Jumping in... We do a weekly lunch as well and it's been indispensable in helping connect my members. Sometimes it's pot luck, sometimes I facilitate take out (members pay for their own), sometimes we get so granular as to ask everyone to bring in a veggie so that we can make a killer salad. Lots of times people are on their own to bring stuff in.
This is paired with a lunchtime discussion led by a member. Mostly leaning towards the professional development side although we've also had talks on organic gardening, breakdancing, cooking how-to's, etc. These lunches have been invaluable in not only helping people make some connections that they wouldn't make on their own, but also allows whoever is giving the talk to establish themselves as the go-to on their topic. Bringing food in or making it more fun and social draws more coworkers in. Plus you gotta eat, anyhow. :) re: office supplies - I've found that members have a surplus, especially those downsizing from a larger office, and are happy to declutter their own space. I tend to buy the minimum - I haven't found that the expectation is that we're stocking these. re: snacks, we have a designated area for free-range snacks. I'll bring in fruit sometimes, but most of the time members bring in food. obviously we provide the caffeinated hot beverages and assorted white stuff to put in them. hth.. Gretchen NextSpace Coworking + Innovation // San Jose @nextspacesj On Friday, August 3, 2012 12:09:49 PM UTC-7, Tom Brandt - Workantile wrote: > > Shel, > > The community lunch thing has been a part of Workantile since the > beginning. I think Mike Kessler, Workantile's founder, thought it would be > a good way for people to get to know each other - and he was right! > > Now, the lunches are organized by our Cruise Directors, a job which > rotates among the membership. The Cruise Directors decide what the > community lunch will be each week and put the word out on the internal > mailing list. > > We use the honor system for snacks and coffee. We have a can on the snack > table people toss money into. It works well. People also bring stuff in - > pretzels, homemade cupcakes, whatever. The donated stuff is free for the > taking. > > On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Shel Kimen <ski...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I love the community lunch thing. Nothing better than sharing a meal and >> spreading what each knows about different foods. Tom, how did your lunch >> thing evolve? Who initiated it? >> >> I was thinking of honor system for snacks -- also for the hotel guests. >> And maybe having incentives for free snacks -- motivate the guests to >> participate more in the ongoing culture. >> >> I'm so excited for when we finally get going -- so much goodness to build >> together! >> >> Thanks everyone for the support and info! and Hi Anca! I love when worlds >> spiral and recollide! >> >> >> On Aug 3, 2012, at 9:12 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: >> >> We have a weekly community lunch at Workantile, and it has been a great >> asset to us. Sometimes we have a salad potluck where people bring in salad >> fixings and everyone assembles their own salad, sometimes we bring in >> pizza, one time our former community manager taught us how to make >> sushi<http://workantile.com/photos/sushi-potluck/>, >> sometimes someone make tacos or something, etc. It's a great way to >> integrate new members into the community because there is nothing like >> sharing a meal to get to know someone. >> >> On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 7:23 AM, Mojo <cr...@mojocoworking.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi Shel, >>> >>> I grew up in Detroit area and was just back there this summer looking >>> for a coworking space to explore. Congrats on getting started. I now run >>> Mojo Coworking in Asheville, NC and have been open for 1.5 years. Similar >>> to Workantile, we are at about $30 - $50 in supplies each month in a >>> smaller space (1625 soft). I also run a marketing agency out of Mojo and >>> so I keep minimal office supplies on hand for that operation. I'll get >>> infrequent requests from other members for batteries, manila folders, >>> envelopes, etc. but everyone pretty much takes care of their own office >>> supplies. (Note: Although as we expand later this month to a larger 4500 >>> sqft space, I'm considering approaching Staples/Office Max to offer them >>> some type of presence in exchange for either a membership fee or member >>> discounts. We're downtown Asheville and the closest office supply is out of >>> town.) >>> >>> We offer free coffee,cream, sugar, etc. ... but no snacks. Again, in >>> the new space - we are looking into the idea of a community lunch one day >>> per week for something like $5 per person. On and off in the past we have >>> offered Cliff MOJO Bars for $1 each on the honor system. >>> >>> Best of luck. >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:29:27 PM UTC-4, shel kimen wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi All -- >>>> >>>> I'm new to this list and community and feel really warm about both. I'm >>>> starting a space in Detroit (anyone else here in Detroit?). It's actually >>>> a >>>> combination/mixed use building that will also contain a co-working space >>>> (with small arty hotel, art space, event space, mentoring program). We are >>>> going through a rebranding now but the current website is >>>> DetroitHotelProject.com **and >>>> facebook.com/**Detroithotelproject<http://www.facebook.com/Detroithotelproject> >>>> >>>> New name and identity in september!! >>>> >>>> I just had a tactical question about operational costs -- most I >>>> understand (utilities, tax, insurance, part time staff, etc) and I have >>>> that folded into the overall numbers of the project. But I wonder here >>>> what >>>> people might spend on a space for 15-20 people on things like >>>> >>>> Office Supplies (do people have experience getting local support from >>>> office supply stores?) >>>> Software subscriptions >>>> Coffee, tea, simple snacks >>>> Cleaning supplies >>>> >>>> I saw Alex's really helpful breakdown on Quora but it didn't separate >>>> out these important misc items from an overall operational budget of $3600 >>>> for 1800 square foot indy hall. >>>> >>>> Also, I'd like to add -- as a newcomer to this list and a longtime >>>> community builder/participant, I have not seen this kind of collective >>>> energy since the early internet culture of the mid 90's. I have so much >>>> respect for what you are all building together and I hope to become a >>>> valuable member as I also learn and grow in this project. >>>> >>>> Thank you and many sparkles! >>>> ./s >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/KSeviRI1cwUJ. >>> >>> 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. >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> twb >> member, Workantile <http://workantile.com/> >> @twbrandt >> >> >> -- >> 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. >> > > > > -- > twb > member, Workantile <http://workantile.com/> > @twbrandt > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/FRo6UMuVOr0J. 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.
