Announcements, Week of 2/27/2012
Filed under: Announcements, Ex Libris Den Mother 4.0
Weekly Announcements
The end of this week ushers in the beginning of March, a month of green milkshakes, green top-hats, green clovers, green beer and monochrome, cultural stereotypes. Indy Hall is going green (ha!) beginning this week, too, with the inception of composting and vastly-improved recycling habits, not to mention the sprouting of serpentine flora throughout the Hall. Lest I start talking about plants and garbage in the introductory paragraph of the announcements, I suggest we move right along to the week’s events.
This Week!
Monday (TONIGHT!) - Find out what’s cooking at Indy Hall with Counter Culture, starting at 6pm.
Tuesday – Postgreen Homes’ reNEWBOLD launch party, at Taproom from 5pm to 8pm.
- Indy Hall Poker Night. Cards come out at 7:15pm and blinds go up every 30mins. Spots are still available to play. RSVP at http://anyvite.com/usndejkvdc
Wednesday – Betsy Spivak makes her triumphant return to Indy Hall, offering invaluable advice on insurance options for small businesses and independent entrepreneurs. Enlist for 30 minutes of pure, unadulterated insurance intel by signing-up on the sheet in the kitchen.
- Night Owls commences at 6pm. Good music! Great company! High productivity! Miniature disc golf ! (totally free to all Indy Hall members)
Thursday - Nothing specific to report on Thursday. Anyone have plans?
Friday - Lunch ‘n Learn with Adam Kazan, Financial Wizard – starts at noon!
- Does the phrase “data gloryhole” mean anything to you? Get down with Kelani Edmondson and Little Berlin when they launch flashfl00d, their “semi-secretive mass public exhibition of rapidly-distributed hidden flash drives containing downloadable exhibitions”.
Check out the site: http://littleberlin.org/flashfl00d/
-also on Friday: GO TO NATIONAL MECHANICS AND DRINK.
Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know, this week – Go forth, and be merry!
Announcements, Week of 2/20/2012
Filed under: Announcements, Ex Libris Den Mother 4.0
Weekly Announcements (Now with 100% more Future Space Presidents!)
Who’s ready for President’s Day?! I want you all to know, each and every one of you is my President, this year. I also want you to know that I have, essentially, plagiarised my own introduction from last week because I haven’t had a cup of coffee, yet.
So sue me. (Don’t, though.)
This Week!
Monday (TONIGHT!) - President’s Day, which means impromptu scotch tasting? What’s going on tonight?!
Tuesday - Indy Hall Poker Night. Cards come out at 7:15pm and blinds go up every 30mins. Spots are still available to play. RSVP at http://anyvite.com/usndejkvdc
Wednesday – This is how Philly coworking does Downward Dog. Join Pam Selle for yoga at 11:30am.
- Night Owls starting at 6pm. Good music! Great company! High productivity! Miniature disc golf ! (totally free to all Indy Hall members)
Thursday - Girls. Geeks. Dinners. Three of the best things on the planet*. Dine with the three, new fellows for the Code for America program, starts at 5:30pm.
*somewhat subjective
- Two words: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Is Battlestar only one word? Does contemporary grammar hold up in space? Answers to these questions, and more, when you nerd out over the newfangled BSG movie, starting around 7pm.
Friday - It is written, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every pint of local beer from National Mechanics”. Take someone out, tonight, because Indy Hall sayeth so.
Continues to be Happening - Have you spared a measly 30 seconds to win $1,000, yet? Enter the GCUC-sponsored “I Share My Space” contest: http://www.austingcuc.com/i-share-my-space-video-contest/
Here’s to the best week of your life, and next week’s going to be even better.
Announcements, Week of 2/13/2012
Filed under: Announcements
Weekly Announcements
Who’s ready for Valentine’s Day?! I want you all to know, each and every one of you is my Valentine, this year. With my romantic proclivities in mind, let’s muster up a little love and make this week an excellent one.
This Week!
Monday (TONIGHT!) - #whyilovephilly Party tonight at National Mechanics! Be there or, well, don’t be there. Be warned: you will regret not joining the festivities.
Tuesday - Indy Hall Poker Night. Cards come out at 7:15pm and blinds go up every 30mins. Spots are still available to play. RSVP at http://anyvite.com/usndejkvdc
Wednesday – Night Owls starting at 6pm. Good music! Great company! High productivity! Miniature disc golf ! (totally free to all Indy Hall members)
Thursday - Show ‘n Tell is this Thursday, and Becky Collins is fixing to drop some knowledge on you about going green. Join the environmentally-friendly presentation, gain karma points for the rest of the day/week/year.
