This is my all time favorite blog post on turning an empty space into a community. I link to it CONSTANTLY. https://dangerouslyawesome.com/2014/06/how-i-turned-an-empty-coworking-space-into-a-coworking-community/
Angel On Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 8:04:05 PM UTC-6, Suzanne Vale wrote: > > Hello! > > I'm new to this forum. My name's Suzanne Vale and I've just opened a > coworking space called Jam Jar Cowork <http://jamjarcowork.net.au> in > Collingwood, which is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. > > Below is some info about me, why I've started Jam Jar, the space and the > community we're building. > > I'm really glad to have found this forum and can see it's really > supportive with lots of helpful, insightful advice and discussion. I look > forward to joining in! I'll also be at GCUC in Melbourne next month so hope > to meet some of you there. Drop me a line if you're coming along. > > Cheers Suzanne > > > *Why I started Jam Jar* > > Some of you may have met me at CU Asia 2016, in Ubud, so you'll know that > I've been working in offices for my whole (varied) career (admin, > customer/financial services, public service, law) and that I studied > architecture at one point and I love people and their creativity. > > So I've started a coworking space because the opportunity to take on the > building that we're in coincided with me finding out about coworking and > thinking that it was the coolest thing I'd heard about in ages. Coworking > also addresses a long term beef I've had that workplaces and spaces are > missed opportunities. They should be better and controlled by the people > who work in them. Coworking spaces are finally doing this, and in lots of > different ways that are still emerging and changing. Good times. > > I'm about offering the small businesses of this neighbourhood a good > quality space that they can shape and refine over time, where they can come > to work together, meet new people, hang out, run events, have meetings and > have the facilities they need to do these things pretty seamlessly. > > *The space* > > Jam Jar is just over 200m2 and primarily aimed at post start up businesses > in the neighbourhood. We also have some decent meeting rooms (a boardroom > and 3 smaller rooms) and have found that there's been interest in them from > CBD businesses wanting to get offsite for workshops etc. > > We're in a really great location in a gentrified, former industrial pocket > right near Smith Street, which is well known in Melbourne for its > restaurants, cafes, shops, street art and culture, and which has a tram > line direct to the city. > > We refurbished the building we are in, which was a tired, 3 storey office > building that was only 15 years old. Our emphasis was on getting natural > light in and creating lots of different types of useful spaces while > dedicating most of the floor area to open plan desks. Every decision of our > fit out was made with the environment in mind despite our tight budget. > This meant we preferenced low VOC products, natural materials and products > from companies that are ahead socially and environmentally. It also meant > we reused as much as we could from the previous fit out and bought quality > second hand where we could. We balanced this to create a feel that the > space is new and 'clean' aesthetically. (Examples of reuse and secondhand > included reusing the old aluminium and glass partitions to make new meeting > rooms, reusing the kitchen sinks from the old tea-points in our new break > out space and tea-point and reusing perfectly good security hardware, > buying secondhand Knoll / Formway task chairs that are barely used ex-Tax > Office and secondhand desks from Grimshaw Architects' when they refurbished > their office). > > We've tried to create a casual but professional space that's airy and > comfortable. We're also emphasising health in the workplace. For example we > try to give members control of the space/their environs, we've got plants, > and office dog, ergonomic chairs, the beginnings of an activity based set > up. > > *The community* > > I'm a little sheepish that we opened and are now building our community. > All the experience and knowledge at CU Asia said build your community first > but logistically this didn't work out for me. We have 2 open plan spaces so > we're only using the smaller of these at the moment so people aren't spread > through the building. As we grow, we'll open the other area. > > So far we're doing ok with a handful of local people joining us as part > time members over the last few weeks - a lawyer starting a new practice, a > business adviser, a graphic designer just moved down from Sydney, a wine > maker/wine events business, a couple of creative writers and a couple of > other former lawyers who are moving into the start up space. It's slow - we > have people here each day but not a lot of cross-fertilisation because we > haven't had a critical mass on any one day. > > So we need to work harder to get the word out that we're here and to get > communication happening between our members to help them form a community. > We have lots of ideas that we are carrying out but* would love more ideas > and to know what's worked for other brand new spaces, especially in > comparable cities*. I'm finding podcasts super helpful and inspiring here > too, especially The Coworking Weekly Show and Everything Coworking. > *Interested > in others' favourite podcasts and forums*. > > Our attention to social and environmental responsibility is continuing - > we're big on recycling within the space and we've opened our space to > community groups for use out of hours, which accords with the ethos of our > neighbourhood and something our members love. We want to explore more > opportunities to partner with the neighbourhood in this way. > > > > > > > > > > > -- 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
