Re: [Coworking] Who's working with universities? Who's working directly with students?
Urban ReThink has gotten several interns from local colleges, and since we are a nonprofit we were able to get a dozen or so incoming freshmen to do a volunteer day. Our founding director worked at a space years ago that was run by a university - that was a massive train wreck. On Jan 13, 2012 4:52 PM, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: Awesome stuff so far - thanks everybody. Part of what I'm trying to get a read on is how dependent the relationship is on the university itself, and for what parts of the arrangements? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 4:46 PM, Derek Neighbors de...@gangplankhq.comwrote: Alex, We have strong relationships with the local university. We regularly have student interns work for Gangplank or companies in Gangplank. Additionally, we have helped them facilitate a number of capstone projects in architecture, business and social entrepreneurship. We have done some pop up space events and are scheduling a wide variety of programming around startups. We are looking to open a Gangplank adjacent to one of the university campuses in the next year that will have a very strong partnership with the university on a number of levels. We have also partnered with both University and Community Colleges for grants. -- Derek Neighbors Gangplank On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 2:20 PM, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I know of more than a handful of coworking spaces that have developed partnerships with local universities. Have any worked directly with the student population? Success/failure stories to share? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia -- 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. -- 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. -- 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. -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having spoken to people who've been members of both models, *membership* is preferred to be as simple as possible. The only thing that people really, really appreciate in granular hourly pricing is meeting space - which totally makes sense, it's rare to have half and full day meetings. I also like to think about this in terms of membership vs. renter. It's hard to become a community member an hour at a time - within that hour you need to do what you're there to do AND start to get to know people. Inside of a full day, there's far more opportunity for serendipity and social interactions to happen in addition to a productive work day. The people who have that full spectrum of experiences are the ones who tend to fall into the camp of community member. The ones who ONLY want a place to work and have no interest in community participation are welcome, of course, but tend to stick around for shorter durations. This also means lower retention, which means more resources spent on recruiting new butts into seats, and draining your time and money from focusing on the members you DO have. No right or wrong here, of course. As Rachel suggested - having people to ask how THEY would use the space is really helpful. The trick here is to ask, but not necessarily do exactly what they say. Sometimes people think they know what they want, but when it comes down to it, they have no clue because they've never had it before. The IDEA of hourly usage sounds great to somebody, but they end up not being the one who uses it. The Henry Ford quote if I'd have giving people what they asked for, I would've built a faster horse comes to mind. You have to have people who you can not only speak to, but who you can actually *understand* and develop your model around their needs, not just *what they say* their needs are. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 1:42 AM, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Rachel, There are a four of us, which is where the discussion comes from. There are diffrent ideas on the subject. So I thought I would bring the topic here for feedback. Since this is a new concept that we are just begining to push. We have the space which we consider phase one, with two workstaions and 12 basically hot seats Phase two is a 3000 sq ft renivated warehouse. We began by consideing a daily rate as well as monthly memberships, but thought that people might be more comfortable with hourly or even half day rate. CJay On Jan 13, 4:43 am, rachel young rac...@camaraderie.ca wrote: Do you have some existing folks from your community that are interested in joining together to form a space? If so, ask them and average out their responses. They are the ones that will be paying after all. r. On Jan 13, 2012 12:03 AM, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Coworking Group, Planning coworking space.Need feedback on hourly vs daily rates. We are in a rural/suburban area outside St.Louis and this is indeed a new concept for most businesses. The concept of coworking is needed in this community. Any suggestions? -- 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. -- 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. -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . Basic = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario Lite Membership = $180/mth = 3 days per week FullTime = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space usage for all members as to not have one or two monopolize the space. Meeting space for workshops, classes, clinics and events we charge hourly. Since The Creative Space is not our full-time job, we have to do everything we can to minimize the overhead and workload for administrating it all. Here's a summery of a few of the things we do to minimize the need for costly systems/apps, manpower, etc SImple membership plans Google cal for bookings/events Skype to inform members that clients are here (we have 2 floors so the upstairs peeps need some reception support) Members help gather trash for trash day and re-supply toiletries when their low. we just make sure the supply rooms are full Every brings indoor shoes or slippers (has cut down our sweeping mopping time drastically, especially during winter months - (Oh Canada - snow, slush, salt) MadMimi for news blasts Peace, Chad On 2012-01-14, at 9:11 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having spoken to people who've been members of both models, membership is preferred to be as simple as possible. The only thing that people really, really appreciate in granular hourly pricing is meeting space - which totally makes sense, it's rare to have half and full day meetings. I also like to think about this in terms of membership vs. renter. It's hard to become a community member an hour at a time - within that hour you need to do what you're there to do AND start to get to know people. Inside of a full day, there's far more opportunity for serendipity and social interactions to happen in addition to a productive work day. The people who have that full spectrum of experiences are the ones who tend to fall into the camp of community member. The ones who ONLY want a place to work and have no interest in community participation are welcome, of course, but tend to stick around for shorter durations. This also means lower retention, which means more resources spent on recruiting new butts into seats, and draining your time and money from focusing on the members you DO have. No right or wrong here, of course. As Rachel suggested - having people to ask how THEY would use the space is really helpful. The trick here is to ask, but not necessarily do exactly what they say. Sometimes people think they know what they want, but when it comes down to it, they have no clue because they've never had it before. The IDEA of hourly usage sounds great to somebody, but they end up not being the one who uses it. The Henry Ford quote if I'd have giving people what they asked for, I would've built a faster horse comes to mind. You have to have people who you can not only speak to, but who you can actually understand and develop your model around their needs, not just what they say their needs are. