Hi - see below.
Jerome
______________
BLANKSPACES
"work wide open"
www.blankspaces.com
5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.330.9505 (office)
On Feb 7, 2010, at 8:13 PM, Mike Schinkel wrote:
On Feb 7, 2010, at 8:06 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
I have been collaborating with the head of ABCN already. That org
is a global network of exec centers. Coworking technically falls
under a niche within biz centers and I've just proposed to ABCN to
create a new, separate group. We utilize their experience with
alliances and therefore their infrastructure.
Any thoughts or serious objections?
My own bias would be to move in our own direction because we'll
likely disrupt their member's business models and it would be better
for us to be purely coworking rather than based on a legacy
organization. But again, my bias.
If ABCN even agrees, I would ensure that we have autonomy, as the biz
centers are fascinated by coworking and think we're the "hottest"
trend now. ABCN has a lot to learn about us, and for example, might
even be able to assign resources to us to organize said nat'l
conference without our investing in too many resources ourselves.
On Feb 7, 2010, at 9:49 PM, rachel young wrote:
Well, my first few thoughts were:
1. Do you mean an actual legal entity that is an association or co-
operative, or more of an unofficial collective?
Not sure. Probably needs to be a legal entity because someone
somewhere has to take the money, sign up for the facility, pay the
vendors, etc. But the less heavy it can be the better IMO.
Everyone, please note that the above requirement for a legal entity
clearly shows the start-up nature of this org, which means a TON of
time and resources. This is why I thought piggybacking on an existing
org would be easiest for us.
2. Regardless of whether it is a traditional or modern concept,
what about the rest of us that are not in the USA? There are so
many restrictions for such organisations that would be great for
americans (or just canadians if it were a canadian co-op, or just
british if in england, etc) but useless for the rest of us.
What restrictions do you refer to?
ditto. Anyone have any experience with this? I know that ABCN is
int'l.
So, if something were to exist, we could only participate if it was
structured as an international association.
I'm not sure I understand the specific distinction between an
international association and one that is not. If it states it's
mission to be international, is that not enough?
3. This would also cost money. If the cost of a conference is an
issue, then additional dues, fees, etc would also be an issue, even
if they went exclusively to conference costs.
What specific expenses do you envision prior to collecting
sponsorships? Legal fees? Can probably get that handled pro-
bono. Other?
I do, however, like the idea of some sort of association, if it
were international, and I do love the idea of the association (or
co-op, or whatever) being the organisation that runs the conference.
:)
BTW, I'm just brainstorming and might be way off base on some of
these thoughts and ideas.
-Mike
On Feb 7, 2010, at 9:49 PM, rachel young wrote:
Well, my first few thoughts were:
1. Do you mean an actual legal entity that is an association or co-
operative, or more of an unofficial collective?
2. Regardless of whether it is a traditional or modern concept,
what about the rest of us that are not in the USA? There are so
many restrictions for such organisations that would be great for
americans (or just canadians if it were a canadian co-op, or just
british if in england, etc) but useless for the rest of us. So, if
something were to exist, we could only participate if it was
structured as an international association.
3. This would also cost money. If the cost of a conference is an
issue, then additional dues, fees, etc would also be an issue, even
if they went exclusively to conference costs.
I do, however, like the idea of some sort of association, if it
were international, and I do love the idea of the association (or
co-op, or whatever) being the organisation that runs the conference.
r.
On 7 February 2010 20:06, Jerome Chang <[email protected]>
wrote:
Oh. Traditional is fine. I just thought having much further
discussion about a co-op would be reinventingte wheel. From what
I've seen, we have two related proposals:
1. National org/network/co-op
2. National conference
Forming #1 would assign the people/resources toward creating #1 and
at the same time, create add'l discussions/collaborations/benefits
throughout the year regardless of the conference.
I have been collaborating with the head of ABCN already. That org
is a global network of exec centers. Coworking technically falls
under a niche within biz centers and I've just proposed to ABCN to
create a new, separate group. We utilize their experience with
alliances and therefore their infrastructure.
Any thoughts or serious objections?
Jerome
On Feb 7, 2010, at 4:13 PM, Mike Schinkel <[email protected]
> wrote:
Sounds like a "traditional" alliance or org that services all
coworking facilities. Members pitch in a monthly/yearly amount
to an org that returns them benefits, etc.
