In this policy charged Washington where I previously lived, local news is national and international; many of the conversations I overheard were held by well dressed federal employees. Though I wasn’t able to spend a great deal of time at coffee shops on my visit because of one of the largest snow storms in DC history, I was again reminded that they are far from homogenous.

No two coffee shops are the same. An hour after landing at Regan International, I met with a friend in Alexandria at Le Pain Quotidien. A small bakery / coffee shop, this quiet and reserved place was very conversation friendly. No music played. No one was plugged in. No one was typing away. When getting work done is on my friends’ agenda, Buzz Coffee is more conducive, as WiFi is available; I wasn’t able to check the place out.

When I want a single origin drip from Kenya via a HARIO (@HARIOUSA) v60, I go to coffee shop A even if the tables are small, the seats uncomfortable, and WiFi limited; the coffee served is most important here. When I want to work and chat online, I go to coffee shop B even if the coffee is so-so because the WiFi is secure, and I know that fellow customers will be going for the same reason. When I want to initiate a conversation, I go to coffee shop C, knowing that community is what this place has going. The conversations that emerge at coffee shops are in part influenced by their location and the interests of its customers. So, I’ll go to coffee shop D near the university if I want to socialize with professors and college students. Place matters.

My intention here is not to categorize coffee shops, but simply suggest that each has unique qualities; each has something different to offer. And of course, many are conversation and WiFi friendly, offering excellent coffee; culture is still going to vary.

Different places. Different coffee shops. Different conversations. What coffee shop are you going to today?

More customers doesn’t necessarily equate to increased revenue for coffee shops, which is why some have taken steps to regulate their WiFi, such as charging a nominal fee or granting so many minutes per purchase because it’s overuse and lower turnover can negatively affect their bottom line.

Coffee shops like Truffles don’t mind granting free access as long as customers buy a cup of coffee now and then, respect staff, and share tables when it gets crowded. James Orlando, the owner said that, “They [WiFi using customers] want to be somewhere, but they don’t want to be alone.” But it’s what he said next that caught my attention, “Enjoying free WiFi is a great way to socialize without having to talk to anybody.” I knew that some push back comments from readers were to follow:

One of the most pertinent and well written pieces in a long time. What could be more relevant to present day society than the lives of un and underemployed individuals and their daily routines. Socializing has become passe as the electronic network has made actual interpersonal relations obsolete. Viva la internet!

I feel like an alien anymore walking into my favorite coffee shop (Gypsy), because I’m not attached to a laptop!! I actually had a cyber-couple glaring at my mother and me because we must have been talking and/or laughing too loudly on a recent Saturday!!!! Harper’s Magazine is right…pretty soon human contact is going to be obsolete!!

Tensions are brewing, and articles that support, critique, and complexify the implications of WiFi in coffee shops are many. Three days after Laptop warriors find cozy homes in coffee shops, libraries with free WiFi was published, I came across an article titled Where did café culture go?, critiquing the lack of socialization in coffee shops (specially “third wave”), and 21st Century Unemployment Watering Holes. In this later article, Tom Watkins feels for the unemployed who spend their days at coffee shops, and suggested the following:

• The state [Michigan] should post job information from Michigan Works and the Talent Bank at all coffee shops across the state including education and training programs through the “No Worker Left Behind” program.
• In collaboration with the private coffee shops, install computer terminals/kiosks linked to job and training opportunities to be available to those without computer access.
• If you are an employer, stop by any coffee shop and post or announce your employment opportunities.

Pulling the plug on WiFi is an option to increase turnover, but I don’t see it becoming the norm. More importantly though, pulling the plug won’t guarantee a return to the days of old where chatting with friends and strangers at coffee shops was more common (not always though). In actuality, I’ve been to plenty of coffee shops without WiFi where customers still sit alone, looking past each other. However, the mere fact that unemployed and underemployed people retreat to coffee shops creates an opportunity, an opportunity for them to talk, exchange ideas, share experiences and lessons learned during their search for a new or different job. Maybe even meet a stranger who is that “need to know” someone.

Tweetups and meetups, organized and semi-organized gatherings at coffee shops are becoming more common, allowing strangers to talk in a safe and conversation friendly place. In Baltimore, Legal Grind offers people the opportunity to get legal advice in a non-law office setting, and University of Maryland students to get real world experience in the process. For $10, you can get a lawyer and a cup of coffee.

So, how about $10 to meet with a career counselor or maybe a financial planner, with a cup of coffee of course. Or maybe just a table set aside for job hunting customers, who may in turn become consequential strangers—people who don’t seem to matter, but do; people who bring information into our lives and open us up to new opportunities, people who may help in landing that next job.

There’s nothing wrong with plugging in and socializing online alone at a coffee shop, but the person sitting at the table next to you may be or know somebody that can help you along. Knowing something and knowing people is important, but you may also need the help of people who you don’t know already, people who you’ve yet to meet.

Recently at Brazen Careerist, in the coffee group, a coffee aficiando asked the question:

So, how did everyone get started drinking coffee?

Fellow members were quick to answer, and many were introduced by someone in their family. I wasn’t the only one. Curious, I gave my Grandma a call to find out how her affair with coffee began.

My Grandma still drinks Folgers and Maxwell House, but my family recently bought her a Kerig K-Cup, so she’s beginning to explore… Regardless of her coffee brand preferences, Grandma told me that she was likewise introduced to coffee when she was young. Her Grandma use to put a few drops of coffee into her milk, and it was the fragrance that drew her in. It wasn’t until she was older that she moved from coffee with sugar and cream to coffee black; she didn’t enjoy the taste of powdered milk offered at restaurants.

Like me, my Grandma’s affair with coffee was and continues to be social. It wasn’t just about the coffee.

So, now it’s your turn. How did your affair with coffee begin?

