[Coworking] Re: Coworking for Small Companies (2-3 People)
Our space has mostly 1 person companies but we did just recently get a 2 person company (we also just send one bill). I've also seen startups where only one of them buys a membership b/c their particular work style works better in a coworking space rather than home/coffee shop. Ah, the beauty and flexibility of coworking. On Dec 15, 2:03 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: Our policy is simple: we work with people, not companies. If a team comes in, they get memberships and desks as individuals, we just bill a single person. That said, we try to avoid pre-existing groups that don't have at least one or two people who are already active community members. It's far too difficult to break down team culture and cliques (as Angel so succinctly said the other day) when they're more focused on their own culture than the greater collective. Obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule, and we make exceptions...that's why it's not written down anywhere and we deal with it on a case-by-case basis. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 3:45 PM, roger r4sala...@gmail.com wrote: I was wondering how different spaces handle the issue of small companies using your coworking space? Being as how most spaces are designed around individuals, what do you do when people say they want to use the space and be charged as XYZ company? Any ideas? - Roger -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Want to start a coworking space? How to know when your community is ready.
We started in a temporary space. The business incubator loaned us this sort of awkward overly large reception area. We'd drag tables and chairs from the back and huddle around outlets (sometimes sharing an outlet and toggling back and forth!). There were also no amenities like a coffee pot so we would go out as a group to find our coffee and snacks which provided us an organic way to get to know one another. Anyway, being in that weird/donated space really helped us bond as a group. You just don't have a choice when you're sitting shoulder to shoulder with people. When we ran out of chairs and broke the wifi connection, we knew it was time to find a more permanent home. Angel On Dec 15, 9:28 am, Beth Buczynski bethbo...@gmail.com wrote: Andrew, I agree. There are some types of work that will never be suited to the ever-changing (and crowded) environment of the coffee shop. I was inspired by Alice K's (quoted in the article) mid-way solution to needing more than a coffee shop, but lacking the substance for a full fledged space. I wonder if a more substantial but temporary space would be a solution for your situation, i.e. finding a business with an extra back room, so that you could give the community time to grow without being cramped in a space that's not really intended for intense work. Anyone else run into the need for an in-between space before they opened? Where did you look? Beth On Dec 14, 4:26 am, Andrew Badera and...@badera.us wrote: Interesting article, thanks for sharing. However, I'm not sure the temporary space thing applies per se ... I think maybe it needs to be more granular? You might be able to do, say, highly creative, initial startup prototyping and maybe even beta testing out of a coffee shop, but it's rare that you'll find someone who works in more conventional and/or heavier duty software spending a lot of time in coffee shops -- even with headphones, it's just not the right environment to focus on highly complex tasks, individually or as a team. You're also limited in the amount of shared space you can use for a team -- it's not easy to whiteboard in a coffee shop, and no, the virtual options are just not the same. We've had some interest in the Albany, NY area, but we have pull in 3 or 4 different directions, with 3 or 4 people committing to any given area, but having a hard time getting critical mass who can agree on a given area that works for them. Coffee shops may serve some of our potential coworkers, but a lot of us need something more, even if Starbuck and Panera still have plenty of open seating. --ab On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 5:13 AM, Dave Ruzius dave.ruz...@gmail.com wrote: Love (!) the article and exactly the question we at TheWorks.cz are currently faced with. Jellies are great but not really sustainable. Will investigate who is willing to pitch-in to create our own 'club-house' as that's how it should feel.. created and supported by the peeps themselves... TheWorks.cz Dave Ruzius On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 5:48 PM, Beth Buczynski bethbo...@gmail.comwrote: How can you know that there’s enough demand for a coworking space in your town without personally polling each and every remote worker or freelancer in a 20 mile radius? In this article three space owners share their ideas for gauging interest, and knowing when both you and your community are ready for a shared work space. Hope it can be helpful to the many future space owners on this list.. http://www.shareable.net/blog/is-your-community-ready-for-coworking Thanks to Gerard Sychay of CincyCoworks, Joel Bennett of Veel Hoeden, Angel Kwiatkowski of Cohere Coworking Community, and Alice Kaerast for their input! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups .com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- Dave Ruzius http://www.theworks.cz -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: New Coworking (DurangoSpace) in Durango, CO