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Alex, Thank you for the feedback. I have been reading your post for sometime now and appreciate your opinions. Yes, I am a coworking google group follower, and feel the same way about developing a community of coworkers and not a drive thru' environment. I encourage you and the others to continue with your extremely helpful information for us who are in the infant stages of building a coworking community. The information that I have gained here from all over the world is priceless. Thank you again, CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 8:11 AM, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having spoken to people who've been members of both models, membership is preferred to be as simple as possible. The only thing that people really, really appreciate in granular hourly pricing is meeting space - which totally makes sense, it's rare to have half and full day meetings. I also like to think about this in terms of membership vs. renter. It's hard to become a community member an hour at a time - within that hour you need to do what you're there to do AND start to get to know people. Inside of a full day, there's far more opportunity for serendipity and social interactions to happen in addition to a productive work day. The people who have that full spectrum of experiences are the ones who tend to fall into the camp of community member. The ones who ONLY want a place to work and have no interest in community participation are welcome, of course, but tend to stick around for shorter durations. This also means lower retention, which means more resources spent on recruiting new butts into seats, and draining your time and money from focusing on the members you DO have. No right or wrong here, of course. As Rachel suggested - having people to ask how THEY would use the space is really helpful. The trick here is to ask, but not necessarily do exactly what they say. Sometimes people think they know what they want, but when it comes down to it, they have no clue because they've never had it before. The IDEA of hourly usage sounds great to somebody, but they end up not being the one who uses it. The Henry Ford quote if I'd have giving people what they asked for, I would've built a faster horse comes to mind. You have to have people who you can not only speak to, but who you can actually understand and develop your model around their needs, not just what they say their needs are. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 1:42 AM, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Rachel, There are a four of us, which is where the discussion comes from. There are diffrent ideas on the subject. So I thought I would bring the topic here for feedback. Since this is a new concept that we are just begining to push. We have the space which we consider phase one, with two workstaions and 12 basically hot seats Phase two is a 3000 sq ft renivated warehouse. We began by consideing a daily rate as well as monthly memberships, but thought that people might be more comfortable with hourly or even half day rate. CJay On Jan 13, 4:43 am, rachel young rac...@camaraderie.ca wrote: Do you have some existing folks from your community that are interested in joining together to form a space? If so, ask them and average out their responses. They are the ones that will be paying after all. r. On Jan 13, 2012 12:03 AM, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Coworking Group, Planning coworking space.Need feedback on hourly vs daily rates. We are in a rural/suburban area outside St.Louis and this is indeed a new concept for most businesses. The concept of coworking is needed in this community. Any suggestions? -- 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. -- 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. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.cawrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . *Basic* = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario *Lite Membership* = $180/mth = 3 days per week *FullTime* = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space usage for all members as to not have one or two monopolize the space. Meeting space for workshops, classes, clinics and events we charge hourly. Since The Creative Space is not our full-time job, we have to do everything we can to minimize the overhead and workload for administrating it all. Here's a summery of a few of the things we do to minimize the need for costly systems/apps, manpower, etc SImple membership plans Google cal for bookings/events Skype to inform members that clients are here (we have 2 floors so the upstairs peeps need some reception support) Members help gather trash for trash day and re-supply toiletries when their low. we just make sure the supply rooms are full Every brings indoor shoes or slippers (has cut down our sweeping mopping time drastically, especially during winter months - (Oh Canada - snow, slush, salt) MadMimi for news blasts Peace, Chad On 2012-01-14, at 9:11 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having spoken to people who've been members of both models, *membership* is preferred to be as simple as possible. The only thing that people really, really appreciate in granular hourly pricing is meeting space - which totally makes sense, it's rare to have half and full day meetings. I also like to think about this in terms of membership vs. renter. It's hard to become a community member an hour at a time - within that hour you need to do what you're there to do AND start to get to know people. Inside of a full day, there's far more opportunity for serendipity and social interactions to happen in addition to a productive work day. The people who have that full spectrum of experiences are the ones who tend to fall into the camp of community member. The ones who ONLY want a place to work and have no interest in community participation are welcome, of course, but tend to stick around for shorter durations. This also means lower retention, which means more resources spent on recruiting new butts into seats, and draining your time and money from focusing on the members you DO have. No right or wrong here, of course. As Rachel suggested - having people to ask how THEY would use the space is really helpful. The trick here is to ask, but not necessarily do exactly what they say. Sometimes people think they know what