As for my dream, I dream that difference—the quality of human difference—becomes something not to fear—but to long for and seek. I agree with the late president Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, “That the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans spoke up, and many people who weren’t supposed to listen began to. It took an openness towards difference, a paradigm shift of sorts, for human relations in the United States to be reshaped, and its shaping and reshaping continues. Ultimately, it was conversation, the ongoing push and exchange of ideas, the struggle to overcome domination, that made the dream less of a dream and more a reality.

The act of conversation becomes political when the political climate suggests that you remain quiet. Even imperfection communication is better than no communication at all.

And the conversation continues.

Facebook status updates are similar to Twitter tweets, but they are not as public in that you can easily restrict (e.g. everyone, friends of friends, only friends, and customize) who is able to read and reply to them. Twitter allows you to protect your tweets from public reading as well, but I don’t come across many people who implement this feature, as it generally defeats the purpose of using Twitter. Private messages can be sent either way.

Twitter is about conversation, sharing information, and exchanging ideas whereas Facebook is more about maintaining and continuing friendships, and giving public affirmation. This isn’t to suggest that people don’t chat on Facebook or connect with new people who have valuable information to share, but it serves a different purpose.

And here’s my thinking as to why:

On Twitter, you can follow and chat with individuals and companies that you agree with, disagree with, or have yet to make a decision about. No matter the subject of conversation, the act does not designate you as a friend or a fan; it simply conveys interest. Also on Twitter, you’re welcome to follow people who don’t follow back. This isn’t the case on Facebook; friend acceptance must be mutual.

Businesses and other entities (e.g. non profit organizations, public figures etc.) can create Facebook Fan pages to promote their products and doings. And by becoming a fan, you are publicly affirming that you support their work. To follow the same business / entity on Twitter doesn’t necessary mean that you’ve bought in. For me, this difference is key.

Here’s an example:

As you probably know, I love baseball and my favorite team is the Seattle Mariners. I follow them on Twitter (@TheRealMariners), exchanging tweets from time to time. My mere following suggests nothing more than that I’m interested (I could follow other teams too), but the Mariners are my team so I am a fan on Facebook. To further my point, some of the people I chat with on Twitter like the New York Yankees, but you won’t find me listed on their Facebook Fan page.

Like most things, there’s gray area. Twitter lists changes the playing field further, as adding someone to your list may imply that you are more than just a follower; more like a Facebook Fan. Either way, Twitter and Facebook complement each other.

Do you chat with individuals and businesses on Twitter that you wouldn’t necessarily become a fan of on Facebook. Do you find Twitter to be more like a coffee shop than Facebook?

Since facilitating, striking up, and capturing caffeinated conversations is what I do, people often ask about my coffee consumption and reasonably presume that I’m hooked. Yes, I drink coffee almost every day, but I don’t drink that much (relatively speaking). I rarely drink more than three cups, and these cups are about 6 ounces each.

I don’t drink a lot of decaffeinated either, but I bought a bag when my family arrived in town for the holidays, specifically because my father can talk up a storm. So you can only imagine what it’s like when he’s drinking coffee. I offered him half regular and half decaf a few times, but he mostly drank the fully leaded. Either way, it’s hard to get a word in after a few cups of the regular. Really though, it’s not his fault. He just gets excited. And so, when I’m at my best, I get excited with him, interrupting, interjecting, questioning, and the conversation continues.

I love coffee and I love conversation. I enjoy them together and I enjoy them separately. They don’t need each other, but together they often are… in homes, coffee shops, restaurants, book stores, and so many other places. But sometimes, caffeine can hinder conversation (depending upon how it personally affects you) or its effects can reduce conversation to a rant, a run on sentence that never seems to end—kind of like this one.

Last week at Zoka Coffee & Tea (@zokacoffee), I got a headache from listening too hard and not replying with anything more than “a huh” during a mostly one way conversation. My facial expression didn’t change much during that hour, and I left reminding myself that I should have interrupted with a question to move the conversation in a different direction. I somewhat failed at what I do best. The interesting part about this conversation is that when we parted ways, the man left, acknowledging that he had yet to buy a cup of coffee.

Caffeine is never fully to blame for one way conversations. During the conversation at Zoka, I failed to fully engage, to engage in the same way that he was engaging me. I asked plenty of questions, but I didn’t interject my opinions as firmly as I should have, bringing the conversation back to me so that we could both share. I didn’t get excited and this I should have done. Nevertheless, imperfect communication is better than no communication at all.

My father has his own conversation style, and at 68 it’s not going to change much. I have mine as well (ultimately, it’s not that different from his). So what are you going to do? Ignore and walk away (we’ve all done this), listen intently only—this is when my face ends up hurting—or adapt.

When a conversation goes one way, how do you turn it back around to move it forward?

I then refer to Lucy who I met at a coffee shop a few months later. While reading Foucault and Social Dialogue: Beyond Fragmentation, she approached me, asking about the book that has forever shaped my philosophy. Our weekly coffee and conversation got me thinking about the historical significance of coffee shops, and how the space in which they provide have allowed for the endless exchange of ideas, the shaping and reshaping of the world.

The story continues…

My wife and I got married and moved to Seattle after I graduated from ICAR, and our reasons for moving west had little to do with coffee, but rather a change of pace (and if you ask me, the Seattle Mariners too; Virginia was not to be our final destination. But coffee stimulates almost everyone who live here, and soon my passion for coffee and conversation solidified. It was always there, but Seattle brought it front and center, to the surface.

In December of 08, I met a ship boat captain at a Conversation Café just a few days before the presidential election, and his presence and assertion about the importance of conversation reaffirmed what I now believe to be true:

Everyday, people immerse themselves in Caffeinated Conversations; they can be as stimulating and complex as the coffee bean that helps make them possible.