I've noticed that in Colorado especially, people move here for the lifestyle and recreation but keep their jobs in other states or continue to do location independent freelance work. I think the same might hold true in Jackson, Wyoming. I suspect that the mobile workforce is there working on their laptops---somewhere. You just need to find them, inspire them and give them another option for working... together! On Dec 13, 2:46 pm, CoworkJackson coworkjack...@gmail.com wrote: Very excited to hear how it works in Durango! We're thinking about it here in Jackson, WY, and you'll be facing many of the same challenges we will like it being a small town and people spending preferentially on ski gear. Good thing is it's probably also a bright community where people want to stay and will create jobs for themselves in order to do that. Best of luck, Laura On Dec 13, 8:50 am, Angel K fccowork...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Jasper! Congrats on starting another space in Colorado! We're thrilled to have you. -Angel of Cohere Coworking Community in Fort Collins, CO On Dec 12, 9:51 pm, Jazzman3 jasperwe...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Coworking Community: After hearing Jeremy Neunerhttp://nextspace.us/team at the spring National Business Incubation Association conference in Orlando, FL, I was intrigued by the coworking movement. Thanks to Chris Reddin (Grand Junction Business Incubator) for inviting Jeremy to co-present on coworking at NBIA www.nbia.org Over the past 3 months, our co- founder (Nancy Wharton) and I have visited Next Space (Santa Cruz, SF), Sandbox Suites, the Hub (SoMa, Berkeley) and Independents Hall (Philly, PA). For 11 years I have served as the director of the San Juan College Enterprise Center (Farmington, NM)www.sjc-enterprisecenter.com And I live in Durango, CO, a small micropolitan town in southwestern Colorado. We have poured over the coworking Google Groups site, inteviewed 25 people (and counting), created a full blown business plan and cash flows. And we are taping into our community (where most everyone is only 2 degrees (or maybe 3 degrees in some cases) away. We heard the Build the community load and clear from our fellow coworking leaders. Then comes the point of the leap of coworking faith, we we made this past week. With folks wanting to join our local coworking space, we are starting DurangoSpace over the next 30 days in downtown Durango. When you are in town, we'll be at 1221 Main Avenue, Durango, Colorado (in the only place to be: downtown Durango). Initial photo shoot:http://www.flickr.com/photos/durangospace Our next step is the live fire exercise, and we are both excited and scared to death, like most business start-ups. Only the clinically depressed are realistic. And it takes a bit of I know this will work for any new venture to succeed. We are determined to build up our entrepreneur, freelance, and virtual professional community at DurangoSpace. Are we ready? As much as can be, before we overthink this. Just do it at some point. So here are our questions as we start up: 1) We are looking at a soft opening (Jan to Mar 2011), where we are working on the community, the space and being member driven (on the details). Generating the community and member revenue we can, but focusing on building the community (which we basically have in a small town, but we need to wrap around coworking model). Any suggestions on this initial 3 month process? 2) We have pricing, but it still can be adjusted and tweaked. Basically the daily rate, multi-day passes (on occasional end) and monthly and 24/7 memberships, plus a few reserved (2 per office) memberships. Our question: How did you initial encourage the new member commitments, when the community is getting started? Our small Colorado town gets it, once we explain the coworking community. What did you do to get the early adopters dailed in? 3) What really smart (and really stupid) things do you do in the early days of your coworking community? What really worked? And what would you have changed? 4) Once you survived the shakedown cruize (first 3 to 6 months), how did you go public with the real opening? At what point did you feel ready to really turn on the model and expand the community (from the charter/core group)? Nancy I appreciate all the models, books like I'm Outta Here!, site visits (thanks Next Space, the Hub and IndyHall) and the kind e- mails (Jeremy @ NextSpace, Tony @ NewYorkCity). But until you gear up the coworking community in your home town, then you are serious. So here goes Your thoughts, ideas and comments are welcome. And come visit Jasper Welch jwel...@mac.com Nancy Wharton na...@clientfocusedsolutions.com -- You received this message because you
[Coworking] Re: My Intro
Hi! Hooray for flexibility in a weird economy! Here's my advice for all people who want to add coworking into the same space as your existing business. Avoid a prosthetic limb approach when you're trying to add coworking into your existing office area. Whether it's just you or you + some employees at your current business, you have a culture...tacit or tangible...it's there. When you want to start a coworking community out of an existing office, you'll need to work hard to fully integrate anyone who is currently working in the space with the new community. Tear down the walls. Having private offices for existing employees and then putting the coworkers in a separate space within the office will create real and/or perceived barriers to communication and feelings of ours vs. yours. An easy way to avoid a lot of these pitfalls is for you and your employees to work in the same area as the coworkers. Abandon any private offices until the new community is tightly knit---6 months or more. :) I'm helping a business do something similar in my area--I'll let you know how it all shakes out! -Angel On Dec 9, 11:41 am, Teksun mmil...@teksuns.com wrote: Hello I guess I should first introduce myself. I run a small Headhunting agency- used to be larger pre-recession- that focuses on engineering for AE energy companies around the US. Anyways I'm not here promoting those services. I'm here to learn all about Coworking as I can. One of the biggest lessons I've learned as an entrepreneur is you have to adapt to change. So I'm taking what I used to see as a challenge and turning it into an opportunity. The downside to shrinking I have a lot of empty office space, the good news is I have a lot of empty office space. So I'm doing my homework on -funny how in school I never did- converting our office to a coworking space. I'm looking forward to any input, advice, encouragement, or wisdom if possible. Oh yeah I'm in Texas on the world famous Riverwalk, but I'm not a Texan just got tired of driving the 405 5 in LA. Ok that's my intro- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: My Intro
