Birmingham Social Media Cafe

The next event will be on Friday 24th Feb 10am-midday

Venue: City centre location. Venue to be confirmed soon. Watch this space! :)

Would you or your company like to sponsor an event?

Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (up to £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com or tweet @birminghamsmc or @karenstrunks

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online!

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook where you can connect with over 500 BSMC members. We also have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

The next event will be on Friday 27th January 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

SPONSORED BY: meegloo

Meegloo lets people share words and pictures from the events they’re attending. It’s as easy as Twitter but without the need to remember a hashtag. We’re sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe as this is just the kind of meetup Meegloo was made for. You can download the free app to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from the App Store. Fire it up when you get to the Birmingham Social Media cafe to start posting!

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online!

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook where you can connect with over 500 BSMC members. We also have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

Would you or your company like to sponsor an event? Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (up to £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com or tweet @birminghamsmc or @karenstrunks  

Check out these photos by Punk Zebra from our last event of 2011 in November.

And these photographs by Dan Johnson

The next event will be on Friday 25th November 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

Would you or your company like to sponsor November’s Social Media Cafe Event?

Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (up to £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible, and it’s FREE to attend! Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook and we have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

Here is the Storify round up from October’s event!

The next event will be on Friday 28th October 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

SPONSORED BY: Go Genie

 Here Alison Smith from Go Genie talks about why she wants to sponsor the October event, and how as a result of meeting attendees and recieving encouragement how she started her first blog, and never looked back!

Would you or your company like to sponsor an event? Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (up to £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook and we have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

Here is a Storify round up of tweets, attendees, photos and video from our September event. Thank you to talk about local  for sponsoring the event. Thank you to Bake Birmingham for the wonderful birthday cakes.

The next event will be on Friday 30th September 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

SPONSORED BY: Talk About Local

“talk about local set up in Birmingham because the city has a remarkable diverse, friendly and above all civic minded local web media. Birmingham Social Media Cafe and the networks around it are really important to the local web scene and talk about local is delighted to help support the cafe this month. ” – Will Perrin

It’s our 3rd Birthday next month! Come along and join the celebrations –

there might even be CAKE! ;) Update: There WILL be cake courtesy of  BAKE!

Would you or your company like to sponsor an event? Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (approx. £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook and we have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

Here is a round up of tweets, attendees, photos and video from our August event. Thank you to Fierce Earth for sponsoring the event. Thank you to Venue Birmingham for collating the following attendee list.

• @appolonia
• @heroo327
• @karenstrunks – the organiser of the Birmingham Social Media Cafe.
• @johardybrum
• @timmy666
• @deanthepainter – the sponsor of todays event – from Fierce Earth.
• @fierceearth
• @rickiewrites
• @lillytea
• @470media
• @pigsonthewing
• @gavinjob
• @davedev
• @jonfoster
• @ascentwriting
• @dandalley
• @kathpreston1
• @iedesign
• @qubesocial
• @trilbytweet
• @siwhitehouse
• @brumguvnor
• @lyzzybee
• @franceybegum
• @jaymhooper
• @pierrepolarbear
• @videotoviraluk
• @pechakucha_bham
• @lauracreaven

The next event will be on Friday 26th August 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

This event is sponsored by

Fierce Earth and Metapod Connect

Fierce Earth are happy to be sponsoring this months BSMC and to introduce Metapod Connect 

Metapod Connect is a four-day course that will look at how to build strong, resilient and effective networks. Specifically it will break down, in manageable and achievable steps, how to do that both online (using social media and other internet tools) and “in the real world”. The course has been devised by Helga “network Nancy” Henry and Pete Ashton - artist, award winning blogger and happy resident of cyberspace. 

Please speak with Dean on Friday if you have any questions or look here for the factual “booking details”, and some of the thinking behind the course and the material that it is going to cover is here.

Would you or your company like to sponsor an event? Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (approx. £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook and we have a NEW flickr group. Please feel free to upload any social media cafe photos and use the tag of bsmc. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends! :)

Here is a round up tweet’s and photos from of July’s Social Media Cafe.

The next event  will be on Friday 29th July 10am-midday

Venue: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham B3 3DQ (map)

Sponsorship Opportunity: Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (approx. £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, upcoming, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, and Facebook. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends!

Here is a round up of June’s Social Media Cafe. Photography by Adam Yousef

The next event is on Friday 24th June 10am-midday
Venue: Cafe Blend, Orion Building, Navigation Street, Birmingham B5 4AA (map)

Sponsorship Opportunity: Sponsoring the Birmingham Social Media Cafe simply involves covering the cost of the coffees (approx. £200).

Your name will be included in our communications for that month (email newsletter, twitter, facebook, upcoming, blog and sponsorship page) and you will have a short slot at the event to introduce yourself and your organisation. To sponsor an event please email: birminghamsmc@gmail.com You can find a list of our previous sponsors here.

Have you been before? If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

Are you new? If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat. If you don’t know anybody there, just come and say Hi to event organiser Karen Strunks who will introduce you to other attendees :)

You can also find the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on Twitter, Upcoming and Facebook. If you are a twitter user, the hash tag is #bsmc. Spread the word and tell your friends!

Take a look at the photos from last month’s BSMC taken by Adam Yosef.

See you there. Don’t forget your business cards! :)

The last month has seen a lot of change for us. This is mainly because Meshed Media, Chris’ company that has been managing Birmingham Social Media Cafe since March 2009, has been acquired by Made Media.

As a result, we’ve decided it’s a good time to hand over the running of BSMC to someone that can put more enthusiasm, time and effort into it than we are now able to. So, we’d like you to join us in a very warm welcome to Karen Strunks who’ll be running BSMC from now on!

Karen is a Birmingham-based photographer and social media bod at Talk About Local. She’s responsible for the wildly successful 4am Project and is a BSMC regular to boot. Chances are you’ve already met or heard of Karen, but if not her website is here and she’s on Twitter as @karenstrunks too.

We’ve had a great time running the monthly networking meet-ups and will still support them in any way we can. We’d like to thank Screen West Midlands for supporting us over the last year, all the sponsors who provided coffees, and everyone that came or contributed to a meet-up. Cheers!

We’ll let Karen do her own introduction in good time, but for now we’d like to wish her all the best and thank everyone once again for making BSMC the important fixture in the calendar that it has become.

Friday 27 May 2011, 10am-12pm

Café Blend, 90 Navigation Street, B5 4AA (map)

Birmingham Social Media Cafe will be at Café Blend on Friday 27 May.

This month sponsorship is kindly provided by University of Birmingham’s conference and events facilities. So thank them for your coffee!

The listings are up on Upcoming or Facebook, so let us know if you’re coming. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help spread the word before the meeting.

If you’ve come along before then you’ll know that you’ll find a group of interesting people working in lots of different areas, all using (or looking to use) social media in what they do, whether that’s for promoting, collaborating or creating things online.

If you’ve not come along before then you might like to know that it’s a very informal, friendly and chatty gathering – we try to make new folks feel as welcome as possible. Just come along, grab a drink and join the rest of us for a chat.

If you’re a Twitter user, the hashtag for the meet-up tends to be #bsmc.