[Coworking] Re: Starting up a coworking space
Howdy Lauren, I'm one of the folks helping to run Company|Dallas over in Richardson, and I have to say how delighted I am to hear about somebody wanting to get a coworking spot going over in Fort Worth. I've run into a number of people from that area who are interested in the idea. Feel free to drop me a line about the specifics of coworking in DFW. I'd add to what Tony has said above, but right now those are exactly the things we're working on to get ourselves up to snuff. All the best, Matthew http://www.companydallas.com matt...@companydallas.com http://www.twitter.com/companydallas On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 4:34 PM, Tony Bacigalupo wrote: > Welcome Lauren! > Some Cliff's notes of advice: > - Start one person at a time > - Focus on people and community needs first, not space > - Use a cafe or a house or otherwise free space as a staging area for your > community > - Consider starting a Jelly (http://workatjelly.com) > - Hook up with as many other DFW-area communities as you can, including some > folks who are already doing coworking there. > - Be extra open and transparent in all that you do. Share photos, blog > posts, tweets, and talk about what's good and what's hard. Engage people and > get them involved. > - Empower the would-be members of you community to take an active role in > helping grow the community. You'll have more committed members and a lot > more help :) > - Read the messages in this group! > Best of luck and keep us posted! > > Cheers, > Tony > - > New Work City - Coworking NYC style. > Phone: (888) 823-3494 > Email: ...@nwcny.com > Web: http://nwcny.com > Twitter: http://twitter.com/nwc > > > > On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 4:53 PM, laurenw1021 wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> Just joined the group and am interested in starting a coworking space >> in Fort Worth, TX. I was first introduced to the idea this past March >> in Austin at SXSWi and find it refreshing and am passionate about >> establishing a space for the Fort Worth community. For any of you out >> there that have started your own space, what are some of your key >> pieces of advice to get started? >> >> Thanks, >> Lauren Smith >> laurenw1...@gmail.com >> @laurenwsmith via twitter >> >> > > > > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Starting up a coworking space
Welcome Lauren! Some Cliff's notes of advice: - Start one person at a time - Focus on people and community needs first, not space - Use a cafe or a house or otherwise free space as a staging area for your community - Consider starting a Jelly (http://workatjelly.com) - Hook up with as many other DFW-area communities as you can, including some folks who are already doing coworking there. - Be extra open and transparent in all that you do. Share photos, blog posts, tweets, and talk about what's good and what's hard. Engage people and get them involved. - Empower the would-be members of you community to take an active role in helping grow the community. You'll have more committed members and a lot more help :) - Read the messages in this group! Best of luck and keep us posted! Cheers, Tony - *New Work City - Coworking NYC style.* *Phone:* (888) 823-3494 *Email:* 3...@nwcny.com *Web:* http://nwcny.com *Twitter:* http://twitter.com/nwc On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 4:53 PM, laurenw1021 wrote: > > Hi all, > > Just joined the group and am interested in starting a coworking space > in Fort Worth, TX. I was first introduced to the idea this past March > in Austin at SXSWi and find it refreshing and am passionate about > establishing a space for the Fort Worth community. For any of you out > there that have started your own space, what are some of your key > pieces of advice to get started? > > Thanks, > Lauren Smith > laurenw1...@gmail.com > @laurenwsmith via twitter > > > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Starting up a coworking space
Hi all, Just joined the group and am interested in starting a coworking space in Fort Worth, TX. I was first introduced to the idea this past March in Austin at SXSWi and find it refreshing and am passionate about establishing a space for the Fort Worth community. For any of you out there that have started your own space, what are some of your key pieces of advice to get started? Thanks, Lauren Smith laurenw1...@gmail.com @laurenwsmith via twitter --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Overusing Space for Personal Storage?