Alex-I would be honored if you adopted that phrase! I used to call it Lee Press On Coworking but found that people's knowledge of 80's false fingernails was more limited that I thought! http://www.spike.com/video/lee-press-on-nails/2731044 Anyway, those nails fall off after about 5 minuteshence the analogy! -A On Dec 14, 12:09 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: *Avoid a prosthetic limb approach* when you're trying to add coworking into your existing office area. Whether it's just you or you + some employees at your current business, you have a culture...tacit or tangible...it's there. When you want to start a coworking community out of an existing office, you'll need to work hard to fully integrate anyone who is currently working in the space with the new community. Holy shit, well said. I'll be adopting the naming of the Prosthetic limb approach, if you don't mind. That's brilliant. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 2:05 PM, Angel K fccowork...@gmail.com wrote: Hi! Hooray for flexibility in a weird economy! Here's my advice for all people who want to add coworking into the same space as your existing business. Avoid a prosthetic limb approach when you're trying to add coworking into your existing office area. Whether it's just you or you + some employees at your current business, you have a culture...tacit or tangible...it's there. When you want to start a coworking community out of an existing office, you'll need to work hard to fully integrate anyone who is currently working in the space with the new community. Tear down the walls. Having private offices for existing employees and then putting the coworkers in a separate space within the office will create real and/or perceived barriers to communication and feelings of ours vs. yours. An easy way to avoid a lot of these pitfalls is for you and your employees to work in the same area as the coworkers. Abandon any private offices until the new community is tightly knit---6 months or more. :) I'm helping a business do something similar in my area--I'll let you know how it all shakes out! -Angel On Dec 9, 11:41 am, Teksun mmil...@teksuns.com wrote: Hello I guess I should first introduce myself. I run a small Headhunting agency- used to be larger pre-recession- that focuses on engineering for AE energy companies around the US. Anyways I'm not here promoting those services. I'm here to learn all about Coworking as I can. One of the biggest lessons I've learned as an entrepreneur is you have to adapt to change. So I'm taking what I used to see as a challenge and turning it into an opportunity. The downside to shrinking I have a lot of empty office space, the good news is I have a lot of empty office space. So I'm doing my homework on -funny how in school I never did- converting our office to a coworking space. I'm looking forward to any input, advice, encouragement, or wisdom if possible. Oh yeah I'm in Texas on the world famous Riverwalk, but I'm not a Texan just got tired of driving the 405 5 in LA. Ok that's my intro- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: The first Global Coworking Survey
Hi Lukas--wondering how many responses you've gotten so far? On Dec 9, 5:42 am, lukas.dp lukas...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Coworking Community My name is Lukas De Pellegrin and I am a student of architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. I am currently working on my diploma thesis, which is focusing mainly on Coworking. Right now I am working together with Carsten Foertsch of deskmag.com, an online magazine about coworking and other new forms of work. We have made a global survey about Coworking, which is available here: http://ww2.unipark.de/uc/coworking/ Please help us by filling out the survey. Replies will be completely anonymous. We don't at any point ask for your name, or the name of any coworking space. In addition, we are asking you for your help with promoting the survey by spreading this link via twitter, homepages, blogs, mailing lists, and other channels. We want the survey to reach as many people as possible in order to have a bigger response from all around the world. A big response means more precise results, too. We are supported by the following organizations, which will be presenting the evaluated results of the survey in January: Deskmag – Coworking Magazine Coworking Spain - Spanish Coworking Network Coworking Europe / Enterprise Globale - European conference on Coworking 2010 Movebla - Brazilian Coworking Magazine Cowo - Coworking Network Italy Hallenprojekt - German Coworking Network Coworking Labs - Coworking Research USA Coworking JP - Coworking Blog Japan moboff - Japanese Coworking Network Deskwanted - Global Coworking Space Directory Silicon Sentier - French Coworking Network Coworking Sweden - Swedish Coworking Blog Thank you for your support. Best wishes - Lukas De Pellegrin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: New Coworking (DurangoSpace) in Durango, CO
