Open Coffee Nijmegen
When I became self-employed in 2005, there was one thing I missed from working with colleagues: the informal conversations around the coffee machine.
In 2009, I heard about Open Coffee Breda, an informal networking event where entrepreneurs and freelancers could meet over a cup of coffee. I liked the idea and decided to look for an Open Coffee meeting in Nijmegen.
There wasn't one.
So I started one myself.
Bringing entrepreneurs together
Since 2009, I have organised Open Coffee Nijmegen, a monthly informal meetup for entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals and freelancers from the Nijmegen area.
The idea is deliberately simple: have a cup of coffee or tea, meet other entrepreneurs, exchange ideas and make new connections. There are no pitches or obligatory networking activities, and you don't need to register. You can simply turn up and join the conversation.
For self-employed people, these informal conversations can be especially valuable. You may not have colleagues at the next desk or people to meet around the coffee machine, but you still benefit from exchanging experiences, discussing ideas and talking to people who face similar challenges.
Sharing knowledge and experience
In 2019, we introduced monthly themes and Maureen Bol joined me as co-organiser. Since then, we have organised Open Coffee Nijmegen together, choosing the themes, inviting experts from different fields and organising the monthly meetings.
The invited experts join the other participants during the meeting. You can ask them questions about their field, exchange knowledge or simply continue networking as usual.
What started because I missed those spontaneous coffee-machine conversations has grown into a monthly meeting where entrepreneurs from many different backgrounds can have exactly those kinds of conversations.
Sometimes all you need is good coffee (or tea) and interesting people.
