Apart from an in-depth expose published by the Executive Editor of Paper Magazine, Human Gathering co-founder Joshua Jordison has given very few interviews about his private network. We were curious, so we decided to go through the so-called “Application Process” and find out for ourselves exactly how Human Gathering reviews potential members. And we were certainly surprised by what we found.
Billing itself as a “private network filled with today’s and tomorrow’s most influential leaders, dedicated to supporting each other’s ambitions”, Human Gathering has attracted members from a wide array of backgrounds and interests. Members find out about Human Gathering through word-of-mouth and direct outreach from the private network’s Membership Committee. To date, we have not been able to find a single record of Human Gathering ever advertising or paying for influencer marketing.
What does it take to Qualify for Membership in Human Gathering?
According to their website, applicants must be a Founder, Partner, C-level Executive, VP, or Equivalent Executive with at least 10 years of experience under their belt. Applicants must also be: “committed to building authentic relationships with new humans and collaborating to further each other’s vast ambitions”, a theme that seems to come-up multiple times throughout Human Gathering’s actual application process.
Why does Human Gathering have an Application Process at all?
What really sets Human Gathering’s private network apart from any others we have seen is their commitment to valuing integrity and character above all else. As co-founder Joshua Jordison stated in Paper Magazine, “We don’t kowtow to our members. I don’t care how seemingly powerful or impressive a person is. Inside of our network, everyone is equal. There is no social hierarchy between our members, perceived or otherwise.”
Jordison has stuck to this concept since the beginning and has stated on record several times that the Application Process itself is what helps weed-out any bad apples. Jordison states in a video from inside the Application Process: “We’ve all heard the phrase ‘bad apples’ and why we should avoid them. But no one ever talks about what kind of apples we should be looking for! I know, for me, I’m only looking for ‘awesome apples’”.
It would seem that Human Gathering’s main reason for having an Application Process is their search for what they call “Awesome Apples”, which we can only assume involves equal parts art and science.
What is the Application Process like?
As co-founder Joshua Jordison addressed in the Paper Magazine article (linked above), The Application Process is indeed real. The Application Process is interactive and requires direct communication with Human Gathering’s Membership Team. Based on our own experience, it seems to take at least a few days to complete the process itself.
We were offered the opportunity to get on a call with an actual Human Gathering employee. She was available to answer all of our questions. According to her, the entire point of the Application Process was for “us to get to know them better, as they simultaneously got to know us better”. We were quite surprised by this level of one-on-one attention, which seems to be available to every applicant who makes it past the first indeterminate number of stages.
Do you have to put down a credit card to Apply for Membership?
No. Unlike some other private network memberships we have seen, there is no financial commitment required to go through Human Gathering’s Application Process. After we applied, we were emailed by a woman named Jennifer who helped us get the process started.
What else did we learn?
Human Gathering’s founders have put a lot of thought and effort into the Application Process. It very much is an imperfect marriage of art and science, all based around the idea of actually getting to know every single person who applies.
When you go through the Application Process, you actually get to see videos from current members and hear about what their experience has been like. While there is not a mass amount of information about Human Gathering online, their Membership Team provides access to quite a bit of information during the Application Process itself.
In the end, we were surprised at the level of one-on-one attention. Most private networks we tried applying to required no interaction at all and certainly provided no one-on-one attention or the ability to ask questions to an actual human being. Human Gathering’s application is certainly different and unique in those ways. We remain interested to see and hear more from this seemingly discreet, private network – as they continue their search for the world’s “awesome apples”.