Hi Jasper! Congrats on starting another space in Colorado! We're thrilled to have you. -Angel of Cohere Coworking Community in Fort Collins, CO On Dec 12, 9:51 pm, Jazzman3 jasperwe...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Coworking Community: After hearing Jeremy Neunerhttp://nextspace.us/team at the spring National Business Incubation Association conference in Orlando, FL, I was intrigued by the coworking movement. Thanks to Chris Reddin (Grand Junction Business Incubator) for inviting Jeremy to co-present on coworking at NBIA www.nbia.org Over the past 3 months, our co- founder (Nancy Wharton) and I have visited Next Space (Santa Cruz, SF), Sandbox Suites, the Hub (SoMa, Berkeley) and Independents Hall (Philly, PA). For 11 years I have served as the director of the San Juan College Enterprise Center (Farmington, NM)www.sjc-enterprisecenter.com And I live in Durango, CO, a small micropolitan town in southwestern Colorado. We have poured over the coworking Google Groups site, inteviewed 25 people (and counting), created a full blown business plan and cash flows. And we are taping into our community (where most everyone is only 2 degrees (or maybe 3 degrees in some cases) away. We heard the Build the community load and clear from our fellow coworking leaders. Then comes the point of the leap of coworking faith, we we made this past week. With folks wanting to join our local coworking space, we are starting DurangoSpace over the next 30 days in downtown Durango. When you are in town, we'll be at 1221 Main Avenue, Durango, Colorado (in the only place to be: downtown Durango). Initial photo shoot:http://www.flickr.com/photos/durangospace Our next step is the live fire exercise, and we are both excited and scared to death, like most business start-ups. Only the clinically depressed are realistic. And it takes a bit of I know this will work for any new venture to succeed. We are determined to build up our entrepreneur, freelance, and virtual professional community at DurangoSpace. Are we ready? As much as can be, before we overthink this. Just do it at some point. So here are our questions as we start up: 1) We are looking at a soft opening (Jan to Mar 2011), where we are working on the community, the space and being member driven (on the details). Generating the community and member revenue we can, but focusing on building the community (which we basically have in a small town, but we need to wrap around coworking model). Any suggestions on this initial 3 month process? 2) We have pricing, but it still can be adjusted and tweaked. Basically the daily rate, multi-day passes (on occasional end) and monthly and 24/7 memberships, plus a few reserved (2 per office) memberships. Our question: How did you initial encourage the new member commitments, when the community is getting started? Our small Colorado town gets it, once we explain the coworking community. What did you do to get the early adopters dailed in? 3) What really smart (and really stupid) things do you do in the early days of your coworking community? What really worked? And what would you have changed? 4) Once you survived the shakedown cruize (first 3 to 6 months), how did you go public with the real opening? At what point did you feel ready to really turn on the model and expand the community (from the charter/core group)? Nancy I appreciate all the models, books like I'm Outta Here!, site visits (thanks Next Space, the Hub and IndyHall) and the kind e- mails (Jeremy @ NextSpace, Tony @ NewYorkCity). But until you gear up the coworking community in your home town, then you are serious. So here goes Your thoughts, ideas and comments are welcome. And come visit Jasper Welch jwel...@mac.com Nancy Wharton na...@clientfocusedsolutions.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Savannah Georgia
Hi! Welcome. You can check out this part of the coworking wiki to see if others have expressed interest in coworking in your area http://wiki.coworking.info/w/page/25870863/CoworkingSavannahGA You might check around on meetup.com groups in your area or google jelly savannah. Happy hunting! Angel On Dec 8, 11:42 am, mtho...@thomasreel.com mtho...@thomasreel.com wrote: is anyone looking for space in Savannah Georgia?? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Interns helping with coworking
My answers are nested below... 1. How many people here host internships? Me! 2. How do you find and attract interns to your coworking space? We go through the University so they get credit. Our college has internship coordinators assigned to each department so it's fairly simple. 3. What sort of students make the best interns and how do you make sure they get a lot out of the experience? We like PR/marketing/Journalism students b/c many of the members needs pr and marketing strategy 4. How long do they typically stay for? 1-3 semesters 5. Finally, Angel also noted that they help her and her members with projects - is that an official capacity of the intern (e.g. people can sign up for intern time on their project somehow), or does it just work out that way because people are naturally collaborating? The main purpose of the internship is to help the student build a portfolio of real world work experience so they have a leg up when they graduate...either to get a job or start their own freelancer biz. Projects have to be tied to their areas of passion and relevant portfolio building experience. I occasionally have them do routine tasks related to running the coworking space (make coffee, wipe tables, etc) since those are just good habits to have no matter where your career takes you! Additionally, I am always copied on emails that members send to the interns and sometimes I sit in on their meetings to make sure that the members have realistic expectations and to check in that the interns are learning and providing good quality work to the members. Here's a quote from one intern's bio on our member's page Ryan was instantly enamored with the Cohere Coworking Community and the concept of coworking. He is “the intern” on Tuesday-Friday morning/ afternoon(s) and believes his most meaningful trait related to his position is his craving to experience and work on creative projects. Thanks! -Mike -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Start Up Spread Sheet
