Ken McGuire

Category: Open Coffee

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee For June

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    Creative Commons License photo credit: Yuki Mizuguchi

    IT’S THAT time of the month again, tomorrow today is Open Coffee morning in Kilkenny (follow on Twitter).

    For almost 18 months now we’ve been operating on the first Wednesday of every month and regardless of whether there’s a dozen people there or two people there, it’s a morning I very much look forward to in the month as a chance to catch up with folk, shoot the breeze over some tea, talk a little shop, sport, tech, gadgets, demos, whatever is going.

    Wednesday’s meet takes place, as usual, at the rear of the Kilkenny Café in Market Cross Shopping Centre (map here) and kicks off at 11am. Free wifi and chats are available so if you’re reading this at your desk or on your phone this morning and you’ve got a half hour / hour to spare in your day or just want to pop your head in to say hello, do come along.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee for May

    first attempt, pouring hot chocolate like latte art
    Creative Commons License photo credit: insidious_plots

    THE NEXT gathering of Kilkenny Open Coffee is tomorrow morning (Wednesday 5th) at Kilkenny Cafe, Market Cross Shopping Centre on High St., Kilkenny. All are welcome, whether you’re involved in business, technology, a web worker, home worker, artist or otherwise. Come along, tell us what you’re up to, bring a friend, plug your business, website and meet new people working (quite possibly) in the same sector as yourself. This will be the fifth meetup of the year and I’ll be looking to get back to KOCC tomorrow morning myself having missed last month’s outing.

    If you’re coming along, we usually meet up at 11am at the back of Kilkenny Cafe (around the couches and bigger tables). There’s usually some type of offer available on coffee / tea / scones etc., free wifi available and powerpoints on the floor too for anyone bringing a laptop along, though admittedly laptops are rare at the Kilkenny mornings.

    You can follow Kilkenny Open Coffee on Twitter or check the map here. For those cycling / driving, there is plenty of parking available in Market Cross car park with bike bays available on street level as well.

  • March Open Coffee in Kilkenny

    House Blend Coffee - Weak Skinny Flat White - Auction Rooms Cafe AUD3.30
    Creative Commons License photo credit: avlxyz

    OPEN COFFEE in Kilkenny for the month of March takes place this Wednesday morning at 11am in the Kilkenny Cafe. If you’re living local and you’ve not had the opportunity to drop in to Open Coffee then why not join us on Wednesday morning. The crowd that usually gather are a blend of web workers, home workers, IT workers who take the time once a month to grab a cup of coffee, chat about projects people are currently working on, maybe offer up a demonstration, chat about web-related events and news.

    There’s free wifi, power points for laptops and you’ll find the group in the back of the Kilkenny Cafe (up the steps to the meeting area) in Market Cross Shopping Centre. There’s no charge, no obligation to talk, just come along and pull up a seat. The meeting time was changed recently to cater for those visiting from Waterford via train with Market Cross a ten minute walk from the train station. If you’re driving or cycling, you’ll find ample parking in the Market Cross Car Park on James’ Street (entrance via James’ Street or Parliament Street) and if you’re walking through Kilkenny you’ll find the main entrance to Market Cross on High Street with Kilkenny Cafe in the corner of the ground floor.

    See KilkennyOpenCoffee.com, follow Kilkenny Open Coffee on Twitter or check the map here.

  • Open Coffee, Not Just About Wifi

    Latte Art
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Lucy James Photography

    OPEN COFFEE. It’s not just about wifi. In fact, it’s not about wifi at all. It’s not a gathering of people around laptops, programming in the corner of a coffee shop. It’s not over elaborate demos of bandwidth-heavy project developments. At least those points are valid for Kilkenny anyway.

    Open Coffee is about the people.

    The people who are working for themselves. The people who are working online or in an online-connected environment. The people who want to learn or share internet experiences whether personal or professional.

    Yes, the wifi helps and if it’s available it will likely get used to pull email during the morning, allow people check in to the office, push photos out to twitter etc. But at the end of the day, it’s the conversation that counts.

