Soundview Coworking – Now Open in Stamford Connecticut

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Hello All,

My name is Jeff Kubarych and I am happy to announce the opening of a new Coworking space in Downtown Stamford, CT. located on the 16th floor of the Marriott. I have partnered with The Soundview Club, Stamford’s oldest Business Club, to bring Soundview Coworking to the professionals of Fairfield and Westchester Counties.

The space can accommodate 40 to 50 people and has a community computer with internet access, broadband WiFi, an all in one fax/scanner/copier/ printer, several couches and cushy chairs, 2 TV’s and great views of the water and Downtown Stamford (you can even see NYC on a clear day). Free parking is included for all members and we are only a few minutes walk to downtown restaurants, shopping and the train station.

We are less than 30 miles away from NYC and welcome members from all Coworking spaces to stop in and work with us when you are in town. We will be launching a wiki/blog in the coming days, but if anyone would like to find out more information, feel free to email me at soundview at gmail dot com or call me at the number below.

Kind Regards,

Jeff

Soundview Coworking
203-554-7470

Accelerating serendipity with coworking

[podtech content=http://media1.podtech.net/media/2007/06/PID_011747/Podtech_RyanIsHungry_CoWorking.flv&postURL=http://www.podtech.net/home/3454/co-working-independent-workers-unite &totalTime=392000&breadcrumb=540a73bf84e742e09e6063c7dd021a17]

Jay Dedman and Ryan Hodson are founding coworking community members who have been instrumental in spreading the word, turning the Hat Factory into a vlogger haven and generally being model coworkers.

They recently produced a video with interview snippets from me, Tara and Brad. It’s a great example of how we’re serving ourselves and becoming the media — and of course it helps to have such talented folks diffused throughout the community.

I’d encourage others in coworking spaces, getting started or simply interested in the idea to record their own videos and share them with the . I totally agree with Jay that the power of video [is] to make all our ideas come more real. Hopefully videos like this will inspire others to tell their stories and get involved with the larger story of independents coming together to serve themselves.

Need Anchors for Coworking Space in Berkeley, CA

(cross posted on the coworking list)

I have found a prospective site in Berkeley, CA to convert into a small, Citizen Space-sized, coworking office, with room for about 7-8 anchors, and about 400 square ft of meeting/conference room/mashpit common space (good for sessions up to about 25 people). It is near the corner of Shattuck and Ashby in South Berkeley, about two blocks from Ashby BART and Berkeley Bowl, or about 15 blocks south of Berkley BART and the vibrant downtown area.

The space is currently tenanted by a technology company that is undergoing changes and is interested in the coworking concept — they want two of the anchor desks, and they already have the lease. I have a lot of nice rolling whitewalls, chairs, and other furniture from Consensus/Alacrity/Skotos, so all we really need to do is buy some common desks (Ikea) and do some cleanup and maybe some painting.

If you are interested in being an anchor (i.e. have dedicated desk/file area, a key to get in at all hours, free to schedule conference room area) it looks like a share will be about $400.00 a month, with a deposit of whatever it costs to buy your desk ;-). With the existing tenant wanting two desks, and one for my myself, that leaves 5 anchor spots available. If we can get one or two more people commit to being an anchor, we could move in possibly later this month!

Contact me at [email protected] if you are interested or want more information.

Constant Networking at The Network Hub

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I have just attended another one of The Network Hub’s monthly meet-ups. The meet-up is all about just that – meeting other business minded people, exchanging business cards and having a lot of fun. The event was a success. Over 60 people showed up, and I got to meet very different professionals from all walks of life. This was the second meet-up that I have attended and I think my favorite part of the whole process is telling people about co-working. It’s amazing to see people come into the space and ask about what goes on here. Plus I love the look on the face of someone who hasn’t heard about co-working but thinks it’s a great idea and asks how they can get involved. I myself am new to co-working. When I first heard about it I was just like the people I talk to – definitely intrigued but not quite grasping the concept. When I joined The Network Hub team I didn’t think I was also joining a huge international community of co-workers. I started doing research to try and find out if there were other people interested in this idea. That’s when I came upon blogs, forums, groups and wikis dedicated to everything about co-working. With so much exposure over the Internet I couldn’t believe I wasn’t familiar with this trend earlier. Now I’m very excited to be part of this innovative community!

