Likemind Featured In The New York Times

Last weekend, journalist Alex Williams was kind enough to provide a full page write up in the New York Times’ Style Section of the coffee morning Noah and I started called Likemind. After a couple of years, Likemind now takes place in over 55 cities and after this article, no doubt, in quite a few more.

When I talk to people who attend or host from other cities, I learn that Likeminders have their own take on what it is and what they get out of it. It’s been an interesting and educational journey for me about networks, human motivations, community and coffee culture. Noah and I have tried not to define what it is or what it does – and that approach has, I think, kept the meeting on the third Friday of every month attractive to so many people. In this article, Alex Williams sort of sees the coffee mornings as un-networking events. The article says:

Likemind might sound like a 2008 version of networking, but to participants, likemind events are distinctly different from the traditional networking parties of the ’80s and ’90s, where slick-suited would-be executives teetered around with a cocktail in one hand and a fistful of business cards in the other.

Likemind caters to young professionals in advertising, media and design who are products of the age of personal blogs, warts-and-all YouTube videos and viral marketing. For them, the best pitch is the disguised pitch. Nothing, participants said, is more uncool than the hard-sell of traditional networking (which may explain why likemind is not capitalized).

“We just show up over coffee and talk,” said Eric Cedo, a participant in Detroit, in an e-mail message.

Likemind was conceived by Noah Brier, 26, the head of strategic planning at the Barbarian Group, an Internet marketing company, and Piers Fawkes, 37, who runs PSFK, a trend consulting company. They knew each other virtually, through their blogs. But in July 2006, they decided to meet at a West Village coffeehouse, ’sNice, and posted a blog invitation. About 20 people showed up.

Before long, those friends started bringing friends, and many started blogging about it. Word spread, even overseas, and people started holding their own likemind events.

It was a great honor to be featured in this way – and it’s great to see Alex reporting the views of Likeminders from around the world in the article. Read more – and if you’ve been – I’d love to hear your reactions in the comments below.

New York Times
Likemind

Img: Erin Wigger