We’ve moved
Posted by: Chris Unitt on: August 31, 2010
We’re not updating this website any more. For all the info you might want and need about the Birmingham Social Media Cafe, pick from the following links:
You can sign up to our mailing list too – see the sign-up form on the website’s sidebar.
The BSMC April meet-up
Posted by: Chris Unitt on: April 10, 2009
The next Birmingham Social Media Cafe will be on 24 April at the Coffee Lounge on Navigation Street.
The marvellous Rhubarb Radio will be getting the coffees in.
All are welcome, whether you’ve come along to the past seven meet-ups or have never made it down before.
As before, there are likely to be a few people bringing laptops with them so they can spend the afternoon there too, using the space for some ad-hoc coworking. See Pete’s post for info about this.
There are plenty of places to announce that you’ll be coming. Feel free to use all or none of:
If you want a reminder by email a few days before the event then sign up to the mailing list.
(Pic by Steve Cooper from the Feb meet-up)
The Tuttle Club Annual Report 2009
Posted by: Chris Unitt on: April 10, 2009
This is well worth a read – Lloyd Davis, founder of the Tuttle Club (that’s London’s Friday morning get-together), has published an Annual Report that explains:
- How it started
- Some of the thinking behind it
- What’s happened in the past year
- Where things might go next
Download the Tuttle Club Annual Report.
After the networking, some coworking?
Posted by: Pete Ashton on: March 26, 2009
A few weeks ago I was in London on a Friday and happened to pop into the ICA’s cafe in the afternoon. This is where the Tuttle Club, London’s Social Media Cafe, meets every Friday morning to do the sort of things we do at BSMC. Three hours after it had officially ended there were still people there working away on their laptops and having the sort of discussions that aren’t really possible during the more intense morning session. That got me thinking.
Last week, at SXSWi, I spent a lot of my time talking to people who were running coworking spaces and organising meetups in various cities around the world, sharing ideas, plans and notions about this kind of thing. One thing I’ve noticed about Americans is when they get a good thing going they tend to formalise it, BarCamp style, into a set of guidelines or rules so that others can take that knowledge and implement it in their own city. A number of these models are potentially useful for doing stuff in Birmingham but the one that immediately seemed relevant to the Social Media Cafe was Jelly.
The original Jelly took place in someone’s home but the principles are pretty simple. Provide free wifi, comfortable seating, an informal atmosphere and fill it with interesting people. What distinguishes this from the morning BSMC is it’s about getting work done. Here’s a handy video from the New York Jelly:
I don’t think that’s a million miles from what we’ve got going at Coffee Lounge.
So, here’s my proposal. When the networking finishes around noon those of us who don’t have to get back to a specific office stay on for a few hours for some ad-hoc coworking. The idea is we get work done but do so amongst our peers for mutual help, support and advice. This way we can maybe take the energy and passion generated in the morning and rather than let is dissipate turn it into something real.
And then we’ll see where it takes us. Maybe a formal Jelly, maybe something completely different. We’ll see…
Thank you, please come again
Posted by: Chris Unitt on: March 5, 2009
Another fine turnout at the Birmingham Social Media Cafe last Friday. Thanks to everyone who came down and packed the place out again. Thanks also to Ward Lovett for sponsoring.
As before, we collected up name stickers and have photographed them for your note-adding convenience (click the pic to do that):
If you were there but your sticker isn’t then feel free to add your details in the comments on the Flickr page.
You might’ve noticed the whiteboard that was left lying around with a few pens. It was an experiment to see what, if anything, people did with it (kinda physical social media rather than the online sort). Not a great deal as it turned out, but Alex Hughes was on hand to turn his cartoon talents to filling it. It might reappear at the next one.
Also keep an eye on Someone Once Told Me to see the photos by Mario (@MarioSOTM) which should start going up soon.
Finally, any earlybirds who want to sign up to the next event on Friday 27 March can do so here:
Thanks all. See you again soon.
Someone Once Told Me
Posted by: Joanna Geary on: February 25, 2009
“Wash behind your ears”
“If you tread on dandelions you’ll need to go to the toilet”
What are the phrases that have stuck with you in your life? Do you have any?
It might be worth having a think because Mario Cacciottolo, a BBC journalist and founder of the really interesting project “Someone Once Told Me” will be popping by to this month’s BSMC meet.
SOTM is Mario’s personal project publishing a black-and-white picture every day of someone with a phrase that someone once told them. He will be there to talk about the project and to take pictures of some BSMC members with the phrases that have stuck with them. So get your phrases at the ready and come say hi!
We are also lucky enough to have free coffees again, this time provided by the kind people at Ward Lovett who will be there to introduce themselves.
How much conversation can you handle?
Posted by: Joanna Geary on: January 30, 2009
That’s a whole lot of networking!
Thanks to everyone for another record turnout to this month’s Social Media Cafe Meet.
Special thanks to our fantastic sponsors Opera Developer Network and to Andy Mabbett who helped make this month’s sponsorship happen.
As many people have said, we may need to look at finding a bigger venue or increase the frequency of meet-ups to fortnightly. Let me know what you think.
Thanks again to Chris Unitt for the video and also for capturing the names of some of those who attended:
If you spot your name on the picture and have a Flickr Pro account, please go tag your contact details.
If you can’t see your name there and did attend, please feel free to add your name in comments here or on Chris’s photo on Flickr.
Also check out the rather excellent photos by Stephen Cooper, which are posted on the Facebook event page.
P.S Due to poor Paul Bradshaw being ill, the editors‘ training was cancelled on Friday. We hope they might be able to make it to next month’s event.
Next Meet and a visit from The Editors
Posted by: Joanna Geary on: January 27, 2009
- In: Next meet
- 4 Comments
No, not the above neo-post-punk quartet (maybe next time?).
This will be an entirely different but just as pretty quartet of regional newspaper editors from the Trinity Mirror publishing group.
As part of their training here in Birmingham with Paul Bradshaw, they will be popping down to the BSMC this Friday (Jan 30) to find out more about social media and how they might be able to use it at their titles.
They are:
Mark Thomas: Editor of the Liverpool Daily Post
Andrew Campbell: Executive Editor of the Liverpool Echo
Colin Patterson: Editor of the Sunday Sun in Newcastle
Charles Barker: Executive Editor of The Coventry Telegraph
Please do come along and say hello to them – I think they’ll be surprised by some of the opinions you have on the future of the media.
Also, don’t forget the lovely Bruce Lawson, Opera evangelist, will also be at the Cafe to represent this month’s coffee sponsors: Opera Developers Network.
Should be good!
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