[Coworking] Re: Intro
If there is not a meetup in you area like the one you want then there's a great opportunity for you to start one. -Mike Sent from my iPhone On Oct 29, 2009, at 11:05 PM, Melisa Tintocalis wrote: > Cool, thanks, but I'm still unclear, what if i'm looking for other > working moms like myself -- there doesn't seem to be a meet up for > that...or am I doing something wrong? > > On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 10:56 PM, wrote: > Visit www.meetup.com to learn all about meetups. > > -Mike > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:35 PM, Melisa Tintocalis > wrote: > >> Hi Mike, >> What do you mean by "meetups"?? >> >> On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM, Mike Schinkel > > wrote: >> Hi Mo, >> >> Start by organizing local meetups in your area to first build a >> community. Focus on the meetups that will appeal to your desired >> demographics. You don't need to be an expert on any of those >> topics, you just need to recruit experts from your community to >> speak and engage. That's what we've done and it's been very >> successful in generating interest albeit I started the main meetup >> 3 years ago... >> >> That said, I'd love to recruit some lawyers to become members in >> Ignition Alley in Atlanta. Any idea how I could go about that? >> >> -Mike Schinkel >> Ignition Alley Atlanta Coworking >> http://ignitionalley.com >> >> >> >> On Oct 27, 2009, at 9:27 AM, maureen krasner wrote: >> >>> Hi-- >>> I'm Maureen (Mo) Krasner, a solo practitioner lawyer in metro >>> Detroit. I was recently laid off from a large law firm and I'm re- >>> thinking things. Upon my return to the home as an office for a >>> while I came to realize that almost as much as the steady income I >>> miss the community of "the office". My husband is a graphic >>> designer who has been working out of the home for years and he >>> feels the same-- and says its really impossible to get even going >>> with your laptop to the local Starbucks. >>> >>> I also have this recollection of waiting in a hospital ICU waiting >>> room on a critically ill relative for many days and having a few >>> of us sit there with our laptops and completely different careers >>> ( sales, senate intern, graphic designer, lawyer) side by side >>> working while we waited and it was phenomenal how great it was to >>> bounce things off each other and get perspectives unlike what you >>> would get if (in my case) you were sitting among a bunch of other >>> lawyers. >>> >>> I get a sense that there are many entrepreneurs, free-lancers, >>> etc. working in my community who would benefit and welcome a space/ >>> community co-working space. With so many companies/industries >>> down sizing and more people going solo I think co-working has to >>> be factored into a successful future. My thought for a local space >>> would not be limited to any particular field or discipline. The >>> city of Grosse Pointe is actually a great place for something like >>> this it with the town being very small, banks, coffee shops, >>> bagels, a few restaurants, a library etc. all within walking >>> distance of each other. And like so much of Michigan a place >>> looking to renew/reinvent itself. I'd like to start trying to >>> figure out if this is doable and how to make it happen. >>> >>> Mo Krasner >>> mtkras...@gmail.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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Intro
Visit www.meetup.com to learn all about meetups. -Mike Sent from my iPhone On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:35 PM, Melisa Tintocalis wrote: > Hi Mike, > What do you mean by "meetups"?? > > On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 5:08 PM, Mike Schinkel > wrote: > Hi Mo, > > Start by organizing local meetups in your area to first build a > community. Focus on the meetups that will appeal to your desired > demographics. You don't need to be an expert on any of those > topics, you just need to recruit experts from your community to > speak and engage. That's what we've done and it's been very > successful in generating interest albeit I started the main meetup 3 > years ago... > > That said, I'd love to recruit some lawyers to become members in > Ignition Alley in Atlanta. Any idea how I could go about that? > > -Mike Schinkel > Ignition Alley Atlanta Coworking > http://ignitionalley.com > > > > On Oct 27, 2009, at 9:27 AM, maureen krasner wrote: > >> Hi-- >> I'm Maureen (Mo) Krasner, a solo practitioner lawyer in metro >> Detroit. I was recently laid off from a large law firm and I'm re- >> thinking things. Upon