Also, don’t miss Ignite Philly 9, tonight. Hope you snapped up a ticket for this one, because this bad boy is sold out! More information, here: http://ignitephilly.org/
Friday - I cracked open a fortune cookie, today, and it advised that I go get a beer with a friend at National Mechanics. None of that is true, but I’ll do it, anyway.
Still Happening - Dude, seriously, enter the GCUC-sponsored “I Share My Space” contest: http://bit.ly/yE0gzu [contest rules: http://www.austingcuc.com/i-share-my-space-video-contest/]
Note - The cereal box apocalypse has come and gone, praise be Zorn, and it seems fitting that a similar end is near for the assorted spices and condiments all packed into the cabinets above and around the microwave. If you’ve been hoarding cumin and thyme, your compulsion may need a new venue. Fear Zorn, Destroyer of Worlds!
Have a great week, everyone!
Announcements, Week of 2/6/2012
Filed under: Announcements
Whoa, it’s February 7th, and there’s a lot happening here at the Hall. We’ve seen a lot of fresh faces joining as Basic Members in the past two months, and a few retroactive introductions are in order.
Here are a few of our new Basic Members:
- Rob Epler
- Louis Gamble
- Wendy Kirby
- Lee Kreloff
- Brett Mandel
- James Maxwell
- Aaron Ogle
- Julian Zarate
…I know I’m missing people, here. Consider this a small “sampling”?
Speaking of new faces, if you haven’t gotten your lovely mug on the new and improved Face Wall, let me know! I am fairly confident that my FujiFilm Instax 210 will not steal your soul – I think it has something to do with the film, which apparently only needs light and oxygen to develop, and not souls. I have no idea how cameras work.
Anyway, don’t recognize someone you keep walking past? Say ‘hello’, meet someone new, learn something great. Easy, right?
This Week!
Tuesday - Indy Hall Poker Night, $10 buy-in. Cards come out at 7:15pm and blinds go up every 30mins. Spots are still available to play. RSVP at http://anyvite.com/usndejkvdc
Wednesday - Night Owls starting at 6pm. Good music! Great company! High productivity! Miniature disc golf ! (totally free to all Indy Hall members)
Thursday - CocoaHeads meeting at 7pm // InLiquid Benefit v.12: Pre-Party, which Indy Hall members have been exclusively invited to!
Friday - ⅘ doctors recommend that you and a friend go have a pint at National Mechanics. Don’t argue with 4 doctors.
All Week - Enter the GCUC-sponsored “I Share My Space” contest, dude/ttes: http://bit.ly/yE0gzu
[contest rules: http://www.austingcuc.com/i-share-my-space-video-contest/]
Administrative Note:
Cereal boxes have somehow been spawning at an exponential rate over the course of the last, few months. In an attempt to control the population, Zorn has placed every box of cereal in a larger box, waiting to be reclaimed. If you reclaim it and place it back above the counter, it’s yours. Those boxes not claimed will be prosecuted and cast into Cereal Hell, which closely resembles our trash can.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK, EVERYONE!
Here Comes A New Contributor!
Filed under: Announcements, Independents Hall
I am historically awful at introducing myself, particularly in blog format. I get nervous and awkward and accidentally hit caps-lock while typing. You’ve been warned.
HEY, I’M ADAM, and I’m the new Office Manager here at Indy Hall. “Office Manager”, by the way, is a terrible title for what I do, here. It sounds so uptight and formal, when really I can just as easily say that my job requirements involve hanging out with extremely talented independent workers, learning from insanely ambitious free-lancers, and tossing back a pint at National Mechanics with said talented and ambitious dudes and ladies.
It’s awesome.
I have so many things that I could drone on about – why I chose to be involved here, how I plan on carrying the coworking torch into and beyond 2012, my humble stance on being the fourth in a prestigious legacy of Indy Hall Den Mothers, etc. Tons of great material. What I will (briefly) say is this:
What consistently surprises the hell out of me, the one thing that always leaves me in awe of this community and concept, is our absolute lack of competitors. We have no rivals, here. No enemies, no detractors. We harbor no secrets, no “corporate” ill will. Our competitive spirit extends into FIFA 2012 and Ping-Pong. Indy Hall, as far as I am concerned, is astonishingly pure – a lawful good paladin. I’m not just exaggerating that. We are karmic gold, with all the kindness and malleability that entails. We love what we do, we love where we live, and we love one another.