HI Rob, I have an 1,100 sqft space in Colorado and with 0 refurbishing, other than changing one paint color, my start up costs were $20,000. I thought it would be 10,000 but the old rule of doubling what you think held true! This space is currently home to 31 members, the majority of whom use the space 1 or 2 days/week. 5 of the members only use the space on Weds nights. Most of my furnishings were custom built by a new designer so they were dirt cheap, the rest were from Ikea and Target. We also inherited our conference room furniture from the landlord at no cost. I do not pay a staff member but I do use 1-3 unpaid interns at any given time who help me and the members with their projects in addition to greeting and welcoming people during the day. Hope that helps :) Angel On Nov 28, 8:31 pm, rob obrien robrien...@gmail.com wrote: I'm launching a space and put together a simple income/expense and startup costs spreadsheet in Google Docs. I think I have got a handle on it, but would appreciate a few second opinions from the experienced hand out there. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgZXryylWlWbdGJjZTJFS2lGV1BD... Thanks in advance. I would be happy to provide edit permissions. You will need a google account Rob OBrienhttp://cdga-cowork.posterous.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Targeting The Right Members
Hi, A recent post on the global coworking blog should help shed some light on your problem. If you market your physical amenities, you'll attract people who want those physical amenities. If you promote your values and their importance, you'll attract people with the same ideals. http://blog.coworking.com/quit-marketing-your-stuff-and-start-marketing-your-values/ On Nov 18, 10:23 am, Miamishared 990confere...@miamishared.com wrote: Its not to say we don't want to create an eccentric workspace here but we do want to still embody the open and leisurely environment of coworking. We, as a company began as an internet business and just one year ago decided to allow other companies or individuals rent space from us. We thought this would be a great and successful idea because, technically we already practiced the coworking culture (going on 8 years strong), the only difference was we all worked under one company. With that being said, we have been filling up our space and have had no trouble with that.Currently have three companies that embody the membership we are looking for, young,ambitious,creative and collaborative. Its great to see that we have been able to bring together individuals to share ideas, exchange advice, and even in one instance contract one another. This is the type of environment we are aiming for. That being said, these are only three out of the eight companies we have as members. The people that tend to visit us, to view our space, are mini-corporations that are more accustomed to a rigid and structured environment than we have going on. We really want to be that space were young entrepreneurials, like our selves when we started out, can begin to grow their business with other ambitious individuals like themselves. Now, we never turn members away potential members who are pleasant and seem to want to embrace our environment even if they are from more strict business backgrounds, but how can we target more of our potentialideal members ? I believe it is our location as well that draws so much corporate attention. We are at the edge of Downtown In a contemporary high rise, that would be intimidating to anyone starting out, but would be prime real estate for big corporations. Any suggestions on how to target the right members? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Collaboration
Angel, I'm intrigued to hear about how required social events go for you - I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go over very well at our office, but I am often wrong. :) ---Oh geez, none of our functions or events are mandatory. That would send the members running for the hills! On Nov 16, 6:20 am, Campbell McKellar cmc...@gmail.com wrote: Ryan, I love this idea! We will definitely put this to use in our new office. Thanks for sharing. Loosecubes.com Invite code: lovemonday Follow us @loosecubes On Nov 15, 2010, at 10:56 PM, Ryan Price ucfbass...@gmail.com wrote: I'd like to call out something I saw at a client's office once: The Thank You Board It was just a simple whiteboard posted near the main hallway, so people had to look as they walked past. The only messages were one person thanking another: e.g. Jane M, thanks for getting me those photos so quickly! - Sean Now extrapolate this to your Coworking space and members. Rinse and repeat. If the thanks is given publicly, the warm fuzzies go even farther. Peace, Ryan Price rpr...@ryanpricemedia.com @liberatr -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp://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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Google Coupons