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, and is expected to make a presentation to the rest of the membership on whatever he or she is working that term. All members get an RFID key fob which they place next to a RFID reader to open the door. This way we can offer 24/7/365 access to the space for full members without handing out actual keys. For affiliate members, the RFID chip is activated only on days for which they have reserved a day pass. This seems to be working out well. People understand it and it is easy for us to administer. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . *Basic* = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario *Lite Membership* = $180/mth = 3 days per week *FullTime* = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space usage for all members as to not have one or two monopolize the space. Meeting space for workshops, classes, clinics and events we charge hourly. Since The Creative Space is not our full-time job, we have to do everything we can to minimize the overhead and workload for administrating it all. Here's a summery of a few of the things we do to minimize the need for costly systems/apps, manpower, etc SImple membership plans Google cal for bookings/events Skype to inform members that clients are here (we have 2 floors so the upstairs peeps need some reception support) Members help gather trash for trash day and re-supply toiletries when their low. we just make sure the supply rooms are full Every brings indoor shoes or slippers (has cut down our sweeping mopping time drastically, especially during winter months - (Oh Canada - snow, slush, salt) MadMimi for news blasts Peace, Chad On 2012-01-14, at 9:11 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Starting with your existing group that already knows you is great. Now you can consider reaching out to your municipal community, the freelancers, entrepreneurs, and startups in your area, the potential future members that you haven't yet met. Some space owners (us included) held something like a town hall meeting, which I recommend you consider doing. You can advertise a time and location of where a meetup will take place, introduce yourselves and your intent to open a space, and gather feedback from them about various things like pricing, location, membership levels, amenities, etc. And while the majority of that info will be very helpful, Alex is totally right in that some people will say they would like to see something but won't actually use it. I've noticed that individual phone lines and fax machines were the common example. At the very least you get a room full of people who can be the start of your coworking community, who you can explain coworking to, and who could either become members or perhaps use the space for events or recommend the space to their friends and colleagues. Make sure you get everyone's contact info, and if you can invite someone from a neighbouring coworking facility to join you, he/she can lend their expertise to the conversation. Chad and I did that for a space that was between our spaces, and we were able to answer questions with examples from our existing spaces. r. On 14 January 2012 01:42, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Rachel, There are a four of us, which is where the discussion comes from. There are diffrent ideas on the subject. So I thought I would bring the topic here for feedback. Since this is a new concept that we are just begining to push. We have the space which we consider phase one, with two workstaions and 12 basically hot seats Phase two is a 3000 sq ft renivated warehouse. We began by consideing a daily rate as well as monthly memberships, but thought that people might be more comfortable with hourly or even half day rate. CJay -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space. There is no amount of cloud storage, and mobile computing that replaces the psychology that when someone comes in to an office, they can return to the same, familiar desk or office. That they can leave behind a stack of paperwork and belongings they don't want to carry around. Please everyone, be mindful of the coworking/biz model ideals and the realities to actually convince someone to pay to join your community. Because at the end of the day, cash flow is the only thing that prevents you from closing shop. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, and is expected to make a presentation to the rest of the membership on whatever he or she is working that term. All members get an RFID key fob which they place next to a RFID reader to open the door. This way we can offer 24/7/365 access to the space for full members without handing out actual keys. For affiliate members, the RFID chip is activated only on days for which they have reserved a day pass. This seems to be working out well. People understand it and it is easy for us to administer. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . Basic = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario Lite Membership = $180/mth = 3 days per week FullTime = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space usage for all members as to not have one or two monopolize the space. Meeting space for workshops, classes, clinics and events we charge hourly. Since The Creative Space is not our full-time job, we have
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
That's an interesting comment. All the desks at Workantile are shared. We tried permanent desks for a while, but there was so little demand that we discontinued them. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space. There is no amount of cloud storage, and mobile computing that replaces the psychology that when someone comes in to an office, they can return to the same, familiar desk or office. That they can leave behind a stack of paperwork and belongings they don't want to carry around. Please everyone, be mindful of the coworking/biz model ideals and the realities to actually convince someone to pay to join your community. Because at the end of the day, cash flow is the only thing that prevents you from closing shop. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, and is expected to make a presentation to the rest of the membership on whatever he or she is working that term. All members get an RFID key fob which they place next to a RFID reader to open the door. This way we can offer 24/7/365 access to the space for full members without handing out actual keys. For affiliate members, the RFID chip is activated only on days for which they have reserved a day pass. This seems to be working out well. People understand it and it is easy for us to administer. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . *Basic* = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario *Lite Membership* = $180/mth = 3 days per week *FullTime* = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
The point here goes back to my (and Rachel's) original point: pay attention to what people say, need, and do...and adjust. What Jerome describes as an inherent psychology, I really just think is habit. It is 100% true that it exists, and it is 100% true that it has the potential to stand in the way between you and success. But it's a habit, which means it is learned and can be unlearned - or not learned in the first place. People are psychologically compelled to nest - but doing it at the workplace isn't a psychological requirement for happiness or productivity. The compulsion to have my own place is also strongest when it's difficult to feel ownership of the larger context. If your members find it possible to feel ownership and comfort in the entire office, they feel less compelled to have a specific space of their own. I'd discourage the assumption that people need a permanent place because * you* do - there's a whole spectrum of needs, and coworking covers a number of them, and not always all at the same time. Setting up price points today that don't work doesn't stop you from setting up new price points tomorrow that do. Be prepared to iterate and learn, as Workantile (and many others) have. The point of these adjustments is that they're based on what members ACTUALLY do and need, vs what they say they want. As a personal note, I spent the first few years as a full time member of Indy Hall myself, and for the last 2 years have spent more time as a flex member without a permanent desk and personally love it. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: That's an interesting comment. All the desks at Workantile are shared. We tried permanent desks for a while, but there was so little demand that we discontinued them. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space. There is no amount of cloud storage, and mobile computing that replaces the psychology that when someone comes in to an office, they can return to the same, familiar desk or office. That they can leave behind a stack of paperwork and belongings they don't want to carry around. Please everyone, be mindful of the coworking/biz model ideals and the realities to actually convince someone to pay to join your community. Because at the end of the day, cash flow is the only thing that prevents you from closing shop. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, and is expected to make a presentation to the rest of the membership on whatever he or she is working that term. All members get an RFID key fob which they place next to a RFID reader to open the door. This way we can offer 24/7/365 access to the space for full members without handing out actual keys. For affiliate members, the RFID chip is activated only on days for which they have reserved a day pass. This seems to be working out well. People understand it and it is easy for us to administer. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
