One of the great misconceptions about the internet is how it isolates people from society. The truth is the net is a window on the real word that allows you to discover the networks that can help your business.
A good example of this are the “coffee mornings” springing up in our cities and towns where business people are using internet channels like Twitter and web forums to organise meet ups at cafes, which in turn develop into new business and social networks.
Because the coffee mornings are informal and have no organisers, obligations or rules, beyond making sure you pay for your coffee and eggs benedict, people feel free to come and go. They are perfect for time poor or isolated business owners, particularly those working from home or trying to juggle their family and business commitments.
The great thing with these coffee mornings is how they help develop useful business networks. People who otherwise would have never met are now becoming friends, mentors, clients and business partners.
There are always some losers from new opportunities and in this case it’s the structured business networking organisations, as there are no stiff membership fees or obligations to network and get referrals.
Unlike many traditional chambers of commerce the coffee mornings lack committees and officials, so they aren’t dominated by the small cliques you often find in formal business groups.
A whole way of doing business is changing from something as simple as groups of people deciding they have enough in common online to get together for coffee.
While this is bad news for those who’ve paid for networking type franchises, it’s a wonderful opportunity for business owners to connect with fellow entrepreneurs they otherwise wouldn’t have connected with – particularly those in regional areas.
If you want to organise a coffee morning in your suburb or town, get on the internet. You’ll be surprised at the like-minded business owners, customers and supporters who are on services like Twitter and Facebook.
Should you find there is already one happening in your neighbourhood, go along. The lively, intelligent people you meet might help you see some of the opportunities, and threats, on your doorstep.
Spot on Paul, these “coffee mornings” energise attendees in a way I’ve not seen before. Why is this? I see it as a replacement for the “watercooler” community that gathers in a traditional office environment. Employees of large corporates often gather around the kitchen or tea room in a similar manner.
The growth and use of social networks (Twitter, Blogs, Facebook mainly) has created a new hyper-connectedness amongst us which I believe drive the need for more offline connections, in the form of meetups like coffee mornings.
I spoke to Tim Noonan recently about the phenomenon of coffee mornings and what it means to me. I used the analogy of the country town – as our cities grow, online communities and resulting meetups bring back that experience of “bumping into someone you know” that occurs in country towns. Have a listen here:
http://coffeecast.posterous.com/coffeecast-6-featuring-tony-hollingsworth-hol
There is a good summary of Sydney coffee mornings meetups (or tweetups as they are commonly known now) on my friend Tony Cosentino’s blog:
http://thelatteguy.posterous.com/sydney-coffee-morning-locations-hash-tags-and
Cheers,
Tony Hollingsworth
So true Paul, Northside Coffee Mornings have opened up a whole new avenue of resources for me, allowing me to meet and discuss things with people I would not normally have access to!
As an added bonus, I have formed amazing friendships with like minded gorgeous people!
thanks for the post 🙂
I agree wholeheartedly Paul… which is probably to be expected, seeing as we are ‘connected’ via the coffee morning that is #nscm (North Side Coffee Mornings for those following at home).
I have attended formal business networking functions as well, and find the more organic approach of coffee mornings to be more enjoyable and more ‘real’. The lack of an agenda lets people be free to network as they choose, but without the negative connotations often associated with that word.
The other consideration is that, if you’re attending an event that is essentially Twitter-based, you’re probably guaranteed to meet people who are forward-thinking and tech-savvy at the very least, not to mention probably influential. There’s more power than ever in these networks…