If you’re just getting back from throwing up, I understand. It’s weirdly ideal and hokey, but oh my god, I defy you to challenge those statements. Come and visit us, take a glimpse at what we’ve got going on.
I THINK YOU’Re going to like it.
*I Googled the phrase ‘new challenger’ to find a relevant image for this post. What I got is 200 pages of trucks. Didn’t even think of that.
Quick Business Stats
Filed under: Announcements, coworking, From the Business Side, Independents Hall
This week 4 years ago, Indy Hall was in it’s “public beta” before opening officially on September 1st, 2007. I assure you, it wasn’t always glamorous.
Enough sappy reminiscing. I spend plenty of time focusing on the important coworking soft skills on my personal blog that I wanted to share some quick business stats that we’ve produced as a result of operatin on those values:
- In 2011, our basic memberships ($25/month) have generated 20% more revenue than our lite memberships ($175/month)
- In 2011, our full time membership accounts for almost 50% of our total annual revenue
- Our AVERAGE monthly revenue across 2011 is >8x growth over our first revenue generating month in 2007.
This Sunday Sept 12th: Tea and Wellness @Indy Hall with Alexis Siemons and Jolene Hart
Filed under: Announcements, Events, Independents Hall
I wanted to share some news about a tea & wellness event that will be taking place at IndyHall on Sept 12th. For those of you that don’t know me, I am passionate about tea (you might have seen me steeping tea at Indy or convincing Parker to try a new blend that I created).
As we begin to embrace fall, I find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with tea as the crisp air has me craving pots of warming teas. So, I wanted to share this love and passion by inviting you to Steeped in Beauty, a tea and wellness event that I am leading at IndyHall with my friend and colleague, Jolene Hart (natural beauty expert). On September 12th, you are welcome to indulge in an afternoon of tea and natural skin care through interactive cooking demos and workshop sessions that highlight the impact of tea and natural beauty on health and wellness. Learn how to cook with tea (white chai smoothie, earl grey cookies, lavender simple syrup) and how to make your own tea inspired beauty treatments.
Beyond the tea and healthy treats prepared during the interactive cooking demos, guests will sample treats provided by Sweet Freedom, Philadelphia’s first and only completely gluten-free, vegan, allergen-friendly bakery. The lovely flower shop, Poppy, will be sharing a few of their delicate arrangements with us (one will even be nestled in a tea pot! hooray!).
Gift bags with our recipes, natural beauty samples, Rishi’s white detox tea/green oolong tea and other goodies are included. All guests will be entered to win one of several raffle prizes, including a personal health and beauty coaching session with Jolene, a tea party consultation with me, a haiku teacup from teaspoons & petals, a pint of Nectarine-Lime jam from Marisa McClellan from Food In Jars, gift certificates to Tbar, a tea & tea documentary film package from The Meaning Of Tea, and a wellness vacation consultation session with professional travel planner, Maya Northen.
I hope you will join me in learning a bit more about how and why its so very special to have tea in our lives. Looking forward to seeing some friendly faces as we sip, cook and talk tea.
Many thanks to Alex and Parker for graciously allowing me to host the event at IndyHall. For those who can’t make it, we’ll try to save a few goodies for members to taste on monday. Although if our guests are extra hungry and thirsty, I’ll stop by the following week with some new tea to share (who knows, maybe I’ll be inspired to make an IndyHall tea blend?).
Steeped in Beauty: An Afternoon of Tea & Natural Skin Care
When: Sunday, September 12th, 1pm-3pm
Where: Independents Hall
20 North 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Admission:
Tickets are available online for $21 and $25 the day of the event at the door (gift bag not guaranteed if purchased at door).
Turning 3
Filed under: Announcements, Events, From the Business Side, Independents Hall
Today is September 1st. That means one thing (ok it means a few things):
Indy Hall has now been open for business for 3 years.
Congratulations to all of us for spending the last 3 years (or some subset thereof) making Philadelphia a better place to make a living doing what we love.
I have a lot to say and a lot on my mind and in my heart, but I’m going to keep it brief for a change and let each of you say your piece instead.
Feel free to use this post and it’s comments to share sentiments, experiences, visions, excitement, joy, friendship, memories, and whatever comes to mind when you realize that before 3 years ago today, Indy Hall was an idea shared by a community, and now it’s one of the greatest things Philadelphia has to offer.
