About the Coffee and Wi-Fi Locator Project

Why would anyone make this Web site?

There are probably thousands of interesting coffee and restaurant Web sites already, plus many Wi-Fi locator services. But none of these have all the information we want, especially when traveling to a new city. Search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) and other sites like MapQuest are helpful, but they don't validate any information and continue listing places for years after they go out of business. We decided that we can offer a useful service to travelers and locals alike.

What's different about this site?

We hope to enlist coffee junkies and other people that regularly work out of a coffee shop to submit the information about their favorite locations. People that frequent a great coffee shop know the hours, the manager's name, the busy times, which pastries are the best, and a lot more. If we're right, they would love to support their shop and share this information with the rest of us.

Besides the basic information we will use Twitter and other social networking tools to provide real-time updates. For example, if you hear about live music at your coffee shop tonight you can post a message, from our site or by using Twitter on your phone, to let other people know about it. Or, if the Wi-Fi isn't working today you can post a quick message and let others know before they drive over. Store managers can post a special of the day just for regular users of our site.

Imagine getting to your hotel and easily finding a place to work for a few hours that you know is open, has working Wi-Fi, good coffee and sandwiches. That is what we hope to accomplish, with your help.

Can a coffee shop advertise on this site?

Yes, the site is very beta right now so we're just trying to get the directory filled in a little, but we are working on several advertising opportunities. First, individual coffee shop owners/managers will be able to upload photos and additional information for their page. If you don't have a Web site today, or want a blog of your own, we can help with that too. Second, we are looking for national and state-level sponsors. If you are interested in advertising or being a sponsor please fill out our contact form.

Are only serious coffee shops allowed?

Not at all. Our focus is coffee because that's the first place people think of when they need to get out of the house/office to work for a while. But there are lots of places you could go for a real breakfast, dinner, or a beer and music, and feel comfortable setting up your computer. There are other places, a nice city park with municipal Wi-Fi for example, that could be added to our directory. If the place you want to add doesn't fit one of our categories please let us know and we'll fix that.