Entrepreneurs get ready for OpenCoffee!
Att: Entrepreneurs, Developers, Designers, Web Junkies and the likes:
Word has it that this months OpenCoffee meet will be treating us with a somewhat different approach with a splash of formality, which will hopefully encourage networking. Each attendee will receive a sexy colour-coded name tag to indicate their field of trade, this will hopefully bring back the whole point of open coffee – allowing entrepreneurs to meet developers/designers. During the proceedings, atendees will also be asked to complete a short questionnaire, which will help with the structuring of the following event.
If you haven’t RSVP’ed yet, please do so by logging on to OpenCoffee. We’ll be meeting at Wembley Square on Thursday (8 May) from 14h00 at Sinns.
I look forward to seeing everything there, I have a feeling this one’s going to be an exciting one!
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Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4759 posts.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
This makes very jealous not to be living in the fairest Cape!
May 6th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Ye bud, it’s a pity, I would love to be able to sit down and chat to you in person. I’m trying to spread the word and gather a big group of people, so if you’re blogging about interesting events and such, please remember this post :)
May 6th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I wont make it, but you should try the satay! I have an allergy towards nuts, but i’ll risk it for their satay! Not sure how they get it so tender, but that chicken is made JUST RIGHT!
Also check out their chicken schnitzel and their strawberry shakes are pretty decent too! :)
May 6th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Hehe, thanks for the suggestion. The idea is not really to eat, but more about meeting people in industry and most specifically having people with ideas meeting entrepreneurs and the likes.
Offline social networking :)
Perhaps we’ll see you at one in the future!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Thanks for this, I have posted it to my blog.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hi Ismail,
I’ve popped over and seen the article on your website, thank you for spreading the word! I think these workshops are great, it’s not easy to find other people in the industry unless you’re very well connected online.
Keep well Ismail
May 7th, 2008 at 12:06 am
You guys keep all the good things to yourself there in CT hey? Chris can you give an idea of what takes place at these events?
May 7th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hi Roelof, long time no see, how are you keeping?
Unfortunately, it’s Cape Town that’s booming at the moment in terms of events like this, but hopefully they’ll get more popular and spill upwards to Jozzie, etc.
Well, it’s all about offline social networking really, allowing people with great ideas to meet people who can make things happen – that was the basis as to why these events were started.
The format of this one is going to be far more structured and hopefully we’ll get feedback which will allow us to organise things in such a way that more and more people will start attending which will hopefully result in more local start up ventures :)
May 7th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I am doing great and as busy as a bee, thanks Chris!
Well with Eric involved I am sure that there is a fair share of opportunities for great entrepreneurial minds. I think SA is booming with some great ideas, just in the past 2 days I have met some people here in Gauteng with fantastic ideas but they lack the financial support to do something about it. It is absolutely great to see this initiative at work. It makes me excited about the future of Internet entrepreneurs in SA.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Ah yes, seems as though anyone who’s working online is busier than ever, the industry is really booming!
There are so many ideas out and about, it’s the finance and resources which are so heavily lacking at the moment – I guess that’s why those in the trade are doing really well!
I cannot wait until the end of the year, to look back and see just how much happened!
May 7th, 2008 at 12:33 am
You and me both. this year is the first year that really makes me excited about the Internet in SA. So much is happening and so many serious role players are entering the game and raising the standards. I believe that the next few years are going to see fantastic growth and excitement online in SA. Exciting stuff and it is meeting like this that will make a serious impression internationally.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Absolutely, last year saw the foundations being set and this year is seeing everything getting underway, from next year (hopefully onwards), we’ll see complete growth! I worry about saturation, but at the rate things are going, I think it’ll be a long time until we need to worry about that!
I think international players are realising the powers of local talent, which is always a plus for our economy, I just find it interesting that if it’s online, it’s less likely to influence our economy..
May 7th, 2008 at 12:59 am
huh? How would influence the economy less if it’s online?
May 7th, 2008 at 1:04 am
For some reason I see it as a layer above the local economy for some reason, it’s almost the same as how PayPal isn’t allowed here – things happen outside the usual channels and are not recognised as clearly as ‘normal’/offline transactions, etc.
May 7th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Where will you spend the money that you earn online?
Buying petrol at the shell garage in the Gardens, buying lunch at Wembley Square, groceries at Pick n Pay and smokes from the corner cafe. All the money that you will generate from trading in the online space will eventually hit our economy whether you are bringing it in announced or not!
It will be a problem though, when you start earning cash and end up spending it outside of SA. Then our economy will start loosing out, but for the most part, besides our brain drain issue, I think that web entrepreneurs in SA is starting to become a formidable industry. Many companies are doing outsourced based work for Europe, America and even Asia. A lot of central Africa web work takes place in SA as well, and all this money gets spent locally!
Dont worry mate, we the good guys!
May 7th, 2008 at 1:17 am
It’s not necessarily money & transactions I was referring to, it was just a more general thought of mine, which I haven’t really spent time thinking about how to justify, it’s kind of just a feeling I have based on my experience and knowledge.
Yes, getting cash and spending it outside South Africa would economy will be affected negatively – The outsourced work is definitely a positive to our economy.
Perhaps my statement was a little bold or phrased incorrectly :)
May 7th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Chris I understood what you said perfectly well. The online growth will hopefully change a few mind sets within government to get Telkom to lower costs and thus grow the possibilities even further. I know of several companies that government loose large amounts of money on, just because they run their operations from SA but their income streams to accounts abroad. When I think of the few I know of we are talking several billion rands lost to our economy.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Ah, that’s good to hear, I was hoping some people would understand my opinion without needing a long explanation. At some point our government is going to have to realise the power and strength of the Internet and when this happens things are bound to change, it’s inevitable!
I look forward to the day that we suddenly have free bandwidth ;) *holds thumbs*
May 7th, 2008 at 9:03 am
I think when projects like the smart city project in Durban really start working, free bandwidth is a reality imo. When that day comes I think many young people will flood the market with their great ideas.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I think I’ll be the happiest person in the world if bandwidth is free and our lines are faster!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:22 am
u & me both Chris
May 8th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I’ll see you there, it’s going to be a good one! :)
May 8th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Chris,
How is this different from the 27 Dinner event?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Speaking of free bandwidth. There was a real scene about it last year, where people had uncovered a clause in some document which said something to the effect that local bandwidth should not be subject to a cap.
All that means is that you should not be limited in local access – not that that access should be free. It was interpreted to the latter, though, and the “Free Bandwidth Campaign” was launched, and consequently died.
http://fbc.org.za
Note how the last post is more than a year ago. I don’t even recall seeing anyone else mention this campaign.
And so far, this is the only attempt I’ve seen at people trying to get Telkom to at least open up local access for free. I know it’s cheaper than international access, but if it was free, it would rock.
Because at that point someone will definitely set up a local proxy server, and offer destructively cheap international access somewhere. Lol.
~ Wogan
May 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I guess it’s a little more targeted than the dinners are and the main idea is to focus on connecting specifically for business. The dinners are definitely social and all, but there main aim is more a non-business meet and a social event..
May 8th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I eventually ended up attending as well. It was my first and definitely not my last. The networking was great and hearing what some other guys are up to was very encouraging. I think that some good partnerships came out of todays event!
I hope that more and more startups/small businesses and web movers and shakers attend these functions!
May 9th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
It was good to see you again bud, networking offline is good fun and it’s always great to catch up with people in industry.
We’ve got lots of feedback and great publicity from the event, so I’m sure the next one will be even more pumping!
Aug 4th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Hi there,
I can I join your group?
Regards,
Pieter