Where: Terryglass village, Tipperary, Ireland

What: Open Coffee Club meetings are informal “gatherings” of entrepreneurs, start-ups, investors and anybody with an interest in business and technology to tell their story, discuss topics, exchange points of view and generally have a good, relaxing time.

When: July 16th, 2008 starting at 11 am and ending when the last person goes home.

Costs: None (but donations/sponsorship in any shape or form is welcome).

Quotes from the “original” Open Coffee Club page & blog:

• The OpenCoffee Club was started to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organise real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow. Read the blog post that started the ball rolling.

• Let’s not treat it just another social networking event - if you don’t make it along, it’s not the end of the world - there’s one every week. You don’t have to go round speaking to everyone - sometimes it’s good to meet a few good people and a few in-depth discussions - the other people will probably be there next week!
• More demonstrations - let’s have more of these. We noticed one or two people going to one of the tables and just showing some new technology or even what they have been working on to-date. Definitely should be much more of this. You never know, it might stir some ideas for business partnerships with people or they may be able to match you with people who can help and enhance your offering. Plus, it’s much more fun!
• Never, ever, have name badges or colour coded tags: it’s not that type of event and never should be. It’s not even an event - it’s a place where internet people come and go for coffee, chat, and a cake.
• Filtering the people - which can be a bit controversial. Last week was perfect - a great blend of good people from our internet industry who could potentially add real value to someone else’s business or aspirations. Now, what I don’t want to see, and I’m sure everyone else feels the same, is a bunch of PR execs, recruiters & headhunters, or bob from the stationary department at big corp X coming along because they smell opportunity. If we want it to become the cult of e-cademy, then that’s the quickest way to go about it. Let’s just be polite but firm if they saunter on to our pad.
• Journalists, VC’s, and Angels are more than welcome and we should help give them some fun and interesting stories, and opportunities. These guys often have a good perspective on the industry as a whole and are definitely worth talking to in the non-pitch sense. Remember, they’re here to take part too and get away from people trying to sell them things - at least for a few hours.