Open Coffee Connect is the organization behind the worldwide network of Open Coffee chapters — the framework, the training, and the shared tools that let independent local meetups run under one standard, without losing what makes them local.
An informal meetup, run to a shared standard — so people who show up in Lisbon know exactly what they're getting in Nairobi or Manila.
Open Coffee started the way most good ideas do — a handful of founders and freelancers meeting over coffee, no agenda, no pitching, no fee. It worked because it stayed human. Over the years, hundreds of independent chapters picked up the format and ran with it, each one built and led by local organizers.
What never existed was a way to connect them. No shared framework, no shared tools, no way for a member in one city to find a chapter in another. Open Coffee Connect is the organization built to close that gap — we don't run local chapters, and we don't own the meetups. We hold the framework, the training, and the network, so organizers can focus on the room, not the infrastructure.
Four steps, the same for every organizer, everywhere in the world.
Read the Open Coffee Framework — our open playbook for how a chapter is structured, run, and grown. It's free to review before you apply.
Tell us where you want to build and why. We review every application personally — there's no cost to apply, and no obligation until you're ready.
We build your chapter's page on the network, run you through organizer training, and hand over the toolkit — event pages, RSVP tools, and directory listing.
Your chapter stays yours to run. You keep a direct line to the Open Coffee Connect team, access to every other chapter in the network, and a framework that keeps evolving.
Every chapter starts from the same framework. The tier is about how much infrastructure and support you want behind it.
Organizers are volunteers with day jobs. We handle the infrastructure so they don't have to.
Structure, format, and ground rules refined across hundreds of chapters — so you're not guessing how a first meetup should run.
Live and self-paced training on running a room, handling growth, and keeping a chapter healthy long after the first event.
Event pages, RSVP handling, and a chapter site template — the operational layer, ready on day one.
Every chapter is listed and searchable, so members traveling or relocating can find their next room in minutes.
Run under a name people already recognize and trust — with clear guidelines on how to use it locally.
Not a help desk. A team that knows your chapter and answers when something needs solving.
Open Coffee Connect is global by design — the framework works the same whether a chapter has eight people or eight hundred.
"We'd been running a small meetup for two years with no name recognition outside our own city. Six months on the network and people are showing up because they've heard of Open Coffee somewhere else."
"The training was the difference. I'd never organized anything before. The framework gave me a format to follow on week one, and the confidence to change it by week ten."
"What sold me wasn't the tools, it was that nobody tried to make it corporate. It's still just people meeting over coffee. The network just means more of them can find us."
We're the organization behind the global Open Coffee network — we maintain the framework, run organizer training, and operate the shared tools and directory that connect every chapter. Local chapters stay independently run by their own organizers.
No. Most first-time organizers have never run an event before. The framework and onboarding training are built to take you from application to your first meetup with a clear format to follow.
Pricing varies by market and chapter size, since costs like venue support and local promotion differ widely. Apply and we'll walk you through what applies to your city.
Yes — a large share of our chapters were running independently before joining. Onboarding for existing meetups is faster, since the format is usually already close to the framework.
No. We're built differently on purpose. There are no referral quotas and no attendance fines — chapters are still built around one thing, people actually wanting to talk to each other, with the professional backing to make that scale.