Hey Alex. Thank you! I'm in Anchorage. That is good advice. I definitely like the idea you lay out in that post and would prefer to do it that way. I also like the idea of working those things out with the Jelly members. A couple things though:
- At this moment I have zero dollars of my own I could put into the space. I would love to and absolutely would put it into it if I did however. I don't see this changing significantly in the next 6 months either. Maybe a family loan once I start taking prepayments? - Currently, the Jelly's are less specific to creating our space as they are just centered around casual coworking in general. I know about half of them know I'm starting a space, but I'm not sure it's that obvious what the purpose of the Jelly's are. Do you have any suggestions on how to change this other than just telling people when they're there? - Also, how did you approach bringing up these topics at a Jelly? Ours are pretty unstructured. Show up between 10am - 4pm whenever you can. I haven't done anything special other than getting them together. Any tips around this would be amazing. On a slightly different note. I want to gear things up as quickly as I can. Although I don't have funds to put in ATM, I have time. Do you see there being any downside to trying to push the community together in a shorter period of time? It seems like time might be a necessary part of forming value in a community. Haha! That is reassuring. But not enough to keep me from thinking I don't have it right or that I don't know what I'm doing. LOL! I appreciate it! From my limited reading here, it sure feels that way! :) Thanks again, Job On Thursday, August 1, 2013 6:35:26 PM UTC-8, Alex Hillman wrote: > > Welcome aboard, Job. What an awesome intro! Where in Alaska are you? > > It sounds like your reasons have a lot in common with why I started Indy > Hall :) > > Since you're already on the path of engaging members with Jelly (yay!), > one piece of advice that I like to share is not to live in a bubble with > the problem solving around funding, looking for space, biz planning, and > all of those details. Work on those things WITH the jelly members! They've > got the answers, even if they don't know it yet. > > You might find this post helpful: > http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/09/how-to-fund-your-coworking-space/ > > Also, it sounds to me like you're anxiety and excitement are all coming > from the right places, if that's at all reassuring to you. > > Best of luck from Philadelphia - you're in great company on this list :) > > -Alex > > > > > > -- > > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > > On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 9:34 PM, Job Sonnentag > <[email protected]<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> Hi Everyone, >> >> Just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Job. After 7 years of working >> alone, from home, as a freelance designer you get, well, lonely... and >> depressed. So I decided to start a coworking space! What's more is that I'm >> passionate about the idea of coworking spaces in general and their >> potential for change not only on a personal level, but a city and even >> state level as well. So not only do I want to create a space that I find >> inspiration in, but that others find inspiration in, that brings us >> together as a community and empowers us to create amazing things without >> having to leave the State - AKA "brain drain". I have larger goals of >> revitalizing the part of the city the space is planned to be in. Likewise I >> hope to lead by example and change pervasive, negative mindsets that >> currently resonate throughout parts of our state. >> >> My first step was to start a Jelly. I jumped right in, doing them once a >> week – 5 so far. In addition I plan to add 2 "late night" Jelly's twice a >> month for those who can't make the weekly one. >> >> Currently I'm in the process of finding sources of funding, looking for a >> space, fudging with numbers, coming up with a business plan and apparently >> trying to kill myself stressing over the exact details of how to do this >> right and not fuck it up. LOL! That's probably healthy, right? >> >> So I care. And because I care I alternate between extreme excitement and >> being scared out of my mind. I just hope to not let that fear prohibit me >> from accomplishing my goal. Andy Soell's piece – On Opening A Coworking >> Space <https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/be9f296c0aee> – helped >> with that the other night actually. Thanks again for that if you're >> reading, Andy. >> >> Anyway, that's me! LOL! Look forward to talking with the rest of you. :) >> >> Job >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