During conversation, new ideas are put forward and prevailing ones reconsidered. Questions are asked and opinions shared. Commonalities and differences reveal themselves. And while no conversation is perfect, imperfect communication is always better than no communication at all—regardless of what it may reveal.

And so it began. I created Caffeinated Conversations and started to become what I so strongly believe in. Roasting coffee at home, I decided to fully immerse myself in all things coffee and conversation.

The Coffee Club of Seattle was a great place to start. Michael Allen Smith (@coffeehero) of Coffee Hero knows his espresso and is familiar with just about every coffee shop in town. People attend these meetups for different reasons, but all who join love coffee and conversation.

When I think of Edwin Martinez of ONYX Coffee, HARIO USA (@HARIOUSA), and Finca Vista Hermosa, I am reminded that coffee is fruit juice, and that it’s origins can’t be tasted and experienced if over-roasted. I heard Edwin speak at a Burke Museum exhibit called Coffee: The World in Your Cup in April soon after my website went live, and I have been learning about the complexity of coffee from him ever since. When I told him about my project, he was intrigued, supportive, and saw great potential.

Months later, while visiting Edwin’s coffee lab in Bellingham, I met Kelli Baker (now working for HARIO USA), and she has been equally encouraging and supportive. We’ll be meeting for coffee and conversation in the next week or so to talk social media again.

Soon after starting the Caffeinated Conversations Flickr group, I received an email from Melanie Ross, letting me know that the photo I asked her to submit to the group was that of her daughter and husband who happens to have a roastery a few miles a way. So, of course I had to meet him. Over the last few months, I’ve been hanging out with Velton of Velton’s Coffee Roasting Company, talking coffee, social media, and throwing the baseball. If you haven’t noticed on Twitter already, there’s almost always a bag of Velton’s Coffee on my counter at home.

And then there is Richard Wolak of The Cafe Guide (@TheCafeGuide) who I met in Seattle this summer. He referred to cafés and I coffee shops, but it’s obvious what we talked about. I returned from Vancouver, Canada earlier this month where we visited five coffee shops, introducing me to some local coffee aficionados including Mark Prince (@coffeegeek) of Coffee Geek. More Caffeinated Travels are in the works.

Joe McCarthy (@gumption) who previously worked at CoCollage, which provided digital displays to coffee shops, allowing visitors to display their digital doings to everyone present, has become a very good friend. His passion for exploring new ways that technology can help its users connect with people has greatly influenced my thinking of how Twitter (AKA The Online Coffee Shop), Facebook, and the like can and continue to complement face to face conversation. It’s hard to capture how important our weekly coffee shop conversations over the last few months have been.

Returning to Hawaiʻi for the first time in more than five years (I met my wife there in 2002), the Big Island of Hawaii was calling, and there my wife and I stayed at the Mango Sunset Bed & Breakfast Inn at Lyman Kona Coffee Farms. Lounging on the lanai, I drank a few cups of french press coffee every morning, overlooking 3,200 coffee trees (here are some pictures). Hans told his story and I listened intently, learning about all things Kona. I brought about ten pounds of green beans home, and have shared much of it with my coffee roasting friends. I roasted some for myself too.

Melissa Allison (@CoffeeCity) who writes Coffee City for the Seattle Times helped me continue the Twitter coffee talk by writing about it in her column. We later met and talked coffee at a Caffé Vita and Theo Chocolate cupping / tasting. Through Melissa, I learned about a book reading set for January 14 where Bryant Simon will be talking about his new book titled, Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. I’m looking forward to it.

And thank you Tara Shenson of the Coffee Speciality Association of America (@SpecialtyCoffee) for having my article about the online coffee shop known as Twitter published in The Chronicle’s next membership publication.

A transfer of mayor status on foursquare with Kevin Urie (@KevinUrie) who founded the Social Media Club of Seattle encouraged me to attend an event where I then met Bridget Baker and Brad Nelson (@bradnelson) of Starbucks whom I later visited to talk and cup coffee.

As you may already know, I’m an avid Seattle Mariners fan, and Starbucks is within walking distance of Safeco Field. Lucky for me, I met Kevin Martinez (@Kevin_Martinez) and Gregg Greene (@RealGregg) who work in the front office at the same event. We talked baseball and social media of course.

And how can I forget my family. They flew back to their respective homes yesterday, and my coffee supply is down two pounds. Yes, I brewed a lot last week. While it’s hard to fully explain my passion to them, they are exceptionally supportive and encouraging.

These are just a few of the many important conversations coffee helped make possible this year. And in many ways, they were shaped by Ian Stewart (@iandStewart), Allan Cole, and James Koster (@jameskoster) who designed this website.

What’s in the bag for 2010?

January is going to be a busy month with many conversations already on my calendar. But more generally, I’m not exactly sure what’s to come. I can only promise many more conversations that will continue to shape Caffeinated Conversations. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for the coffee and conversation.

The evening before I drove north of the border (4 months after meeting him), I created a complementary website to capture my caffeinated travels using Posterous. And of course, this idea emerged while drinking coffee at a coffee shop. Coincidentally, it was a cup of Stumptown Holler Mountain Blend at Urban Coffee Lounge (@_UCL).

I had a fantastic time in Vancouver, hanging out at 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters (@49thParallel), momento coffee house (@MomentoCoffee), Raw Canvas (@RawCanvas), Moja coffee (@mojacoffee), and Elysian Coffee (@Elysiancoffee) in this order. A few drips and espressos along with an Americano and Machiato kept me caffeinated, and allowed me to easily drive home at night without dozing off.

Thank you Richard for introducing me to your coffee friends including Mark Prince (@CoffeeGeek) of Coffee Geek, Aaron Kafka who is in the process of opening Kafkas Coffee And Tea (@kafkascoffeetea) along with Doug, Andrew, and Tristan of Moja Coffee.

