The Cornwall Social Media Cafe (CSMC) celebrated its second Birthday last week with a gathering of more than 30 people at the regular meeting spot of CSMC, Vertigo Bar in Truro.
The Cornwall Social Media Cafe is one of the longest established social media cafes in the UK, being the first to launch in the south west, back in April 2009. Co-founded by social media consultant and trainer Aren Grimshaw and PR professional Laura McKay, CSMC is an informal get together for people interested in or using social media, with the aim of bringing those who may have met online to come together to meet face to face, socialise and share ideas.
The Cornwall Social Media Cafe was the first network of its kind to take place in the south west and it has now proved to be a huge success. With more than 100 different members, and meetings regularly attracting between 20 and 80 people, the network has grown quickly and includes people drawn from the public, private and third sector as well as students, artists, politicians and anyone looking to make the best use of social media in their business or personal lives.
Aren Grimshaw hosted the Birthday bash event on Tuesday 12 April, he said, “It’s great to be celebrating the second birthday of Cornwall Social Media Cafe. Over the past two year we have run a number of events, from informal drinks get-togethers in social media savvy bars to business presentations and lectures in business hubs and university campuses.
“The CSMC is open to anyone interested in social media and every month we welcome new members to our events. I have no doubt that CSMC will be around for the foreseeable future and we will be looking to hold even more events throughout the county with high profile speakers as well as providing networking opportunities for anyone interested in social media.”
Past events have included informal meet ups at Vertigo in Truro, discussions on Local Enterprise Partnerships, business collaboration presentations and speed networking. During its first year organisers of the CSMC also brought Lloyd Davies, the founder of the original Social Media Cafe in London, to Cornwall to speak at one of the events.
One of the highlights of the Cornwall Social Media Calendar in 2010 was a joint event hosted at University College Falmouth’s Tremough Campus with Jon Morter, the man behind the campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to Christmas number one in December 2009. That event attracted more than 100 people and was broadcast live online for those people unable to make it on the night.
Regular attendees of CSMC are encouraged to play a role in raising awareness of effective use of Social Media among their friends, family and business associates. Many people who come along to CSMC also get involved with Twestival (Twitter + Festival). In fact the first CSMC took place just two months after the first Twestival Global event in February 2009. It was the buzz surrounding Twestival that sparked the idea for the CSMC.
The group continues to meet on the second Tuesday of every month at a variety of locations across Cornwall. Anyone is welcome to come along to the events, join in discussions about social media activity, socialise and make new friends and put faces to the names of the online profiles. Details of the events and some of the members of CSMC can be found at www.cornwallcafe.wordpress.com
The team responsible for events now includes Aren Grimshaw (@arengrimshaw) Laura McKay (@_LauraMckay_) Fiona Campbell-Howes (@patroclus), and Shelley Fletcher (@shelleyfletcher).
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Shelley Fletcher, Firegrass Communications
01209 311072 / 07850 937419