I stand corrected then: flex desks might be all that works. Nonetheless, let your members and prospectives guide you. And that for those of you who plan to hinge your biz model on flex desks, that is before you open doors, be prepared to pivot. @Alex, yes, perhaps habit is the better word. I guess I've only seen hard habits to break, no matter how compelling the price and amenities (and I'll just safely say that the amenities in and around my office are pretty compelling). Yes yes, the community is super important, but I don't see a prospect that will buy into the community that immediately - it takes time to embrace that intangible. And yes, like Alex, I'd encourage people to utilize flex desks, and like Indy Hall, BLANKSPACES has full-time dedicated spaces along w/ flex desks. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 11:32 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: The point here goes back to my (and Rachel's) original point: pay attention to what people say, need, and do...and adjust. What Jerome describes as an inherent psychology, I really just think is habit. It is 100% true that it exists, and it is 100% true that it has the potential to stand in the way between you and success. But it's a habit, which means it is learned and can be unlearned - or not learned in the first place. People are psychologically compelled to nest - but doing it at the workplace isn't a psychological requirement for happiness or productivity. The compulsion to have my own place is also strongest when it's difficult to feel ownership of the larger context. If your members find it possible to feel ownership and comfort in the entire office, they feel less compelled to have a specific space of their own. I'd discourage the assumption that people need a permanent place because you do - there's a whole spectrum of needs, and coworking covers a number of them, and not always all at the same time. Setting up price points today that don't work doesn't stop you from setting up new price points tomorrow that do. Be prepared to iterate and learn, as Workantile (and many others) have. The point of these adjustments is that they're based on what members ACTUALLY do and need, vs what they say they want. As a personal note, I spent the first few years as a full time member of Indy Hall myself, and for the last 2 years have spent more time as a flex member without a permanent desk and personally love it. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: That's an interesting comment. All the desks at Workantile are shared. We tried permanent desks for a while, but there was so little demand that we discontinued them. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.com wrote: I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space. There is no amount of cloud storage, and mobile computing that replaces the psychology that when someone comes in to an office, they can return to the same, familiar desk or office. That they can leave behind a stack of paperwork and belongings they don't want to carry around. Please everyone, be mindful of the coworking/biz model ideals and the realities to actually convince someone to pay to join your community. Because at the end of the day, cash flow is the only thing that prevents you from closing shop. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, and is expected to make a presentation to the rest of the membership on whatever he or
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I stand corrected then: flex desks might be all that works. Nonetheless, let your members and prospectives guide you. And that for those of you who plan to hinge your biz model on flex desks, that is before you open doors, be prepared to pivot. @Alex, yes, perhaps habit is the better word. I guess I've only seen hard habits to break, no matter how compelling the price and amenities (and I'll just safely say that the amenities in and around my office are pretty compelling). Yes yes, the community is super important, but I don't see a prospect that will buy into the community that immediately - it takes time to embrace that intangible. And yes, like Alex, I'd encourage people to utilize flex desks, and like Indy Hall, BLANKSPACES has full-time dedicated spaces along w/ flex desks. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 11:32 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: The point here goes back to my (and Rachel's) original point: pay attention to what people say, need, and do...and adjust. What Jerome describes as an inherent psychology, I really just think is habit. It is 100% true that it exists, and it is 100% true that it has the potential to stand in the way between you and success. But it's a habit, which means it is learned and can be unlearned - or not learned in the first place. People are psychologically compelled to nest - but doing it at the workplace isn't a psychological requirement for happiness or productivity. The compulsion to have my own place is also strongest when it's difficult to feel ownership of the larger context. If your members find it possible to feel ownership and comfort in the entire office, they feel less compelled to have a specific space of their own. I'd discourage the assumption that people need a permanent place because * you* do - there's a whole spectrum of needs, and coworking covers a number of them, and not always all at the same time. Setting up price points today that don't work doesn't stop you from setting up new price points tomorrow that do. Be prepared to iterate and learn, as Workantile (and many others) have. The point of these adjustments is that they're based on what members ACTUALLY do and need, vs what they say they want. As a personal note, I spent the first few years as a full time member of Indy Hall myself, and for the last 2 years have spent more time as a flex member without a permanent desk and personally love it. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: That's an interesting comment. All the desks at Workantile are shared. We tried permanent desks for a while, but there was so little demand that we discontinued them. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space. There is no amount of cloud storage, and mobile computing that replaces the psychology that when someone comes in to an office, they can return to the same, familiar desk or office. That they can leave behind a stack of paperwork and belongings they don't want to carry around. Please everyone, be mindful of the coworking/biz model ideals and the realities to actually convince someone to pay to join your community. Because at the end of the day, cash flow is the only thing that prevents you from closing shop. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:55 AM, Tom Brandt wrote: At Workantile we experimented with various pricing schemes, but settled on the following: Full member: $160/month. This comes with 24/7/365 access, ability to reserve conference rooms, ability to host events. It also comes with an expectation of work to help maintain the space, such as taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen, bathroom, helping with marketing, etc. Members can purchase a get out of work pass for an additional $70/month. Affiliate member: $25/month. This comes with one free day pass per month, plus the ability to purchase day passes at $10/day in sets of five passes. Student member: $35/month. This is the same as a full member, but the member must be currently