As I’ve told Richard and other people, I love talking with baristas, roasters, coffee shop owners, and everyone else who lives coffee, for they’re passionate about what they do. In fact, I simply enjoy talking with engaging people who are passionate no matter what the subject is.

2010 is just around the corner, and while I’m not exactly sure what’s next for Caffeinated Conversations, I promise that there will be more Caffeinated Travels. Next up is probably Portland. Overnight travels are on my agenda too. Maybe, I’ll be able to trade some coffee and conversation for a couch to sleep on. Let me know if you’re interested.

Happy Holidays!

Now mayor of a local coffee shop, I recently replaced Kevin Urie (@kevinurie) who sent me a tweet within minutes of this change in badge status.

now that hurts! ;?) I was proud of that one, since I only had 3 checkins.

I replied, asking Kevin if he’d like to meet for coffee, which we plan to soon. Things got even more interesting when I checked out Kevin’s profile where I learned that he’s the founder of Social Media Club Seattle (@SMCSeattle). I learned about this group a few months prior, but our exchange of tweets was the tipping point; I signed up to attend their next event and off I went.

I drove to the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond to listen to Veronica Belmont (@VERONICA) talk about engaging and building passionate communities. I parked, stepped out, but passed on checking in; coffee wasn’t on the agenda; conversation only (I ended up drinking two cups though).

Sponsored by Windows Phone (@WindowsPhone), Alaska Air (@AlaskaAir), Hotel1000 (@hotel1000), and possibly a few others, this networking event was second to none. With 250 people in attendance and nearly everyone tweeting with the #SMCSeattle hashtag, I wondered how many people checked-in. I probably should have…

The Q&A was almost over, but I approached Veronica, introduced myself, and asked her about foursquare for business, referring to coffee shops that offer discounts when checking in. There are at least two in Seattle using it, which include Aster Coffee Lounge and Bedlam Coffee (@BedlamCoffee). 83 people have checked into Aster with 22 unique visitors while 662 people have checked into Bedlam with 88 unique visitors. What this means for revenue, I’m not sure yet. But local businesses using foursquare are encouraging users to show their phones. Michael J. Lis says:

…the thing that’s unique about it [foursquare] is that it has the opportunity to monetize restaurants, locations and activities that people would do — a little bit better than Facebook or Twitter does.

Veronica is a fan and regularly uses the foursquare iPhone Application. Her concern, and mine as well, is that anyone can check-in, even if they’re not actually present. Maybe that will change in future updates.

Regardless, strangers can become less strange, and more consequential with a little Twitter and foursquare. If it wasn’t for my new mayor status and the exchange of tweets with Kevin Urie, I wouldn’t have thought to attend the SMC event, and the many important conversations had that night with would not have been.

Have any of your check-ins lead to a conversation?

Mediation is unique because its practitioners are impartial and neutral (in theory), in that they are not advocating on behalf of one party or resolution; facilitating communication is what they do. By asking thoughtful questions and exploring common interests and needs, mediators are able to create a space for new ways of looking at a dispute that was previously perceived as intractable.

Comfortable chairs are placed around the table, and each mediator brings with them whatever they believe will create an environment hospitable to open conversation. And of course, coffee, tea, and water are offered.

Having studied and practiced Conflict Analysis & Resolution and Alternative Dispute Resolution, I was reminded why I’m a coffee shop and “third place” junkie even if the coffee is so-so when I read Joe McCarthy’s (@gumption) blog post about coffee, conversation, and community. He writes that, “people’s openness to serendipitous encounters with potentially consequential strangers in coffeehouses is highly variable.” I can’t agree more.

Of the many things that distinguishes mediation from legal proceedings is that concerned parties have the option to leave the table at any time; it’s voluntary. Unless mediation is mandated by a court, the decision to sit down at a table with a disputant generally suggests a degree of uncertainty, an openness towards change, to hear the other parties’ point of view—an openness towards difference. Chris Falzon writes:

Let me say a few more things about this attitude of openness to the other. As has been noted, it implies an attitude of respect towards otherness, a willingness to let the other speak and to listen seriously. By the same token, it also means an abandonment of the security, the comfort, that comes with an all embracing view of the world where the other is completely mastered and predictable. It means promoting risk, instability, uncertainty, and the possible transformation of prevailing principles and forms of life.

Coffee shops are kind of like mediation centers; they both offer coffee and provide a relatively open space for people to talk with each other. Like mediation, you can also leave the table and walk away. The difference is that the conversations in coffee shops are not mediated unless you’re attending something like a Conversation Café where a host moderates conversation. And discussing divisive issues doesn’t necessarily happen at coffee shops where you can avoid talking with people (friends or strangers) about points of view that strongly differ from you own. In his Is Starbucks Killing Community blog post, David Warlick writes:

… I find it too easy and appealing to connect exclusively to people who agree with my world view. Engaging in conversations within like-minded communities might even lead me to feel so passionately about my positions that I could become less sensitive to the positions of others on the occasions that I find myself in contact with them, behaving with less civility than I should.

The problem is not the Internet, WiFi, or even Starbucks. The problem is us. We simply need to learn and embrace the fact that NOTHING IS SIMPLE.

The more people listen to and talk with others whose opinions differ from their own, the more complex issues can become; more nuances are brought to the surface and the grayness of an issue comes to light. Complexifying (you won’t find this word in the dictionary) issues can bring people towards the middle (not necessarily to it), away from the extremes.

Some people go out of their way to talk with people who share different points of view, for they desire to learn about what is unfamiliar to them; they’re open to and seek opportunities for strangers to become consequential. Consequential in the sense that they can become friends or simply affect one’s opinion. But this doesn’t happen all the time. It takes a conscious effort and/or a catalyst. Kevin Marks writes:

The key .. is finding people who play the role of conversational catalyst within a group, to welcome newcomers, rein in old hands and set the tone of the conversation so that it can become a community … The communities that fail, whether dying out from apathy or being overwhelmed by noise, are the ones that don’t have someone there cherishing the conversation, setting the tone, creating a space to speak, and rapidly segregating those intent on damage.