I've had various coupons running on Google Places (the free ones not the paid ones). No one has ever redeemed however I did run across one recently for a coworking space that was Free High Fives which I thought was hilarious and probably more successful than a traditional coupon! On Nov 11, 3:42 pm, Cadu de Castro Alves cadudecastroal...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, Mike! How long did you promote it? Abs, Cadu de Castro Alves c...@beesoffice.com Mobile: +55 21 8464-3958(OI) SkypeID: cadudecastroalveshttp://beesoffice.com BeesOffice - Espaço de Coworking RJ - Unidade: Centro Rua Teófilo Otoni, 52/1203, Centro - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - CEP: 20090-070 - Brasil Tel./Fax: +55 21 2233-5126 *Antes de imprimir pense em seu compromisso com o Meio Ambiente. *Before printing think about your commitment with the Environment. ... ... .. O emitente desta mensagem é responsável por seu conteúdo e endereçamento. Cabe ao destinatário cuidar quanto ao tratamento adequado. Sem a devida autorização, a divulgação, a reprodução, a distribuição ou qualquer outra ação em desconformidade com as normas internas do BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking são proibidas e passíveis de sanção disciplinar, cível e criminal. The sender of this message is responsible for its content and addressing. The receiver shall take proper care of it. Without due authorization, the publication, reproduction, distribution or the performance of any other action not conforming to BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking internal policies and procedures is forbidden and liable to disciplinary, civil or criminal sanctions. El emisor de este mensaje es responsable por su contenido y direccionamiento. Cabe al destinatario darle el tratamiento adecuado. Sin la debida autorización, su divulgación, reproducción, distribución o cualquier otra acción no conforme a las normas internas del BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking están prohibidas y serán pasibles de sanción disciplinaria, civil y penal. ... ... .. On 11/11/2010, at 20:31, Mike Pihlman wrote: Yup...not one person came in. 33D.gif On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Cadu de Castro Alves cadudecastroal...@gmail.com wrote: Hello, coworkers! Have you ever used Google Coupons to increase your sales? If so, how was the return? Abs, Cadu de Castro Alves c...@beesoffice.com Mobile: +55 21 8464-3958(OI) SkypeID: cadudecastroalves http://beesoffice.com BeesOffice - Espaço de Coworking RJ - Unidade: Centro Rua Teófilo Otoni, 52/1203, Centro - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - CEP: 20090-070 - Brasil Tel./Fax: +55 21 2233-5126 *Antes de imprimir pense em seu compromisso com o Meio Ambiente. *Before printing think about your commitment with the Environment. ... ... .. O emitente desta mensagem é responsável por seu conteúdo e endereçamento. Cabe ao destinatário cuidar quanto ao tratamento adequado. Sem a devida autorização, a divulgação, a reprodução, a distribuição ou qualquer outra ação em desconformidade com as normas internas do BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking são proibidas e passíveis de sanção disciplinar, cível e criminal. The sender of this message is responsible for its content and addressing. The receiver shall take proper care of it. Without due authorization, the publication, reproduction, distribution or the performance of any other action not conforming to BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking internal policies and procedures is forbidden and liable to disciplinary, civil or criminal sanctions. El emisor de este mensaje es responsable por su contenido y direccionamiento. Cabe al destinatario darle el tratamiento adecuado. Sin la debida autorización, su divulgación, reproducción, distribución o cualquier otra acción no conforme a las normas internas del BeesOffice Espaço de Coworking están prohibidas y serán pasibles de sanción disciplinaria, civil y penal. ... ... .. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group
[Coworking] Re: UPDATE: Coworking Handbook
+1 for google docs. I can't open the .ods file and I really want to see all of your hard work! On Nov 16, 10:48 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Holy wow Stephanie, this is incredible! This is a great resource that can be extremely useful for researchers, first timers, and veterans. How about posting this to Google Docs and making it publicly editable, so it can be kept up to date? Google is also discontinuing the Files section of Google Groups, so it should make more sense in the long term anyway. Congrats and thanks! Cheers, Tony -- New Work City - Community Center for Independents. Web: http://nwc.co Blog: http://blog.nwc.co Twitter:http://twitter.com/nwc Phone: (347) 559-1437 Address: 412 Broadway, Floor 2, NY NY 10013 On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: Awesome awesome - huge amount of work and commensurate thanks to Stephanie! Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 323.330.9505 (office) On Nov 16, 2010, at 9:39 AM, Stephanie Wiegand wrote: Hello Coworkers, I am pleased to announce that I have finished categorizing every thread on the Google Group. I compartmentalized the information into about 20 topics to make it easier for everyone to find answers to FAQs. The spreadsheet is meant to be an alternative to Google's search function by facilitating navigation by category through past threads on the Coworking Google Group. We've posted a spreadsheet called Categorized Group Threads in the files section of this Google Group. It's intended to be 1) a primary research tool for anyone interested in coworking, and 2) an ever- improving document. If you find you can add to or improve the document, please feel free to edit it and share your work with the community. Here are some trends that I have noticed that I have been asked to share. 1) Some space owners who have had a space for years did not even realize that they were coworking. This makes me assume that the number of coworking spaces in the world is significantly larger than I originally thought. 2) People wanting to startup his or her own coworking space. The overwhelming majority of introductions are from people wanting to venture into coworking. This can be seen in the amount of “Introduction: Individual” and “Introduction: Prospective Space” tags. 3) People willing to share personal commentary and stories regarding their space and/or what has led them to coworking. On the topic of sustainability, many of the same individuals dispense the same paraphrased advise. 4) Media coverage has become another trend. In the last year of so there seems to be a fair amount of media coverage by some reputable sources such as Business Week, NY Times, CNN, The Guardian, etc. This spreadsheet was the first step in creating the Coworking Handbook. We hope that in a matter of weeks the Coworking Handbook will be published to the group and used as the go-to guide for everyone interested in coworking, from new comers, to people looking to answer a few specific questions. The intention is not to reduce coworking related chatter, but simply to reduce redundancy, give people a strong fundamental understanding of the movement, and allow the conversations to continue to evolve into some of the more interesting threads that are being created. Thanks and Enjoy Stephanie Wiegand -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Quit marketing your stuff, start marketing your values
