Mike, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles keeping things going. We have a similar challenge here in the Twin Cities. One, the coworking concept is new. Two, the urban density is not such that people are banging down our doors to become coworkers for lack of working space.
So, we've offered a mix of the hot-swap desks as well as what we call "colocation" spaces. Colocation spaces are essentially offices that fit 2-4 people. Only difference is that they only have 3 walls. Where a 4th wall and a door would be, it's open. So, we tell people that it's semi-private space. By definition, you interact with and are part of the community. Currently we have about 10 small bizzes that house with us and we have room for a couple more. And you know what? For the most part it works. The colocators give us a bit of financial stability (we charge more for those memberships than we do regular coworkers), and we find that the colocators interact with everyone else just fine. Only on occasion (when the Internets go down or the temp is too high/low) do we experience the landlord/tennant relationship. They expect us to fix things faster because of that. Not that we don't want to fix things, but there's more of a "I'm your customer so serve me" attitude than when you're dealing with regular coworkers. Still, it's nothing so bad or so frequent that it concerns me. And in fact, we've had coworkers become colocators and vice versa (depending on their needs and fortunes). In conclusion, I think it's valid to offer hybrid solutions, if that's what your market will respond to. We don't need to get hung up on purity. After all, this is a business, not a religion. Best of luck. We'll be rooting for you! Don CoCo coworking and collaborative space St. Paul, MN http://cocomsp.com On Oct 20, 2:41 pm, Mike P <[email protected]> wrote: > I know everyone on this list (or nearly everyone) is doing very well. I > have to say, Tracy , CA is a much different dynamic (remember going in > almost two years ago... I was focused on telecommuting)...but it is home, so > I will not leave, and will try not to give up. And I love coworking! > > In an effort to survive until "coworking" becomes the thing to do in Tracy, > CA...I am selling out a bit and offering two office as Private offices. I'm > hoping that once people see the value of coworking word will spread, but, I > have to get people in here, and I have to be around, and if the only way to > do that is to offer the "Same ole Same ole" the good people of Tracy are > used to....I have decided to go that route. > > "Get the best of TWO worlds...your own PRIVATE office, and the collaboration > and community of coworking" > > Just figured I'd let you all know...thanks to all of your for your support, > hopefully I'll be around past March 2011.... > > http://altamontcowork.com/blog/2010/10/20/two-private-offices-for-ren... > > <http://altamontcowork.com/blog/2010/10/20/two-private-offices-for-ren...> > Mike > > -- > "Visithttp://ForCarol.com<http://forcarol.com/> and help raise teen > awareness about unsafe driving and encourage parents to enforce curfews! > Would you rather argue with your teen...or bury them?" > > Mike Pihlman > AltamontCowork / ForCarol.com > 95 W. 11th Street, Suite 205 > Tracy, CA 95376 > Phone: 209-757-8862 > Web:http://AltamontCowork.com > Twitter: @AltamontCowork > Facebook:http://Facebook.com/AltamontCowork > Drive Safely! http://ForCarol.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.
