business with a preview of the platform, on both desktop and app.
“It’s designed to help people connect,” Johnston explains. “That’s the whole purpose of how it’s built. So you can set up your profile, and as people join, they’re prompted to really put in as much information as possible on their profile. And that’s kind of where it starts.
“You can put in a bio, so you can see what role I have within the community. Where am I based? Personal links – websites, Instagram, LinkedIn. It’s totally up to people on there what they share. We are also going to have badges for founding members, or if people come in from certain communities or brand communities, or competition winners; we can put that in there as well as a nice status symbol. Then you can see what communities I’m in.”
This, Johnston explains, allows for the platform to collate members with similarities, bringing together users with things in common. “Then, if I happen to click on someone’s account it will then analyse both our profiles and see what we have in common, so it encourages you to get to know people in the community, maybe follow them, send them a message and say, ‘hey, we both have a passion for supporting women in the industry, let’s meet up, I’d love to get to know you more.’ So it can bring people together.”
From profile setup, Johnston demonstrates how users can navigate through the feed, and for existing users of social media platforms, it has been designed to feel familiar and intuitive.
“You can see what’s being posted, such as news – similar to how social media has worked in the past. You can also see what events are coming up, what announcements, etc,” Johnston explains. “There’s also a discovery section, so as the site grows, this becomes personal to that member, so depending on what communities I’m in, I can see members near me who are the top members in terms of activity; we’ll be adding featured posts for industry news or events coming up; you can also see what are the top spaces in terms of activity, and again, that’s unique and private to the individual.”
Memberships will be free for anyone working in hospitality with a range of paid memberships available to media, recruiters, consultants and brand reps, who will have access to dedicated networking spaces. Existing industry communities are invited to reach out to discuss the benefits of moving onto the platform.
The events bulletin section of the platform is something the pair are particularly excited to be bringing to the industry.
“I live in Edinburgh, and last week there was five trade events on in one night, which is not common occurrence, but I think that was, for me, a brilliant example of why something like this will be hugely beneficial,” she says, explaining that a database of events that is available for organisers, brands or PR companies to access would help to eliminate conflicting events being organised, while also allowing potential attendees to coordinate and utilise their time more efficiently.
“From a scheduling point of view, you can see they’re doing something on that night, so maybe [if I were were an event organiser] I’d do it on another night, so trying to increase attendance for everyone.”
In addition to this, attendees can also see who’s planning to go. “So from a networking point of view at an event like BCB for example, I can see who is going, but I can also then use the chat and say, ‘what’s the best seminar to go to? Has anyone got any tips for where to stay?’ – things like that, just encourage that communication in one dedicated place versus it clogging up an entire group chat where people might not be attending and therefore it’s not relevant.”
Eadie notes that the platform will also allow for connections made at events to continue to flourish long after the event. “The platform will grow as people navigate it, and it opens up communication with people that might not be physically attending a lot of these trade shows, or they might be able to do one per year, but they can keep that connection going repeatedly, whereas otherwise it just sort of gets lost, or you feel a bit uncomfortable reaching out on something personal like WhatsApp.”
Moderation
The duo shares that the platform will have built-in moderation, with community guidelines and terms of use that will have a zero tolerance policy for harassment; built-in moderation features that allow users to control their communication settings; the option to turn off direct messaging for users who want to limit interactions; regional community managers to help monitor and maintain appropriate content; the ability to mute or filter notifications and irrelevant conversations; and encouragement of specific, professional communication in dedicated spaces.
The moderation will also aid in the prevention of the platform becoming a lawless land of irrelevant chatter.
“Birthdays are one of the worst things that can happen in any group chat,” Johnston jokes. “I think that’s what we’re really trying to communicate is helping people balance professional and personal boundaries. Because I think what’s happening with WhatsApp, while communities have been great in bringing people together, they’re sitting on mute, and information is getting lost because it is just a sea of chat sometimes. So I think what’s great about this is you can navigate to the information that you want to find, and just turn off the notification settings for things that you don’t want. We think that’s really important.”
A two-week free trial is available for media, recruiters, consultants and brand reps interested in joining the platform, and subscriptions will then start at £4.99 (US$7) per month.
The pair share an awareness that the platform might not being something used constantly by the drinks community, or indeed for the span of a whole career, but for when members are looking for specific resources or job opportunities, they may sign up for a few months, and it can be a platform they come and go with. However, for the consultants, brand representatives or members of the media, they hope this will become a core resource for those members constantly looking to connect with the right people.
Although initially launching with collectives in Australia, India and the UK, Shaker Collective will be open to any hospitality professional anywhere in the world and will continue to grow with its audience.
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