As for The Network Hub it feels like it’s growing every day. There are very different people and companies working side by side. It feels like we have a smaller version of the networking meet-up every day when we come in to work; you just never know how’s going to stop by the office. There are also challenges, as with any business. But personally, having others there for support and advice and adding new people to our little community every day is the biggest reward.

 

PS. Thanks to Tara Hunt for adding me onto this blog! I’m looking forward to continuing the co-working trend with all of you! And visit our website www.thenetworkhub.ca

 

Office Nomads @ BizJam

logo2.gifThis Saturday I’m going to be at BizJam, in Seattle, all day helping setup, handing out business cards, and getting people excited about coworking. We’ll have a 1/8 page ad in the conference program sporting our new logo and asking for support. It should be a great day mingling with independent business folk and making connections. BizNik has already been a great resource so I’m excited to see what Saturday brings. Anyone else planning on going?

Philadelphia Jelly = Cream Cheese Sessions?

This is a repost from my personal blog, dangerouslyawesome.com because I thought that the coworking community might be interested in this.

Cream Cheese Session

I just left the inaugural session of Philadelphia Jelly coworking. As per a suggestion from Jacob Patton, with a twist from one of the participants, I am considering dubbing this Philadelphian version, Cream Cheese Sessions. Alternatively, we could simply adopt something along the lines of “PhilaJelly”, but I’m a pretty big fan of Cream Cheese Sessions, especially if we can invent some kind of ridiculous back-story :-). I’m open to ideas in the comments.

At any rate, I would call the event a success. Over the course of the day, there were 8 on-site participants (most of whom were there for the entire day). The campfire backchannel that I set up was visited by about a half dozen off-site “drop-ins”, some from Philly, as well as one couple from Rochester that are moving to Philly soon and a friend of mine in Maryland. Additionally, Geoff from P’unk Ave dropped in during the class that he teaches at UArts, and I gave the class a quick overview on Coworking and Jelly via the campfire room.

The cafe that we crashed was the Chapter House at 9th and Bainbridge. Honestly, I felt kinda bad because I didn’t give them a heads up that we were taking over but they were kind enough to not kick us out, this time. Next time I’ll provide some warning and maybe arrange some kind of compensation. But we all bought drinks and most people bought some food.

The spread of talent and skills and “titles” was varied. Everything from designers, developers, project managers, general creatives…there was a good representation across the board. Really, anyone who works alone, or in a non-creative setting, could have benefited from today’s session. And really, you don’t need to even be an indie. A few of our coworkers either “worked from home” (and thats what we are, a home away from home), or took a vacation day to work on side projects.

The response was positive from all of the participants, and a few photos can be seen on flickr, as well as on the Independents Hall Homepage.

Will we do it again? Absolutely. As Roz said:

“I felt so much more productive working in an independent yet collaborative environment. I could focus on my work, but draw inspiration from the random moments where we’d all stop briefly and chat about an idea or concept. I hope to make coworking a regular part in my work process.”

And I’d agree.

I’m considering contacting twitter to set up a “PhillyCreamCheese” group that people can join, and I’ll send out an notice (or anyone, really) that I’m working from location “X” today, and anyone can join me. Impromptu Coworking at it’s finest, dontcha think?

This was a great experiment and I can’t wait to see where it takes us as we continue down the road to having an established coworking presence in Philadelphia.

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CoworkingLA meetup April 24

There’s been some recent activity on the Coworking mailing list seeking support towards the establishment of a coworking space (or spaces) in LA.

Heather has invited folks interested in the coworking concept to attend the 12th Geek Dinner coming up on April 24th at Shakey’s Pizza in Hollywood to discuss ways forward.

