The B1M Is now free

The idea for The B1M came from a desire to encourage wide-spread sharing of BIM knowledge and experiences in one location helping people understand it better.

The community is now free to join and has seen a real surge in the number of members signing up – we had a quick catch-up with Fred Mills (who runs the site) to find out more:

Fred said: “Our desire to make a difference to our industry, combined with our experience in social media and research on various successful online business models, led us to choose the original concept for The B1M.

“I suppose we thought that the whole ‘£2 for 1 million places’ thing would really create added interest around our community, whilst acting as a ‘think-twice’ barrier to preserve the quality of our user base. In practice it proved a bit of distraction. The decision to make the site free to join better aligns it with our true cause, objectives and values”.

“I am not out to make money. I admire people that have made a difference in the world and I want to contribute myself and make a difference to our industry. That’s my simple motive and it’s what drives me”.

The B1M went free on 18 January 2013 and all existing members either had their £2 fee refunded or chose to add them to The B1M’s donation to Cancer Research UK that was initiated on Twitter.

Fred said: “The charity donation was a great idea and Cancer Research UK is a cause that’s particularly close to both Tom and my hearts”.

He concluded “My ultimate aspirations for The B1M are a lifetime’s work and will, I hope, leave a legacy for future generations delivering and enjoying our built environment. That takes long term vision and is about much more than making money”.

Members can sign up at http://www.TheB1M.com, join the ‘Friday BIM debates’ on The B1M LinkedIn group or get involved in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

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