They Like Us! They Really Like Us!
Filed under: Community Support, Independents Hall, Kudos, coworking
I’m going to do my best to make this NOT become one of those posts where we pat ourselves on the back. Instead, I wanted to THANK the amazing people that have been leaving reviews in our reservation system.
We get a lot of folks coming through our doors, and we don’t always get a chance to ask them how their day was. More often than not, they come back…which we take as a good sign. But these reviews…wow. You’re all making me blush over here. My #1 favorite part about IndyHall has been hearing what it means to all of you over the last 2 years.
Some choice excerpts:
What sets IndyHall apart is that it combines both the comfort and efficiency together. I am definitely returning to this place. - Arturo Osorio, Lite Member
Most of the members introduced themselves to me. There wasn’t a “don’t look at me” feel that you get when you see people working in a coffee shop. There’s a mixed vibe of getting work done and having fun. - Steve Gruberman, NJcoworking.com
When I was there, it was cupcake day (Thursday) and there was a happy hour of sorts at 4 pm. -Julia, a visiting member of Carrboro Creative Coworking
Got a good chunk of work done, was able to book the conference room for a mid-day project kickoff phone meeting, and enjoyed several cups of darn good coffee complete with half & half and raw sugar. -Kris Gale, Basic Member
IndyHall provides an opportunity to work beside other living/breathing humans and increase my productivity because I’m not sitting around feeling so isolated. - Carolyn Redmond, Drop-in
I had a great day despite the brief power outage. In fact, I think that made it better. -Carl Leiby, Basic Member
Energy nor mass have anything on Indy Hall. It is a wellspring of creative flow. The nucleus around which the crackling excitement of ideas and inspiration revolve. Serendipity incarnate. -Some unnamed poet
However, for those of us who do not dream in SQL, IndyHall is still welcoming. Desks, internet and a place to work that isn’t a coffee shop or a library- who could ask for more!? -Carrie Jurney, wife of one of the geekiest members we’ve ever had.
Indy Hall is a great environment filled with a hard working core of people that sometimes collaborate and share ideas, and other times just leave each other alone to get things done. You can usually find a lunch partner or an answer to some cryptic technical riddle. -Lou Fuiano, Basic Member
When I started at Indyhall over a year ago, I was amazed how fast I became friends with Alex and everyone there. -Jon Bettcher, Basic Member who has since left us for San Francisco, much to our chagrin. We miss you Jon.
Of course, there are others that I didn’t include here because you can read the whole shebang yourself. I sincerely thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support and continuing participation in IndyHall. Just wait until this fall. It’s going to get even better!
It’s been quiet around here. Why?
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Independents Hall, Kudos, coworking
Well, the short version of the story is, we’ve been busy. The office has been a constant stir of excitement, new faces, new developments, and a whole lot of Alex being on the road. (So crazy that I’m now referring to myself in third person).
First off, I wanted to thank the people who’ve been stepping up to help complete the list of projects at the new IndyHall office. Dedicating your own time to help get things complete is appreciated beyond words, especially when it comes in the form of manual labor. Members and non-members alike have contributed, and it’s astonishing. This community is truly fantastic.
I also appreciate everyone’s patience while things have been in flux. We’ve tossed a HUGE rock in the pond that was IndyHall, and everyone’s done a killer job riding the waves. With everyone’s hard work and persistence, we’re continuing to grow and develop IndyHall as more than just a space, but as a community.
Which is what this post is about. The summer has been tricky, with weird schedules and lots of new faces, it’s been tough to make sure that people are getting to know each other at IndyHall. By the fall, I really want to return to a regular schedule of events, both at the office and outside of the office, to make sure that our presence isn’t limited to when people are working.
This is where all of you come in:
First, IDEAS! If you’ve got events/gatherings/concepts that you think would benefit IndyHall, speak up. Even if we don’t get to it, sharing these ideas always get people thinking in new ways.
And with that, I want to kick off a couple of my own ideas to let you ruminate on, and if anyone has interest in discussing them further, just tap me (virtually, or f’real if I’m in the office).
1) A weekly open lunchroom. I’ve been really enjoying the ability to sit somewhere other than my desk and eat lunch, catch up with people, etc. Observationally, it looks like I’m not the only one.
Any thoughts on opening our lunchroom to other local peeps, sort of brown-bag style? Something really informal, no planned material or anything, just a certain day of the week that people know it’s cool to come by and eat their lunch at IndyHall.
