Tag Archives: c4 workspace

Tweaking the Space

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We’ve always thought of the space as flexible, reconfigurable and evolutionary. Almost every time you come in you’ll see something a little different.

  • There are doors on most of the rooms now.
  • We’ve covered the big hole in front of the HVAC units with a curtain.(The fuse panel is next.)
  • One of the phone rooms has been sound treated eliminating almost 100% of the echo.
  • We have lockers near the left hand bathroom for member storage.

Next on the list is to tweak the lighting with some china ball paper lanterns in the community space. Over the holidays we’ll drape strings of lights down from the ceiling. Drop on by and check it out.

Coworking as an Investment

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Web Worker Daily put up this post afew days ago, Justifying Coworking As an Investment. It flashed across the coworkingverse like wildfire and it has some great points.

We’re always looking for information about coworking that we can share. But I thought it might be good to make this one relevant to C4 Workspace. So here goes.

Point by Point

WWD laid the post out in three points.

Step 1: Identify What You Have to Gain from Coworking
We like to think of these in terms of our name:

  • Collaboration
  • Cooperation
  • Community
  • Connection

Put those together and you have what we could call “opportunity investment.”

Step 2: Assess the Risks and Costs Associated with Coworking
WWD didn’t really address the “risk” part of that so we will. The biggest risk of coworking is that you will run into someone who isn’t about the community so much as about themselves. They could steal an idea or a client. This is a case of what I call the 99-1 rule. Don’t spend all you time planning and worrying about the 1% of worst case scenarios. Plan for the 99% you’ll run into and deal with the 1% when they come along. You are more likely to have an idea or client stolen at a coffee shop by someone you don’t know eavesdropping on your conversation. (We take the “Co-” in community seriously. If you need a private conversation speak more softly or use a one of the phone rooms.)

Costs always have to be considered. It was one of the first things we thought of when we stated to think about opening a space: will people pay for professional workspace? We answered it in one of our initial presentation slides titled “Whadya Nuts?”. The answer is that as a small business or a freelance or solo you have no choice but to grow your business, especially in a down economy. To grow you will need to attract new clients and appear more professional than the next guy. That requires an investment in time and money.

You also have to consider what operating out of your home costs you now. You’re driving to meet clients. If you work (ethically) in a coffee shop you’re buying drinks and food. You’re paying for WiFi in some fashion. So, add up those hard costs for gas, drive time, WiFi, food and drink. You probably spend about $20 a day for little to no privacy, no connection to others, noisy meeting space and overpriced WiFi and beverages.

Coworking at C4 Workspace starts at $20 a day and goes down from there. Last I checked Starbucks didn’t give you volume discounts on lattes.

Step 3: Make an Informed Decision

Absolutely. The best way to do that is to “try before you buy”. Drop in on the Second Thursday for Jelly San Antonio all day free coworking. Better yet, just drop in and sit down. Talk to us about what you need and we can work something out. Remember, it’s all about the community. Essentially, everyone is a customer, a participant, a contributor. Even us.

No Hard Sell

Because it’s not necessary. Try coworking one day and you’ll be hooked. Yes, it costs money and money is dear right now. But if you are serious about your business and want to be a player in our economic ecosystem we think it’s an investment worth making.

Busy Day and Night

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The coworking has picked up during the day with new Full Time and some new Part Time, uh, Coworkers, signing up since September. The evenings and weekends are busy too with a mixer for Mosaicinfo.org and a photog workshop with Justin Moore a Saturday or two ago. We even have the NOWCast San Antonio citizen journalism project working here temporarily until their new digs at Central Library are available.

