Minnebar and Coworking

Posted by Tom Brice on April 22, 2007

Yesterday was Minnebar and it was great! There have been several recaps and other specific posts related to particular sessions so I’ll just cut to the chase:

Justin Grammens, Dan Grigsby and I hosted a group discussion on Coworking and the turn out was good. It appears that there is some interest in the concept. In an effort to keep this on the radar I’ve created a Google Group to continue the discussion. Join in!

I also want to publish the notes I took during the session:

Who?

  1. Independents with no office (cafe companies)
  2. Startups
  3. Corporate workers looking for collaboration, mentoring
  4. Small companies
  1. Community groups

    Models for funding the project

    • For Profit.
      • Mention of WorkSpace3 as well as Garrick’s recent post
      • “Health Club Membership”, 100 people $100 per month?
      • No Level of membership, some use it all day everyday, some not at all
      • Brings up issues of “seats and butts”, what’s the churn rate, would you have enough space for all that may choose to show up at any given moment.
      • Who Signs the lease?
      • Light weight, easy to implement now.
      • Non-profit
      • Seeks grants for local government, local tech companies
        • Provide mentoring, resources for donors, free or reduced rate consulting from member companies or individuals.
      • This is a kind of “incubator”, pool of talent for donor companies
      • Non Profit entity serves as logistics coordinator, arbitrator, organizer, single point of contact for the community as a whole.
  • this is “heavy weight” and requires most time investment.

    I’ve omitted much of the conversation (my notes aren’t the greatest.) Please fill in the blanks by joining the group. The concept is pretty compelling. As Justin said to me once: “The atmosphere of Minnebar everyday” That sounds OK to me.

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  1. Mateo Baisden Sun, 11 Nov 2007 08:18:25 GMT

    We are currently converting a large warehouse space into a coworking
    space.The space will have a reception area and conference room up
    front for meeting with clients and various work spaces throughout the
    rest of the space, including private offices, workstations and lounge
    areas. We will provide wifi access, coffee and soda in the kitchenette
    and mailing address service.
    We will offer daily and monthly plans for “floating” members, and also
    “resident” plans that will allow you to claim a workspace/office as
    your own.. We’ll be very proactive about insuring that the vibe and
    community of the space is healthy and upbeat.
    We are still trying to determine pricing/options and our launch date
    (looking like January/February). We have some decisions as well still
    to make about the space/services/pricing, so help us out with your
    opinions and suggestions if you care to! We want to create a great
    space for us all to enjoy here in the Twin Cities!
    We’ve set up a quick survey to help us create the perfect coworking
    space, would you share your opinions with us? This will also add you
    to our notification list for our opening of the space:
    http://addisonagency.wufoo.com/forms/creative-coworking-survey/
    Thanks so much for your help. Hopefully we’ll work together soon!
    Mateo

  2. Tom Brice Sun, 11 Nov 2007 08:52:20 GMT

    Thanks for the comment Mateo. I see that you have already forund our Google group (http://groups.google.com/group/coworking-minneapolis-st-paul). I look forward to seeing how your space turns out.

  3. Mateo Baisden Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:56:31 GMT

    Thanks Tom, I did find the coworking group as well. Thanks for kicking that off. We’re hoping for a January open house, I’ll keep you posted. Also, just launched a site at http://www.360workspace.com if you’d like to check it out in more detail.

    Look forward to meeting you soon..

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