2) Newsletter! So, we’re a bunch of twittering fools, right? Well, not everyone’s on twitter…not everyone who’s already at IndyHall, and definitely not everyone who’s yet to stop by. Archaic as it is, e-mail is still probably the best way to update LOTS of people…and we have a bunch of people signed up to be getting those. Shouldn’t we be using that to let people know what’s going on at IndyHall?
So before we get too deep into execution on this idea, I’m curious what SORTS of things you think should go in the newsletter? I’m thinking something monthly at least, but possibly every 2 weeks.
I think that’s all for now…oh, in case you’re wondering where I am over the next couple of weeks, I’m doing this thing: www.whuffaoke.com
You can catch me on the livestream starting tonight around 6pm PST, and we’ll be coming through Phily on July 26/27. You’re ALL invited to come sing Karaoke on our crazy karaoke winnebago!
peace, love, and coworking,
Alex
The Painting of IndyHall 2.0: THIS WEEKEND!
Filed under: Community Support, Education/Workshops, Events, In The News, Independents Hall, Kudos, coworking
Our brand new office is coming together, and we’re a little more than a week away from moving in! Our desk building party was a huge success, with 25 desks coming together in under an hour (that’s GOTTA be some sort of Ikea record).
This upcoming weekend, we are planning three painting sessions. Colors have been picked out and organized. Supplies have been gathered. It’s time to make IndyHall look amazing.
Dana has organized three sessions this weekend, and we’re looking for volunteers to help out.
Session 1: Saturday 9am-12:30pm
Session 2: Saturday, 3pm-7pm
Session 3: Sunday, 9am-2:30pm
We have all the paint, a bunch of rollers and some trays, but if you have your own roller, or other painting supplies, feel free to bring them along. And of course, dress appropriately.
As with the desk building party, you’ll need to call to get into the building. Please send us an email to let us know you’ll be attending, which session(s), and we’ll respond with instructions on how to get inside.
IndyHall 201: Communities of Trust
Filed under: FAQs, Independents Hall, IndyHall 201, Kudos, Movies, Videos, coworking
We’re back with another IndyHall 201 video. This time, we’re talking about the importance of establishing trust as an important community value in your coworking space.
A few weeks back, I gave a professional development seminar at the Comcast Interactive Media group, and this topic came up indirectly. The question was asked, “what makes a coworking space such a hotbed of innovation?” While the diversity of talent is certainly one of the aspects, even diversity provides little value without a network of trusted between the talent that works together.
Proximity helps too, but the most important thing you can do is lead by example. More on that topic coming up soon.
In the mean time, enjoy our video on building communities of trust!
IndyHall 201: The Iterative Process
Filed under: FAQs, Independents Hall, IndyHall 201, Kudos, Movies, Videos, coworking
A couple of weeks back, we posted a rather long “FAQs” style video that Geoff and I shot while in Austin for SXSW. We’ve gotten quite a bit of positive feedback from that post, so we’re glad to continue that effort.
Only this time, we’re not asking you for nearly an hour of your time. We’re going to keep these under 10 minutes.
We’ve started a series that we’ll call “IndyHall 201″ for the time being. These are some of the things that we consider important fundamentals, but are a little bit higher level than the usual line of questioning we get, hence the “201″ class level. Get it? Good. Moving on.
One of the first topics we wanted to cover was one that we take for granted, but people outside of the software world don’t necessarily have exposure to:“The Iterative Process”. In this video, Geoff and I spend a few minutes talking about Agile as a software development methodology, as well as decision making skills that we’ve employed along the way while developing IndyHall.
A whole lot of digging into localized trends happens on the Coworking google group, usually to appease an investor.
One of my favorite quotes is from Josh Kopelman (Philly/SF Venture Capitalist, founder of Half.com):
“I’d much rather fund an entrepreneur that can adapt to change than someone who claims they can predict the future.”
http://twitter.com/alexknowshtml/statuses/783133234
Rather than asking what our (or any coworking space’s) membership, growth, square footage, expense numbers look like, why not ask what things we attribute to changes in our numbers, and how we operate around those changes?
Nobody ever asks us those questions.
The answers to those questions are the ones that provide insight into how to iterate, and grow your coworking space and community, without trying to predict the future. They’re going to make you a stronger entrepreneur, and a happier person in general. How’s that for Kool-aide.
