Here in NYC, shared workspace is becoming highly commoditized. People are starting to realize that this coworking thing a big deal, and it attracts talented people. In a world where many are desperate to find and hire technical talent, setting up an attractive "coworking" space is a small investment to make. It is also increasingly being used by the office rental industry as a loss leader to get young and growing business owners in the door.
I've been watching this phenomenon explode in NYC over the past couple of years, and the message it sends to community coworking spaces is clear: you must be far, far more than just a place to work. If people can't distinguish what you offer from what they offer, you will lose-- because they can offer better services for cheaper. Because workspace is a commodity. A truly healthy community, however, is not a commodity. It cannot be quite so easily approximated. This is an opportunity for us. A few years ago, there was little to contrast against. Now that there are things out there that represent what we *aren't*, we are enabled to better communicate to people what we *are*. This also means we can't get away with simply offering people a convenient place to work. The thing we're really offering, the community, has to take a starring role. And it has to be good. And it has to keep getting better. On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 7:45 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski <[email protected]>wrote: > We've talked on this group and maybe offline too about our worries > with companies adding coworking like Lee Press-On Nails to their > existing spaces. Like these fake fingernails, they're pretty for about > 5 days and then fall off. Well, a beloved company in a near-by town is > adding a free coworking space for developers. I can already tell that > the fans of coworking in Boulder, CO are cheering about this news. It > looks like the company is taking it in a great direction and based on > how many people are emailing me about it, I believe it! > > This recent news got me thinking about a future of coworking where the > spaces become privatized in companies but they hire the coworking > community managers (like me) to do the community stuff from the > inside. Maybe any nominal fees that are charged merely cover the > community manager's salary. I'd be open to an arrangement like this if > the company was well-run and respected and gave the coworking > community autonomy! > > Here's the announcement: > Subject: Introducing Codespace – shared (free!) office space in > Boulder for geeking out > Date: July 5, 2011 1:30:57 PM MDT > > One of the many things that makes Boulder a great city for start-ups > is its incredibly collaborative environment (see posts on my love of > Boulder here andhere). From the willingness of mentors to help out > TechStars companies, to collaborative efforts around recruiting great > talent to our city, I’m constantly amazed at how many people are > working to make Boulder an amazing place for businesses to thrive. > > Today there’s another new initiative launching to help young tech > companies in our community – Trada is opening CodeSpace, a free co- > working space dedicated to startup developers and software engineers. > CodeSpace will be located in Trada’s downtown Boulder offices and will > have over 2000 sq ft of space dedicated to the effort. > > While there are many places where non-technical entrepreneurs can meet > up in Boulder to discuss their startups, there are few places where > software developers can camp out for the day, week or month and work > together on a project. We wanted to add this environment to the mix of > coffee shops, traditional co-working spaces, and rented offices in > Boulder. And in CodeSpace you don’t even have to buy coffee to camp > out there (in fact the coffee is on Trada!). > > But you do need to apply. There are spots for three dev teams (1-4 > people each) for semi-permanent space as well as come-as-you-are dev > and co-working space (with whiteboards, internet, access to > caffeinated beverages, etc). > > To start, CodeSpace will be open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. The > program will run through the summer with the expectation that it will > extend/expand in the fall as we learn what works best. > > To apply for one of the 3 dedicated co-working spaces please visit > trada.com/codespace > > -- > 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. > > -- 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.
