[Coworking] Re: Getting the word out
I know that everyone has already provided enough information about effective promotion methods but I'd like to revisit the discussion of advertising as a promotion method: Advertising is required to maintain brand identity when PR is no longer effective to promote it. Coworking is a galvanizing idea, one that a community can easily get behind and whip into a frothy sea of excitement. Early in the inception of a space, PR should be easy to come by and can be the best thing that you need to promote the space in traditional media and other's online sources. In order to obtain that PR you could either hire a firm, or have existing community relationships that will provide that publicity alongside your own methods. Building these community relationships through holding events at your space where you get to talk to people face to face could ultimately be a better usage of your money than paying for advertising where you do not have the chance to talk about the idea of coworking with people. Susan mentions that building and maintaining strong community connections is an effective method to promote your space. This has been the single most effective way that we've promoted Caroline and I know that it was very successful for others on this group, notably Alex and crew who attended events regularly to promote Indy Hall. I would go so far as to say that these community relationships are the first and the last thing to keep in mind when opening a space or thinking about opening a space. Opening a coworking space can be an overwhelming task, both emotionally and possibly financially. Having the support of your community will ease that burden in many ways be it financially (donations, donated equipment) or with volunteer hands (painting days, rehab projects). Without the support or ear or voice of your community, your space will be built in a vacuum, which if you know anything about physics, is not an ideal situation for humans to live in. This coworking group exists as a resource to share collective intelligence and check each other's steps along the way to ensure that correct actions are taken to make each space both unique and sustainable. Because of the immense investment of time (or money) to start a space, we are all here to make sure that you won't misstep. More importantly though, your community relationships are important as a gauge for the upfront interest in a space and a measure of the future usage and possibly an indication of future success. Matthew On Jun 20, 12:37 pm, BrianR [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've read some discussion here and there on the list about promotion. But would like to kick off a thread that puts the communities thoughts in one place. How do you promote your coworking space? How do you get the word out that you exist? Which methods result in people using your space? I'm interested in hearing from the folks who run community not for profit spaces and for profit spaces. Cheers! -BrianR carrborocoworking.com --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Anyone know about Monolab?
Interesting blog post today on a Palo Alto incubator called Monolab. Key quote from the post: The Monolab|Incubator is an open workspace located in downtown Palo Alto, CA. It is designed for early-stage companies working in the Office 2.0/Web 2.0 and green-tech industries, foreign companies interested to develop their business in the United States, and independent contractors offering professional services that can be useful to entrepreneurs (accountants, lawyers, designers, etc.). According to the site they charge $1,200 per month. They are also looking to expand and add 12 sites around the world (mostly US) in the near term. I'd like to talk to them about their concept of the the micro-global small business, but they are also clearly a form of coworking. The blog post is at: http://itredux.com/2008/06/29/micro-global-business/ Steve --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Patterns Page?
I've been collecting a list of the wiki pages that are general and could apply to every coworking group. I put them up at http://wiki.coworking.info/Patterns Is anyone else interested in cleaning up these general pages with me? Got a particular vision you could share with me so I'm not stepping on toes? http:// Joseph Holsten .com --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Hi, cool concept, just sort of found this via Scoble.
Hey Mal, Glad to hear that you're interested in exploring building your community of independents and creatives. One of the best ways to get started would be to explore the concept of Jelly, casual coworking: http://workatjelly.com/ and you can add Boise to the list and get started by meeting with your friends and coworkers at locations around Boise: http://wiki.workatjelly.com/ The best way to line up local talent is to get a grasp on your local tech/independent/creative community. Some of us have done this by getting out to meetings and events held around town that would cater to these types. Through listening and talking to the community you can get a better feel for what's out there already and what the needs of the community are. Good luck, Matthew On Jun 20, 6:03 pm, mal [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Timing was serendipitous since me and several coworkers got laid off recently and something like co-working would allow us to keep 'working', bouncing ideas around, etc (going to coffee -- a favorite pastime). Anyhow I'm in the Boise Idaho if anyone knows of any spaces. My wife vacated her old office recently and I was thinking maybe potentially somehow we could setup some sort of space there. This area has been hit pretty hard lately employment wise so maybe there are other interested people out there. We all like the area and ideally would like to stay here and maybe work remotely for people locally or in other places. I'm interested in how you line up local talent with jobs anywhere. Is there some sort of registry for coworking talent anywhere or any interaction going on among different locations? --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Reintroducing myself