We hope you enjoy this installment, and be on the lookout for more to come! Feel free to post questions here or in the video time line.
Coworking 201: The Iterative Process
Update: IndyHall Membership Drive 2009
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, From the Business Side, In The News, Independents Hall, Kudos, coworking
Last weekend, Geoff and I put out a call for new, upgraded, and pre-payment of IndyHall Membership in order to show the level of commitment from the community needed to grow IndyHall to the next stage of it’s evolution.
We put a very short deadline on this, since our efforts are moving quickly, and asked that people step up by the end of the day on Monday, March 9th.
That was yesterday. And everybody want’s to know how we did.
The Results
We did pretty well.
13 New Members (all levels)
4 Upgrades (all to full time…are there any basic members looking to go lite?)
9 Pre-paid current members
Many members, existing and new, also pledged their support for the move by prepaying anywhere from 2 to 12 months!
This is all in three days. It’s all thanks to every one of you. Well done.
But it’s not over.
Now What?
You said you wanted IndyHall to grow. You proved it to us by opening your wallets, which really means a lot to us and this community. We welcome all of the new members, and look forward to having you joining us very soon.
Geoff and I are going to be taking the next steps towards the new space, and making each step forward with your backing and support to guide us. We’re also thinking carefully about the use of 32 Strawberry St, and a variety of models to continue to make it a community resource and sustain the property there.
Most Importantly:
The membership drive isn’t over. We’re still signing members at all levels, and the more commitments we have before May 1st, the better off IndyHall will be. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, and we need as much support as we can to make it happen.
Keep your eyes peeled here (and on twitter) for more news as it comes forward. We’ll keep you updated at every turn.
And thank you.
Coworking meets Media Production Studio
Filed under: Community Support, Education/Workshops, Events, Independents Hall, Kudos, Library, coworking
It’s been a while since I waxed philosophic or daydreamed out loud on the IndyHall blog, and as I’m looking back on 2008 and into 2009, I thought it was a good opportunity to empty my brain a bit.
Growth
IndyHall has seen exceptional growth and stability over the last year. While we were operationally break even quickly (before the end of 2007, in fact), we didn’t have a lot of working capital and we did have a little bit of debt. And while we also had a really robust and active community all along, our desk usage and membership has seen tremendous growth as well, with all 12 of our full time desks occupied since August 2008, a paying membership roster in excess of 50 members at various levels, and very exciting activity from our non-permanent memberships.
Specificity and Specialization
One of the things that I’ve prided IndyHall on has always been zero exclusion. Unlike incubators, we don’t require you to have a “business model”. Unlike associations, we don’t require a you to be a member of a specific industry. If you can work from anywhere, we believe you SHOULD be working from a place like IndyHall.
That diversity is important to the ethos of our coworking space. I wouldn’t change that for the world.
But I remain curious what happens when a specific set of under served needs get specific attention, and how diversity can be approached in a new way.
The plot thickens
One of the smaller, but still certainly present, demographics at IndyHall (and many other coworking spaces) is media production. Audio/video editors, producers, photographers, videographers, podcasters, so on and so forth. I admittedly know very little about this industry from a production standpoint, what the roles are and how they inter operate. However the limited knowledge I do have suggests something that is really intriguing to me: could a coworking space designed for independent media producers thrive? I think the answer is yes.
One of the biggest reasons I find that media folks tend to not be the best fit for IndyHall is the difficulty in being mobile. Even with field equipment becoming smaller and more accessible, that’s only one piece of the equipment equation. As great as a Macbook Pro can be, it doesnt come close to a Mac Pro for video work, and a number of potential IndyHall coworkers have expressed that if it wasn’t for the thought of lugging their rig across the city, they’d be all over coworking. We’d either need to provide some machines as part of membership, or be a bit more geared towards full time members and less for migrant workers. Most likely some combination of the two approaches would be ideal.
The other side of the equipment fence that could be approached, though it comes with its own set of complications, is equipment rental. As we’ve done with IndyHall, making an office in Old City with a conference room available for $275/month or less is only possible when a bunch of people are sharing the resources. High end, otherwise unapproachably expensive equipment could be shared in a similar fashion. Again, this comes with a whole set of liability questions to be answered (the cost of replacing and maintaining office equipment is much less than high end A/V equipment). But that’s a technical problem with a solution, I’m sure.
