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To celebrate our second anniversary, we’d like to offer members an opportunity to invite friends and family to try out Indagare for a trial period.

Each member has been given ten complimentary 30-day trial memberships to pass along to like-minded travelers who they think might enjoy being a part of Indagare.

Claim your trial memberships:

• by following the Trial Membership 101 instructions, which will explain where to find your referral key and include directions, which you can cut and paste and email to ten of your friends

• by sending us an email with the names and emails of the ten friends you would like to invite and we will forward them the sign-up instructions

• by calling us at 212-988-2611, so we can walk you through finding your referral code and sending the invitation email yourself

• by forwarding the Trial email you will receive shortly, which includes directions and your referral code

Thank you for being part of our community.

“Travel is more than a seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” —Miriam Beard

Indagare members can give the gift of travel intelligence to ten friends for free. Here’s how:

STEP ONE: FIND YOUR REFERRAL CODE:

• Log in
• Click on the word Profile (in the top right corner of the screen, below your name)
• Click on Edit Profile (top right corner of profile page) (This is also the place to add a member bio to your profile and a photo if you wish.)

STEP TWO: FORWARD THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS TO TEN FRIENDS

I would like to invite you to enjoy a complimentary 30-day trial membership to Indagare, a Web site, newsletter and advisory service for sophisticated travelers. Here’s how to redeem your trial membership:

• Go to http://www.indagare.com/subscribe/trial

• Fill out the information form and hit Next

• When you are prompted for a referral code, enter: [MEMBER, PLEASE ADD YOUR PERSONAL REFERRAL CODE HERE]

• Click Next

• Review your address and click Submit

• You will then receive an email with instructions on how to create a username and password and can begin using the site.

If you have any questions or need assistance, send us an email or call 212-988-2455.

So the rules have changed—drastically, quickly and, I believe, for the long term. Even if this recession does not turn into a depression and if the most optimistic financial seers are right and it only lasts another year, the cultural landscape has been profoundly altered. As trend forecaster Faith Popcorn has said, “This is not a momentary correction, nor a down cycle—it’s the end of the world as we know it. What we’ll be deciding in [the next year] is whether we’ll simply succumb, or whether through a new set of Rules of Engagement, we’ll find a new way to set our priorities.” In a time when most people’s retirement savings have plunged fifty percent in value and unemployment is higher than it has been in more than 20 years, luxury isn’t just over, it’s perceived by many as offensive. We have gone from luxury fatigue to luxury rage. The very things that people clamored for a year ago now turn them off. What people value is being radically reevaluated, with drivers, diamonds and Dior ‘it’ bags being dumped like hot potatoes.

The first result is massive consumer disorientation. Most people are trying to figure out how to navigate this new world. Some have been paralyzed. In full panic mode, they have bought safes, stockpiled cash and slammed their wallets shut. They’re in a state of suspended spending. Then there are those who are still being paid well, who realize that a new sense of what is appropriate has emerged and they are trying to find their bearings, and to do the right thing. They may feel badly about sitting on a beach while others are losing their jobs. To assuage guilt about spending money, many operators are packaging volunteering into trips as was noted recently in the New York Times Sunday Travel section.

But revenge or opportunism has spawned another consumer, who I call the negocianado, and who is growing stronger by the day. In a piece that I wrote for the Huffingtonpost in November, I described him as a connoisseur of wine, cigars and cars who has always paid full price. Now that his bonus has been abolished and his portfolio has plummeted, he’s decided to take paying retail personally. He swaggers into stores and demands discounts. He is usually alone in the store, but if he has an audience, he stokes up his performance as he grinds down the salesperson. “You say $12,000. I’ll give you $7,000. You need a piece of my black card, and I know how to make deals.” He’s been making flamboyant appearances in Aspen and St. Barth’s in recent months and will be heading to Europe and New England this summer. Only a year ago the philosophy: if you have to ask, you cannot afford it reigned. Well, no one is embarrassed to ask today. In fact, bragging rights are being awarded to those who have managed to get the best deal. The ones in the best position to bargain are the ones doing it the hardest. The wealthy are saying if I am getting discounts offered from retailers, I know I can get a better deal at resorts so they turn to their travel advisors to see what they can do. Just last month a multi-millionaire called her travel agent from a resort in the Caribbean, where she was staying in the nicest room and getting meals and amenities included, to say that since she didn’t think the hotel was full, she wanted a better rate negotiated. Only when she was informed that no one was paying less than she was was she satisfied.

What is the best way to respond to this? I think it is to recognize that in this period of disorientation, the affluent need to be re-empowered and rewarded. For a number of years, consumers have been growing skeptical of big corporations and demanding more individual attention and these trends are only deepening in this era of crisis. It’s important to help consumers rearm themselves as spenders so they can take pride in where they are putting their money and also to recognize that times have changed. The consumer knows you need him and he wants to be coddled, comforted and catered to. You have to acknowledge that making extra efforts will help conflicted spenders to justify their expenditures. People are looking for a reason to spend, getting a special deal, being given special attention or recognition in times of stress goes a long way.

The stories that people want to tell about their lives today involve authentic, local experiences; they are the moments that add humanity to a frightening world. So how do you market in this environment? You must change the story. Don’t talk about luxury. Talk about how closely your chef works with local farmers. Or play up your property’s connection to the community by making it easy for guests to access local experiences whether it’s a visit to a nearby market or a historical tour. Share how the hotel may be working protect the wilderness that surrounds it or supporting the artists in the region. These are the stories that resonate with today’s consumer.

As an article in the Financial Times recently argued, “Because consumers are feeling so vulnerable they want to demonstrate through their buying power that they care. There’s a drive toward simplicity. Artistic products make a statement about keeping uniqueness alive; cultural richness is about not losing ourselves.” Properties that have recognize the individual and who have spread the concierge mentality throughout its ranks, empowering all employees to try to adjust experiences for each guest—whether it’s by offering special kitchen tours for the kids, keeping the gym open for late-arrivals, or, yes, offering a special rate to regular guests—are going to be those that engender loyalty today.