Thank you Alex! It was a conversation with you at SXSW that was the tipping point for me deciding to grow into a larger space.
Jon. On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 5:27 PM, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote: > Awesome summary, Jonathan. Congrats on a successful year, thanks for > sharing! > -Alex > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > > On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 12:23 PM, Jonathan Markwell > <jonathan.markw...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi All, >> >> I've not been very active on here but wanted to share some of what >> we've been up to over the last year at The Skiff in Brighton, UK. I'm >> certain we wouldn't be where we are now without the inspiration we've >> gained from what others have shared on this list and at the coworking >> meetup at SXSW last year. >> >> This time last year I was actually considering closing the space at >> the end of our lease. Now, I don't think the community would let me do >> that if I tried, I've finally transfered most of my day-to-day >> responsibilities on to others and I'm putting it to the ultimate test >> by going travelling for four weeks in just over a week's time. >> >> The Skiff in 2010: >> >> In March we enjoyed our first month of breaking even, operating for >> the first time without additional financial support from our founders, >> Inuda Community (http://inuda.org). This was about 16 months after the >> start of our lease. >> >> In May we spotted a new building, perfect for us to move to and >> continue the growth of our booming community. >> >> In June, WiredSussex (http://wiredsussex.com), a local non-profit >> supporting the digital sector, agreed to take on a 50% share of The >> Skiff, working with Inuda Community to support the move. >> >> In July we moved to our lovely new space, throwing a comoving party >> that got everything moved 195 meters down the road in just a few short >> hours. >> >> At the start of October we hosted BarCamp Brighton 5, welcoming 90 >> people from around Europe to the space for a weekend-long >> unconference. >> >> At the end of October our most established community group >> BuildBrighton, which uses part of our space as a Hacker Space, hosted >> a White Night activity (http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/), >> introducing over 50 people to electronics hacking. >> >> In November we found that we had more than doubled our membership >> since the move. >> >> In December we celebrated our second birthday with a fantastic >> Skiffmas Party that brought together over 100 of the people that have >> been involved in our community. >> >> >> We've just passed 50 individual members and we also have a couple of >> local organisations holding membership that give them regular access >> to our meeting rooms. Our members list, which includes alumni, shows >> that around 120 people have been a member at some point in the last 2 >> years. We're expecting to hit our first break even point since the >> move in the next couple of months. >> >> Our membership is about 50% made up of software developers with the >> rest consisting of writers, journalists, designers, marketers and >> entrepreneurs working in all sorts of disciplines, from healthcare and >> human rights to music and manufacturing. >> >> Many of our members have been brought into contact with the space >> through the free community events and meetups that we have provided >> space for in the evenings. Some of them were already established but >> struggling to find the right space; others were founded here by our >> members and other people in the community. They've included a wide >> range of tech user groups covering JavaScript, Python, .net, Flash, >> iPhone, robot building, user experience as well as Hackdays, BarCamps, >> improv and writers groups. Last year we supported around 75 such >> events. If the current momentum continues it's likely to be around 125 >> in 2011. >> >> On the financial side of things we've found that a 2.5x multiplier >> between cost of rent and actual overal running cost has been spot on >> for estimating the monthly break even point at both spaces. >> >> I hope this is useful. Please do come and vist if you are in the UK >> and thinking of starting a space near you. We're keen to do what we >> can to support the growth of the coworking movement in the UK and >> Europe. >> >> Best, >> >> Jon >> >> -- >> Jonathan Markwell >> >> Director of Products, Inuda Technology >> Ruby/Rails web applications and JavaScript mobile applications for >> Twitter, Facebook, iPhone, Android and the web at large. >> http://inuda.com - Inuda Technology Ltd. >> >> Founder, Inuda Community >> Starting, organising and supporting activities at the intersection of >> technology and entrepreneurship in Brighton, London, New York and San >> Francisco. >> http://inuda.org - Inuda Innovations Ltd. >> >> mob: 07766 021 485 | tel: 01273 704 549 >> skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot >> >> Try our bright, friendly coworking and meeting space in the heart of >> Brighton: http://theSkiff.org >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > -- Jonathan Markwell Director of Products, Inuda Technology Ruby/Rails web applications and JavaScript mobile applications for Twitter, Facebook, iPhone, Android and the web at large. http://inuda.com - Inuda Technology Ltd. Founder, Inuda Community Starting, organising and supporting activities at the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship in Brighton, London, New York and San Francisco. http://inuda.org - Inuda Innovations Ltd. mob: 07766 021 485 | tel: 01273 704 549 skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot Try our bright, friendly coworking and meeting space in the heart of Brighton: http://theSkiff.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
