Thanks all. Comments on this have been extremely helpful! Will
On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:01:52 AM UTC+1, Jeannine wrote: > > Hi, TIm, > > Are you Bucketworks? (Um, that came out sounding a little more > existential than I intended. Wisconsin has that effect on me. :-)) > > I wonder if you have a blog post lying around we can put on the Coworking > Blog? Or if you copudl write one? > > I think your take on this would be really interesting, to a lot of people. > > Cheers, > > Jeannine > > On Saturday, October 25, 2014 5:42:02 PM UTC+2, Tim Syth wrote: >> >> Hi All, >> >> We currently operate out of a mall. >> >> Positives >> >> - Because the economy in Milwaukee has been depressed for awhile, the >> rates are dirt cheap. Like crazy cheap. I would bet more mall space moves >> in this direction. >> - Security: We have a FOB system and the door is locked 24/7. There >> have been occasions when the door was left open and we did have strangers >> drop in and grab gear, but we learned quickly. >> - 24/7 access: Because the mall needs tenants, a member just calls >> security after the mall is closed and gets let in assuming they are on >> the >> security whitelist. I add our members to the whitelist >> - Noise: It was a bummer until we disabled all the Muzak speakers >> near our space. Its pretty chill now. But "shhh!", we definitely hacked >> the >> space. >> - Diversity: our mall is at the center of the city, all bus lines >> pass it and all types of people use it. Because of this, we get a lot of >> non-standard people walking by and stopping in to ask questions. This, in >> my opinion, is a massive opportunity to diversify beyond the standard >> nomadic, tech-oriented, middle-class user base. This positive alone makes >> much of the negative go away. >> - Community: It can very much be a community-driven and -oriented >> space. We must be careful not to let our own ideals mask the creativity >> and >> resilience of humans. It works, but it will likely be a slightly >> different >> crowd that you see in the photos. >> >> Negatives >> >> - Natural light: We don't have any windows directly to the outside. >> The center atrium allow some light in through the front glass, but our >> space is deep so the back is all artificial light. >> - Parking: There is lots of it, but it is relatively expensive. A >> daily user can spend more on parking in a month than the membership >> costs. >> That is money I would rather we were collecting than giving to the mall. >> Biking and public transit solve this problem. >> - Access: While we can get into the building, parking and then >> walking into a large building to our spot isn't as convenient (or easy to >> find) as having a space that is curbside or standalone. This can have an >> effect on event attendance because malls do have an environment that can >> be >> very different than the environment within our space. >> >> Bottom line: The lack of natural light and expensive parking can be a lot >> to bear, but the diversity of users and the fact that a consumption-based >> location is being disrupted and improved (in my opinion) is pretty cool. >> >> On Wednesday, October 22, 2014 5:15:05 AM UTC-5, Will Bennis, Locus >> Workspace wrote: >>> >>> Hi All, >>> >>> Recently a shopping mall realtor approached me about opening a coworking >>> space in their closed gaming zone/internet cafe. I'd love to hear opinions >>> about this, pros and cons. Before you completely ignore this post as coming >>> from someone who is clearly not from the same coworking planet, here is why >>> I'm even considering it: >>> >>> (1) *With respect to the fact that mall real estate goes for a premium: >>> *At least where I am, a lot of shopping malls are trying to build in >>> community/space quality features that make going to the mall (which lets >>> face it, most people in urban areas sometimes do) a more human experience: >>> space-taking areas like open art galleries, free indoor playgrounds, >>> exhibition space, gardens, etc. These spaces add value/traffic to the mall >>> as a whole, making the rentable space more valuable. This means that the >>> mall owner may be willing to partially fund a coworking space if it adds >>> value to the mall as a whole. >>> >>> (2) *With regard to the importance of community and quality of the work >>> environment: *Sure, malls are horrific. But they're also a reality. >>> Wouldn't creating coworking spaces in the horrific reality of a shopping >>> mall make malls a little less horrific? To the extent you could contribute >>> to the reinvention of malls as more human, community-focused spaces, >>> wouldn't it be a good thing to promote the development of a coworking space >>> in a mall? >>> >>> (3) *With respect to the objection that it wouldn't be sustainable; the >>> kind of people drawn to coworking would not want to do it in a mall: *The >>> malls where I am right now have many fast food restaurants (McDonalds, KFC, >>> etc.) with free bad wifi and people working away on their laptops or in >>> business meetings, or higher end cafes where laptop workers aren't as >>> welcome and places to work aren't comfortable or well suited for meaningful >>> work or quality meetings. I would guess many of the people who work in the >>> area or who are just there while their partners are shopping or their kids >>> are at the movies would love a more human space to work. Yes, they're not >>> the people traditionally drawn to coworking, but is there room for >>> something in between? >>> >>> My big question I guess is whether there would be a way to do this that >>> would create more than the equivalent of a hotel "business center" or an >>> internet cafe? Would there value or demand for a community-focused >>> workspace in a mall? >>> >>> Clearly this couldn't be an ideal community-focused and community-driven >>> coworking space. But is there room for something between the ideal and the >>> "business center" in a shopping mall (or airport or highway >>> gas-station/restaurant off-ramp for that matter)? Something that would help >>> build the sense of community and humanity in these largely community-less >>> spaces? Could it bear the *coworking *name? >>> >>> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. >>> >>> Best, >>> Will >>> >> -- 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/d/optout.