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
I'll also point out that permanent *sometimes* works better for teams and companies than independents - less because the individual's needs, more because of a new dynamic introduce by team members working together. When you're working *together*, there are things that are useful to always have handy and already set up. A team shouldn't have to unroll a bunch of posters, find an unused whiteboard, lay out a bunch of papers...etc every time they need to get together to work. This is usually solved with private offices or dedicated workspace areas. We've discussed the pros and cons of those on this list in the past, so I won't dive into it again here, but I think the key here is looking at the specific need or set of needs, and addressing that with a new tool if it makes sense, instead of defaulting back to the tools that offices have used to date. You may end up back at private offices if they're all that you can make work, and that's cool. But it's a lot of fun and very valuable to put in the intellectual effort to see what alternatives you can dream up and execute to solve these problems. In the opportunities we've had to try and experiment, we've consistently found solutions that work better for our members than the ones that are typically presented. That's half the fun of running a coworking space, anyway :) -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I stand corrected then: flex desks might be all that works. Nonetheless, let your members and prospectives guide you. And that for those of you who plan to hinge your biz model on flex desks, that is before you open doors, be prepared to pivot. @Alex, yes, perhaps habit is the better word. I guess I've only seen hard habits to break, no matter how compelling the price and amenities (and I'll just safely say that the amenities in and around my office are pretty compelling). Yes yes, the community is super important, but I don't see a prospect that will buy into the community that immediately - it takes time to embrace that intangible. And yes, like Alex, I'd encourage people to utilize flex desks, and like Indy Hall, BLANKSPACES has full-time dedicated spaces along w/ flex desks. Jerome __ BLANKSPACES work FOR yourself, not BY yourself www.blankspaces.com ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 On Jan 14, 2012, at 11:32 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: The point here goes back to my (and Rachel's) original point: pay attention to what people say, need, and do...and adjust. What Jerome describes as an inherent psychology, I really just think is habit. It is 100% true that it exists, and it is 100% true that it has the potential to stand in the way between you and success. But it's a habit, which means it is learned and can be unlearned - or not learned in the first place. People are psychologically compelled to nest - but doing it at the workplace isn't a psychological requirement for happiness or productivity. The compulsion to have my own place is also strongest when it's difficult to feel ownership of the larger context. If your members find it possible to feel ownership and comfort in the entire office, they feel less compelled to have a specific space of their own. I'd discourage the assumption that people need a permanent place because *you* do - there's a whole spectrum of needs, and coworking covers a number of them, and not always all at the same time. Setting up price points today that don't work doesn't stop you from setting up new price points tomorrow that do. Be prepared to iterate and learn, as Workantile (and many others) have. The point of these adjustments is that they're based on what members ACTUALLY do and need, vs what they say they want. As a personal note, I spent the first few years as a full time member of Indy Hall myself, and for the last 2 years have spent more time as a flex member without a permanent desk and personally love it. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: That's an interesting comment. All the desks at Workantile are shared. We tried permanent desks for a while, but there was so little demand that we discontinued them. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:03 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.comwrote: I would like to remind everyone that Alex is totally right: the flex/hot desk is the ideal, as that one desk can serve several people. HOWEVER, especially to the newbies out there, flex desks can be very difficult to sell. After 4 years of operating a coworking space, and now two, there is just a persistent need for people to own their space.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Cool discussion. We have found out here that dedicated desks are the most popular. I currently have 6 rented. I have about 20 flex work areas available, 3 of which are desks just like the dedicated desks, the rest are round tables, barnes noble wood hand me down tables, etc. I need to keep the flex so I can stack people at the same desks. But I also need some optimum number of dedicated. Mike On Jan 14, 2012 11:54 AM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.com wrote: I stand correcte... -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Loving seeing the variations in what works - more sharing, please! I'd love to hear more about utilization: - how many members you have signed as full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workspaces you have available for full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workstations are utilized. averages ranges are welcome, flex makes reporting these things tough! Our December numbers were: - 33 full time members - 117 flex members (~100 are basic, the rest somewhere in between) - 33 full time workstations - 27 flexible workspaces (not including the more casual work spaces which are almost always in use as well) - Full time workstations are assumed to be occupied, but actual attendance is in the mid 20's on a daily basis, helping with density. Our average full time member is around for quite a while, so new spots typically open up less than once a month. - We rarely have more than 2-3 flex workstations idle these days, but we also haven't had to turn anyone away just yet. We carefully toe the edge of full by paying close attention to how full we are and deciding to open up a new flex desk when a full time member disembarks, or open up a new full time spot to help clear our full time waiting list. - With 117 members sharing 27 workspaces, each flex workspace currently supports ~4 people without any collisions. If we mandated reservations, we could probably support more. I'd love to see numbers from other spaces so we can compare ratios and see what else works. /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Mike Pihlman telbitconsult...@gmail.comwrote: Cool discussion. We have found out here that dedicated desks are the most popular. I currently have 6 rented. I have about 20 flex work areas available, 3 of which are desks just like the dedicated desks, the rest are round tables, barnes noble wood hand me down tables, etc. I need to keep the flex so I can stack people at the same desks. But I also need some optimum number of dedicated. Mike On Jan 14, 2012 11:54 AM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.com wrote: I stand correcte... -- 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. -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