The question of overusing space brings up a number of issues... 1) What is your current agreement with members? Do the desks "belong" to individuals or are they all communal? If individual, do you have a written agreement with each "tenant". If not, make one right away. Since you have two members you can involve them in the formation of the agreement if you want to. Bring up the question of personal storage and make sure you discuss the impact on future members. Fiber High does not permit personal items in the co-working space. Drop-ins and monthly members take all their belongings when they leave. Those who want to store stuff have to rent a cubicle and stay within it.If they need more space they can rent a second cube or a bigger one. Of course, we, the partners, are the biggest offenders of overflow. However, since we pay for all the unrented cubes we don't feel too guilty. 2) How have you set up governance, policy making and policing? When I ran a retail cooperative arcade space almost 40 years ago we had monthly meetings with required attendance of each shop owner. Decisions were made by universal consensus with a "consent with a heavy heart" provision that I learned from Quaker meeting. This means that you keep discussing the problem until everyone either agrees to the solution or agrees to abide by the groups decision (consents with a heavy heart). The meetings were long and torturous but did succeed in building a tight community consistent with our hippy culture. If you decide on some kind of group governance like this, be sure that you make it clear that the meetings are for business, not group therapy or Alcoholics Anonymous-like. You need to be able to confront non-conformers openly and critically. It's easier to have a group bad- guy than to carry that role alone but you won't survive if nobody take on the bad-guy role. 3) Under what conditions can you ask someone to leave or ban them from using the space? This is a situation we all hope never comes up but often can't be avoided. For example, we had one guy who wanted to bring his dog to his shop but the dog barked at the customers. Since the dog didn't actually bite anyone, the guy thought this was ok. The other members decided to ban the dog. The dog problem was easy compared to a person with criminal intent or a mental illness. Sad to say, every society has people who cannot fit into a communal setting. It's better to have rules and customs in place from the early stages of your operation than to have to make them up when an unpleasant situation arises. I have many more ideas...let me know if these are helpful and you want more. And best of luck with your venture. Liza Loop Fiber High, Palo Alto, CA www.fiberhigh.com On Jun 18, 5:41 am, Franklen wrote: > Our new space is just getting started and is very informal at the > present. We have one person who regularly uses a desk, but also > regularly uses another empty desk or two as well as some extra floor > space for storing personal items, or maneuvering their own stuff > around. > > I don' want to be a bad guy but I think I need to nip this in the > bud. If nothing else I think it would be better to have the place > neat and orderly when others come to visit or look at the space. But > other than that, what kind of policies of resources do you have for > storage of personal and/or business stuff on site? --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Workshops
I would find someone who is already offering said workshops - a local association or training company, perhaps - and form a relationship with them to host the events. Right now we don't have many events other than user group meetings or CoLab-specific events. We have "lunch and learn" several times per month, one of which I organize. I teach Drupal CMS and other New Media classes, like podcasting and videblogging. http://drupaleasy.com The price is really dependent on the subject, audience, experience level, etc. For private tutoring I normally quote $75 an hour, or anywhere from $125-325 for an all-day (8 hour) group session. I shoot for groups between 10 and 20 people, but we have taught 30-person sessions. Unfortunately, I can't teach the large sessions in our coworking space, because the space does not have that kind of capacity right now. Some training can garner thousands of dollars per day per trainee, but many sessions like that require a big-name trainer or a computer lab with fully licensed software. Our School District's Vo-Tech center is a few blocks away, and they offer classes like that in Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and Flash. Since Adobe and Apple have certified software- specific certifications, there are more hoops to jump through to be a certified training center. On the other hand, a survey by our state- wide Digital Media Alliance of industry professionals says that the certification doesn't count as much as your portfolio and job experience. If your space has A/V available (projector, screen, etc) and partner with catering or a local shop for providing coffee and other refreshments, boxed lunch, that would the space more attractive to me as a trainer. Peace, Ryan Price Orlando, FL CoLabOrlando.com On Jun 22, 2009, at 11:29 AM, ourspacefortwa...@gmail.com wrote: > > Does anyone offer workshops? If so, please indicate the course topic/ > content, price and frequency. > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Workshops
Does anyone offer workshops? If so, please indicate the course topic/ content, price and frequency. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Pricing - are we getting something wrong?
