The principal underlying motivation for our coworking space is explicitly to cultivate entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy for the community and the surrounding region. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be successful. That said, I coined a phrase the other day to describe it. Coworking: free-range entrepreneurship.
--Ax On Dec 16, 11:28 am, "David Kominsky" <[email protected]> wrote: > Steven, > We at CubeSpace are very much a hub of Portland's open source tech scene, > and host space for lots of users groups to meet in the evening. The > important thing to realize, however, is that running a coworking space is > not a part time job. Rather, it is a more than full time job, especially if > you want to create the community of your vision. Happy to talk to you more > about this, but running off to do "my job." ;-) > > --David > > On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 9:03 AM, Steven Talcott Smith < > > > > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Hello Co-workers, > > > I am a software consultant and sometimes entrepreneur based in Boca > > Raton, Florida, and I am currently writing a report as a volunteer > > project for a local economic development non-profit focused on tech > > entrepreneurship. The report will cover what I think is necessary to > > nurture a thriving local entrepreneurial tech community (from a > > participant's perspective) and what I think the some of the > > opportunities are for non-profits, for-profits and groups that don't > > fit well in either category. There are many elements to this but one > > thing I am looking at is the idea of a space or spaces, in locations > > that are "places", that bring a stronger community aspect than > > incubators and more conventional workplace setups. Community is one > > of the missing elements here and I think the co-work movement has > > something to say about that. I believe there is room for a lot of > > different concepts and that they occupy different and potentially > > mutually supportive niches. > > > I became interested in co-work spaces through organizing my local Ruby > > developers meetup. For a long time, until I moved into an incubator, > > we lacked a place to meet. A number of us are freelancers and would > > enjoy working together along with other creative professionals whether > > or not anything we are working on would really qualify for an > > incubator. We also continually find ourselves in need of design and > > creative resources and we lack the community to make it easy to find > > people we are comfortable working with. > > > At RubyConf in Orlando last month, I ran into several other people who > > were involved in co-work spaces in Minnesota and Washington State. > > > I am primarily interested in creating a co-work space that would also > > be the "natural place" for professional meetups and user groups to get > > together. I am interested in what fellow co-workers think makes a > > successful space and location. How important is the convenience of > > public transit? How important is it to have potentially complementary > > nearby (walkable) resources and businesses such as libraries, book > > stores, cafes, etc? What are some surprising synergies you have > > discovered? Have you seen the co-work space produce new and > > successful relationships that would not have come about without it? > > > Has anyone provided space for user groups to meet in the evening? Was > > this successful in bringing membership and attention to the space? > > How much did you go out of your way to accommodate these groups? When > > the meetings break up do the members go home or do they stand outside > > or go somewhere else? What about adding facilities for trainers to > > use? Anyone who could teach a class on something technical or useful > > professionally will struggle with finding an appropriate venue. What > > about one that is designed for it? Could that be complementary to co- > > working? > > > How many anchor "members" (not tenants) do you need to have to begin > > to realize the community benefits? > > > I ask the members of this group to please point me to books I should > > read or other resources you may know about that are relevant to my > > report or to share personal experiences that might be enlightening for > > us all. > > > Very Much Appreciated, > > > Steven Talcott Smith > > -- > David Kominsky > [email protected] > 503-206-3500 > CubeSpace > 622 SE Grand Avenue > Portland, OR 97214 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