Diversity within Specialization
Thinking further about the types of people who might use this space: even though they are a more focused group than the “types” of workers who hang at IndyHall, there’s still a good deal of diversity in workers, process, etc. The way I think about it is there are writers who don’t like to direct. Directors who don’t like to edit. Editors who aren’t as good at digital effects and prefer working directly with footage (and of course the other way around). Basically, at every step of the production process there’s the opportunity for a handoff if someone more specialized is available. A similar “stick to what you’re good at and find complimentary partners” strategy as is employed often in software and web at IndyHall can apply to media production, making everyone’s end product supremely higher quality. At the risk of sounding trite, it’s like a production company without the company. The powerful “small pieces loosely joined” model strikes again.
I’ve admittedly thought about and talked through a lot of this model already, but have my mind open to how it will best serve this community. My ultimate goal is to enable the independent media creators in Philadelphia to up their game and produce even better content for themselves and their clients. I need you, those independent media creators, to tell me what’s missing.
So, whaddya say?
Are you an independent or remote media producer who’s looking for comradery, business development opportunities, opportunities to learn new skills from peers, and above all, put on some pants and get out of your house? In Philly, and interested? I’m going to follow my own roadmap and host a meetup to talk about this idea, and I’d like to do it before 2009 is here.
ACTION ACTION!
Let’s meet at National Mechanics Next Monday, December 22nd. 6:30pm. RSVP on Upcoming, or heck, just show up. Tell your friends. Invite anyone who might be interested. It will be an open forum discussion with the goal of having actionable next steps to walk away with. Maybe identify some new leaders in this community. Let’s rock and roll into 2009.
IndyHall-oween ’08 @ Tatooed Mom on South Street
Filed under: Announcements, Events, In The News, Independents Hall, Kudos, coworking
International “it’s OK to dress like a freak” day is coming soon: Halloween is in just a few weeks! Via twitter, I saw someone Ben Kessler mention that they’d like to have a geeky party to wear their obscure geek-culture referenced costume to and not be laughed at. Becky Clawson and I chatted about it outside of our usual haunt last week, and we brainstormed around trying out a new spot. That’s when we reached out to Robert Perry, co-owner of Tattooed Mom on South Street, with an idea.
Robert’s been pretty active in the philly geek scene, and is a bit of a self-proclaimed geek himself. He’s running one of our favorite small business twitter accounts, and has come to events including the August “Tweetup” and one of the P’unk Ave Junto‘s in the past.
Last night, Robert and I solidified plans to invite the Philly creative/geek scene to Tattooed Moms on Thursday, October 30th (the night before Halloween). We plan on starting at 9pm and going as late as they’ll have us. Drinks are always cheap at Mom’s, and Thursday night is their $1.50 Pabst 16oz cans & $1 Lionshead bottles til midnight.
The only logical name for this event? “IndyHalloween ’08!”
Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to reach out to some other folks in the community to come up with some fun games/contests for during the party. In the mean time: mark your calendars for Thursday, October 30th at 9pm, and get working on your geeky costumes now!
Please RSVP on Facebook so we have an idea of how many to expect!
First Round on First Round!
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Events, Independents Hall, Kudos
Exciting news as we enter our second week of sponsorship drives: we’ve got our first major sponsor!
On Friday afternoon, I got a very nice email from Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital, an early stage VC firm here in Philadelphia. Josh is a Philly native, has been part of the founding of a number of successful Philly startups, including Infonautics Corporation, Half.com, and TurnTide. I was thrilled to hear from Josh, simply to read his note of congratulations on our first year at IndyHall. Reading on, I found that First Round was sponsoring the “first round of drinks” for our party: with a generous $1000 sponsorship!
Additional sponsors we’ve had join since the last update on Friday:
Rachel Sooy
Josh Aas
Anthony Mari/CasinoJobs
Philip Ives/syncDragon
Erica O’Grady
Thanks so much to ALL of our sponsors. We’re 2 weeks away from our goal, and we have made some good headway! This week we hope to announce a few more of our HUGE LOGO and FREAKING HUGE LOGO sponsors, so contact us if you are interested.
It’s Always Indy in Philadelphia – Come Party With Us!
Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Events, From the Business Side, In The News, Kudos, Library, coworking
Thanks to everyone who sent in venue ideas for the IndyHall 1 year birthday party. We’re ready. Are you? Here it goes!