my return to the home as an office for a >> while I came to realize that almost as much as the steady income I >> miss the community of "the office". My husband is a graphic >> designer who has been working out of the home for years and he >> feels the same-- and says its really impossible to get even going >> with your laptop to the local Starbucks. >> >> I also have this recollection of waiting in a hospital ICU waiting >> room on a critically ill relative for many days and having a few of >> us sit there with our laptops and completely different careers >> ( sales, senate intern, graphic designer, lawyer) side by side >> working while we waited and it was phenomenal how great it was to >> bounce things off each other and get perspectives unlike what you >> would get if (in my case) you were sitting among a bunch of other >> lawyers. >> >> I get a sense that there are many entrepreneurs, free-lancers, etc. >> working in my community who would benefit and welcome a space/ >> community co-working space. With so many companies/industries down >> sizing and more people going solo I think co-working has to be >> factored into a successful future. My thought for a local space >> would not be limited to any particular field or discipline. The >> city of Grosse Pointe is actually a great place for something like >> this it with the town being very small, banks, coffee shops, >> bagels, a few restaurants, a library etc. all within walking >> distance of each other. And like so much of Michigan a place >> looking to renew/reinvent itself. I'd like to start trying to >> figure out if this is doable and how to make it happen. >> >> Mo Krasner >> mtkras...@gmail.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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Introduction/Mobile Coworking
Also use Twitter. Twitter is like virtual coworking for active users. I think people who actively use Twitter are much more likely than the average person to be drawn to coworking. Follow everyone you can from your local area. Engage people you follow in public conversation by responding to their tweets with something meaningful to add. Behave like you would face to face at a social event but feel free to "butt in" on any conversation; not only is that okay, it's expected. If you see the people you follow tweeting things you think are noteworthy, especially links to interesting articles, retweet them. And also talk about what you are doing throughout the day. Subtly mention your facility when it seems natural. Do NOT go into full court press marketing mode; your goal is to get people to want to engage with you, not run screaming from you. And while it makes sense to get a Twitter account for your coworking space too, tweet mostly from your own personal account with a screen name that matches your full name (or as close to it as you can get) and an avatar that is a headshot showing your face clearly. We Twitters mostly want to engage and build relationships with real people, not faceless entities. Lastly be sure in your profile to state your location being the city where your space is, a bio that mentions your role related to your space, and a URL to your space's website or a link to a page about you that includes a very easy to find link to your space's website. Spend 30 minutes a day on Twitter doing this and my bet is if there are people locally who are real propects for your space you'll soon fill it. Again JMTCW. Sent from my iPhone On Jul 9, 2009, at 10:37 PM, Mike Pihlman wrote: > > > Mike: Thats is a great idea. Thanks. :-) > > Liza: That is why I started tutoring now that I am a real teacher. > 5 students (I have 1 and it's summer) and 5 coworkers (I have 3) and > I'm breaking even. Tracy is low cost compared to your location, I'm > sure. > > With all your BWI will talk to you off-line about some ideas. > > Mike > > > > --- On Thu, 7/9/09, mikeschin...@newclarity.net > wrote: > >> From: mikeschin...@newclarity.net >> Subject: [Coworking] Re: Introduction/Mobile Coworking >> To: "coworking@googlegroups.com" >> Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 7:27 PM >> >> Have you contacted local organizers on Meetup.com and >> offered them to >> hold their meetups in your facility for free in the >> evenings? This >> could get a lot of traffic through your space. If there are >> not local >> meetups for your target demographic consider organizing >> them yourself. >> JMTCW. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Jul 9, 2009, at 9:40 PM, Liza Loop >> wrote: >> >>> >>> Hi Mike, >>> >>> We're having the same problem. Our location is in a >> light industrial >>> area, off the beaten path for pedestrians. It's ideal >> for quiet >>> cubicle residents but since the bottom has fallen out >> of the office >>> market folks can get an enclosed office for what we >> have to charge for >>> a cubicle. >>> >>> We thought our fiber optic connectivity and >> collocation facility would >>> be a sufficient draw for people who need a big web >> pipe but so far our >>> expectations haven't been realized. The tenants we do >> have are >>> struggling as much as we are. >>> >>> Lookers are great but they don't pay the bills. 3 or 4 >> who don't >>> actually join the club are tantalizing. We can survive >> for another >>> couple of months but without some serious support it >> will be curtains >>> for Fiber High. Our other IT business, GoQuiet, has >> been subsidizing >>> Fiber High for almost a year and we're getting very >> hungry. >>> >>> We're trying out a series of free Up 'n Down >> Load-a-thons to give >>> folks a free taste of our high speed network (the next >> one is July >>> 28th, 3-11 pm). Hopefully it will be addictive. But >> we're not waiting >>> for miracles. Rather, we're exploring other business >> models to provide >>> additional income. Any suggestions are more than >> welcome. >>> >>> I hope that we haven't created a co-working bubble by >> sharing our >>> enthusiam online with each other and miss judged the >> market. >>> >>> Cheers (slightly damped),m >>> >>> Liza Loop >>> >>> On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Mike Pihlman> wrote: Liza: I'm finding it difficult to get folks in >> here. But, I have a steady dribble of 3 or 4 lookers per week and am >> encouraged by that. I am only 2 months into itso I think / hope there is >> time. Maybe when school starts up again there will be more lookers >> (especially for the tutoring part). I take heart in all the success storiesso >> please keep them coming! :-) Mike Liza Loop wrote: > Hello Jimmy, > > Our biggest challenge has been letting people >> know our coworking > site >
[Coworking] Re: Introduction/Mobile Coworking
Have you contacted local organizers on Meetup.com and offered them to
hold their meetups in your facility for free in the evenings? This
could get a lot of traffic through your space. If there are not local
meetups for your target demographic consider organizing them yourself.
JMTCW.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 9, 2009, at 9:40 PM, Liza Loop wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> We're having the same problem. Our location is in a light industrial
> area, off the beaten path for pedestrians. It's ideal for quiet
> cubicle residents but since the bottom has fallen out of the office
> market folks can get an enclosed office for what we have to charge for
> a cubicle.
>
> We thought our fiber optic connectivity and collocation facility would
> be a sufficient draw for people who need a big web pipe but so far our
> expectations haven't been realized. The tenants we do have are
> struggling as much as we are.
>
> Lookers are great but they don't pay the bills. 3 or 4 who don't
> actually join the club are tantalizing. We can survive for another
> couple of months but without some serious support it will be curtains
> for Fiber High. Our other IT business, GoQuiet, has been subsidizing
> Fiber High for almost a year and we're getting very hungry.
>
> We're trying out a series of free Up 'n Down Load-a-thons to give
> folks a free taste of our high speed network (the next one is July
> 28th, 3-11 pm). Hopefully it will be addictive. But we're not waiting
> for miracles. Rather, we're exploring other business models to provide
> additional income. Any suggestions are more than welcome.
>
> I hope that we haven't created a co-working bubble by sharing our
> enthusiam online with each other and miss judged the market.
>
> Cheers (slightly damped),m
>
> Liza Loop
>
> On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Mike Pihlman > wrote:
>>
>> Liza:
>>
>> I'm finding it difficult to get folks in here. But, I have a steady
>> dribble of 3 or 4 lookers per week and am encouraged by that. I am
>> only
>> 2 months into itso I think / hope there is time. Maybe when
>> school
>> starts up again there will be more lookers (especially for the
>> tutoring
>> part).
>>
>> I take heart in all the success storiesso please keep them
>> coming! :-)
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>>
>> Liza Loop wrote:
>>> Hello Jimmy,
>>>
>>> Our biggest challenge has been letting people know our coworking
>>> site
>>> is available. Neither I nor my partner are natural publicists.