In the meantime, checkout some of these upcoming events:

  • Nov. 4 – Brownbag Lunch (FREE) – 11:30 am – 1 pm – Open to members and everyone
  • Nov. 5-6 – Non-profit Grant Writing Workshop ($) – 5-6, 8:30 am – 5 pm – hosted by Mosaicinfo.org
  • Nov. 6 – First Friday Open House (FREE) – 6-8 pm – James Hendricks, painter and sculptor
  • Nov. 7 – Teach a Friend to Homebrew Workshop (FREE) – 9 am – 3 pm – Hosted by Original Gomez Homebrew Club
  • Nov. 12 – Jelly San Antonio FREE coworking say – 8:30 – 6 pm

Keep an eye on our calendar. There’s more to come!

Solo, But Not Alone

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What a great tagline for coworking! Solo, But Not Alone from Entrepreneur.com hits it on the head.

A few of my favorite quotes…

“The appeal of co-working seems clear: It provides people … a professional and social package that most alternatives can?t match”

“…what makes co-working alluring (is) the cooperative spirit and community vibe fostered by the people who populate those spaces.”

?Isolation…is an inconvenient byproduct of the concept of home-office convenience.?

“…the problem with working from home wasn?t just the distractions, it was the sense of physical and mental separation.”

Shared desk spaces like C4 Workspace are cropping up around the world. Coworking spaces have successfully connected small businesses with other small businesses. Businesses can’t grow without connection. Think hard and realistically about how well your existing network is helping your business grow. Wouldn’t an expansion of your network make your business grow even faster?

So, what’s up San Antonio?

Does coworking just sound cool, but for you not so much? Are you afraid a fellow coworker will swipe some business from you? BTW, the antithesis of coworking. Are you shy and don’t like meeting new people? Are you afraid of downtown and all that parking hassle?

C4 Workspace was created to “build a sustainable professional community.” The community that works here loves it, but most people who think it’s “cool” have never tried it. If you’ve attended an event here that’s nothing like working in the space. Besides the jazz music in the background and keyboard clicks it’s pretty darn quiet. Parking is free. We’re one mile from the major highways downtown. The space (if I may say so myself) is the coolest looking office in town.

So, what’s up San Antonio? We’d like to know. Please leave a comment and tell us what you think.

New Member Welcome – August 28

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We have been sorely remiss in posting our New Members. We are now over 50 members, split 75% Coworker and %25  Community.

It’s great to see the community growing! More and more members are coning down to the space and working during the week. More importantly they are connecting which can only be a good thing.

So here’s the latest! Welcome everyone!

Coworkers

  • Leslie Cardinal, Leslie Cardinal, LLC – Professional Coach
  • Thomas Finley
  • David Gagne – IT services
  • Chris K Godfrey, Heavy Design – graphic and print design; musician
  • Page Graham – corporate trainer
  • Ladonna Green, FaithToGo
  • Jenny Gregorcyk, TateAustinHahn – Communications and Public Affairs
  • Andrew Guajardo, Guajardo and Associates Architectural Services – Architecture, Real Estate Development, Interior Design, & Visualization
  • Neven Jones, Neven Jones DEsign – Custom Picture Framing
  • Stephanie Lawrence, Strategic eSolutions – IT Consulting
  • Justin Moore, Moore Photography & Design – Portrait, Commercial Photography
  • Gabe Perez, Owner, SA Project 1 – project management
  • Luke Rivera, Web Synched, LLC – Online and mobile application development and training
  • Lisa Thomas, Primerica Financial Services – Independent Agent
  • Kramer Wetzel, Astrofish – Astrologist

Community

  • Mary Harder, Exec. Producer, Glorybridge Productions – filmmaker
  • Leslie Provence, Food Policy Initiative – community organizer
  • Michelle Richard, Mosaic – Non-profit Joe Solis, Latino Breakfast, Luxor Insurance – networking, insurance
  • Andrew Trickett, VideoPublishing.com – video hosting
  • Alexis Velasquez, Graphic Design/Photographer    Rumble Creative – graphic design, photography
  • Donald Wilcox, Squadron Media – Accessible Website Consulting

Some Nice Words and a Video

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Bruce Eric Anderson (@bruceericatdell) visited us at the beginning of August to get some work done while his family was out to play at SeaWorld. Bruce is a blogger at DigitalNomads (@digital_nomads), a community site for individuals that work or play without regard for their physical location Powered by Dell.

