Greetings from an Austin, TX Coworker

Howdy,
Spike Gillespie here. I’m the blogger for Launchpad Coworking. Launchpad Coworking is a (co)work in progress. We hope to open our space this summer. Currently we’re planning the space, meeting other coworkers, and checking out how other people around North America are interpreting coworking. I’d love feedback and input from y’all so please check out the blog and let me know your experience with coworking.
Thanks,
spike

future coworking software and the importance of community

after helping fortify the idea of coworking in NYC, i’ve set forth to travel the world and meet fellow coworkers. here’s just a few minutes with christopher aguiton, one of the Parisian coworking/barcamp leaders.

if you have a chance, also check out my interview with two freelancers in berlin.

Seattle Updates

Office Nomads     June was a very busy month.!  It was great meeting folks and their families at the BBQ on Saturday.  For those of you who couldn’t make it, here is an update of what is going on at Office Nomads.

Office Nomads LLC

I just finished up all the paperwork to bring into existence OfficeNomads LLC and we even have a bank account!  Of course we don’t have any money, but we are working on that too.  Special thanks to Julia Youngs, our lawyer, for doing all the heavy lifting.  Also thanks toBizNik for helping me find her.  Now we need a CPA.

The Space

We are moving forward with the Ballard location.  I talked with the building owner last week and I think she liked me.  We haven’t enteredinto official negotiations but I’m hoping that happens in the nextweek or two.  There is 7500sqft and 5-8 conference/meeting rooms.  I’m shooting to have spaces for 50 and an average daily attendance of30-40.

 http://www.officenomads.com/space1/

Pricing Structure

We’ve scrutinized all the different pricing plans of all the different coworking spaces and balancing them with the advice we’ve been getting, and our understanding of what will work best for the indie business crowd.  We are shooting for simple, yet flexible and came upwith three pricing plans.  All three are month-to-month (with deposit)and come with an electronic key so you can pick your own hours.  Each plan includes network access, printing and will have an allowance for conference room time.

Plans: 

  1. $450 = Unlimited use  – permanent desk
  2. $250 = 3-5 days/week – any available space
  3. $100 = 1-2 days/week – any available space

Financing Options

I talked to Ruby and Colleen over at Salmon Bay Community Lending and was VERY impressed and happy they are going to help me get the fundsneeded to get this thing started.  The fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get the money is going to be to use the equity in my house.  We estimate we’ll need about $50k in startup costs and another $50-80k to keep the lights on while we ramp up to capacity.  There are other options available for rounding up $130k and we will see what is in place when the time comes to write the checks.

Timeline & Build-out

If things go smoothly we could take possession of the space in August or September.  We are hoping to only take a month to do the majorityof the build-out.  We need to rip out the false ceiling, replace the lighting, and maybe expose some of the pine floor.  We also need tosling some paint around and start collecting furniture.

WE NEED HELP!  There is a lot to do and need some elbow greasedonations.  Got an eye for design and decorating?  Good with a hammer? Know a good electrician or where to get a good deal on lighting oroffice furniture?  And if anyone is extra eager to get into the spacewe can setup some desks in an undisturbed corner.  Most work is goingto be done after official business hours.  Of course we won’t chargeuntil the doors officially open.

So who’s in?

That’s the big question!  I’ve seen a lot of excitement, and now Ineed to know who’s with me.  You’ve seen the price points, you’ve seenthe space.  If we opened our doors in September, or October, who wouldsign up and which plan would you choose?  If you are on the fence,what is it keeping you from making the jump?

NASA and Coworking: Kickoff May 02 @ Citizenspace in San Francisco

So, NASA is co-working. Come find out all about it in San Francisco on May 2nd. Details and RSVP here.

How this happened: I’m a space geek (degrees as a planetary scientist) and also a grassroots communities geek (years working for CivicSpace Labs), and also I really care about our government being, well…. of, by and for US as citizens, and being efficient, transparent, benevolent, and effective. It annoys me when it’s not.

Here’s the thesis:

  1. Our bureaucratic government agencies have a lot to learn from the creativity, efficiency, and authenticity of entrepreneurial and grassroots communities in the Bay Area and beyond.
  2. Entrepreneurs and grassroots organizations can benefit a lot from easier access to the massive human resources, facilities, and funding, and other resources that are resident in our government agencies.
  3. By bringing entrepreneurial and grassroots communities together with a government agency through co-working, mutually beneficial bi-lateral exchange of knowledge, resources, and culture can occur.
  4. For this to succeed, a low-hanging-fruit place to start is with technology-driven organizations on both sides, because there is are pre-existing shared cultural and affinities and memes.

I found some like minded souls in my community of space friends and also at senior levels within NASA, and also in the techno-entrepreneurial world in the Bay Area. We created a new program called “CoLab” which is bringing these seemingly disparate worlds together through online community building, virtual co-working in Second Life, and now, physical co-working in San Francisco… we hope, to their…our… great mutual benefit.  Wait– is it “ours” or “theirs?”  Wait– that’s the point!

Come find out all about it on Wednesday– we need your help! 🙂

making coworking scheduling software a reality

Friends, Romans, Coworkers…

We have reached that point were we are seriously talking about scheduling software. John McGann, 116 West Houston, has hired a developer to update his old software. John doesn’t have any particular construct, php, ruby on rails, drupal or some other open-souce CMS. John just wants the software built with enough ambiguity to manage a generic set of coworking spaces.

My personal interest is to make this dream a reality, and within the next few days we will set up a call to review any/all documents to kick start this bad boy. In the meantime, if you are interested we need you to do three things…

  1. join the coworking google group.
  2. think up what are the best features and post them to the wiki.
  3. add your name if your want to be part of the development team

This article has been cross posted on noneck.org.

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