Hey Joe, Looks like the closest coworking space to you is Group88 (http:// coworking.pbwiki.com/CoworkingConnecticut) Personally, I think that the best way to find people that would be interested would be to talk to your local community members and listen to what their wants and needs are. I see that you have a Linux meetup group that might be a good place to start (http://linux.meetup.com/395/calendar/8080765/) and also a local business/investor's group (http://ibd.meetup.com/739/). Another good way to find people who share your interest for coworking would be to start a Jelly group in your area (http://workatjelly.com/) and here to start one of your own (http://wiki.workatjelly.com/). Hope this helps, Matthew On Jun 23, 11:58 am, JoeC [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I'm Joe Cascio. I signed up for the group a while back, but have been involved in other projects for the last couple of months. Lately, though, my interest in co-working has been rekindled due to a discussion I had with a friend from my golf club, who is the general manager of a popular seafood restaurant here in Mystic, CT. Her intuition about the right ambiance and furnishings for a co-working space were spot-on with mine. I take that sense very seriously from a person who is in the public food-service business. There is nothing for coworking anywhere nearby that I know of. My friend also said there is a surplus of commercial rental space in the area. To start out, I'm thinking of simply contacting some friends in the realty business and surveying the properties in the area to get some idea. Previous good advice from this google group (thank you!) included doing some market research to find out who might be interested and what they'd be looking for. I'm just wondering how I can find people who might be interested in using a co-working space. Flyers in local coffee shops and libraries? Newspaper ads. I'd like to try to get together a little interest group on this. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, JoeC --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: The New York Times likes coworking!
I expect that for the next several months or so, little personal work will get done by me at Caroline during normal working hours. I've had to make time for myself to accomplish these things in off time or by ducking into my apartment for a short amount of time to remove interruption. It is what it is. People should know that following a successful opening there are multiple daily and regularly scheduled tasks that will take time away from your own work. Caroline is taking a cue from Indy Hall and exploring a full-time intern to alleviate some the maintenance, workload and daily tasks. Matthew On Jun 27, 12:57 pm, Tara Hunt [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hilarious about working from home to get things done. I find the same thing. As soon as I go into Citizen Space, it's all about running Citizen Space, so if I have to get book writing/editing done or some other task I need to concentrate on, I have to stay away! But I think that is really only an 'owner' problem. :) I believe Alex Hillman has hired someone to take that stuff on for him so he can get more work done and it's working like a charm. Someday... T On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 6:45 AM, felicity at cubes [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I work from home because our members and my staff always want to talk to me, so I just can't get anything done. But you know reporter's write it they want. Still more coworking press is always a good thing. I think I will just go up to Sandbox Suites or Citizen Space the next time I want to get work done, of course I will have to leave my kids at CubesCrayons :) -Felicity www.cubesandcrayons.com http://cube.typepad.com/blog http://cube.typepad.com/cake On Jun 26, 6:47 am, Raines Cohen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 5:42 AM, Tony Bacigalupo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It mentions Soundview Coworking in Stamford, Connecticut, as well as the Hat Factory, Berkeley Coworking, and Cubes and Crayons. I can think of many adjectives to describe Berkeley Coworking, but sprawling is not one of them. Except perhaps to a New Yorker. What is it, 400 square feet upstairs, a little more downstairs? In the context of a one-man shop, maybe. Perhaps some day soon they'll focus on coworking activity in... you know... New York :-) Naah. I figure the SF Chronicle will send somone out to cover that first. ;-) I'm surprised that Group88 didn't merit a mention, given the proximity in CT. Also, the section on CubesCrayons (and Felicity staying at home in order to get work done and avoid distractions) loops back to previous threads here about how folks can use headphones or other ways of keeping their attention focussed. Any new thoughts/learnings in that regard? Notable that this is in the Fashion section. Any bets on when we make Food, Sports, or ScienceTechnology? Raines, Coworking Coach -- tara 'miss rogue' hunt coFounder Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com) blog:www.horsepigcow.com phone: 415-694-1951 fax: 415-727-5335 --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Patterns Page?
Great initiative Joseph! I can think of lots of things we can add to this...and I will as soon as I can sit down and do it, like: - core principles - history - getting involved This is awesome, though. It'll be one of the things I work on from Houston next week. :) T On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Joseph Holsten [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been collecting a list of the wiki pages that are general and could apply to every coworking group. I put them up at http://wiki.coworking.info/Patterns Is anyone else interested in cleaning up these general pages with me? Got a particular vision you could share with me so I'm not stepping on toes? http:// Joseph Holsten .com -- tara 'missrogue' hunt coFounder Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com) blog: www.horsepigcow.com phone: 415-694-1951 fax: 415-727-5335 --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
