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    Social media gurus and startup kids move to new homes

    Mike Butcher

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    Mike Butcher is the European Editor for TechCrunch. A former grunge rock drummer, he became a long time journalist, and has since written for UK national newspapers and magazines including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The New Statesman. Mike is also a co-founder and shareholder of TechHub, a co-working space/service/community with several locations... → Learn More

    Friday, October 3rd, 2008
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    The shifting sands of London’s networking events is shifting again, and re-shaping into something approaching stability. The Social Media Cafe, or The Tuttle Club as regulars like to call it, is moving from its birthplace in an upstairs room in The Coach and Horse pub in London’s Soho (see my bad photo of the last event today) to a fascinating new location: The Institute of Contemporary Arts.

    What is Social Media Cafe? Original founder Lloyd Davis originally said it was: “a place to meet, hook up, get groups together, socialise, train people, co-work etc… a confluence of the creative, tech and entrepreneurial tribes who are currently gathering around social media and online social networking.”

    So, from Friday 10th October, the Tuttle Club will hold its Friday meetups at the ICA in The Mall. The plan means they will be able to expand beyond the 40 person limit. The ICA has capacity for up to 200 people. Admission will be through the “back door” in Carlton House Terrace at 10am and the networking runs to midday. The SMC will also be able to do more around the “intersection of contemporary art and social media” and move into early evening events. Thanks go to to Alastair and his staff at the Coach and Horses for their hospitality over the last few months. The prime movers behind Tuttle have been Mike Atherton, James Whatley, James Scroggs of Spinvox and of course Lloyd Davis. Well done guys.

    Meanwhile, over at London OpenCoffee – a regular weekly meetup for investors and tech startups – they too have a new home courtesy of Tim Barnes who runs “Innovations @ UCL“. It will now be every Thursday between 1000-1200 (as before) in the foyer in UCL’s stunning new Roberts building, Torrington Place, corner Malet Place. It think it’s a Costa Coffee.

    And if you have a tech/startup-related event then a good way to get on the TechCrunch radar is to add it to our TechCrunch Euro Startups Events group on Upcoming.

    Lastly, I am thinking of starting a regularly weekly meetup for startups somewhere near “Silicon Roundabout“. Feel free to suggest venues in the comments.

    • http://www.twitter.com/mazi Mazi

      Cool. At my previous company, Rareface, I was lucky enough to host one of the SMC evening events. I can’t attend all these days as I’m based in Brentford!

    • Rachel Bremer

      Hi Mike – I’d love a meetup in the Silicon Roundabout area. Will look around for good venues… would the Hoxton Hotel work?

    • http://thenextweb.org David Petherick

      I have a sense of Déjà Vu (1999).

      I remember one of my Managing Directors, Ian Gardiner, starting up First Tuesday in 1999 in Edinburgh with Ross Laurie. My how we did talk and drink and talk and drink, and go to bigger and swankier venues, until one day…

      Yes, the bubble burst. However, at least this time around we have broadband, and the banks are all penniless for a change.

      Of course, it’s great for socmed types to meet up and talk, and a regular ’roundabout’ event sounds nice. I must add though, that the ‘VCs with money meet entrepreneurs with ideas’ format is probably best allowed to happen organically without too much prodding.

    • http://www.thisadwillchangeyourlife.com Ben Carey

      Hi Mike
      Re: Silicon Roundabout – The Tea Bar has loads of room; can get a bit crowded though.

    • http://www.zebtab.com Wildirishguy

      http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub199.html

      The Crown Tavern at Clerkenwell green easy to get to Farringdon Tube 2 mins/Barbican 10mins/ 55 bus from Oxford St 20 mins etc and has a back room and a function room

    • http://www.shemakeswar.com/blog/2008/10/05/home/ home ::: | ghosts & shadows : she makes war

      [...] Coach & Horses before its move to the prestigious ICA next week. A photo of us all went up on TechCrunch, no less! Yes, that is me with a glass of champagne in my hand. At 11 in the morning, [...]

    • Stepper

      Cha Lounge – Brick Lane
      Cargo – Rivington St

      both have free wifi

      bar music hall, prague could also be good?

    • http://blog.francinekizner.com/2008/10/14/a-short-jaunt-back-to-london/ A Short Jaunt Back to London | France to go

      [...] and check it out: Evan and I are front and center in the Tuttle Club photo on Tech Crunch UK since we went to the Social Media Cafe’s last meeting at the Coach and Horses. I wish I could [...]

    • http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/envestors-plans-manchester-launch-will-it-kick-start-the-startup-scene/ Envestors plans Manchester launch – will it kick-start the startup scene?

      [...] As for Manchester itself, despite having a very noisy tub-thumper in the form of Northern StartUp 2.0, I don’t see a ton of real startup action there. Yes, they have a booming Social Media Cafe – similar to Tuttle. But as I said long ago, the geeks/startups and the social media crowd are two different things and, in London at least, diverged a year ago. [...]

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