    Barring the odd slip of an iPhone onto the table when the conversation turned to Foursquare yesterday at Kilkenny Open Coffee, there wasn’t a hint of a laptop or netbook to be seen. Mobile phone reception in our current venue is dour at the best of times, but it’s the conversation that counts. Further insights into dbTwang, technical writing for the US markets, outsourcing to South Africa, travel in Prague, location-based services, iPhone app development and more were up for discussion yesterday. All over a few pots of tea before everyone went back to their homes and offices for another month.

    For me personally, I take it as a great chance to get out of the office, if just to meet up with familiar and new faces – once in a month – for a tea and a chat. Spending as long as I do in the office or working from the house (both by myself), it does good to get out and about when the opportunity presents itself.

    If you’re thinking on coming along next month, we’ll likely be getting together on Wednesday February 3rd, same OCC time, same OCC channel. Details here and map here. Actually, rumour has we’ll be bringing it forward to 11am instead of 11:30am to suit those who take the train and give out free pens.

    If it’s your first time going along, don’t worry about a laptop. Bring a pen and paper, or a business card, or just yourself.

  • One Year Of Kilkenny Open Coffee

    Double espresso
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Maria Keays

    TOMORROW WILL mark the first anniversary of Open Coffee in Kilkenny.

    The first Wednesday of every month in Kilkenny sees a gathering of local business types, entrepreneurs, homeworkers, techies, non-techies and more meet for coffee at Kilkenny Cafe in the Market Cross Shopping Centre, usually from 11:30am to about 1pm. Tomorrow, being the first Wednesday of the month, will be no different.

    The last twelve months have seen mornings of 2-3 people through to double figures. There’s nothing strict about the gathering – you don’t have to be involved in a technology startup, you don’t have to be a web designer or web worker, you don’t even have to be from Kilkenny. People drop in, people drop out, some people come along for a half hour, some people stay for the morning and beyond but whoever is there on the day, the conversation is always good with the ideas and chats in plentiful supply.

    Of course, the majority of us that go along to the morning would drive, so weather-pending, we’ll have a nice turnout for tomorrow morning.

    If you’re in the neighbourhood, have a story to tell, a business idea to plug, want to get out of the house or office and grab a cup of tea or coffee with people working (quite possibly) in a similar space to yourself, then drop along to the Kilkenny Cafe in Market Cross any time from 11:30am to 1pm. We’re usually found up in the meeting area at the back, in on the right. There’s free wifi, usually a few offers on tea, scones, lunches or whatever you’re into food and beverage-wise.

    For those driving, there’s parking available in the Market Cross car park with entrances off James’ Street or Parliament Street, while for those walking you can enter Market Cross via James’ Street or High Street with the Kilkenny Cafe located on the ground floor in the corner, next to Penney’s.

    See here for a map or visit KilkennyOpenCoffee.com to find out what’s been happening at the last few meetups.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee November

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    Creative Commons License photo credit: vmiramontes

    The November meet of Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place tomorrow morning at 11:30am at the Kilkenny Cafe in Market Cross Shopping Centre. (Map here). I’d missed last month’s outing, being away with Devious Theatre, but you can read John Keyes’ writeup here to give you an idea as to what took place.

    Kilkenny Open Coffee has been running since January this year; we’ve had some great discussions, some very busy mornings, some very quiet mornings, but no matter what the topic, it has constantly made for a great way to spend a few hours on a Wednesday morning. The gathering has grown in terms of regular attendees over the course of the year with matters business, technology, web, social and otherwise on the table for discussion. We’ve heard new business ideas, seen new product demos, listened to and shared advice and experiences, all the time making new contacts and new introductions.

    If you’re in business, considering starting your own business, have a product to show off, a new idea to run by an interested audience, or you just want to get out of the house or office for a coffee and meet people in a similar workspace, then join us at the back of the Kilkenny Cafe tomorrow morning from 11:30am. The tea is plentiful, the wifi is free and you’ll be back in the office in time for lunch.

