jennse23

Anyone who knows me even a little bit, knows that I a one hundred per cent honest, hardworking, and well intentioned. You do not know me, I do not know you. Perhaps you would like to tell me exactly who you are, what your real name is and what axe you are grinding. Who are you to judge me? Like you say we all make mistakes and if people felt I invaded their privacy (or crossed the line by using sponsors) on Facebook I do indeed apologise. However, you are crossing the line with your accusations and judgments on me by inferring that I am a con artist when there is nothing further from the truth, as I suspect you full well know. I could be justified in calling you a 'cyberstalker' in the circumstances. I'd like to know who you really are. Private message me, and let's meet face to face for a coffee over the weekend seeing as this is just a two way conversation now. I look forward to hearing from you.

I am not sure what axe you have to grind or why you are so intent on trying to discredit me and my business, but I suggest you reread my posts because you will find I have in fact answered all the relevant questions. It is an excellent franchise, nothing to do with MLM, I repeat the businesses pay to be part of the scheme and many are benefiting already despite being early days. The feedback from local people has also been fantastic but you always get the odd doubter or pessimist. Unless anyone else has any further questions I think we can now close this thread. Thank you everyone else for your support and sharing my enthusiasm for ORCA Local Dulwich.

I think you will find that I have already answered this question in my first post. Jennifer

Facebook is a social media facility where we are all entitled to invite friends to join our own personal profiles or groups. The group I have created is for those who live in the whole of Dulwich and surrounding areas who wish to participate in encouraging and fostering businesses, as well as anyone who has a general interest or family connections in Dulwich. It is personal choice if an invitation is accepted or not to join a group or connect with a friend. The concept of Orca Local Dulwich as well as other local groups is to ensure that Dulwich survives the recession and in fact grows at this time. I know from speaking with local businesses that times are hard. Therefore the aim of ORCA Local Dulwich is to assist local people and business. The key card is free, and the only cost involved is a subscription from those local businesses wishing to promote their company or shop on the site. To do so is considerably less than an advertisement in the local paper, or other forms of advertising which means they can keep their costs down, again to the benefit of the local people and therefore the economy. I am somewhat confused by the comment about Multi Level Marketing, or pyramid selling because as stated above there are NO incentives to join, only the chance to advertise a business and to attract more customers, locally and from surrounding areas. Speaking to those who signed up at the Dulwich Festival Fair, the concept is fully appreciated and understood to be for the benefit of the community. Facebook as I said is a means of connecting, the group is to advertise Dulwich to the world as well as locally, those from overseas may chose to visit if they are made aware of what Dulwich can offer to them and their families. Leading to more revenue to the local area! You only have to visit other high streets to realise how fortunate Dulwich has been in comparison - and that continuation of growth will benefit the whole of the area.

I would like to allay any concerns there may be that I am spamming! Like you, I am passionate about Dulwich with the fantastic range of shops and community spirit. As mum who has lived and worked in Dulwich, Herne Hill and now Forest Hill for the past 30 years, I chose to start Orca Local Dulwich as I wanted help local businesses and the community survive what is potentially the worst recession we have ever experienced. I?m sure you appreciate that I have to use various means to promote my business, and Facebook is just one of the many avenues that I am exploring in order to raise awareness for ORCA Local Dulwich, and the businesses on board so far. Initially I did this from my personal profile but being an exceedingly slow laborious process, a friend of mine suggested I find other potential Facebook participants to help grow the Facebook Group. This frees up my time allowing me to work on other spheres of Orca Local Dulwich for the benefit of the community and businesses, (unlike Coke I am unable to pay for expensive advertising or use models to promote the business!) Also there is nothing untoward about the way you were tracked down on Facebook. I simply searched groups related to Dulwich and invited them to join my group or fan page. In some cases I added friends of people with links to Dulwich. As I stated it is for the benefit of the community (yes a franchise, albeit a new one, that has already been endorsed and adopted by some local councils), and you can use the loyalty key card in other participating towns. I apologise if my desire to grow the awareness of Orca Local Dulwich through Facebook has raised a few eyebrows, but I am also grateful for the opportunity to reply to these concerns. I hope that you will now feel comfortable in supporting this local initiative which was launched by having a stall at the Dulwich Festival Fair in May, where over 300 people signed up for the loyalty key card, together with more local business expressing the desire to come on board. The feedback has been very positive, with most understanding that the scheme will benefit Dulwich shops and the community and could in some cases even prevent the closure of businesses and loss of jobs as suffered by many high streets around the country! I thank you for your support and appreciate all the help you can give to assist in spreading the word about Orca Local Dulwich. Jennifer