This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer.

Friday, September 22, 2006

New Coworking Space in Brooklyn!

Hi everyone, very exciting news. We now have coworking space in Brooklyn! There are now two coworking spaces in San Francisco (The Hat Factory and Teh Space), and one in the New York City area in Brooklyn. From Beka Economopoulos, who announced it:

Hi folks,

I promised I'd write something up to this effect...it's late coming but I'm thrilled about the idea...

BROOKLYN CO-WORKING

It's official! On October 1st we're starting a Brooklyn Co-Working Thingamajiggy at The Change You Want to See space in Williamsburg.

We had brunch there a few weeks ago to nail down details and it seems there's a critical mass of folks who are interested in starting up.

Here are the deets:

THE SPACE
The Change You Want to See is a multi-purpose live/work space, total of about 2000 square feet. It's one stop from Manhattan on the L train, in Williamsburg. Also a stone's throw from the J/M/Z, the G, and the bridge. Great spot. And across the street from great watering holes, like Spuyten Duyvil and Black Betty.

The arts collective Not An Alternative recently renovated the space...it's loft-style with high ceilings and a modern look. The back of the space is residential, and the front is street-level storefront commercial. Not An Alternative rents studio/event space in the front, and the other half of the front is office space that's currently used full-time by 2 folks: Beka (me), Greenpeace's online organizer and Erik, a Greenpeace fellow.

There will be cabinets, bookshelves, a couch, a window bench, and a large conference table in the office. In October we'll take over an additional room (formerly a bedroom) to use as the "telco" room. Meetings, conference calls, etc.

The space is very conducive to a collaborative working environment...it was designed with this in mind. A focused environment during the day. And the arts collective hosts occasional events here -- artist talks, screenings, lectures, activist meetings, and big Sunday brunches every few weeks.

LOGISTICS
The office spaces will be open from 9am to 7pm, Monday through Friday. After 7pm, the main office space is the living/dining room for the apartment. Laptops, papers, etc. need to be cleared out by then.

Wireless is currently available, but if a lot of bandwidth is needed we should explore other options.

RENT
The minimum total rent that needs to be met each month through co-working is $500. Utilities, supplies, etc. haven't been discussed yet. Still gotta figure that out.

The total per co-worker will most likely amount to around $150/month. Less if there are more people. Greenpeace currently pays into the space as well.

Beka is setting up a pay pal account where individual rents can be sent by the first of each month. To start co-working here, a 1 month deposit and first month's rent is required. 30-days notice must be given if leaving. A co-working contract will be signed when someone starts.

SCHEDULING/CAPACITY
We decided over brunch that it made sense for folks to start out working 3 days/week out of the space. An online calendar will be maintained, where co-workers can reserve a spot in advance. The maximum co-working capacity is 5 folks at a time, so that will be managed via the calendar.

After we try this out for a while, we can consider setting up a system that allows for drop-ins, but we wanted to see how scheduling works out with regulars first.

THE PLAYERS
At 95% certain to start on October 1 we have:
Noel Hidalgo
Sam Tresler (pending apartment hunt resolution)
Jochen Hartmann
Beka Economopoulos
Erik Blanc

On the waiting list:
Jamie Wilkenson (wants to start January 1)

If any other folks are interested, please let us know as soon as you can. We still have space.

NEXT STEPS
Need email confirmation from Oct 1 starters ASAP. Contract will be circulated tomorrow for revisions and finalizing. Beka will send around a modified version of Greenpeace's contract with the space so we have something to start from. Need volunteer (Noel?) to set up collaborative calendar. Anything else??

I dont want to post Bekas email address here, so if you are interested please join the coworking google group and email there.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]