A Georgetown Social Media Cafe?

Posted by: Chris Unitt on: August 5, 2009

In: General
2 Comments

We’ve got a week and a half left on this project and we’re starting to think about what we’ll be leaving behind.

As it stands, two community groups, a group of teachers and a bunch of young people will be left with a grasp on some basic web skills – image editing, website design, blogging and good content. We hope that the community groups and teachers will be able to pass their new skills on to others.

What else?

I taught myself web skills. There are enough tutorials out there on the internet that if someone wants to learn something they can (although tutors speed the process up a lot and provide a framework for learning). What might be useful now would be to create the right environment and networks in which people can work, learn and meet others.

Back in England I organise the monthly Birmingham Social Media Cafe. It was set up by Joanna Geary last year and was based on a similar gathering in London called the Tuttle Club.

It’s a chance for people interested in social media (blogging, sharing media, social networking, etc) to come together to talk shop, make contacts, receive support and be part of a larger group. We attract 40-50 people a month even though it takes place during the working day and we don’t really advertise.

I think a Georgetown Social Media Cafe would be a useful. It’s a low cost solution – all that’s required is a venue (we use a coffee shop) and someone to send out reminders for the next one (we use email, a Facebook group and a WordPress-based website).

The Guyanese web scene seems to be in its early stages but in the past few weeks I’ve seen plenty of proof that there are people hungry to learn and develop their skills.