Sounds like I'll need to dust off my co-working laptop and check this out On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 9:04 AM, Raines Cohen <[email protected]> wrote:
> Yes, September 1 opening is what we're hearing as of last week. > I'm joining HUB Bay Area <http://bayarea.the-hub.net/> as a Founding > member; my wife and business partner Betsy Morris is planning to become a > Charter member, and work there some of the time, as part of The Brower > Center <http://www.browercenter.org/> in downtown Berkeley. > I was originally personally skeptical about the viability and * > coworkingishness* of "metered" hourly access vs. > anchors-as-desk-renters-by-the-month "traditional" (pioneer) coworking > community cooperative models, but my perspective changed as I: > > - got to know the people involved, their vision, and previous > projects/experience > - got hands-on experience with the challenges of space and > people/business relations management in our little "proto-coworking" > community in downtown Berkeley for the last year. While it's nice not to > have to pay hourly rent for our existing classroom space, we believe that > if > we're relying on hosting non-core-business outside events that gross less > than $100 for a night's work to offset our rent, we're doing it wrong. And > we didn't get a voice in selecting the tenants who joined after us, and had > incompatible growth and use patterns. > - saw the engaged communities growing around *Outside The Cube* (*aka > Cubes and Crayons*), *New Work City* and *Sandbox Suites*, centrally > managed/hourly metered access spaces > - got more details on the benefits of membership and pricing/spaces for > events; rather than paying equal shares of all the space and initial > capital > investment, paying for just what we use reduces our upfront and ongoing > costs. Because the building incorporates multiple levels of sharing, it can > get maximal value for spaces and resources. > - clarified our own business vision and plans, mapping out > partnerships, sorting out priorities - where can we add the greatest value? > Where do we want to be spending our time? Where do we get leverage through > cooperation? > - realized the true power of coworking: instead of putting all our eggs > in one basket (*leasing a single space*), we could be a member here (*which > includes use of the SF space once it opens, and many across Europe, where > **The HUB network* <http://www.the-hub.net/>* started*), and focus on > building our community connections and business relationships so we can > partner on events elsewhere as necessary. > > Plus, it's a 5-minute nearly-flat bike ride from my house, a block from the > subway, across the street from the University of California campus, and > surrounded by an incredible variety of dining options, including one friends > are co-creating right in the building <http://terrainrestaurant.com/> that > I may invest in. In a building with showers and bike parking (*including > secure attended "valet" bike parking a block away*). And many event > spaces, from conference rooms to a theater. And in a new ultra-green > building, full of potential partners and > clients<http://www.browercenter.org/tenants>in related businesses, and > another coworking-style space, the Sustainable > Enterprise Cluster, a *green business incubator* run by Dominican > University of California's (*formerly Dominican College, not related to > the University of California*) Green MBA <http://www.GreenMBA.com/>program, > which includes a branch of another longtime coworking-esque > venture, the NextNow Collaboratory <http://www.nextnow.org/>. > > Our current office has a bunch of private storage space, which we'll miss ( > *it was a big relief getting our work materials out of the house - > fortunately, some alternatives have emerged*), and big bookshelves built > in. But we really don't need that in the same place that we work together > with folks in and hold meetings. > > Raines Cohen, Coworking Coach <http://www.CoworkingCoach.com/> > *Planning for Sustainable Communities* (*Berkeley, California*) > > On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 2:41 AM, David J. Kordsmeier <[email protected]>wrote: > >> http://www.bayarea.the-hub.net/public/ >> >> Anyone have any scoop on when it will be operational? >> > > > > > -- Ted Tagami mobile: +1 510 684 9773 skype: ted_tagami http://www.linkedin.com/in/tagami http://tagami.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