WHERE IS THE PARTY!?!?
For the last 2 years, as well as the re-opening in May of 2007, we’ve thrown an epic party to commemorate our history of accomplishments.
This year, we’re keeping it low key. I invite everyone to head over to – where else – National Mechanics tonight after 6:30pm.
Why no epic shindig with lots of hype?
I think we’re a group noted for action. I want a NEW action to celebrate, rather than a memory of one.
Sooooo let’s plan a MASSIVE multi-product/business/group/whatever launch party to celebrate some of our NEWEST accomplishments a little later this fall. You’ll be hearing more about ways to get involved with that in the coming weeks.
That said – National Mechanics – 6:30pm – you know the drill.
Indy Hall Town Hall – Monday, July 12th, 5:30-7pm
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, coworking, Events, From the Business Side, Independents Hall
It’s been many months since our last Town Hall meeting, nine of them in fact. That’s a problem!
For the newly initiated (or anyone who has started hanging around Indy Hall in the last year), Town Hall meetings are Indy Hall’s best way of updating community members on large issues that we expect will prompt discussion. As great as our online forums can be, offline events like this have been extremely valuable for important events in our history, including our decisions to grow into this new office last year that we’ve all come to call home.
As we CONTINUE to grow (which is still remarkable to all of us), it’s long overdue we initiate another one of these discussions. In it, we’ll be providing some transparency into Indy Hall’s growth (including membership statistics), as well as some of the new and interesting ideas we have to address some of the pains associated with growing.
We’ll be holding our next Town Hall meeting this upcoming Monday, July 12th, from 5:30 to 7pm right here at Indy Hall.
After a round of introductions from everyone in attendance, the presentation portion of the Town Hall will be led by Geoff and I, and last ~30 minutes at the most. After the discussion, we turn to members from each membership level for some feedback. And then the floor is open more generally for discussion.
Its important to note that these events are NOT for members only: the general public is welcome. In the past we’ve had city council members as well as members of the press present. We think this level of transparency lets us operate the way we know best.
Also, this serves as yet another opportunity to get to know your coworkers, and hopefully get to know Geoff and I a little better as well.
Since this event is open to the public, we’re going to ask people to RSVP so we can plan for seating and space usage: http://anyvite.com/a9urvwzxga
In the end, our goal is that you have some insight into how things are continually evolving at Indy Hall, and what that means for you. There are always opportunities to get involved in new ways, suggest and implement your own ideas with our support, and make this place even better. We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be, and that means a lot to us.
Its up to you to attend and include your voice. We can’t wait to see everyone’s faces on the 12th!
May 18 – Creative Directors Meetup @ Indy Hall
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Education/Workshops, Events, Independents Hall
Some months back, I was giving a tour of Indy Hall to Joe Rinaldi, an agent for Aquent focused on interactive design, development, and interactive project management. He’d been expressing interest in Indy Hall as a resource for some of the talent that he works with, but also loved what we were up to in terms of being a regional catalyst for encouraging creatives to interact with one another.
He’d remarked how much he’d like to come work from Indy Hall, and shared that a number of other people he works with who have offices to go to feel like they don’t have a reason to check out Indy Hall…and we agreed that it’d be valuable to find a way to give those people the opportunity they’d been looking for.
Joe’s been rallying a roster of Philadelphia’s finest Creative and Art Directors from agencies including Happy Cog, TMX, Tierney, Stick & Move, Vanguard, Comcast, Digitas, One Trick Pony, Red Tettemer, WellFed and more, for an evening of unique conversation about the challenges facing creative leaders.
Through this dialogue, he’s hoping to foster collaboration and continue to catalyze the creative community in Philadelphia to share the amazing work they are creating.
Seeing how nicely this fit with our mission, it was clear that we would want to host this event and give those creative directors a reason to visit!
The next meeting of this group will be at Indy Hall tomorrow, Tuesday May 18th at 6:30pm. Creative Directors of all levels of experience are encouraged to join for hearty discussion, pizza, and of course some drinks.
If you’re interested in attending, we ask that you drop Joe an e-mail to let him know the headcount for the refreshments. Otherwise, we’ll see you at Indy Hall! Holy moly that was fast! We actually filled up! If you’d like to be included in information about future events, you can drop us a line and we’ll pass word along to Joe.
