Comments on: WorkSpace closes, thoughts on co-working space in Vancouver

By: Muskie

Muskie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:03:12 +0000

There are a lot of people still working on this. We, BOB, my employer are going to try it. We have a large main floor at 163 East Pender that we always planned to rent out for meetings and events to local businesses and non-profits. We're going to put even more furniture and up the bandwidth and offer it as coworking space for 200 dollars per month. We can't go any cheaper, we're a non-profit and are trying to offer a service to local entrepreneurs, independent professionals, and non-profits. We're not offering 24 hour access or weekend access just yet. That gets into a big staffing cost. We've got a key fob entry system so people can come and go, but at the end of the night the place will be locked up tight for security purposes.

Contact me at Building Opportunities with Business if you want to know more. The space can hold 100 and we're going to get stackable event seeting style chairs, so hopefully it can serve as a space where a lot of people can come together.

By: Muskie

Muskie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:28:31 +0000

Even before the demise of Workspace the place where I work was talking about a shared location concept and we’re not alone. We looked at sharing space with Bootup Labs. We talked to a lot of people, but the timing wasn’t right when we had to move from 325 Main. We’re still working with Bootup Labs, W2, Judi, David Duprey…

Recollective is having some meeting about a Vancouver Hub. Google that, they say we’re involved in that too, which is a bit presumptious, but we’re not ignorant, we were invited, and we want people to come to Vancouver’s inner-city and start businesses even micro businesses or consultants or independant professionals.

We have a couple floors of space in Chinatown. Our main floor we’re going to make available for rent, but we’re fine tuning our model. For us to replace Workspace, we can’t certainly not today. But we would like to be part of the solution and conversation. And who knows maybe there is an opportunity here that we or others we work with can fill.

Cheers

PS We know of office space and meeting space in the inner-city if anyone is looking for some, give us a call. 778-328-7672

By: Raul

Raul — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:52:14 +0000

One last thing. I have a desk at The Network Hub and I'm pretty sure people can drop by any time and say hi. I rarely have people do that and I'm there all the time. Maybe people need to know them a bit more

By: Raul

Raul — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:49:20 +0000

I have a hard time imagining the forking of $50 a year "in benefit of the community" considering how frequently the words "free desk", "low cost to nothing", etc. are being thrown around. Consider me cynical, but I think that one of the things that devalues the value of things is the perceived notion that things are "free". Nothing is really free. Rents need to be covered, salaries need to be paid and supplies need to be purchased. None of those appear magically out of nowhere, and as you clearly mention, unless there is some serious funding, the whole thing is not going to fly.

We pay rent and/or purchase our homes. Why shouldn't we have to pay for office space? I definitely believe in sharing a lot of stuff for the community, and the fact that we could drop in by WorkSpace and hang out and have events for free or sponsored was amazing. I was incredibly supported by WorkSpace. They sponsored the space, wifi and paid for Greg to be there (as far as I know – Greg may confirm this part).

But again, nothing is really free. I myself have liveblogged, written about or spoken at community events absolutely for free (that doesn't mean my time doesn't have value – I just have contributed it in kind to the community). So have many others. That's part and parcel of what has created a strong sense of community. But I think that to have a really solid space for co-working, the model has to be financially sustainable. And I really don't see how else can we do that unless (a) space is paid for or (b) there's sponsorship. And we all know that sponsorships only go so far. No funding agency will pay forever.

I'll go to the BarCamp session for sure.

By: Judi Piggott

Judi Piggott — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:36:20 +0000

I'm sure this group (current working name is The Art Department) would welcome some cross-pollination to see if we can help shorten the linkages to success. We are also looking at the Hub model from britain that has gone global, with San Francisco opening this week, and the good old Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto being another good example.

I had hoped to approach the WorkSpace people about opening a satellite space at or near the Main Street location of VIVO (I'm on the Board and we are thinking social enterprise) as part of our space re-design.

So, all these ideas can converge. Let me know if it sounds like a plan and include me in the contact lists for any discussions that might be useful in moving these great ideas forward!

By: Judi Piggott

Judi Piggott — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:35:49 +0000

There is a group working to develop itself as an intermediary (along the lines of ArtScape in Toronto), encouraged by the Cultural folks at the City of Vancouver as part of its cultural facilities development plan, and linked across a number of networks. And working to find projects to help initiate, faciiltate, or whatever-ate as we emerge and evolve.

For example, David Duprey is involved (he of the Rickshaw and other developments in the DTES through leasing buildings dirt cheap, demising them and subleasing affordably to artists and other creatives and small orgs). Vancity development group people are there, artists and architects and planners, oh my! All getting together and establishing some common language and finding projects to get going on.

More to come.

By: Judi Piggott

Judi Piggott — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:33:59 +0000

It is unfortunate that somehow we were not able to step in or step up and save WorkSpace. But we must move on.. I think there is a great opportunity here to crash-connect a few siloes and meet a spectrum of needs and hopefully some good dialogue leading to action at BarCamp (whatever that is) will get us there. I've enjoyed all the times that I have elbowed my way into the tech/design crowd because the energy is great (very can-do) and welcoming no matter how grey our heads or how confused we eldermavens may be about tweeting.

I'm getting notice my reply is too long, But wait! There's more!

By: Maura Rodgers

Maura Rodgers — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:25:13 +0000

Well, it looks like I MUST come to this session at Barcamp because the Bootup Entrepreneurial Society (non-profit) is working hard to create a space that will nurture and help our technology community thrive. I am trying to meet with all the right people to help get some funds to support this initiative. It would be ideal to have something in place before the Olympics. We definitely need community support to show that there is a need for a space like this in Gastown. Thanks for all the comments and sharing this post with others.

A big HUG to Dane and the Workspace folks for all the love! I will miss my visits to 21 Water Street…

By: Dane Brown

Dane Brown — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:27:12 +0000

Great post Boris. In the last conversation Bill and I had about shared space models we both agreed that if we were to start fresh we would do something with a fee so low that almost everyone in the community would join. We were thinking more like $20 per month, which would get you free access to events and a discount on whatever other services the space would offer (mailboxes, meeting space?). Find a spot that's affordable and keep the overhead really low. Subsidize by charging for private events or company functions. If it were run as a non-profit with minimal or rotating volunteer staff I think it would be sustainable.

I'm 100% interested in sharing what we learned at WorkSpace so I'll try to stay involved in the conversation(s).

By: Jean

Jean — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:48:12 +0000

I'd pay $50-100 to support it (& I bet most small biz folks working in this community would as well). A item for discussion – what membership gets you, different levels of membership, etc. The community NEEDS IT.

Apart from membership structure, though – the location is crucial – should be in gastown or the DTES.