Harold Johnson has suggested talking to UnUrban, a smallish cafe that could use a boost in patronage while Heather has proposed Little Radio, the ongoing host of BarCampLA.

If anyone’s interested, do make an effort to attend the Geek Dinner or get in touch with Heather.

The results of the Coworking Survey

So…wow…we collected over 120 responses (including the first 11 via email that aren’t in the spreadsheet) and I spoke with quite a few people who said they didn’t get the chance to go take the survey, so I think this is representative of the fact that there is quite a bit of interest worldwide in coworking! Yay! Some great information, too…really telling us where we are at and highlighting people’s needs.

Some overview results for you:

Countries of respondents
Country Percent Total
USA 58.18%
Unknown 9%
Canada 6.36%
Ireland 3.64%
UK 3.64%
Italy 2.73%
Australia 1.82%
Croatia 1.82%
Germany 1.82%
New Zealand 1.82%
South Africa 1.82%
Afghanistan 0.91%
Finland 0.91%
France 0.91%
Poland 0.91%
Portugal 0.91%
Singapore 0.91%
Spain 0.91%
Switzerland 0.91%

NOTE: I’m guessing due to the anglo-centric discussions, we are getting much higher response in English speaking countries. This may present an opportunity for those in other countries to champion this movement themselves, by translating important text into their own language?

Stages of people on the list
Stage Percent Total
Are currently looking for a space to work from (wanting to be coworkers) 30.9%
Are interested in setting up a space (potential space owners) 25.5%
Other 18.2%
Are just watching the list (lurkers) 10.9%
Are in the process of setting up a space (future space owners) 10.0%
Are currently working at a coworking space (coworkers) 2.7%
Are currently running a coworking space (space owners) 1.8%

NOTE: The trick, for me, is to turn the 10.9% lurkers (and the 18.2% others) into either future space owners or coworkers and turn those potential space owners into actual space owners so the people looking for spaces have somewhere to work!

The order of importance of features in a space (rating out of 5)
Features Importance (out of 5)
Atmosphere 4.5
Community Feeling 4.3
Collaborative Environment 4.1
Location 4.0
Networking Opportunities 3.9
Excellent Coworkers 3.7
Meeting Spaces 3.7
Quiet Spaces 3.4
Security 3.2
24 hr Access 3.1
Event spaces 2.9
Privacy 2.8
Personalized Space (own desk) 2.6

NOTE: For those setting up a space, think of creating a really great atmosphere as the #1 thing to concentrate on. There is a great article here on seriously great workspaces. So, do you need art? Comfy chairs? Plants? Rugs? Flowers? Games? Yep. In the end, EVERYTHING was pretty important (nothing scored less than 50%), but Atmosphere and Comunity Feeling blew the others away.

So, how can we help the people trying to set up coworking spaces?

Immediate needs expressed
Needs Percent Total
Finding Space 13.6%
Money 10.9%
Partner 7.3%
Space Management Tips

 5.5%
Coworkers 5.5%
Structural Health 4.5%
Networking 3.6%
Other 2.7%

…if we could encourage the lurkers, maybe #3 (Partners) wouldn’t be such a big deal and they could help us find space (#1). Money? That’s a whole other issue. Anyone have good tips? For us, we decided to take fewer risks on the monthly rent (found a fix-me-upper that doesn’t have parking spots so the building rent is lower) to make for a better space and not as much pressure on us if we lose tenants…

What are they getting out of the coworking list?
Benefits Percent Total
Community 16.4%
Advice 14.5%
Support 10.9%
Promotio 8.2%
Mentor 5.5%
Coworker 5.5%
Other 2.7%

…aaaawwwww! Community, advice and support are awesome things to get out of this list and everyone should be proud of themselves for giving so much! 🙂

The rest of the answers are here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pVSaj5ixYmAyYm–dbRhgXw in long form. I’ve removed all of the personal information as far as I know…(like IPs and emails)

Enjoy!