C4 Workspace

…The Improvement Permanent. That was on the big signs I saw all over when I was growing up in New Jersey as. Well, improvement has arrived on King William Street.

Beginning Monday, August 9, King William Street will be closed between S. St. Mary’s and Washington Street. That’s the entire block in front of our building. According to the project manager it will be closed for “2 weeks or so” which we translate into 3-4 weeks in human time.

Ah, why you ask! They are undergrounding the utilities around King William Park. This phase will prepare the “infrastructure” for all that. There will be other street closures and trucks and wires and cables for awhile. So bear with us.

Oh, and while you’re down at the space get lunch next door at The Filling Station. They have the best sandwiches in town. All fresh for less than fast food. John is looking forward to a precipitous drop in his lunch business when the street is closed.

Parking Alternatives

Where to park?

• Our Parking lot at S. St. Mary’s and Madison (around the corner)
• Further down King William Street across from the park.
• Turner Street, at the end of the park

You could also:

• Ride your bike
• Take the Bus
• Carpool (one less car to park)

NOTE: You know those concrete barriers that they put on highways while they’re under construction? The industry term for them is “Jersey barriers.” That’s right, invented in New Jersey. I’m just saying.

There is a large community of coworking space operators out here and we use the Coworking Google Group to stay in touch. Angel Kwiatkowski, the operator of the CoHere Coworking Community in Fort Collins, posted about this a week ago. Peter Carr, independent candidate for governor of Colorado, has added coworking as a plank in his platform. Cool.

Here’s his proposal about how coworking can stimulate business.

“I propose a merger of private entrepreneurs, coworkers, state business development officials and venture capitalists that will establish and maintain an incubator/coworking center in every county in Colorado. If you currently work in Denver or Boulder, I would encourage you to spend some time at a center, Colorado is a great place to see, and a week’s working vacation wouldn’t hurt. I”m a firm believer in “Pay it Forward”.

The centers would afford existing entrepreneurs currently working at home the ability to meet others, share ideas, and work in a far more conducive atmosphere.”

Pretty forward thinking if you ask me. Or it could be hot air. What do you think? Comment below!

Lisa Barone at Outspoken Media has some great tips for coworkers and coffee shoppers alike. A summary below but heck, go read the whole thing. Don’t miss the comments. There’s some great stuff there too.

• Bring headphones
• Curb chatterboxes
  • A chatterbox you brought with you
  • A chatterbox that works there
  • A chatterbox at the next table
• Be selective about your space
• Get around…but have a steady
• Make friends with the owners/workers
• Eat & drink often
  • Also, don’t forget to tip.
• Know when to go
• Don’t be “that guy”

Well, we beat out natural disasters and political scandals and made the 10 o’clock news last Wednesday night (July 14). It’s sweeps month and KSAT 12 reporter David Sears came over to get a cool, local human interest story. And what could be more human of interest than coworking?

(Here’s a link to the story on the KSAT 12 site.)

Thanks to Debbie, Regina, Erik , Drew and Key for the cameos!

…otherwise known as our wish list.

It’s our First Anniversary and we’re having a big party on June 5 to celebrate.

It has been an “interesting” first year. Getting the space off the ground, spreading the concept around, traversing the pitfall of a small business tied to a thing (the building.)

We’ve had a little list of needs and nice to haves but we’ve never posted it. So, just in case you were thinking of getting the space a gift, we thought we’d share what would be very special presents for C⁴ Workspace. (A traditional First Anniversary gift is paper and we have some items below that qualify. Look for the asterisk.)

Gently used items…

• Small water heater 15-40 gallons
• Projector (Ours walked away around the first of the year)
• Espresso machine
• PA System
• Almost new Mac or PC (for shared use)
• Drop ceiling for Conference Room (via fairy godmother or gift card(s) for materials)
• Toaster Oven
• 2 Drawer File Cabinets
• Bookcases
• Room dividers (or gift card(s) to buy materials and build)
• Digital Camera
• Coffee Urn

We would be grateful for…

• Printer paper – white
• HP 02 ink jet cartridges – B&W and color
• Bottled water
• Paper Towels
• TP (not gently or any other kind of used)

Gift Cards can help us with these projects or purchases. From…

• IKEA
• Home Depot
• Lowes
• HEB
• Office Max
• Office Depot
• Best Buy
• Etc.