Are you a conversational catalyst? Do you find yourself attracted to coffee shops because you’re open to conversation? Do you find some coffee shops more conducive to conversation than others? Please share.

Four police officers were fatally shot Sunday morning in what police described as an ambush in a Forza (@forza_brad) coffee shop in Parkland, WA. The Pierce County deputies were sitting in the coffee shop before starting their shifts, talking and using their computers, when the shooting occurred. Visit The Seattle Times to read up on what some people are calling one of the worst-ever shootings in Washington.

It’s a sad day when four people are murdered in their local coffee shop. To honor these fallen officers, let’s do what coffee people do. Sit down, have a cup of coffee, and talk. I just got off the phone with my dad. He worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for many years. We talked about the recent acts of violence against people in positions of authority and the nine children who just lost their parents.

Forza Coffee Company has established an online donation on their website for those wishing to assist the families of the slain police officers. A Facebook group page has also been created to honor the officers.

The first wave is all about consumption.

The second wave is about enjoyment and defining specialty.

…and the third allows the coffee to speak for itself. The third wave appreciates each coffee for what it truly is and takes whatever necessary steps to highlight the amazing, unique character in every coffee. – Nick Cho

First Wave. Second Wave. Third Wave Conversation.

I’ve yet to come across conversation defined in terms of waves, but if I were to do so, which is what I’m doing here, I’d suggest that First Wave Conversation is about face to face, Second Wave Conversation analog (phone, fax, to dial-up Internet), and Third Wave Conversation moves to mobile and high-speed Internet, and the many communication tools (email, text, social networking etc.) it has made possible.

In search of a few articles to more fully understand Third Wave Coffee, I sent a tweet from my laptop while at a coffee shop during a face to face conversation, and received the following reply from @smoovebcoffee:

“Third wave” is going the way of “gourmet.” Everybody has an idea of what you mean, but roll their eyes when you say it.

This exchange, which resulted in a genuine point of view about Third Wave Coffee, is what makes Third Wave Conversation fundamentally different than those past. Like that of Third Wave Coffee, there are no boundaries. Trish R. Skeie, who is well known for differentiating Third Wave Coffee from waves past, writes:

In recent years, specialty coffee has developed into one gigantic thinktank, it seems. Pretty much anyone who has an opinion or an idea is welcomed at the table. Groups, forums and programs have emerged that support this new climate. Perhaps these systems of communication and information have developed as a by-product of the quest for coffee nirvana. Either way, the third wave is all-inclusive and growing.

This description embodies much of what Third Wave Conversation is all about; a place where face to face conversation meets status updates on Facebook and tweets on Twitter. And maybe interrupted by a phone call. In a similar way, these systems of communication strive for information nirvana, and they regularly meet in the coffee shop.

According to Ivor Tosell, online lives are rewiring coffee shop culture. I couldn’t agree more. He writes:

This is why coffee shops are such curious places. Spending time in one means spending time in public around strangers, being privy to their conversations and flirting with the possibility of talking to them.

The ritual of preening, ignoring, overhearing, rubbing elbows with, and occasionally chatting with, people we barely know is as tantalizing as it is intimidating, especially for people who spent their childhoods being told to out-and-out fear strangers. And the more time I spend in coffee shops, the more familiar it all seems.

This is old hat: It’s exactly what we’ve been learning to do online.

What we do online is what people have been doing in coffee shops for centuries. And now they’re very much intertwined. However, some people are legitimately concerned that coffee shops are becoming less First Wave Conversation friendly. And there is some truth to this. Michael Idov writes:

And yet it seems that we’re losing the coffeehouse—less to the usual suspects like the Internet and Dunkin’ Donuts than to our own politeness. We’ve brought the noise level down to a whisper and are in the process of losing even the whisper: Enter the modern café and the loudest sound you’ll hear will be someone typing, in ALL CAPS, an angry blog comment.

While nothing can replace face to face conversation, I would also suggest the same can be said of online conversation. And a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that technology doesn’t make people antisocial after all.

So go ahead, update your Facebook status, send your tweets, and strike up a conversation. Send a text message and quietly take a phone call. All of these exchanges (and more) are happening at Third Wave Coffee shops where the coffee speaks for itself.

What conversations will coffee be brewing for you today?

Need to create some twitter lists… if you are a customer of ours, reply to this via mention or direct message.

Since November 2nd, 37 people have joined this public list. I haven’t been to this coffee shop, but I would add myself to it if I was a regular. And while I’m not sure how 21 Street Coffee will be using this list, it’s obvious that they can more easily connect with their online customers with it.

Some coffee businesses are making themselves more accessible by having each staff member tweet about their work along with maintaining a general business account. Dillanos Coffee Roasters has more than 30 staff on Twitter; I’m following all of them. I asked David J. Morris, the CEO (@coffeemaverick) about this, and he responded with a tweet, telling me that he has studied Zappos a lot, “we did a tour of their Las Vegas facility and it was totally cool, their people tweet a lot too.” David also created a staff list on Twitter where 39 are listed.

Twitter lists are getting popular. A new website called Listorious (@listorious) allows you to discover and add lists; a few coffee ones have already been submitted. I added my list of caffeinated conversation friendly places last night. If you’re not already on it, send me (@coffeeshopchat) a tweet.

Every coffee business has their own approach to using Twitter. Melissa Allison (@CoffeeCity) who writes the Coffee City column for the Seattle Times recently wrote about Starbucks’ use of Twitter. The following are a few insights she gathered from Brad Nelson (@bradnelson) who tweets for Starbucks (@starbucks):

“If it’s not discussed on Twitter, it probably doesn’t matter.”

In the corporate world, people will try to write your tweets for you. Don’t let them.