Hi, - Don't count the free months in your calculations. It's a ramp up time that wont come again next year so count everything as if you were paying the 12 months, which you will do in the future. - At $5/sqft what kind of furniture do you have? Where will the outfitting of the space come from and if you have to pay for it how is it figured in your monthly cost? For example our space was naked and we have been paying 100s of dollars a month to payback the loan we took to pay for outfitting like we wanted it. That adds to our operating costs. - If everyone has unlimited access, how do they get in? Everyone has a key? Or do you count on yourself and/or partners to open the space? Might be a good idea to start thinking how much it would cost if you needed to pay someone. If everyone has keys, are you properly insured? (needed for any setup but, in my opinion, even more if you have that many people able to open the space (or forget to close it properly)) If you are insured, are they aware 60 people will have keys? - Unless the member providing it is one of the founders, I would suggest including internet fees in your operating numbers, even if it's free for now. If that member goes, you might not get the same free deal. - How are you going to do invoicing and have you planned for the time to handle it if needed? It's easy to plan on doing a bunch of things yourself but it might get to be a bit much at some point and planning your numbers to allow for paying someone is a good idea, especially when invoicing 60 people regularly (unless you have a perfectly automated system). - How many tables do you have for those 60 members? What happens if you have 30 tables and 40 people coming in a lot? Who leaves or is turned back? Having 60 members at $50 with potential scheduling conflicts might be more trouble than 30 members at $100... As Tara said, the vast majority of space operators don't make money on their spaces so the difference isn't us making loads of cash. Try to envision all possible combinations and options for your space, we are not making a lot (any?), you are benifitting from rent roughly half what most are paying and using a pretty different model that from the outside and without all the details seems open to some scheduling, invoicing and space entry issues, all of which can affect how much you should charge. We are paying around $12/sqft and will possibly add a $100/125 a month plan which is proportionnaly as cheap as your $50 so it's possible for us too to arrive at numbers in your range. We just don't want to base the whole model on it because of scaling issues and because we feel some more established members are good for the space, hence the Residents. Patrick http://station-c.com --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Pricing - are we getting something wrong?
While giving it away so cheaply seems like a great way to get people in the door, it is not sustainable. I suspect your operating costs will be higher in the end if you include insurance, misc. (food, etc.), staff, We operate our coworking space in SF for about $9000. We have set up a professionals model where people can just join the community of entrepreneurs and freelance professionals yearly to attend all of our events for free as well as be part of interest specific groups. Then we have dedicated desks all the way down to 20 hrs./month access. Our 20 hrs is $150/month. We have to sell 60 to cover our costs, so our goal is to have a mix of the part timers with about 10 full timers in the space. Good luck. It's not a one size fits all solution. -Felicity Outside the Cube - For Professionals and Entrepreneurs Cubes&Crayons - For Professionals and Entrepreneurs who need childcare downstairs cubes.typepad.com/sf cubesandcrayons.com On Jun 19, 10:47 pm, robdavy wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > Quick question (kinda)... > > We're in the process of setting up a coworking space/hacker space here > in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (metro pop of 1m). We're well underway, > non-profit registered, directors elected, space found, 40+ members > joined, etc. > > We're obviously working on a non-profit model, shared space, 24/7 > access, etc. > > My concern is pricing. Lots of places seem to offer what we're going > to be offering for many hundreds of dollars a month. We're going to be > doing it for $50. $50/month gets you unlimited access to our 3700sq ft > space. No permanent desks, but permanent offices will be offered for > around $250/month. Our's is not exactly a co-working space in the > sense we do not expect people to work here 9-5 (some will of course, > but most members have full time jobs and want the collaborative use of > the space, plus access to the equipment (machining, etc). Check > outhttp://d.ents.ca/for photos > > Why $50/month? Our rent is $5/sqft + $2.87 operating. 3700sq ft @ $8 = > $2500/month ($'s are per year). So based on the non-profit model found > herehttp://coworking.pbworks.com/PricingExampleswe need $3750/month. > Well, our utils are included in the operating, internet is free from > someones business via a point to point wireless connection, etc, etc, > so we're figuring max $500/month in misc costs. The landlord is also > giving us 2 months free rent. > > So say $3000/month, that's only 60 members @ $50/month each. We have > 40 signed up now (of course some will drop out, but we've still got > many coming in) and we'll cover more costs with offices rented. > > Is it just the cheap rent that is making our space $50/month and not > $300/month (or more!). > Why do some (most) places need to charge so much? > > Thanks in advance > > Rob Davy > Edmonton New Technology Societywww.ents.ca --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
