At about 9.30am on Friday 18th September  there were some mildly nervous Rays (Smith and Betty) and Pauls (Squires and Henderson) getting ready for the first CWSMC. But we needn’t have been worried as we saw the ‘on our way’ tweets coming in and by 10am there was already a great hum of chatter going on as everyone made their assault on the pastry mountain.

The turn out for the first cafe was everything and more than we had hoped for.  About people 25 came, chatted, made contacts and found out more about what is going on around social media in Warwickshire. A really good mix of people from local government, universities, arts organisations, private companies and freelancers came and we are so happy that everyone gave it a punt for the first one.

We kept formalities to a minium (and didn’t want to interrupt the chat and networking) but the few official words we did say were captured below (and broadcast live on Qik by Dom Breadmore)

Some of the other comments that were tweeted

@amy_clarkeuk:

Back in office after the first ever coventry / warwickshire social media cafe – and what a very good cafe it was too! #cwsmc

@matthawthorne:

Good to meet @getgood, @kazThomas at #cwsmc today. Will be going again for sure. Thanks @paulhenderson.

and @katehughes:

I very much enjoyed @cwsmc this morning. Met some lovely folk and got poked in the eye by @paulsq. That’s all I look for in an event really.

Big thanks go to Ray Smith and Warwick District Council for the use of the Court Street Creative Arches (and we’ll be back for the next CWSMC in October), Ray Betty and Konnex Networks for WiMax-ing us up, ScreenWM for sponsoring the coffees and (endless) pastries supplied by The Olive Garden, and Sarah Allen for putting is in touch with Ray and making it all possible.

Thanks to everyone who came especially Philip John all the way from Lichfield (enabling us to compare notes with his social media cafe) and Nicky Getgood from Birmingham with her Talk About Local hat on.

What next?

Well can’t promise to poke your eye out, but we are definitely making this a regular event. So if you came and enjoyed it,  tell your colleagues and friends (especially if they’re not on Twitter) that the 3rd Friday of every month is going to be the date in the diary for the CWSMC.  We’ll be back at the Creative Arches again for the next one on October 16th 10am-12pm.

Sign up on the wiki or just turn up on the day- look forward to seeing you and thanks again for making it such a great event.

• More pictures on Flickr (tag your pictures cwsmc if you took any on the day )
• Tweets tagged #cwsmc

We’re delighted to confirm Screen WM as the sponsors of the first Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Cafe taking place on September 18th 2009.

The Social Media Cafe is a place where anyone with an interest in the web, social media, and digital media in general can get together and possibly build working relationships.

Screen WM are sponsoring Social Media Cafe through their Program of Activities Fund supported by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

The event is free to attend at the Court Street Creative Arches in Leamington from 10am.  Please sign-up if you’re able to come and we look forward to seeing you there.

More info in the official press release…

Download the press release as a PDF or read it in full below:

LAUNCH OF COVENTRY AND WARWICKSHIRE SOCIAL MEDIA CAFE

First event: 18 September 2009, Court Street Creative Arches, Leamington Spa

September 7 2009: Today sees the launch of the first Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Cafe, a new, monthly event designed to bring people and businesses with an interest in digital and social media, together.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Cafe will be a place where anyone with an interest in the web, social media, and digital media in general can get together and possibly build working relationships.

From a concept originally launched in London, the Social Media Cafe has been launched with considerable success in Birmingham and Oxford. However, until now, there has been nothing catering for people and businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire, an area with a rich mix of digital media producers, games producers, creative agencies, and commissioners.

The first Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Cafe will take place on Friday 18^th September, 10am – 12pm, at Arch 6 within the brand new Court Street Creative Arches in Leamington Spa, thanks to the kind generosity of Warwick District Council Business Enterprise.

Paul Henderson, co-organiser of the event said:

“The Social Media Cafe has been very popular elsewhere in the UK. We are very excited about bringing it to Coventry and Warwickshire.”

Paul Squires, co-organiser, said:

“Everyone is welcome at the Social Media Cafe. If you’ve heard about Twitter but want to know more about its potential, or if you’re from an established design studio or games company, this is the place for you.”

Jason Hall, Head of Innovation, from Screen WM, the lead agency for film, television and digital media in the West Midlands region, said:

“We are very excited to sponsor the first Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Café through our Program of Activities Fund supported by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. Developments such as Channel 4′s 4iP fund being based here in the West Midlands and the match funding provided by Screen WM has positioned the region as the centre of the digital media revolution in the UK, something that the Social Media Cafe can only help to build and grow.”

Ray Smith, Enterprise Development Manager at Warwick District Council, said:

“Our projects are all about supporting new and high-growth businesses by developing affordable, creative workspaces. We are delighted to support the Coventry and Warwickshire Social Media Cafe by hosting it within the brand new Court Street Creative Arches.”

Arch 6 has been enabled with WiMax by Konnex Networks, so you can bring your laptop and connect directly to the Internet. Refreshments are sponsored by Screen WM.

The event is free. For further information and to sign up, visit www.cwsmc.com.