I went over to Citizen Space to take it all in and find more inspiration for our Orlando efforts. For those who aren't as up on the scene, Chris and Tara have been at the forefront of the coworking movement. They were an original part of hat factory and now operate citizen space along side their consulting company, citizen agency.
What separates coworking from a typical shared workspace is the common sense of values and community. The general feeling behind all of it has a lot in common with the open source movement -- open collaboration benefits everyone more so than not ("barcamp everyday") I've been cheerleading the concept locally since I moved back from DC (around the time I started talking to Chris, actually), and was really happy to be able to visit their space and take in their efforts.
Below are the pictures I took. It's about, I'm guessing, 1000sq/ft or so. Full time members pay $350 a month with no contract, all just month to month. There's a conference room, mini fridge, internet and an overall kick ass vibe.
One of the things Chris and Tara mentioned is that they find the retention rate is really really high for the full time members -- people who have a desk and are leaving their things at the office -- but not quite as high for the part timers. Day passes for folks visiting and looking to drop by are free, as it seems to add to the overall atmosphere. There's a master lease holder (Citizen Agency), and then everyone pitches in from there. An earlier effort involved trying out what sounded like a "parlor fee" to help buy additional amenities and furniture for everyones benefit, but it didn't work out well.
Overall, they estimate that they spent about $8k on renovations/furniture/etc over a six month period, which includes their kickass chandelier.
We also talked briefly about nicknaming our brown bag meetups. Jelly in NY, Cream cheese in philly -- something citrusy in Orlando, though not sure what yet. Suggestions welcome ;)
If your interested in this stuff, I'm sure the topic will come up at barcamp (I may talk about it if the schedule isn't busting at the seems. Word is attendance might push 300 :\), and it will for sure be discussed during my local session at blogOrlando. Alex Hillman, from indy hall in philly, will be joining us for that as well. (woot).
What separates coworking from a typical shared workspace is the common sense of values and community. The general feeling behind all of it has a lot in common with the open source movement -- open collaboration benefits everyone more so than not ("barcamp everyday") I've been cheerleading the concept locally since I moved back from DC (around the time I started talking to Chris, actually), and was really happy to be able to visit their space and take in their efforts.
Below are the pictures I took. It's about, I'm guessing, 1000sq/ft or so. Full time members pay $350 a month with no contract, all just month to month. There's a conference room, mini fridge, internet and an overall kick ass vibe.
One of the things Chris and Tara mentioned is that they find the retention rate is really really high for the full time members -- people who have a desk and are leaving their things at the office -- but not quite as high for the part timers. Day passes for folks visiting and looking to drop by are free, as it seems to add to the overall atmosphere. There's a master lease holder (Citizen Agency), and then everyone pitches in from there. An earlier effort involved trying out what sounded like a "parlor fee" to help buy additional amenities and furniture for everyones benefit, but it didn't work out well.
Overall, they estimate that they spent about $8k on renovations/furniture/etc over a six month period, which includes their kickass chandelier.
We also talked briefly about nicknaming our brown bag meetups. Jelly in NY, Cream cheese in philly -- something citrusy in Orlando, though not sure what yet. Suggestions welcome ;)
If your interested in this stuff, I'm sure the topic will come up at barcamp (I may talk about it if the schedule isn't busting at the seems. Word is attendance might push 300 :\), and it will for sure be discussed during my local session at blogOrlando. Alex Hillman, from indy hall in philly, will be joining us for that as well. (woot).