    Visit KilkennyOpenCoffee.com or check out Kilkenny Open Coffee on Facebook and Twitter.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee Wednesday August 5th

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    Creative Commons License photo credit: jwalsh

    The August outing of Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place tomorrow morning (Wednesday August 5th) at 11:30pm and we’re back in the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross for tomorrow’s gathering.

    Last month we had a nice sized meetup in the Kilkenny Rivercourt Hotel but given recent unreliable twists in the weather, we’re taking to The Meeting Room at the rear of the Kilkenny Cafe.

    For those of you traveling from outside Kilkenny City, check here for a map.

    You can now follow Kilkenny Open Coffee on Twitter.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee July – Change Of Venue

    While we normally reside in the inner sanctum of the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross, this month’s Open Coffee meetup in Kilkenny will take place at the Rivercourt Hotel on John Street in Kilkenny. The hotel is located on the John Street side of John’s Bridge, looking onto Kilkenny Castle.

    With London supposedly entering into a heatwave and the temperatures here over the past week, and again this morning, indicating the possibility of sunny weather this Wednesday, we’re aiming to meet up in the outdoor area of the hotel with plenty of seating available overlooking the river.

    I’m not sure myself whether wi-fi access will extend to the outdoor seating but no doubt there’ll be a few laptops and mobile broadband connections available if you’re truly stuck. Kick-off is 11:30am as always.

    KilkennyOpenCoffee.com is currently in development and will be used for announcements like this in the future along with providing information on those who attend, where to find us etc.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee For June, Today

    152/365 Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Mykl Roventine

    The next Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place in Kilkenny City today at 11:30am at the rear of the Kilkenny Cafe, Market Cross Shopping Centre, Kilkenny. Unless a super cool open-air coffee venue appears on the map between now and 11:30am, that’s where we’ll be (the weather in Kilkenny has been hitting 26/27 degrees).

    Maybe we could change it to Open Picnic instead?

    For more on dates, maps and to find out who’ll be there, you can check the Open Coffee Ning group here, or by visit IGOpeople.com.

  • 5th Kilkenny Open Coffee This Morning

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    Creative Commons License photo credit: reality-check

    The fifth Kilkenny Open Coffee gathering takes place later this morning. Myself, John Keyes, Keith Bohanna, Frank Bradley and Katherine Nolan have become the regulars there and hopefully will all be there again this morning. Each meeting to date has thrown up a few new faces, people using it as a chance to get out of the house or the office and meet people in a likeminded space, see what others are up to. If you’re in Kilkenny, working from home, working in a web / tech / business background and want to get out of the house or the office and introduce yourself to people in a similar space, do drop down, either today or at any of the Open Coffee mornings down the line.

    We haven’t set a structure on the gathering i.e. no specific themes or guest speakers or anything like that but each morning has thrown up some great topics of conversation and thoughts to get your own moving.

    This morning’s Open Coffee takes place in the Kilkenny Café at Market Cross Shopping Centre (map here) on High Street. For those driving, MCSC has a large multistorey car park, with parking also available in the nearby Dunnes Stores car park. The meet is on at the back of the café where you’ll also find free wifi.

    To keep up to date, check the IGOpeople group here.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee, Tuesday March 3rd

    Kilkenny Cafe

    We’re down a few regulars (regulars being those who were at the first two gatherings) but Kilkenny’s third open coffee is set for tomorrow, Tuesday March 3rd at 11:30am.

    The venue, as on previous days, will be the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross Shopping Centre, High Street, Kilkenny. Check IGOpeople.com for more.

    Each of the previous mornings have seen new faces introduced and hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same. If you’re involved in the tech / web / a startup or want to come along and meet people working in those spaces then join us tomorrow morning from 11:30am.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee Today (Wednesday)

    Just a reminder to folks that the second Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place at 11:30am this morning in the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross Shopping Centre, High Street, Kilkenny.