Sizeable Spaces is small (two floors). Floor one is 11 full/part-time desks; floor two is a conference/coffee area and two private offices. We're currently at: 2 Private office members (for the private office, we allow 2-3 people under a membership, they are more $) 9 Full-time Desk Members 4 Flex members (two are colleagues of two full-time desk members) We've outgrown capacity (in our first 6 months) and I'm finding there's a very silent, but strong service/product independents and small (micro) businesses that are in our area. It's the micro-community we had starting that's actually just the beginning of tons of people in the area. This has been outstanding. Meeting with the landlord Monday regarding the first floor (we're the top 2 floors of the building) so we can expand and support more members and take over the building. Our pricing is ~$500/office; and the rest is like Indy Hall's $275/full-time dedicated desk (24/7); $175/three-day flex; $25/single day. Additional days are $15/day. We've also been offering full-time members the $15/day rate for additional flex people as available (two members have interns). As availability changes and the space grows, we may need to move that to the $25 first day + $15 additional days to keep some extra overhead in our budget. Hope this info is helpful. -- Andy Stratton Web / Developer / Designer 443-623-6835 On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:25 PM, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.comwrote: Loving seeing the variations in what works - more sharing, please! I'd love to hear more about utilization: - how many members you have signed as full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workspaces you have available for full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workstations are utilized. averages ranges are welcome, flex makes reporting these things tough! Our December numbers were: - 33 full time members - 117 flex members (~100 are basic, the rest somewhere in between) - 33 full time workstations - 27 flexible workspaces (not including the more casual work spaces which are almost always in use as well) - Full time workstations are assumed to be occupied, but actual attendance is in the mid 20's on a daily basis, helping with density. Our average full time member is around for quite a while, so new spots typically open up less than once a month. - We rarely have more than 2-3 flex workstations idle these days, but we also haven't had to turn anyone away just yet. We carefully toe the edge of full by paying close attention to how full we are and deciding to open up a new flex desk when a full time member disembarks, or open up a new full time spot to help clear our full time waiting list. - With 117 members sharing 27 workspaces, each flex workspace currently supports ~4 people without any collisions. If we mandated reservations, we could probably support more. I'd love to see numbers from other spaces so we can compare ratios and see what else works. /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Mike Pihlman telbitconsult...@gmail.comwrote: Cool discussion. We have found out here that dedicated desks are the most popular. I currently have 6 rented. I have about 20 flex work areas available, 3 of which are desks just like the dedicated desks, the rest are round tables, barnes noble wood hand me down tables, etc. I need to keep the flex so I can stack people at the same desks. But I also need some optimum number of dedicated. Mike On Jan 14, 2012 11:54 AM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jerome Chang jer...@blankspaces.com wrote: I stand correcte... -- 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. -- 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. -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
We (Workantile) currently have: 34 full members who get 24/7/365 access 6 affiliate members, who get 1 day/month free and can purchase additional day passes 3 student members, who get 24/7/365 access We have 28 desks. As I said, none are dedicated. We also have a small conference room which seats 4, a large conference room which seats 10, and a small one-person phone room. A couple of notes: Workantile underwent a change of ownership back in October. Two other people and I bought the organization from its founder. We and Trek Glowacki, the community manager from the beginning, run Workantile. We are putting into place new marketing which, combined with other changes, resulted in six trial member who started in the past two weeks. Of those, three are converting into full members, and I expect two of the remaining three to do so as well. These are not included in the numbers above. We think we can get up to 75 members without collisions, but we will have to see as our numbers climb. Our biggest issue right now is a lack of space to make phone calls. On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:47 PM, Andy Stratton theandystrat...@gmail.comwrote: Sizeable Spaces is small (two floors). Floor one is 11 full/part-time desks; floor two is a conference/coffee area and two private offices. We're currently at: 2 Private office members (for the private office, we allow 2-3 people under a membership, they are more $) 9 Full-time Desk Members 4 Flex members (two are colleagues of two full-time desk members) We've outgrown capacity (in our first 6 months) and I'm finding there's a very silent, but strong service/product independents and small (micro) businesses that are in our area. It's the micro-community we had starting that's actually just the beginning of tons of people in the area. This has been outstanding. Meeting with the landlord Monday regarding the first floor (we're the top 2 floors of the building) so we can expand and support more members and take over the building. Our pricing is ~$500/office; and the rest is like Indy Hall's $275/full-time dedicated desk (24/7); $175/three-day flex; $25/single day. Additional days are $15/day. We've also been offering full-time members the $15/day rate for additional flex people as available (two members have interns). As availability changes and the space grows, we may need to move that to the $25 first day + $15 additional days to keep some extra overhead in our budget. Hope this info is helpful. -- Andy Stratton Web / Developer / Designer 443-623-6835 On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:25 PM, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: Loving seeing the variations in what works - more sharing, please! I'd love to hear more about utilization: - how many members you have signed as full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workspaces you have available for full time and how many are some sort of flex - how many workstations are utilized. averages ranges are welcome, flex makes reporting these things tough! Our December numbers were: - 33 full time members - 117 flex members (~100 are basic, the rest somewhere in between) - 33 full time workstations - 27 flexible workspaces (not including the more casual work spaces which are almost always in use as well) - Full time workstations are assumed to be occupied, but actual attendance is in the mid 20's on a daily basis, helping with density. Our average full time member is around for quite a while, so new spots typically open up less than once a month. - We rarely have more than 2-3 flex workstations idle these days, but we also haven't had to turn anyone away just yet. We carefully toe the edge of full by paying close attention to how full we are and deciding to open up a new flex desk when a full time member disembarks, or open up a new full time spot to help clear our full time waiting list. - With 117 members sharing 27 workspaces, each flex workspace currently supports ~4 people without any collisions. If we mandated reservations, we could probably support more. I'd love to see numbers from other spaces so we can compare ratios and see what else works. /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Mike Pihlman telbitconsult...