Use your real name, not the company’s.

Be real/human and conversational, not preachy

Twitter is about customer service (and is replacing service phone calls), marketing and public relations.

The future could include sites like foursquare (@foursquare), Gowalla (@gowalla), and Brightkite (@brightkite).

How do you think coffee businesses can leverage Twitter? Join the conversation and share some of your tips and tricks.

As for electronic vs. paper-based activities, I disagree that “browsing the web is little different than reading a newspaper or book for hours on end”. Others can view the newspaper title, book cover, or magazine cover when someone is reading a more traditional source of information, making the person more approachable than if he/she is reading the same information on a laptop, in which case others cannot discern the activity one is engaged in (or the information one is consuming (or producing … vs., say, writing in a notebook)

With WiFi plugged in, coffee shop staff can more easily chat with their customers online via Twitter, Facebook, and/or other social media tools, as customers can chat with fellow customers and friends afar, but their use can likewise hinder face to face conversation. When I hang out at a coffee shop with my laptop, I am conscientious that it’s use will discourage people from approaching me. I rarely have headphones plugged in, and I always raise my head from the screen when new customers enter, seats change, or whatever else. In fact, I purposely bought a 13 inch rather than 15 inch laptop to minimize how closed off I appear. Still, when I’m plugged in, I remain more closed off than others.

One of the many critiques of WiFi voiced by some coffee shop owners and customers is that more people are isolating themselves (purposefully or not) by punching their keyboard behind a laptop all day long rather than being social, talking with friends or strangers. It’s true. Striking up a conversation with someone who has a book or newspaper in their hand is easier; all you gotta do is ask what they’re reading. In Are laptops ruining the coffee shop?, Michael Jones writes:

Quietly and insidiously, ten or so years ago, technology began to invade the coffee shop. People began to bring their laptops with them rather than read the newspapers and magazines on the coffee shop tabletops. It has always been easy to interrupt that periodical reading with conversation when someone you knew came in, or a conversation at the next table became interesting.

That seems not to work with laptops. People come in, buy a coffee, open the laptop and don’t move or say a word for hours. Sometimes now, coffee shops seems to be veritable silent seas of laptops and their owners, stuck in a silent intellectual dance with each other, forgetting even that anyone else is in the place. Head down, earbuds in place, coffee gone cold, eyes getting bleary, the very picture of isolation. The only words anyone says are things like “skinny half-caff hazelnut latte,” words that would have been unrecognizable in most coffee shops a couple of decades ago.

Most people agree that nothing can replace face to face conversation and most agree that WiFi and the many social media tools made possible by the Internet are here to stay. And they probably converge more often than I realize. In Are laptops ruining the coffee shop?, one person responded with a rather thought provoking comment:

Funny, the coffee shop I frequent often has three people at a table, sharing a laptop & conversation. It’s a tool like any other, you can use it for socialization or isolation.

A lot of the Bigbucks shops charge for use of their wifi, which may increase the sense of isolation—you’re on the clock, so you’re going to take care of your laptop needs before moving on to anything else.

Coffeehouses emerged in the mid 1600’s as easily accessible places for conversation in part because of their egalitarian disposition and the way in which chairs and tables were arranged. What has yet to be determined though is slowly revealing itself, is how old media (face to face) and new media (online) will shape the culture of coffee shops in years to come.

You, me, and anyone else who spends any amount of time in coffee shops can choose to participate and continue this conversation, asking, critiquing, and discussing. In doing so, social norms will emerge that maintain the coffee shop traditions of old while creating a space for the technologies of new.

How do you see them fitting in? As French historian Anthony Rowley said in the movie Black Coffee, “It’s conversation that has made coffee a success.” And this isn’t about to change.

The first thing that came to mind when I learned about this conversation, which may or may not have included a cup of coffee, was the coffeehouse, the first social institution where rank and birth had no place; no seat could be reserved, as no man refused company. While segregation prevailed during the time when the coffeehouse came to prominence in London, the principle of equality this policy introduced had remarkable ramifications in the decades to come.

From the arrangement of its chairs, the coffee house allowed men who did not know each other to sit together amicably. While systems of respect were not abandoned totally, one of the attractions of the coffee house was meeting with people whose knowledge and interests might be of value. And though coffeehouse conversation was not always civil—imperfect communication is better than no communication at all—coffeehouses were great social levelers, open to all men and indifferent to social status.

During the Civil Rights Movement, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in Chicago in 1942 to promote better race relations and end racial discrimination in the United States. One of their first nonviolent actions was a protest against racial segregation at a Chicago coffee shop in 1943, one of the earliest known sit-ins of that era.

As the struggle for equality and more equal rights continues, the coffee shop continues to be a place where people can openly talk about the politics of the day. The unanticipated consequence of not allowing a seat to be reserved has turned out to be a positive and historically significant one.

So, next time you’re at a coffee shop, pull up a chair next to a stranger, strike up a conversation, and continue a coffeehouse tradition that emerged more than 300 years ago. As long as people who share similar and different points of view have public and accessible places to talk about what matters most to them, fewer seats will be taken. In some parts of the world, they remain reserved…

When coffeehouses emerged in London during the mid 1600’s, they became synonymous with trade and news—quick and reliable access to it—establishing themselves as the home of merchants, people of science (natural and political), and philosophers. They ultimately provided a location for the overlapping interests of commerce and politics, simulating debates and conversation.

While nothing can replace the newspaper, magazine, and pamphlet, the Internet is allowing more people to access different types of information, and doing so in warp speed. Many coffee establishments, specifically caffeinated conversation friendly places, have continued the coffeehouse tradition by providing their customers with Internet access via WiFi (free or managed). With WiFi enabled, coffee shop customers can read news online, get work done, and enjoy online caffeinated conversations with people near and far, including those who are also enjoying a cup of coffee in a coffee shop.