The BIG thinkers at C4 came up with a new idea and gave it the name “SMARTEES”. It’s really two ideas, branded as SMARTEES.

How it Works

Seminars and workshops are a great way to use your knowledge to provide value to people (read: grow your business) It shows that you’re an “expert” in your field. The SMARTEE program helps brand you as that expert. And FREE space keeps your costs to a minimum. But it’s only for C4 Workspace members.

Details! Details!

Here’s the deal.

Get Started

• Create your topic
• Schedule the event 4 weeks in advance
• Determine time slot; lunch, evening, weekend, etc.
• Put together an outline and description for promotion
• Get a C4 Workspace logo to include in your marketing
• Invite members, clients, prospects, and the community.

A Few Suggestions

• Focus your topic
• Keep it basic to the intermediate level
• Plan sessions to be interactive
• Make handouts valuable
• Charge for longer sessions – give specific outcomes
• Sell or giveaway bonus materials
• Reveal your ninja abilities with Q & A time

What Else?

• SMARTIE^® Candy for everyone!
• Stickers, if we can get it together
• Extra promotion on Facebook, Twitter, blah, blah, blah and C4 blog, C4 Press List, and Flyer in C4 Window

Why???

C4 Workspace is a place for members to work and grow their business. Workshops are a great way to make that happen. Having more people in the space is good for everyone.

By working together we create new opportunities!

Call now! Operators are standing by!

Oh, this is too easy.

One of our cohorts in NYC Joe Raby from Sunshine Suites takes this on in Mashable. “Why <does> Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses“? Got me stumped. Haven’t heard one good argument yet.

Yet San Antonio clings to the coffee shops. When was the last time your barista solved a technology problem for you? Or shared a referral. I’m just saying.

Give it a read and then consider what coworking could do for you.

Thanks you everyone who went through the Northside Coworking Location survey. We were using it to gauge the interest in the space on the Northside. If you were a survey-filler-outer don’t forget to stop by and pick up your Daily Desk pass. Even if you replied “No.” We have two free coworking days coming up: Cinco de Mayo (May 5th, natch) and May 13th.

On the survey we had great response…sort of.

Here’s What We Learned

Resident Desk (personal desk with 24/7 access)

• 4 people said they were interested  - Which is good.
• Only 1 person left their email – which is not so good.

Coworker Desk (Shared desk with business hours access)

• 6 said they were interested – Pretty good
• But, alas, none left their emails (Are you seeing a pattern here?

Daily Desk

• 10 said they would be interested – Great
• 9 left their email addresses!!! – Also Great!

Conference Room

• 5 said they would be interested – Again, great.
• 5 left their email addresses – WooHoo!

And we had 14 “No”s – Thanks for for playing our game!

What does it all mean?

Well, we don’t know yet because we don’t know who nearly all of the Resident or Coworker folks are.

Here’s what we’re gonna do. We are going to have two information sessions, one during the day (lunch) and one in the evening. We will Tweet and Facebook Status the heck out of this. If you are interested in a Resident or Coworker desk you MUST attend – or send a note from a licensed physician.

Right Now, go to this page and tell us who you are and what you’re interested in.

There are so many different kinds of workers: cube dwellers, telecommuters, coffee shoppers, work at homes and of course coworking folk.

CNN Living covered this in an article, “Working in ‘Wi-Fi’ limbo“, a few months back and we thought we would dig it up.

Which one are you? Why do you like that over something else?

And does work Purgatory exist?

Discuss.

Here’s the founder of 37Signals (and creator of Basecamp and Backpack) Jason Fried on the Big Think blog on interruptions in the workplace.

What do you think?