@gmail.com wrote: Cool discussion. We have found out here that dedicated desks are the most popular. I currently have 6 rented. I have about 20 flex work areas available, 3 of which are desks just like the dedicated desks, the rest are round tables, barnes noble wood hand me down tables, etc. I need to keep the flex so I can stack people at the same desks. But I also need some optimum number of dedicated. Mike On Jan 14, 2012 11:54 AM, Tom Brandt twbra...@gmail.com wrote: People did want someplace where they could leave stuff so we now have lockers that almost all members use. On Sat, Jan
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
R, Okay the town hall meeting sounds good, actually great idea.Do you mind if I ask how you went about setting that up? Where did you go to reach the people ? We are in to networking so we have our customary networking groups, but how did you stimulate action to come to the town hall and learn about coworking? Most people here have little idea of what coworking is, and we need a hook to get our fish in the boat...lol! Thank you so very much for your help, I have come to depend on wonderful people like you and this google group, without you guys here I would have been so clueless to this whole coworking movement and making mistakes by the truckloads. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 10:56 AM, rachel young rac...@camaraderie.ca wrote: Starting with your existing group that already knows you is great. Now you can consider reaching out to your municipal community, the freelancers, entrepreneurs, and startups in your area, the potential future members that you haven't yet met. Some space owners (us included) held something like a town hall meeting, which I recommend you consider doing. You can advertise a time and location of where a meetup will take place, introduce yourselves and your intent to open a space, and gather feedback from them about various things like pricing, location, membership levels, amenities, etc. And while the majority of that info will be very helpful, Alex is totally right in that some people will say they would like to see something but won't actually use it. I've noticed that individual phone lines and fax machines were the common example. At the very least you get a room full of people who can be the start of your coworking community, who you can explain coworking to, and who could either become members or perhaps use the space for events or recommend the space to their friends and colleagues. Make sure you get everyone's contact info, and if you can invite someone from a neighbouring coworking facility to join you, he/she can lend their expertise to the conversation. Chad and I did that for a space that was between our spaces, and we were able to answer questions with examples from our existing spaces. r. On 14 January 2012 01:42, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Rachel, There are a four of us, which is where the discussion comes from. There are diffrent ideas on the subject. So I thought I would bring the topic here for feedback. Since this is a new concept that we are just begining to push. We have the space which we consider phase one, with two workstaions and 12 basically hot seats Phase two is a 3000 sq ft renivated warehouse. We began by consideing a daily rate as well as monthly memberships, but thought that people might be more comfortable with hourly or even half day rate. CJay -- 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. -- Cheryl Jaycox Community Manager Micro Office Suites Business Center The HIVE@44,Business Coworking Communty Phone: 636-405-3130 Cell: 314-800-4305 -- 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] Member Events
Hey CJay. We do about 2 community events a month (pot lucks, Beer and Apps, movie nite, etc) Members only. Then our members host events where non-members attend, like workshops, classes and clinics. Those usually cost and we charge for space usage. Community events are a benefit of being a member. Some of the events we may open it up, but it's just one more reason to join when the events are exclusive. For example, we're hosting 2 Open Mics this weekend. Organizerd by one of our members. Between the 2 nites about 150 people came through the space. We noticed about 30 Creative Space brochures gone! We charged the member for space use, but the cover charge more than paid for that expense. I know there was a thread a while back about cool events spaces are doing. Fun stuff! Peace, Chad On 2012-01-14, at 11:39 AM, Cheryl Jaycox wrote: Chad, Thank you for the detailed information, I feel the same way with some of the pricing charts I have looked at...confusing I like the Basic membership set up and will discuss this with the other core members. Since you mentioned it on an adverage how many events does your space host a month? To members only or do you open it up to anyone interested? Thanks Chad, your post are always helpful...as always look forward to your opinions and suggestions. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: I go crossed-eyed looking at some rate chats with the hourly model! That head ache alone is worth any member staying a few hours over their monthly allotments, so we've kept is simple. 3 main membership rates and based off our $25/day (membership Fee) + $15/day ongoing . Basic = $25/mth -1 day a month in the space and access to all community events (get's their feet wet and we hope will translate into the next level of membership) Every day after that is $15/day (versions of this plan could be a 1 day/wk plan = $75/mth or 2 days per week = $100/mth. Some have applied for these since launching the Basic+day scenario Lite Membership = $180/mth = 3 days per week FullTime = $300/mth (27/7) This is the only rate that there's a better bargain - but we're re-thinking it now as Alex has said before Full-time Desks takes a desk off the market and therefore can only be rented once, as opposed to a flex desk which can be rent 3-4 times over as the membership won't use that desk at the same time. I'd encourage y'all to try the Basic Membership. Thanks again to Alex for the suggestion. Since we launched the package we've seen about a member a week sign up. It's not big bucks, but most grab it for the year ($275/year - $25 off if they pay for the 12 mths up front) And so the 8 that have signed up so far put $2200 in our bank account. We might see them one month and not the next but they attend our events to network, etc. Well worth the $25 Members can use all meeting space as part of their membership if it's a client meeting during the day and we just ask that they don't go over 2 hours per meeting. Some go a bit over, we let it ride and just monitor space usage for all members as to not have one or two monopolize the space. Meeting space for workshops, classes, clinics and events we charge hourly. Since The Creative Space is not our full-time job, we have to do everything we can to minimize the overhead and workload for administrating it all. Here's a summery of a few of the things we do to minimize the need for costly systems/apps, manpower, etc SImple membership plans Google cal for