FT.com has opened the Long Room for readers to share their thoughts, research and documents. The site, targeted at managers, investors and other financial professionals, is free to users, unlike much of the site’s premium content which is available by subscription. However, visitors are allowed onto the site only after completing an online membership that is vetted by FT.com editors, said the site’s editor James Montgomery.
Montgomery said the site is fashioned after London's Long Room restaurant, which gained repute in the 1980s when professionals would gather there to exchange stories.
"It's a virtual recreation of the restaurant, and there are various tables where members can have discussions," he said, adding that members can join an existing conversation at a virtual table or start a new one. "It's for sophisticated and knowledgeable members. The eligibility will create a safe environment, and it's not a free-for-all chatroom where you don’t know who you're talking to.”
The site is an extension of FT.com's Alphaville forum.