Susan, Thanks for contributing this great content to the global coworking blog. Feel free to post your reactions and comments there too! http://blog.coworking.com/ On Nov 16, 2:11 pm, Tara Hunt t...@shwowp.com wrote: RE: We also happen to have wifi. :) ...sometimes ;P (lucky we sell culture, because even the wifi had some issues for a while!) T On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 4:07 PM, Hillary Hartley hhart...@gmail.com wrote: Spot on, Susan! We've never seen ourselves as in the services business. Citizen Space is a community resource with a great culture and cool people. We also happen to have wifi. :) Thanks for sharing! Hillary On Nov 16, 2010, at 11:09 AM, Susan Evans su...@officenomads.com wrote: Hi all, It's been a great couple of weeks over here in Seattle watching Jacob put together his presentation for the Coworking Europe conference. While watching his practice run-through last night (he's so much more organized than I could hope to be!), I was struck with the reminder that the best way to market our coworking space is not by telling folks about all our great shared resources, but to tell folks about our great values. Let me extrapolate a bit: *No one's business has been improved by our shared printer. * **While shared resources (internet, printer, desks, coffee, etc.) are great, they don't make anyone's business or work better. While it may be a contributing factor to why people step through our doors, it is certainly not the reason that they stay. Our members enjoy these things, but they STAY here and enjoy their experience coworking because they get relief from the isolation they felt working solo and they're able to be productive again. *If you're trying to get people into your space by telling them about all of your stuff, you're likely wasting your time (and attracting the wrong folks)*. If there is one thing that we've learned over the last three years, it is that we are not in the stuff business. We are in the coworking business. If we try to sell ourselves otherwise to potential new members, we wind up disappointing people. Our true selling point is our culture and our values: we believe that choosing to work along side one another makes our work AND our lives better overall. We believe this, and if we can get that message across, we wind up attracting folks who stick around and are happy. *Members are not impressed with the stuff. * Alexandra, our rockstar Community Cultivator, told us during Jacob's run-through that she rarely has people commenting on how great it is that we have an internet connection or a fax machine. Instead, they comment on how cool they think it is that we have rotating artwork in our space, or that we have yoga on Wednesdays. The culture of our space is what impresses people and encourages them to become a member - that's because they see *value* there. They see their work life being enhanced. If you felt your work/life balance could be improved by a fax machine, well, you'd just buy one and get on with your life. What coworking spaces have to offer is SO much more exciting than the stuff. Them's just the thoughts here on Tuesday morning in blustery Seattle. Hope this is helpful to those of you currently hemming and hawing about how to get some new members in the door. I implore you: don't waste your time telling them that you have a badass internet connection. Spend your time telling them that they don't have to be alone anymore. :) Susan __ Office Nomads http://officenomads.comofficenomads.com 206-484-5859 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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 cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups .com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- Tara Hunt CEO CoFounderhttp://www.shwowp.comhttp://www.twitter.com/missrogue phone: 514-679-2951 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: SXSW accomodations
SAD! I already have a place to stay but let me know where ya'll are crashing! On Nov 11, 1:52 pm, Iris Kavanagh iriskavan...@gmail.com wrote: Cool! Seems like there's some interest. I'll do some research and report back :) ~ iris @slickiris nextspace.us On Nov 11, 2010, at 7:24 AM, jesse wrote: hey hey, I'd actually be interested in this as well. I'm a newbie this year. -Jesse --formerly known as the manager of citizen space, and now coworking enthusiast extraordinaire :) -- @jtag je...@taggert.net On Nov 10, 2:19 pm, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: #interested #thissoundsdangerous #dangerouslyawesomethatis -- New Work City - Community Center for Independents. Web: http://nwc.co Blog: http://blog.nwc.co Twitter:http://twitter.com/nwc Phone: (347) 559-1437 Address: 412 Broadway, Floor 2, NY NY 10013 On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 4:38 PM, Willie Morris willie.mor...@gmail.comwrote: Hey, I might be interested in the coworking condo idea! Also, I'm down to help anyway I can :) Cheers, -Willie -whitetablefoundation.com On Nov 10, 2010, at 4:36 PM, Iris Kavanagh wrote: Heya! Is anyone interested in joining together to get a coworking condo for SXSW? Perhaps something like this is already in process? I'd love to organize if anyone else is interested? ~ Iris NextSpace nextspace.us -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@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 cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp://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 cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Collaboration
