Just an FYI on the putting the money where your interest is...there are many
spaces we've talked with that have faced this crisis in real life: LOTS of
interest ahead of time, then nobody actually wanting to commit ("Oh, did I
say I was *interested*? By interested, I meant, I would think about it if
the time was exactly right."). As Alex alludes to, there is less of this
when the community is tighter, but still expect to get 90% lurkers.Like Geoff says, if you can get others invested in the process, it makes a big difference. In fact, you need to get people generally invested in it anyway. What we always ask others looking to start any business that is supposed to attract community: "What's in it for them?" And space to work isn't really a benefit. Remember, there is serious competition (coffee shops, home office, etc.). The amazing thing that Indy Hall did was make it a project that was about, by and for everyone. We attended the grande opening and noticed something really special: there didn't seem to be anyone in charge. Everyone spoke in "our/we" terms about Indy Hall. At Citizen Space, we have a similar conundrum to you. It's our space and we hold the lease and it's our own, so we need to make the incentives different. We try to be democratic, but, ultimately, we are the final 'deciders'. What's in it for people who come to CS? Well, we work our arses off to keep the Social Capital of the place flowing: interesting events brought in from interesting organizations, really high profile drop-ins (we have free dropins to encourage people who are traveling to town to stop in...so high profile geeks from all over stop in regularly), putting money into making it a nice space for people to be proud of, etc. Anyway. What I'm trying to say is...what is in it for people to commit to your space? Tara On Jan 7, 2008 7:44 PM, Geoff DiMasi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Brent, > > I had the same concerns, so we asked people to sign contracts and pay > for as many months as they could afford. > > The community responded. > > I think it was a good way to go... to make people know up-front that > we need support to make this thing happen. > > Good luck, > Geoff > > -- > Geoff DiMasi > Indy Hall, Philly > > On Jan 7, 2008, at 7:53 PM, GroovyBrent wrote: > > > > > Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawesome <at> gmail.com> writes: > > > >> Brent, > >> While I think you're asking the right questions, it's in the wrong > >> order. > >> > >> Before you are concerned with the financial viability, you should > >> be looking > > to see if there is any existing community with a need for shared > > office space, > > or if there is a need for the community to be built around a shared > > office. > > > > Hey Alex - > > > > I have gotten quite a bit of feedback that there is a need, and I've > > met plenty > > of people who said they like the atmosphere and the community that > > we already > > have in the building. As a production company, we have about 20 > > fun, creative > > individuals as built-in "anchors," about half of which are in the > > building > > 40-hours per week. I've read through quite a bit of the archives, > > and have seen > > this "community first" discussion several times. > > > > I'm not looking to make a ton of money. Never was my point; my core > > business is > > supposed to take care of that for me. I'm just looking to keep my > > spare square > > footage occupied and generating revenue, and I'm looking to do it in > > a manner > > that is compatible with the community I already have in place. > > > > Let me provide an analogy from personal experience that makes me > > nervous about > > ignoring the financials, and going balls-out 'community first.' > > > > My father is a tremendous soccer fan. He plays soccer 3 nights a > > week, all his > > friends play soccer, they go to a local pub at 3 in the morning to > > watch > > European soccer matches live, they go to local high schools to watch > > soccer > > (even when they don't know any of the kids playing), and he is part > > of a huge > > soccer community in San Diego. As a matter of fact, if you like > > soccer, and you > > live in San Diego, you would almost certainly recognize my father's > > name. > > However, when my he took over ownership of a professional soccer > > franchise, he > > nearly lost his shirt (or nearly lost his cleats if you prefer to > > extend the > > analogy). Why? Because this tremendous, vibrant, close-knit, > > soccer-loving > > community didn't want to pay to see the games. They SAID they > > wanted to pay to > > see the games, but when it came time to pull the wallet out, their > > response was > > often "But we're soccer fans! We're a community! Can't you get us > > in for free > > or AT LEAST a discount?" > > > > It is all well and good to have a vibrant community, but if you > > can't pay the > > rent, that community will have no place to go (or more precisely > > will go > > someplace else). It is my experience that in this web 2.0 world, > > people often > > don't feel they have to pay for community (I can't think of a single > > successful > > online community that currently survives as a pay-for-subscription > > model). > > People *SAY* they understand that a business needs to pay the bills, > > but when it > > comes down to it, the free option wins out almost every time. > > > > So to rephrase my questions: > > > > 1) IN GENERAL, are owners of current co-working spaces finding that > > people are > > ACTUALLY pulling out their wallets to be a part of co-working > > communities? From > > what you're saying, it sounds like they are... > > > > 2) I have feedback that there is interest in a co-working space in > > San Diego > > (and one of my good friends and business associates at Digital > > Telepathy have > > just begun offering space). Is it OK if that space is a part of > > town that is > > generally office-park-ish, or do successful co-working spaces find > > that they > > need to be in a "COOL" part of town? > > > > 3) I have some ideas of the amenities that I want to provide, but > > I'm looking > > for feedback from current successful co-working operators as to what > > their > > communities find appealing; what makes your community members say > > "oh wow... > > this is really nice to have!" and keeps them coming back? > > > > 4) Other than not planning for "community first," are there some not- > > obvious > > mistakes that successful (or better yet, UNsuccessful!) co-working > > spaces have > > made? And can you offer tips for avoiding those mistakes? > > > > Thanks! > > -- > > Brent Altomare > > Executive Producer > > Groovy Like a Movie > > > > > > > > > > > > -- 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 [email protected] 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
