“Build it and they shall come” – a Social Media Cafe for Manchester

Oct 10 2008

Posted by Martin as Manchester Social Media Cafe

The Social Media Cafe concept is an odd one, if you think about it. Social Media is all about connecting virtually, and yet people actually want to meet in a real-life social situation to talk about virtual socialising.

Strange, maybe, but certainly understandable. With Twitter teetering on the edge of the mainstream, Flickr already in use by lots of ‘non-geeks’ and Facebook taking in external feeds and introducing the masses to the idea of lifestreaming, Social Media is an idea that is sure to grow even as the economy goes down the toilet.

There’s a Social Media Club with ‘chapters’ spread across the USA but the idea is only just taking off properly here in the UK. London’s Tuttle Club has a loyal following at their Friday morning meetings each week. Tuttles have also sprung up in Brighton and Birmingham but there’s been nothing here in the north of England as of yet. That said, it looks like there soon will be.

It started when I checked my email on Wednesday morning. Julian Tait of Littlestar had emailed me with an idea. We’d both posted comments on this post about the Tuttle Club on Sizemore’s blog. We’d both expressed our wish for something similar in Manchester. Julian’s email simply suggested we set it up ourselves.

Over the next couple of days emails flew around between the two of us and an increasing number of other people – London Tuttlers were happy to offer advice while Manchester-based Social Media types such as Paul Fabretti were keen to get the idea off the ground. On Wednesday, the same day the whole idea began, Julian met the Manchester Evening News’ Sarah Hartley about something completely different and she posted this on the MEN’s technology blog, The Mancunian Way, resulting in lots of interest from the people of Manchester.

That’s where we’re up to right now – there’ll be more news on the progress of the idea as it’s worked out over the coming weeks. If you’re interested leave a comment over at Sarah Hartley’s blog post.

[Image credit: London's Tuttle Club by Pete Ashton via Flickr]

Paul Fabretti

Good stuff Martin! Glad to see things moving in the right direction.

Will see if I can swing some publicity from a few peeps I know over here, as well as maybe some sponsorship from a few others (kind of immoral I know, but every little helps, especially if it is going to cost us to host the event).

Catch up with you soon.

Martin Bryant

Thanks Paul! Sponsors and publicity are always good. Looking forward to meeting you soon.

James Whatley

Good work Martin, Good work.

Martin Bryant

Thanks for inspiring the title of this post, Mr Whatley!

Kristie Wells

Hi Martin, I think that is the beauty of most any gathering these days - all you need is someone to want to put a stake in the ground and start it, and the rest is up to people to simply show up. Works for Tuttle Club, Social Media Club, BarCamp, etc.

And just a fun fact, Social Media Club actually launched in London in September 2006 and ran through July 2007, led by Lloyd Davis, who has since rolled it into the Tuttle Club. We are working to bring Social Media Club back to London as for us it is important to not only meet and learn from folks in your own backyard, but connect with a global group to expand learning and extend your network. http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/London

Maybe there is a need for SMC in Manchester too...maybe not. It is really up to the community to decide how many different gatherings they both want and can support.

Cheers,
Kristie Wells

Martin Bryant

Thanks for your comment Kristie. Yeah, I'd heard about the previous SMC in London but it's only recently that the idea has spread beyond London here in the UK. It'll be interesting to see how they all develop. There's certainly a lot of interest in social media here in Manchester - I can't wait to see what happens!

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