+1 to what has already been said and I'd also like to add that sometimes I orchestrate situations that REQUIRE people to socialize. This is a little different from collaboration but I think you have to know each other fairly well before you can collaborate effectively. I've been married to a hard core introvert for long enough to know that small talk and meeting new people can be a serious drain on him. Example, at our recent Waffle Day (I made waffles, they brought the toppings) I put the food in the main work room where everyone sits and works and I put the napkins and silverware in the conference room. They realized right away what I had done and said, seriously?! we have to *talk* to each other, we can't just go back to our computers and work while we eat?! They were half joking/half serious but guess what? They all sat together in the conference room, enjoyed a meal and got to know each other a little better. Afterward, the introverts got 2 solid hours of quiet time to recharge their batteries! (yes, at times I feel like a mother to the members but I kinda like it and I think they do too!) I'll also occasionally ask everyone to eat family style at the same time/table during night coworking so we'll all do better in school and be more successful--think after school special style. It's all a bit tongue in cheek but no one has ever regretted the times when I politely persuaded them to interact. -A On Nov 9, 2:10 am, wilsond wilson.denni...@gmail.com wrote: Hello, I am new to this discussion group and would like to kick off my first contribution with a question that i would be very interested in hearing your answers on. We re currently in the process of putting together a coworking space in Dublin, Irl which we are pretty excited by. I have read a large amount of detail about coworking and the philosophy of it. But on a practical level, how would the owners/managers of a coworking space be best placed to ensure that their space would be one of collaboration. What practical steps can someone take to foster this environment and hopefully create the reputation/output that every coworking space wants. Thanks, wilson -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Storage Lockers
Are the members asking for locking storage? I thought this would be an issue at the beginning so I bought 4 locking file cabinets. No one locks them and none of the members have asked for additional secure storage but this might just be our space+ it's always staffed when open so maybe that makes a difference. Angel On Nov 9, 8:48 am, Eli Malinsky e...@socialinnovation.ca wrote: Hey all Can anyone recommend good lockable storage solutions for members' files and equipment? We've previously had a custom locker system built and we've also used Ikea's stuff, but we're looking for other ideas... any vendors or specific products you could recommend would be great. Thanks muchly Eli Malinsky Centre for Social Innovation -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
[Coworking] Re: Tracking Jobs Created
I volunteered in an incubator for 5 months and job creation was always on the goal list and those jobs had to pay more than $70,000 to be counted in their metrics. Lots of people live quite comfortably on far less than $70,000 a year and the median wage range in my town is $45,000 so I'm not sure where the $70K is determined??? What this metric failed to see what that the companies weren't hiring new employees--they were contracting out to 1099ers...the very contractors who set up shop in coworking spaces. So, that all aside--we've seen ZERO job creation at Cohere but what we have seen is this 1 person was laid off from a company and immediately joined Cohere. She launched her online content management strategy business in 6 weeks because she had access to everyone she needed to do this at Cohere 1 person is intentionally leaving her steady paycheck job to start her own event management company and she has reserved a place at Cohere 3 months in advance b/c she has seen her friends benefit from coworking here 3 members have abandoned traditional job search in lieu of starting their own businesses--they admit that they never would have made that choice had it not been for coworking 4 employees who work remotely for Canonical (in New Zealand) cowork at Cohere to re-socialize themselves 3 members cowork only at night after they complete their day jobs at traditional companies. They are doing this to build up freelance businesses of their own 5 members have sub contracted work out to one another 8 members report making more money since joining Now THOSE are some metrics worth measuring. On Nov 2, 10:02 am, Brian Whipple dbrianwhip...@gmail.com wrote: I am currently doing research on co-working because our small business incubator will be opening a space within the next year. I am wondering if there are any spaces that are keeping track of jobs created in their spaces? If so, how many jobs have been created? The reason behind asking this information is because we would like to have some information to present in order to get funding from the Economic Development Center. Any information would be helpful. Thanks, Brian Whipple Website:www.incubationworks.com Twitter:www.twitter.com/incubationworks Facebook:www.facebook.com/incubationworks Email: br...@incubationworks.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@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.
