Hi, I love the idea of making use of unused spaces, but every space owner, be it a cafe, a rental hall, a shopping mall, or a condo complex, has its responsibility for safety and liability. I've consulted with cafes and restaurants before, and with no offense to you and your potential cafe coworkers, your friend or any other cafe/restaurant owner would be foolish to hand over the keys to her cafe for someone else to use equipment and handle food (coffee grounds are still considered food). Surely you have some sort of municipal or regional health and safety standards that food places need to meet, and random people volunteering to use equipment isn't likely going to meet those requirements, and if owners have liability insurance, I doubt the insurance companies would take it lightly to hear that volunteers are using equipment and handling food. To get around this, I would think an employee would need to be there to make and serve the coffee, clean the equipment, maintain the space/kitchen/washrooms/etc.
And so, yes, it could be cool to see a cafe open up just for night owl workers. It's like you want a coworking space within a cafe, without the risks involved in getting a space yourself. Maybe it can start as a private event that you can manage with Meetup or something, that way you don't offend anyone who thought they could come in just for a coffee. Maybe the cafe owner would be amenable to trying it out to see what sort of turnout there is, and then if it starts to be successful then changing her hours to include this work evening with some frequency. But in the end, once you find that many people who want to work from a cafe, maybe it'll be time to find a permanent space for them after all, one that they can work from during the day as well. It's a good test run to see if a space is viable in your community. r. *____________________ rachel young *[email protected] *We're now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor* *(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)* *Toronto, ON M6R 1X6* *See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.* *Find us online:* Website/blog <http://camaraderie.ca> and Newsletter<http://bit.ly/camaraderienewsletter> Google+ <http://bit.ly/CamaraderiePlus>, Twitter<http://twitter.com/camaraderie> , Facebook <http://bit.ly/9zv3Fx>, and LinkedIn<http://bit.ly/CamaraderieGroup> We're a proud member of CoworkingToronto <http://www.coworkingtoronto.ca/>, CoworkingOntario<http://coworkingontario.ca/> , and CoworkingCanada <http://www.coworkingcanada.ca/>! On 26 August 2013 20:24, lauren g <[email protected]> wrote: > Greetings fellow coworkers : ) I have been lurking on this list for a > while now, but I don't think I've actually posted until now. I'm a > freelancer who has done many things, from tech support, to website > management, to contract researcher, etc etc. For a while I belonged to a > workspace, which was lovely, but not especially co-worky - we sort of > greeted each other cordially near the printer or coffee pot but nobody > chatted much about what they were working on. Over the years I've always > needed to have second spaces, outside of the house, to be productive. > Libraries, coffee shops, etc. Of course, those places always.. close - I > would say that was 70% of why I paid, for a while, for the workspace in > Brooklyn I joined... because sometimes it takes me a while to get started, > and it's a drag to just get down to work and then only have a few hours. > > Ok, so fast forward to now. My friend is a coffee shop owner. She's > shared with me the difficulty laptop-sitters who stay forever and buy only > a coffee, taking up valuable real estate -- especially since she has a food > menu also. She hasn't wanted to resort to the table tents reserving only a > few seats for laptop users, but she's had to put up a sign and talk to > people about it. I get her predicament. > > At any rate.. I got to thinking the other day, about how much of the time > I am looking for a place to go late at night to work. And I thought, I > wonder if there are any coffee shops out there in this big wide world that > do something like this: close for regular customers at the usual hour, say > 10 or 11, but stay open for, I don't know, "co-working customers" after > hours.. maybe all night? maybe these coworkers pay a monthly membership > and can store some things? maybe there is only coffee available on offer > through the wee hours, nothing complicated.. maybe there is a printer and > fax and what not. Maybe some co-working members could sign up to "staff" > the space one night a week or month, which wouldn't mean much other than > showing up and brewing coffee. It wouldn't work in a big city with lots of > security concerns, but this cafe is SO well loved by its community and, > while near some big cities, is itself in a small town with a college > nearby. > > Have any of you heard of anything like this? Or ever felt a need for > something like it? Does it appeal at all? I don't know what the price > point would have to be to rationalize the cost of keeping the lights on, > etc, all night.. but, well, just a thought.. maybe it's being done already, > or something like it! If you've heard of anything similar I'm all ears.. > > Look forward to hearing your thoughts : ) > kind regards, > lauren > > -- > 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. > -- 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.
