In early 2007, a London entrepreneur who wanted to meet like-minded people used the Internet to invite others to a real-world meeting. He called it Open Coffee to emphasize its informal nature, and he created a social media website where participants could continue their conversations after the in-person get-together.
His meetings became weekly events, and more than 80 Open Coffee Clubs have sprung up around the world. All are based on the original model: to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize real-world informal meetings to chat, network and grow.
New Mexico has three established Open Coffee Clubs — one each in Albuquerque, Los Alamos and Santa Fe. As each new group begins, it joins the international homepage of Open Coffee at http://opencoffee.ning.com/.