>>>
>>> After watching these postings for about 6 months I'm beginning to
>>> believe this is a common but under-discussed problem. We hear a lot
>>> from the groups that are having well attended events but those that
>>> are having difficulty bringing people in are quiet about it.
>>>
>>> Does anyone else out there get this impression?
>>>
>>> Liza Loop
>>> Fiber High,
>>> 989 Commercial St.
>>> Palo Alto, CA
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 7:49 AM, Jimmy wrote:
>>>
Hi folks,
My name is Jimmy Thrasher, and I live near Mebane, NC ("Mebbin",
10K-
ish people). My interest in coworking is mainly from the working
side, but to that end I and a friend are evaluating setting up a
light-
weight "mobile coworking" space that can be dropped into any of the
number of empty office spaces in downtown Mebane. There are enough
telecommuters and long-distance commuters that I think it could fly
but haven't proven it to myself yet.
I really just want to be able to cycle to work.
If anybody here has set up something like this, I'd be interested
to
hear your experiences. I'm envisioning:
- a big room
- with two tables
- free (included) wifi
- free-ish coffee
- nice chairs
Jimmy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Mike Pihlman
>> TracyVirtualOffice
>> "A Coworking Community"
>> 95 W. 11th Street, Suite 203
>> Tracy, CA 95376
>> Mobile: 209-608-4340
>> Web: TracyVirtualOffice.com
>> Twitter: @TracyVirtOffice
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>
>
> >
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[Coworking] Re: Pricing - are we getting something wrong?
I was going to say exactly that. Thanks for writing it so I didn't have to. -Mike Sent from my iPhone On Jun 21, 2009, at 2:23 PM, Gareth Knight wrote: > Rob, > > My 0.02c: > Bump up the price to $100, and put the excess cash into savings (in > a good interest rate account), and keep it there for the rainy day > that WILL come; or upkeep / improving / marketing / events / etc. > You're still way below the competition, and if you run to lean for > too long, you're going to have problems at some stage. > > Best ;-) > > Regards > Gareth > > gareth.kni...@gmail.com > http://www.oneafrikan.com/ > > UK mobile: +44 (0) 77 66 00 66 56 > SA mobile: +27 (0) 72 62 79 21 2 > twitter: http://twitter.com/oneafrikan > skype: iamoneafrikan > chat: oneafri...@hotmail.com | gareth.kni...@gmail.com > about: http://www.oneafrikan.com/colophon/ > photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethknight/sets/ > > Due to email overload, I subscribe to this policy: > http://five.sentenc.es/ > > > > 2009/6/20 robdavy > > Hi Everyone, > > Quick question (kinda)... > > We're in the process of setting up a coworking space/hacker space here > in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (metro pop of 1m). We're well underway, > non-profit registered, directors elected, space found, 40+ members > joined, etc. > > We're obviously working on a non-profit model, shared space, 24/7 > access, etc. > > My concern is pricing. Lots of places seem to offer what we're going > to be offering for many hundreds of dollars a month. We're going to be > doing it for $50. $50/month gets you unlimited access to our 3700sq ft > space. No permanent desks, but permanent offices will be offered for > around $250/month. Our's is not exactly a co-working space in the > sense we do not expect people to work here 9-5 (some will of course, > but most members have full time jobs and want the collaborative use of > the space, plus access to the equipment (machining, etc). Check out > http://d.ents.ca/ for photos > > Why $50/month? Our rent is $5/sqft + $2.87 operating. 3700sq ft @ $8 = > $2500/month ($'s are per year). So based on the non-profit model found > here http://coworking.pbworks.com/PricingExamples we need $3750/month. > Well, our utils are included in the operating, internet is free from > someones business via a point to point wireless connection, etc, etc, > so we're figuring max $500/month in misc costs. The landlord is also > giving us 2 months free rent. > > So say $3000/month, that's only 60 members @ $50/month each. We have > 40 signed up now (of course some will drop out, but we've still got > many coming in) and we'll cover more costs with offices rented. > > Is it just the cheap rent that is making our space $50/month and not > $300/month (or more!). > Why do some (most) places need to charge so much? > > Thanks in advance > > > Rob Davy > Edmonton New Technology Society > www.ents.ca > > > > > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Marketing a Co-working space
