ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses differences and similarities between virtual communities and the Foyer business model. It focuses on the way communication with the market occurs. There are three roles in the Foyer model: the facilitator, the commercial participant and the non-commercial participant. The most important value each Foyer community offers the participant/client is the feeling of authenticity and shared identity of the sharing of values and norms, in short, of 'belonging'. Parties who wish to promote mutual collaboration through the community may also participate in the Foyer network. The operation and continuity of the Foyer model are wholly dependent on the efforts and willingness to cooperate of the participants. An important design principle for the Foyer model is the design of 'access' to the community. The facilitator starts with a certain vision that forms the basis of the decision to facilitate a Foyer community.