So, do you think "traditional" is good or bad?
-Mike
On Feb 7, 2010, at 4:16 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
Sounds like a "traditional" alliance or org that services all
coworking facilities. Members pitch in a monthly/yearly amount
to an org that returns them benefits, etc.
______________
BLANKSPACES
"work wide open"
www.blankspaces.com
5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.330.9505 (office)
On Feb 7, 2010, at 7:44 AM, Mike Schinkel wrote:
Hi all,
The first thing I thought about when I saw this topic come
through was "Great, yet another expense on top of all the other
expenses we have."
As some of you know we operate Ignition Alley mostly as a
service to our local startup and freelance community and much
less to generate a profit. Attending a conference means
probably $1000+ in travel expenses and that is not attractive.
But then I thought "This need not be like commercial
conferences, it could be in run like coworking itself as a
collaborative for the benefit of those who participate and not
as a way for someone to make money." So at a very high level
I'd like to propose the following without having worked out all
the details:
-- Create a coworking facility co-op
-- Each facility that wants to can participate in the co-op
-- The co-op runs the conference
-- Co-op members work to get sponsors
-- The co-op markets to economic development agencies, chambers
of commerce, and major corporations[1] for paid attendance
-- Co-op members get their cut of the profits which help them
pay to attend the event
Thoughts?
-Mike Schinkel
Ignition Alley Atlanta Coworking
http://ignitionalley.com
[1] Major corporations are starting to look to the coworking
model to be greener in facility use and to maximize worker/space
density to cut costs.
On Feb 3, 2010, at 10:30 PM, rachel young wrote:
I think an annual coworking conference is a great idea,
something dedicated to coworking, not tacked on to another
event. Something where we could focus on coworking and
community issues, meet each other, see one another's cities and
spaces. I'm in!
There would have to be a lot of value to it in order to bring
these already busy and stretched folks our of their spaces for
a few days, though, something that could leverage our buying
power for, I dunno, office furniture or health care benefits or
travel discounts or something. Something where we can not only
have those providers/suppliers sponsor the event to offset
costs, but to provide real value that would be worth traveling
for.
I've been involved in a few organisations that are spread
across multiple timezones or parts of the world, and they have
decided on location in similar fashions, which is basically
that host cities post their proposals and the community votes
on where it should be, perhaps one vote per coworking facility.
We can build in assurance that it won't always be in the same
cities or parts of the country all the time so that people in,
say, the west coast don't alwyas have to travel to the east
coast. (ie, establish general zones and ensure the annual event
rotates between zones)
Anyway, I think it is certainly worth exploring, and being an
event planner I am all for it.
I put your suggested starting topics onto a wiki page (http://coworking.pbworks.com/Coworking-Conference
), which I think would be better to collaborate from there. I
do think that this would take some time to plan out properly
(and give folks some time to save up some money), so if you
were thinking of escaping the winter conditions in the next few
months, then perhaps sxswi is your better option for this year.
r.
--
rachel young
[email protected]
(416) 801-0196
Find us in person:
Camaraderie
102 Adelaide St E, 2nd Floor
Find us online:
camaraderie.ca/blog
twitter.com/camaraderie
Woodie Neiss <[email protected]> Jan 30 09:49AM -0500
Anyone want to get together for the first International
Coworking Community Annual Meeting in ummm let’s say a warm,
sunny place like Miami? Sort of a one day event where we could
discuss best practices, set some protocols for future coworking
locations and formally organize ourselves so that we can
leverage our combined power?
Suggested topics to discuss (feel free to edit/add to/delete/etc)
1) Keys to success
a. pricing
b. Serivices to offer
2) Managing the bottom line
a. Financing the start up
b. Negotiating lease agreements
c. Managing monthly expenses
3) Marketing & PR
a. Building awareness
b. How to generate more buzz
c. The power of meet-ups
d. Leveraging your chamber of commerce
4) Creative suggestions from some of our winning locations
5) How to formally organize ourselves into an International
organization
Perhaps we could all complete some surveys prior, and then
present the results at the meeting as well?
Regards,
Woodie
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rachel young
[email protected]
(416) 801-0196
Find us in person:
Camaraderie
102 Adelaide St E, 2nd Floor
Find us online:
camaraderie.ca/blog
twitter.com/camaraderie
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