You are welcome any time Faye, fingers crossed we get that March opening, we've got some pretty special guests lined up for the launch party....
On Thursday, November 8, 2012 2:40:28 PM UTC, ENTERPRISE HUB NETWORK wrote: > > Hi Tom - will be getting down to see you in the New Year - well done - > sounds ace - come up and see us sometime when you get a minute - absolute > central success factor for the coworking spaces is building the community > first and love your description of how you did that - also liked the idea > ‘…bought every one a coffee’ - simple, powerful stuff! > > Hope we meet up one day! > > Fay > > www.enterprisehubnetwork.com > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] <javascript:> [mailto: > [email protected] <javascript:>] *On Behalf Of *Mojo > *Sent:* 08 November 2012 14:32 > *To:* [email protected] <javascript:> > *Subject:* [Coworking] Re: Greetings from Coworking Bath > > > > Hi Tom, seems like you're doing all the right things to get up and > running. I have a friend who lives in Burmarsh who uses the coworking > space in Canterbury ... so glad to see there is lots of coworking growth in > UK cities outside of London. > > > > Craig > > On Wednesday, November 7, 2012 4:32:06 AM UTC-5, Tom Lewis wrote: > > Hi all, I've just received my daily digest from the group, and thought it > would be a great time to jump in and say hello. We're Coworking Bath, and > we're working hard on opening a coworking space here in beautiful Bath in > the UK. If you've ever visited the UK from aboard then you may well have > visited for the day, if not then I highly recommend it, if you come to the > UK for work or a holiday then it's a great way to get out of London for a > day or longer and visit a world heritage site (and you can visit Stonehenge > on the same day!) > > > > Anyway, when I arrived in this city 2 years ago I didn't know a single > person, and I thought that the best way to get to know interesting people > was by starting a networking group. After ignoring all the usual naysayers > telling me that it wouldn't work/ there were already networks here/I didn't > know what I was doing, I got together with someone and we threw our first > evening event- we put 100 tickets on meetup and they sold out within > minutes. Fast forward 2 years and we've just hit 500 members (see > http://www.bathspark.co.uk/), and we've now grown to include breakfast > meetings, and an annual awards ceremony which was attended by no less than > Peter Gabriel! > > > > So, Bath has another great community to go with the existing ones devoted > to creatives, and other tech groups too, and as I've always wanted to > create a place where these groups come together, it was only logical to > seek out a place where we could create a coworking hub. I thought it would > be easy, but given the unique nature of this city (it's very old and very > small, and the buildings are owned by a very small elite), it has been > tough. But I've refused to give up and refused to take no for an answer, > and I've now won a £500,000 grant to redevelop part of the town hall into > an amazing series of spaces for these communities. It's a historic > building right in the centre of the city, and in total is around 4000 sq > feet (350 sqm). I've taken on help, and now have a team of 3, and together > we are currently designing the space, engaging the communities, and > mobilising for the launch of what is already a huge story for the city- > right now we're aiming for March 1st 2013, and the building has already > been vacated ahead of the developers moving in. > > > > I've personally met with almost 100 potential members, one on one (and > I've bought each one a coffee), I've asked what they want to see, and how > they see the space working for them. I've been to see dozens of hubs in > the UK, and spoken to hub owners all over the world. We've poured over our > figures, reached out for help now and again from people like Alex and Tony > (thanks for your patience guys), and I think we've got a great business > model, we're engaged with all the communities here in Bath, they all > eagerly await our next email update, we're in the local paper regularly, > all eyes are on what we can do (no pressure). We're using Pinterest to > great effect as mood boards for our various rooms (see > http://pinterest.com/coworkingbath/) and we're engaging with people who > don't have time to meet or chat on the phone via our forum at > https://getsatisfaction.com/coworkingbath. We also have around 100 > people already pre registered for the space, and over 200 others on the > mailing list who are interested. > > > > So that's us, we're Coworking Bath, we're building something amazing that > will change this city forever, we're creating a physical beacon for all the > incredibly diverse tech and creative groups down here, and we'd love to > welcome you as our guest if you ever visit Bath for the day. I'm happy to > share any of my experiences, answer any questions, or help the cause any > way I can. > > > > Take care > > > > Tom > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