Suggestion: Go to Meetup.com and look for local groups that fit your target demographic. Contact the organizers and offer to let them use your space for evening meetings for free. -Mike Schinkel Atlanta, GA USA On Jun 12, 2009, at 10:11 AM, Trent wrote: > > Chris, we are in a similar boat, just lot smaller pond. We live in a > bedroom community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. in a few weeks we > will open our space and have tried web, press releases, and recently > door hangers. In our area a lot of folks work from home and we > thought the best way to reach them directly would be door hangers. > Sent out 5,000 and recieved no calls or emails in the past 3 weeks. > Clearly did not work so dont try it. we are now heading to the > chamber and working on getting the press releases fine tuned so > someone will publish them. Find someone who knows the press release > gamut and give it a try. > > We have 18 seat and are looking for 40 members. we are wanting to do > a Jelly and have contacted the Jelly gurus for some assistance but > have not heard back yet. One of my possible hires has a lot of > marketing experience and says we need to try many avenues and see > which ones get better traction. It could take 6 months to get a small > crowd but that is progress. Keep hammering away at it. > > On Jun 5, 9:38 am, Chris wrote: >> Hi All - >> >> Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd try to reactivate this >> one. I couldn't post this to here, but I want to continue the >> discussion >> from:http://groups.google.com/group/coworking/browse_thread/thread/f527023 >> ... >> >> My name is Chris Schultz. We just opened Launch Pad in New Orleans >> (http://launchpadnola.com/) >> on Monday, and its been a major process of preparation and move-in as >> many of you know up to this point. We have a core group of 9 people >> right now who are members, but with room for 30 or so, we need to get >> on the marketing stick to keep moving forward w/ the space. Up to >> this point, we've generated awareness by word-of-mouth, and most of >> our members right now are folks who were waiting for us to open and >> who we already know. Low hanging fruit if you will. >> >> We're trying to focus our efforts for a major push this summer to >> build the community. I definitely hear on the comments above and >> from >> what I've learned from many of you that building the community is the >> most critical component of making our space successful. But I have >> some specific questions that I'm hoping you can help me with. >> >> * Education about Co-working - we have 3 products: co-working, >> permanent desks, and 3 closed door offices. There has been big >> demand >> for the closed door offices and we have a waiting list. >> Unfortunately, we haven't been able to convert that into interest in >> the desks in the open workspace. We have some people who get it, but >> also, a number who aren't as comfortable with the concept. Has >> anyone >> else run into this? And if so, how do you educate the market about >> the >> joys of co-working and build a comfort level? >> >> * Sampling - One thing that we are considering is doing a series of >> free co-working days. We want to get people in here, build the >> community, and have people experience what its like to co-work. But >> we are also sensitive of giving away for free what we are charging >> others for. Right now, we are considering hosting a Jelly every >> Friday or every other Friday for the summer. Has anyone tried this >> to >> get the word out? >> >> * Traditional vs Online - one thing that we feel is that our message >> is fairly out there in the New Orleans tech community. However, >> outside of our social networks, we don't have as much awareness. >> We're considering trying to reach other folks in more traditional >> ways. On the thread above, there doesn't seem to be much luck with >> it. Anyone have any successes? If so, what? >> >> Thanks guys, and thanks to all of you who inspired and supported >> Launch Pad. We are thrilled to be open for business. Anyone who >> wants to stop by anytime you are in New Orleans, please come by any >> time! >> >> Chris Schultz >> Launch Pad >> New Orleans, LA > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ 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 -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
