So I wrote my blog and asked the question, are these websites/companies really exclusive job boards or scams and has anyone had good experience to share.  My blog had a few negative comments, one very positive comment, and then a very unexpected, but welcome response.  It turns out Dave Opton, Founder and CEO of Execunet, had been following the dialog on the LinkedIn group and also my blog.  He took a proactive approach and contacted me, offered to give me a personal guided tour of the ExecuNet website and answer any questions I might have.  

I took Dave up on the offer and he did as promised, walked me through the website, their services, and cleared up some misunderstandings about his company (I'll address those below).  I really respect Dave for contacting me to clear this up and respond to my blog personally.  He had he never spoken to me and for all he knew I could have been a hot-headed blogger with an ax to grind or a predisposed position and never given him a break.  He was willing to take that chance and respond.  This is a great example of how a company should respond to negative or critical PR, blogs, or comments on social networks (note that The Ladders has been completely silent to date, hmmm, we will let that speak for itself).  

• Sources of Jobs Posted:  This one the hottest issues being discussed on the LinkedIn group and on other blogs.  One of the accusations and suspicions about both The Ladders and ExecuNet were that the jobs posted are not "exclusive" and are just scrapped or mined from public sites and newspapers.  Dave assured me several times that ALL of the jobs posted on ExecuNet are received directly from the hiring authority (e.g. the hiring company or recruiter) and they do not scrap or mine ANY of their posted jobs.  Some jobs may not be exclusive as the recruiter or company may opt to post it on other sites or advertise it, but all are sent directly to ExecuNet.  
• ExecuNet is not a Job Board:  Yeah, this one blew me away too.  My view was always that both ExecuNet and The Ladders were "exclusive" job boards where senior executives would find jobs that recruiters did not want to post on Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com  Dave explained to me that they do post jobs and this is a big attraction for members, BUT it is not where he feels the real value of ExecuNet membership lies.  He says the real value is in the networking, webinars, training, referrals, proprietary materials they offer members, and the community in general.  From what I saw ExecuNet is working hard at this and they are providing some excellent materials.  In my opinion, the social network aspect still has a long way to go and with that said that is a challenging task.  
• How many get jobs from ExecuNet:  Dave was very frank about this, they simply do not have good data on this.  They don't have data on how many people got a job and of those that do get hired how many credit it to ExecuNet.  I believe that this data could be collected with some effort in a fashion similar to the way BizBuySell.com collects data when one of their advertised business is taken off, via an exit survey.  
• Networking:  Something else came from this discussion above about where people landed jobs from.  From Dave's perspective, the primary source of jobs is not and will likely never be the job postings.  Consequently he really emphasizes networking.  
• Got a Question or Complaint - call them:  This surprised me, but they actually talk to members.  Yes, someone will answer the phone and if you are hot about something, call them.  If you have a question, call them.  Frankly I don't think any of the people complaining actually called them and I understand why.  None of us expect anyone to answer the phone anymore.

The bottom Line:

Obviously I was impressed with Dave's candor and openness and he did change my mind about several aspects of ExecuNet.  One thing I clearly understand though is that ExecuNet is not for everyone.  I left the conversation with a new opinion and view of ExecuNet and I was truly impressed with all of the services they offer.  My take on it is that it is worth exploring and if you have a question pick up the phone and call them.  They really will answer the phone, which I still find mind blowing.  

As always, I wish you the best and brightest future

Bill Grunau, aka @own_your_future on Twitter