Both Lookwest and Aoife in Bua have been great supporters in what we’ve been doing here in Open Coffee Sligo – so delighted to give them our support.

Closing date for voting is this friday – 2nd September – you can cast your vote here really quickly at  http://www.iia.ie/net-visionary/vote/

Verus plan this as a commercial venture – and are now seeking the input and interest of all those who would like to see such a space in the town centre.

Attendees of Open Coffee Sligo will be aware of some of the efforts we have made in the past (along with the survey we put together) .

To this end – Vinnie will outline the work that Verus has completed to date including office layouts, landlord engagement, fee structures, membership options, etc – and is looking for your input and discussion to progress these plans.

If you are interested – then please come along to the next meetup of Open Coffee Sligo in the Clarion on Thursday 2nd June from 11am-12.30pm.

First though – I want to mention where we are at with some of the ideas we were throwing around for a collaborative workspace in Sligo.  Back in our January meetup – we discussed what a shared work space might look like, and the type of person that might be interested. To move this forward – we compiled a survey so that we could get an understanding of what the level of interest was like.

To date – we have received 15 responses; If you have not already completed the survey but are genuinely interested in a shared workspace – you can complete it here:

http://polldaddy.com/s/480D645D2974B547

Unknown to us while doing all of this – a local Sligo based company is interested in providing a facility like the one that we had imagined. To this end – they are going to be a outline and present the workspace – along with fee structures, membership options, etc – at our next meetup.  More details on this to follow – but if you want to have input on this, the June meeting is definitely one to be at.

Moving on to some topics we covered in April’s meetup – one thing we know very well at this point is that predefined topics, with a speaker – always provide great interest to attendees. With that in mind – we brainstormed a few topics that would be of  interest to lots of people. These included individual sessions/discussions on

• Search Engine Optimisation (surprise surprise)
• The Sales Process
• Creativity/Innovation for SME’s
• Monetising Facebook (paraphrased as making best use of followers)
• Google Ads & Analytics
• Employment issues for SME’s taking on staff (contracts, motivation, self-directed working, etc)

We agreed that much of these topics would NOT be 101 type stuff – we have moved beyond that – but would actually provide insight and real experience from practitioners.

With that in mind – we have made some initial exploration on the possibility on getting people from Facebook/Google to an event in Sligo – but it appears travel beyond the pale is out of the question.

So while we have not scheduled any of these topics just yet – this post should provide readers with a good update on our thinking, and of the range of topics that we might cover over the upcoming months.

We’re looking for suggestions on talks, subjects and speakers that you would to see over the next few months.

So if you have been to other conferences and events – and have any suggestions – then please chat to us.

As part of Enterprise & Innovation Week – IT Sligo have kindly offered to host the March meetup of Open Coffee Sligo.

This will be on Wednesday, 2nd March @11am – in the Hub (canteen – 1st floor) of the Innovation Centre. If you have not already been to one of our events, it should be a great chance to meet and network with other businesses in the locality.

As we will also at this point have 3 newly elected TD’s in the constituency – we are planning to invite them along to this Open Coffee meetup.

No promises as of now as to whether they will be able to attend – but it could be a great opportunity to highlight to them the innovation and creativity of SME companies and Entrepeneurs in the Sligo area.

Let’s hope we see your there  – and again, please note the change Wednesday, 2nd March.

If you are interested  then please fill out our survey
http://polldaddy.com/s/480D645D2974B547

We talked about the advantages of home office space and shared office space – and the options that are out there for people in the Sligo area.

It seems to be that a shared office space – that supplements a home office and provides opportunity to chat and interact with like minded creatives on a day to day basis – might be something that would be of interest to a lot of people in the area.

Some of the examples mentioned of similiar spaces included FumballyExchnage.com and AmWorks (both in Dublin -  Irish Times article article on Fumbally )

We are aware of effort by a group of artists to use the Old Mill on Union Street – while there was some interest, it wasn’t followed through in the end.

So what would you look for in such a shared space if it existed (or if there was enough interest) in Sligo?

• dedicated/shared workspace (desk area)
• high speed broadband
• access to meeting room
• presentation/brainstorming media – projector, flipchart, whiteboard
• PO Box
• access 24/7
• foosball

What do we mean by creatives? Not being smart here – this is really anybody who needs office space to run their business. In other shared spaces, typically the types of businesses include

• Web and software people included programmers and designers
• artists, photographers, film makers, media
• people working in finance/architecture/legal profession

So don’t crack me down on this post guys – it’s just a quick note to gain an understanding of who out there might be interested. We have no idea of suitable locations, costs, legal issues with leases, etc – at this point.

If we had a group of say 15 people – then this would give the wherewithall to actually do some research and keep interested parties in the loop.

If you are interested in this – chances are we can be able to discuss it at the next Open Coffee Sligo meetup next thursday – 3rd February @11am in the Clarion Hotel Sligo. You can also drop me an email kevin [at] electricmill.com or drop a comment on this blog post.

At Sligo VEC, we’ll be kicking off a photo scavenger hunt, and you can enter to win a prize and make a significant contribution to the open web.

More info at: http://sligovec.ie/news/sligo-celebrates-wikipedia-10
- Perfect for families and groups of friends to join together
- Learn about Wikipedia
- Win Prizes

There are 463 events happening world wide to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia. Please join us for the only event happening in Ireland!
http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

image courtesy of moonsetsky

Why not join us for a coffee and a mince pie next thursday, 2nd December @11am in the Clarion?

This time last year – we chatted about Christmas gadgets, digital cameras and photography, online trends and a whole lot of other stuff;

See you there!

You probably know that The Social Network – the story of how Mark Zuckerberg founded Faceboook – has received a lot of critical acclaim and is being tipped for lots of Oscar nominations.

So on Thursday 11th November – We’d like to invite you to the 7pm showing of The Social Network – in the Gaiety Cinema, Wine Street, Sligo.

If you quote “Open Coffee” when buying your ticket – you should get it for €5. Afterwards – we will adjourn to a local hostelry for beers and chat  – it will be strictly a non-presentation venue