WiFi is a perk, a way to keep customers coming back. Much has been written about the overuse of WiFi of recent, and it’s affect on coffee shops. In particular, free WiFi (and sometimes fee based) has been argued to decrease turnover, as customers browse the web and only make enough purchases to stay mildly caffeinated. These are valid and legitimate points of view. While I genuinely respect coffee shops that choose to pull the plug on WiFi or not offer it in the first place, let me suggest that browsing the web is little different than reading a newspaper or book for hours on end, debating the politics of the day, while slowly savoring a cup of coffee. As for turnover, there are numerous ways to hold “squatters” more accountable.

What differentiates the Internet and the powerful social media tools it makes possible from traditional media, is that coffee shops can now join the conversation online. The following are a few examples of how coffee shops are and can further leverage social media, specifically Twitter. Offering WiFi (free or fee based) makes them even more viable:

• Coffee shops can take orders online via Twitter from customers, and Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) in Austin, Texas is known as being the first.
• Numerous coffee shops are doing Tweetups, sending out invitations to its coffee loving customers. Kaladi Brothers (@KaladiBrothers hosted one earlier this month.
• Offer discounts to customers who follow you on Twitter. Fuel Coffee (@fuelhigh5) is one of many coffee shops who do.
• Simply get to know your customers. Ask for input, let them know about new offerings, and simply join the online conversation.
• Hold WiFi using customers more accountable. Send a tweet.

The next issue of SCAA’s The Chronicle will be focusing on coffee and social media. If it’s made available online, I’ll probably read and tweet about it at a WiFi enabled coffee shop. Let me know if you’d like to chat about it.

Pure Kona coffee is recognized around the world for its unique flavor and aroma, prized for it’s high quality. With high demand and a limited supply, it is one of the most expensive coffees to buy. In contrast, coffee labeled “Kona Blend” typically contains 10% Kona beans, mixed with other less-expensive coffees from other islands or parts of the world. Kona blends can be tasty, but most coffee aficionados agree that if it’s not 100%, it’s not Kona coffee. At Lyman Kona Coffee Farms in Kailua-Kona, only the real stuff is offered, and it’s excellent!

In the Kona region, there are about 750 coffee farms; most are small family farms, usually just two to three acres in size. Nearly 90% of all Kona Coffee is sold as Cherry by these small farms, directly to large processing companies—right after picking. While most of the 100% Kona Coffee comes from these large processors and represents good Kona Coffee, it can never be called “Estate” coffee because it comes from many different farm origins, from high to low elevation, and from growers who apply vastly differing levels of care and quality control to their product. Less than 10% of all Kona Coffee farms are Coffee Estates.

Lyman Kona Coffee Farms produces Estate coffee. With 3,200 Coffee Arabica (Kona Typica variety) trees at 2000 feet in North Kona, which has over the last 120+ years become the hallmark of Kona’s best, Hans and his helpers, including volunteers from WWOF (Willing to Work On Organic Farms) harvest red cherries almost year round. Growing his own coffee seedlings, pruning, using organic weed control, and applying only organic fertilizers, Hans puts quality first. And that is an understatement. Wet milled on location where the cherries are pulped, they dry in the Hawaiian sun on a drying deck, and are sent to a climate controlled facility after being sorted into Select, Peaberry, and Private Reserve.

Waking up every morning to a cup of French pressed coffee, Hans and I talked coffee for hours on end. And like many other coffee establishments, he has started to join the conversation online, having set up a Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook account.

If you plan to visit the Big Island of Hawai’i, consider staying at the Mango Sunset Bed & Breakfast Inn where you’ll get to know the Eckert family and their Lyman Kona Coffee Farms. Enjoy the 100% Kona coffee and make sure to strike up caffeinated conversations with Hans and his family about the coffee trees on the hillside right below the lanai.

I can’t quite explain it, but there is something refreshing about receiving and responding to messages sent my way on Twitter. The feeling is similar to the rush I get when striking up and having a stimulating conversation at the coffee shop. I simply live for all things coffee and conversation. In fact, I’m writing this post as I fly to Hawaii (for work and pleasure) where I’ll be sampling my friend Velton’s Bonsai Blend at Downtown Coffee in Honolulu, and later staying at a Coffee Farm Bed and Breakfast in Kona.

The coffee shop known as Twitter is finding itself in the real ones, and the real ones are joining the conversation on Twitter. With the desire to follow all that help make caffeinated conversations possible, I have created a Twitter list of caffeinated conversation places.

Please post your favorite coffee shops to follow in the comments section and I’ll add them to my list, and if you work for a coffee shop, please do share how you’re using Twitter to connect with your coffee loving customers. Mahalo.

Thank you to the more than 75 members that have submitted more than 175 photos thus far. Check out the Flickr Photo Map to see where some of these photos were captured. Recently submitted photos are displayed on this website and the Caffeinated Conversations Facebook Fan Page. Submission updates will be posted to Twitter via @coffeeshopchat.

And please help get the word out about the Caffeinated Conversations Flickr group. James Koster created a graphic, which you’re welcome to embed and display on your website or anywhere else you see fit.

Thank you again! My goal, if you haven’t noticed already, is to show that caffeinated conversations about anything and everything are happening everyday, and coffee is helping to stimulate them.

Perusing the aisles with Velton of Velton’s Coffee Roasting Company (@veltonscoffee), I was introduced to fellow coffee aficionados who have been in the industry for many years. Drinking coffee from Barefoot Coffee Roasters (@Barefoot_Coffee) and Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea (@Intelligentsia) via Hario (@HARIOUSA)manual drip pour over brewers, striking up caffeinated conversations wasn’t difficult at all.

While much of the show was about coffee, I was very pleased to talk with a WEBbeams representative about coffee shops and the WiFi Dilemma. As you know, many coffee shops are going to companies like WEBbeams to manage their high-speed wireless Internet connections.