    There’s a “meeting room” space at the back of Kilkenny Cafe that offers up free wifi, some couches and the likes. Last (and first) time around there seven of us there and we’ve contacted a few more people this time around, locally, to let them know what’s going on.

    If you’re in Kilkenny this morning, involved in the internet or tech space and want to drop in for a tea / coffee / scone / demo / yarn then feel free to join us from 11:30am. Last time I checked they were also running an offer of two scones and two coffees for a fiver, plenty to keep one going!

    See the map here or follow the crowd over on IGOpeople.com

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee? It’s A Possibility, It’s This Week

    Hot Cup Of Clay
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Gary Denness

    Having an Open Coffee morning in Kilkenny has long been whispered and suggested amongst Kilkenny-heads. I spoke to a few people about it at PodCamp and the whispers appeared again before Christmas on Twitter.

    Over on IGOPeople.com, Keith has set up a Kilkenny Open Coffee Group where a few of us have agreed to a first meeting at the Kilkenny Cafe tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:30am. You’ll find the Kilkenny Cafe located downstairs in Market Cross Shopping Centre and The Meeting Room is up at the back of the cafe. There’s plenty of tables, chairs, big seats, power points for laptops and free wifi as well.

    If you’re in the Kilkenny area, drop in, have a coffee, let’s see what happens.

  • OpenCoffee Club BBQ – Don’t Forget The Jalapenos

    Jalapenos might not be high on the agenda at the Opencoffee Club BBQ but what you might find in Terryglass on Wednesday July 16th this year are

    • Over 40 like-minded people with backgrounds as entrepreneurs, people in startups, investors, those with a love of technology and business and beyond…
    • Talks on providing wifi in remote areas, Twitterfone demos and giveaways, location-based services, mobile applications and likely loads more besides.
    • Childcare services on the day (great to see this as it was one of the points raised out of CreativeCamp in Kilkenny in March)
    • Food, beer, a pub, a lake and the opportunity to network with a terrific bunch of people.

    Hopefully the weather stays good and there’ll be some outdoor activities or talks as well. While I haven’t quite figured out if I’ll be able to attend (might get up for the afternoon as I’m gigging that night in Kilkenny) you can register your own interest here or if you are interested in giving a demo or a talk then use this signup link.

    Kick-off is 11am on the day and ends “when the last person goes home”. As such, Evert & co. have been nice enough to provide a list of accommodation in the area as well.

  • Get Your Grill On With Open Coffee BBQ This Summer

    The Open Coffee collective is moving away from coffee and biscuits in a cosy hotel / coffee shop / business centre / technology centre for one day this summer and switching the biscuits out for burgers, sausages and everything BBQ’able.

    • Where: Terryglass, Tipperary (Lough Derg)
    • Why: Sure why not? An outdoor gathering of Open Coffee attendees, fans and anyone up for a lake-side networking session and chinwag, possibly under the watchful eye of the country’s All Ireland BBQ Champion!
    • When: This summer, but you have to vote for your preferred date between June and July.

    Whatever date it falls on will likely be midweek at some point in June or July which will mean you’ll need to free up some hours out of the office (should be no problem to regular Open Coffee attendees). Plus, word has the area will be that bit quieter midweek.

    I think I can safely say I’ve been to Terryglass on just one occasion, but wouldn’t mind going back for a feed and a meetup in the summer. Anyway, didn’t you know that fresh air is good for you?

    Evert has all the details here so click on to find out more.

  • Attending Limerick Open Coffee via Online Meeting Rooms

    Online Meeting Rooms

    Thought I’d throw this up as I’m not long off a session at OnlineMeetingRooms.com with Bernie Goldbach, Joe Garde, Conor O’Neill and Antoin O Lachtnain (author of Making an Impact Online: Creating a Website That Really Works Without Breaking the Bank (Business on a Shoestring)).