bookings/events Skype to inform members that clients are here (we have 2 floors so the upstairs peeps need some reception support) Members help gather trash for trash day and re-supply toiletries when their low. we just make sure the supply rooms are full Every brings indoor shoes or slippers (has cut down our sweeping mopping time drastically, especially during winter months - (Oh Canada - snow, slush, salt) MadMimi for news blasts Peace, Chad On 2012-01-14, at 9:11 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: Especially when just getting started, there's a lot of power in keeping it simple. It's tempting and easy to create a membership to fit every person, down to half days and hourly. The problem I've seen with this is that it creates overhead both for you (in the fact that you need some way to keep track), as well as your members (they are always watching a clock to make sure they don't go over). Having spoken to people who've been members of both models, membership is preferred to be as simple as possible. The only thing that people really, really appreciate in granular hourly pricing is meeting space - which totally makes sense, it's rare to have half and full day meetings. I also like to think about this in terms of membership vs. renter. It's hard to become a community member an hour at a
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
I think you first need to figure out who will be a part of your community. Will they be freelancers, remote workers, small startups, someone else? Once you know that, figure out where they hang out, either in real life or virtually. Post flyers, pass out handouts, talk to people. See if you can get a business reporter for your local paper to write an article about your space. And of course, work your own networks. --- twb Sent from my Phone of i On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:58 PM, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: R, Okay the town hall meeting sounds good, actually great idea.Do you mind if I ask how you went about setting that up? Where did you go to reach the people ? We are in to networking so we have our customary networking groups, but how did you stimulate action to come to the town hall and learn about coworking? Most people here have little idea of what coworking is, and we need a hook to get our fish in the boat...lol! Thank you so very much for your help, I have come to depend on wonderful people like you and this google group, without you guys here I would have been so clueless to this whole coworking movement and making mistakes by the truckloads. CJay On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 10:56 AM, rachel young rac...@camaraderie.ca wrote: Starting with your existing group that already knows you is great. Now you can consider reaching out to your municipal community, the freelancers, entrepreneurs, and startups in your area, the potential future members that you haven't yet met. Some space owners (us included) held something like a town hall meeting, which I recommend you consider doing. You can advertise a time and location of where a meetup will take place, introduce yourselves and your intent to open a space, and gather feedback from them about various things like pricing, location, membership levels, amenities, etc. And while the majority of that info will be very helpful, Alex is totally right in that some people will say they would like to see something but won't actually use it. I've noticed that individual phone lines and fax machines were the common example. At the very least you get a room full of people who can be the start of your coworking community, who you can explain coworking to, and who could either become members or perhaps use the space for events or recommend the space to their friends and colleagues. Make sure you get everyone's contact info, and if you can invite someone from a neighbouring coworking facility to join you, he/she can lend their expertise to the conversation. Chad and I did that for a space that was between our spaces, and we were able to answer questions with examples from our existing spaces. r. On 14 January 2012 01:42, CAJ cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.com wrote: Rachel, There are a four of us, which is where the discussion comes from. There are diffrent ideas on the subject. So I thought I would bring the topic here for feedback. Since this is a new concept that we are just begining to push. We have the space which we consider phase one, with two workstaions and 12 basically hot seats Phase two is a 3000 sq ft renivated warehouse. We began by consideing a daily rate as well as monthly memberships, but thought that people might be more comfortable with hourly or even half day rate. CJay -- 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. -- Cheryl Jaycox Community Manager Micro Office Suites Business Center The HIVE@44,Business Coworking Communty Phone: 636-405-3130 Cell: 314-800-4305 -- 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. -- 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.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Advice on pricing....
We set up an event on Eventbrite, and then plastered the link for it *everywhere* we could - twitter, facebook, linkedin, forums, livejournal, newsletters, newsgroups, barcamp, mailing lists that we were already on, local wikis, networking groups that we were a part of as well as new ones that we joined specifically to spread the word, this list (of course), our friends, our families, our neighbours, people on the streetcar, people in grocery stores, and we even printed flyers and put them up at libraries, cafes, pubs, community centres, and other places around town. That was well over 3yrs ago, so I'm sure I'm forgetting a few key places where we plastered the info. We stressed that we are interested in establishing a place where freelancers could work from that wasn't a cafe or library, and that we wanted community feedback The text we used on the Eventbrite event listing was simply: Calling all entrepreneurs, the self-employed, developers, writers, independent media professionals, freelancers, those working at home, and those working out of cafes! We're trying to gauge interest in developing a permanent dedicated coworking space in downtown Toronto. This might include shared office space, some anchor offices, meeting and training space, and a private cafe. It could be any or all of those. Let's have a discussion with a brief presentation to explore what it might be and why you might want to be a part of this. We didn't end up opening a space with a private cafe, but maybe in our next space. :-P I encourage you to purchase and read the ebook Coworking: Building community as a space catalysthttp://coherecommunity.com/ebooks/coworking-building-community-as-a-space-catalystby Angel and Beth from Cohere. It is a really helpful text, and absolutely well worth the affordable price tag. r. * rachel young *rac...@camaraderie.ca * * On 14 January 2012 20:58, Cheryl Jaycox cheryl.cajservi...@gmail.comwrote: R, Okay the town hall meeting sounds good, actually great idea.Do you mind if I ask how you went about setting that up? Where did you go to reach the people ? We are in to networking so we have our customary networking groups, but how did you stimulate action to come to the town hall and learn about coworking? Most people here have little idea of what coworking is, and we need a hook to get our fish in the boat...lol! Thank you so very much for your help, I have come to depend on wonderful people like you and this google group, without you guys here I would have been so clueless to this whole coworking movement and making mistakes by the truckloads. CJay -- 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.