From WEBbeams point of view, coffee shops should continue to offer WiFi to their customers, but it should be managed to guarantee reliable access and a secure connection. Likewise, it can be profitable. Beyond an access fee, the WiFi password protected login page can provide coffee shops a place to advertise, direct visitors to social media links, and gather email addresses. WEBbeams suggested that people who regularly go to coffee shops expect WiFi (free or managed), and pulling the plug can eliminate a specific customer base.

In a recent National Public Radio article, Some Coffee Shops Crack Down On Free Wi-Fi, Cyrus Farivar touches on how some coffee shops are opting to password protect their WiFi:

On any given day, there are at least half a dozen people there [Hudson Bay Cafe], tapping away on their laptops. For a while anybody could get the code for the Wi-Fi network. It was valid for days at a time. But now that’s changed.

Unrestricted (free) WiFi is great, but are you willing to pay? And if so, how much?

As I write this from a local coffee shop, a group of WiFi users are being asked to move to another table. According to the Barista, a reservation was made for this one. Maybe, coffee shops should offer reservations?

Conversation is generally thought to be the spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings, but when the keyboard becomes the enabler, the silent facilitator of sorts, is conversation without a spoken word still a conversation, and does it really matter?

The answer to this question depends on how you define conversation. If your definition is rigid, then no. If your definition is loose, then yes. How I understand conversation has evolved to the point where I don’t necessarily believe that it requires a spoken exchange of words. This is not to say that online conversation can or should replace face to face, but that words not spoken, transfered through an online medium, which are then reciprocated with a response is dialogue. And dialogue is conversation. According to Chris Falzon:

Dialogue is no longer restricted to symbolic face-to-face oral or gestural communication. It becomes any kind of reciprocal interaction between ourselves and the world.

When I go to coffee shops and see laptops plugged in with browsers open to Facebook, Twitter, or other social media tools—with a cup of coffee in hand—I know that people are striking up and continuing online caffeinated conversations.

Because no words are being spoken, I interrupt from time to time to strike up a face to face because nothing can substitute. But nevertheless, the world is moving forward, and conversations once never thought possible are happening, and the Internet is leading the way.

Stewart Lee Allen writes:

The Net is the latest manifestation, or equivalent, of the coffeehouse as a social institution, a place where anybody can gather, regardless of social standing, and exchange intelligible opinions.

Do online exchanges meet your “conversation” standard?

The Coffee Club of Seattle is one of 58,936 Meetup groups around the country, which helps people organize online and meet face to face. With about 5.7 million members, more than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day.

While coffee enthusiasts obviously have strong coffee shop preferences, vary in their coffee drink of choice, how they like their coffee roasted, and from which country and region it originates, all find themselves taking part in caffeinated conversations.

The Coffee Club of Seattle is known by many in the city, as it has been cited by Melissa Allison (@CoffeeCity) in her Seattle Times Coffee City column:

• Coffee Club of Seattle meets in the coffee club that is Seattle
• Coffee Club of Seattle organizer creates ’smiley face method’ for judging coffee

If you live in the Seattle area, love coffee, and enjoy conversation, check out the Coffee Club of Seattle. If you live elsewhere, search for coffee clubs in your area; there are more than 175 world wide.

Al Rutherford and Verna Williams decided to marry at Tim Hortons King Edward Street location in Winnipeg with a cake made up of Blueberry Bloom doughnuts. The couple met at the Maryland Street location 10 months prior when Rutherford initiated a conversation, intercepting another man who was about to strike up his own.

There was a guy who wanted to talk to me … and Al jumped in, said Williams, 53.

He came right to me. I didn’t really want to talk to the other guy, but I liked Al. He’s a sweet man.

Looking for a quieter place to talk, they soon started frequenting the King Street location, becoming engaged last Valentine’s Day in the same corner of the shop that they continue to sit in almost every night.

We just like to sit and drink coffee and talk about life.

Coffee has been known to stimulate conversation, but have any of yours led to a special relationship? If so, share your story.

While some coffee shops are pulling the plugin on WiFi, others are making an effort to leverage it, connecting with customers and building community. And CoCollage offers a unique social media tool that can help make this possible. CoCollage is “… a community collage: an art gallery, message board, slide show… It’s whatever you—and the people around you—want to share. It’s not a TV—it’s a window into your community.” While not all users of CoCollage take their online conversations offline, many do.

CoCollage is currently set up in 24 caffeinated conversation friendly places in Seattle, providing their partners with a CoCollage display, customized website, installation, brochures, and tech support free of charge. All that is required is an Internet connect, promotion of its use, and ongoing feedback.

With a large digital display on the wall where all information posted is shown, Baristas and customers can sign up, login, and easily share images from Flickr and Facebook, submit comments, vote, send messages, and quickly learn about the people sitting around them. Everything you post finds itself rotating on the display. It’s kind of a cross between FriendFeed, which is a real-time feed aggregator that consolidates the updates from social media and social networking websites and Twitter, which enables users to send and read messages known as tweets. What makes CoCollage unique is that it’s place specific and shared content is visible to all customers. And of course, each place that hosts CoCollage has their own domain—their own community.

There are many ways to leverage WiFi in caffeinated conversation friendly places, and this is one of them.

Striking up a conversation with Richard took no effort, as we talked for more than an hour about local cafés, coffee, conversation, and how we leverage social media to connect with friends in the world of coffee.

Our casual conversation reaffirmed that millions of people depend on coffee for their livelihood. From coffee farmers, importers, exporters, and roasters to café, coffeehouse, and coffee shop owners and Baristas. The list goes on and on.

Though coming from different places and doing different things, coffee stimulated our conversation and ultimately makes our unique pursuits possible. Richard is passionate about cafés. I’m passionate about the art of caffeinated conversations—where coffee meets conversation.

What’s a café without conversation?