    The invitation was made to participate in the meeting with the bulk of questions coming from Tipperary IT students calling on various aspects of Antoin’s book, myself adding two cents on photography online for music and hotels (which hopefully made sense). Whatever about the content, the technology available via Online Meeting Rooms provided a perfect opportunity for me to link up with 4 others in various locations (Conor in Cork, Bernie in Limerick, Joe and Antoin in separate locations in Dublin – myself in Kilkenny) and enjoy streaming video and audio, along with an interactive drawing board (multi-user) and separate chat window for making notes, sharing links etc.

    My own set up via the iSight (running OSX and surfing via Firefox) was a breeze, Joe guiding me quickly through the Flash setup to get the camera and audio up and running. The option of Flash video of course means that the solution, catering for up to six people at present, is browser and platform independent. Of course, I had already poked around through the screencasts on OnlineMeetingRooms.com and figured out what to do once the meeting room went live but chatting with Joe added a nice personal touch to it.

    The whole event also meant I got to sit in on some of the activity at Limerick Open Coffee and get involved in the discussion there, saving a few euro on diesel in the process. The overall experience was very enjoyable, great quality audio, great video too depending on your bandwidth and web cam quality though Bernie had no real difficulties on a shared WiFi node at Absolute Hotel. I think the iSight camera wins hands down in terms of quality though 🙂 I think Conor mentioned something in discussion about becoming more accustomed to online video as a means of delivery and I think I’m the same, having tested out various means of video calling amongst the KilkennyMusic.com crew.

    If you need to step away for a minute (as I had to do at one stage – when nature calls, nature calls) you can disable your video and / or audio feed while remaining within the window no problem. Prior to joining the full swing of things at 11:30am I was happily listening to the background banter between Conor and Joe while wolfing breakfast in the office, posting quietly in the chat window (nobody really needs to see you eat breakfast at your desk).

    When all is said and done, the experience was a very enjoyable one, something I would have no problem in getting involved in again. Thanks to Bernie for the invitation and Joe for setting it all up.

  • Grab An Open Coffee In Galway

    Open Coffee Club Galway

    Ina is hosting Open Coffee Club Galway today, Friday September 7th (just under 11 hours from now, it’s shortly after midnight). Coffee and chat served in the Forster Court Hotel on Eyre Square (well, Forster Street – see location map here). If you’re in the neighbourhood, drop in from 11am onwards. There’s no car park at the hotel if you’re driving but hotel guests (assuming patrons) guest discounted access to the multistorey on Forster Street.

    Open Coffee Club Galway will run on the first Friday of every month. See Ina’s post here or check Upcoming.org for more details and maps.

    Don’t forget too that there’s now a dedicated blog running for Cork OpenCoffee Club

  • 40 Minutes Of Video Form Open Coffee Cork

    40 Minutes Of Video Form Open Coffee CorkI’ve been watching Conor O’Neill, Will Knott, Tom Raftery (who never tweets from his mobile), Conn Ó Muíneacháin and other talk up Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook and some of the spin-off conversation in the aftermath of yesterday’s DOCC.

    Great point from Tom raised in relation to podcasting (about 15 minutes in), something I haven’t thought of when we’re recording the Sound System / One Take podcasts for KilkennyMusic.com. When you’re starting to record a poscast, release a tweet asking for questions, responding to them during the recording process. That would make certain sense to us anyway, bringing a live element – or at least an interactive element – to the podcasting process.

    Nice going on the Q&A session as well, fielding questions from the chat window (as per Dublin yesterday).

    Whatever about the streaming, having the cached video accessible after-the-fact is a great plus, something that was missing out of Dublin’s session yesterday. I’ve been gone from the office since 8 this morning but taking some time out for lunch it’s also nice to be able to drop in on the Coffee Club on my own time.

    You can watch the footage here courtesy of Edgecast (Conn)     – see the “past clips” section, it will be the first in the list..

  • Open Coffee Dublin Streaming Now

    Open Coffee Dublin

    OpenCoffeeDublin now streaming live thanks to Eoghan McCabe.

    Update: After a great Q&A session / round table discussion as people found their groove while on camera there’s a recap from Eoghan McCabe and some great notes from James Corbett to be found online. More of the same from Cork OC tomorrow?