We were included in his first anniversary post, One Year of Digital Nomads, for Digital Nomads which we consider quite an honor. He wrote some very kind words about us…

Asked what my ideal workspace would look like today and I?d describe a workspace with no walls, large open-air spaces with lots of open tables for impromptu meetings and team collaboration. I?d also be listening to Nature Sounds Radio on Pandora in a set of noise canceling headphones to block out the ?loud laughers? that invariably would find me where ever I sat.

It would look very much like a place I worked out of a few weeks ago while spending some time in San Antonio with my family.

And Bruce shot a video of Todd giving a tour. Check it out!

Thanks Bruce!

[Note to self: Begin diet today.]

Outright.com on Co-working

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This just popped up on my Google Reader and I thought I would share. The Pros and Cons of Co-Working comes from the Outright.com blog which is full of good nuggets about running a small business and the issues that face them.

So what do you see as the Pros and Cons of Co-working? Did they miss anything? Leave a Comment!

[I really like Outright. They provide income and expense tracking for small and solo businesses through a free website. They are also part of something called the Small Business Web, a group of companies that provide online applications that help small businesses manage their day to day operations. They have integrated their apps so you can pass information from one to another. It's like having a whole staff to do your bidding. More about that in another post.]

Coworking in the Wall Street Journal

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The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article in their Small Business section about coworking. And the title struck a chord with us.

The article, Start-Ups Share Space to Shave Costs in Slump: ‘Co-Working’ Rental Deals Find Fresh Impetus as Entrepreneurs Enjoy Both Lower Overhead and Networking, goes right to the point of C4 Workspace. No matter the economy small and solo businesses have the same basic needs: a professional presence and an environment where they can grow.

Stormy Weather

Right now, the economy is not so good. Obvious, but it had to be said. What doesn’t change is that our businesses still need to prosper. Prosperity is not a solo enterprise; it depends on collaborating and cooperating with others. That may mean paying a stranger to perform some anonymous service for you or connecting with a colleague, a known quantity, to perform the same service. Which would you rather do?

Doing “commerce” is not easy. It can get messy. But doing commerce all by yourself is impossible. You will always need other people to make it fly.

What we are trying to offer at C4 Workspace is a place where you can work around other people, get to know them while they get to know you, and discover each other’s strengths. Want to be a coach? We have a few of those. Need some project management advice? C4 Workspace has a member or two that do that. Looking for people facing the same challenges as you everyday? Oh yeah, we have plenty of those.

I’m Their Best Customer!

I hope this doesn’t sound like a big sales pitch. I’m one of the people that invested to make C4 Workspace happen. You could say I have an “invested” interest. But I’m also a small business person (DoingMedia LLC) that works full time from the space. I work with great people everyday, some who do things that I do and many who don’t. I know my business image has changed since I moved into C4 Workspace. DoingMedia is perceived differently by clients, prospects and colleagues.

Is any of that a reason to cowork? Maybe. If you want to work alone it’s not for you. If you need a dose of social interaction with your business life then probably so. If you’re a lone ranger who can only do everything themself then come on down and check it out. Seriously. The worse that can happen is you still work alone and you use some of our printer ink or drink some of our ice tea. The best that could happen? Well, that’s all up to you.

p.s. Don’t you love title alliteration?

July is Happening!

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July is my favorite month of all

It’s really summer in July. And my birthday is in July. So it’s my favorite month.

We have a lot of events scheduled for July. But there is more to come!

  • The AdFed is looking to have their annual Board Retreat in the space.
  • We are talking with bikingeducation.com about holding Adult Bicycling Confidence and Bicycle Commuter workshops here in the fall.
  • We’re discussing a film series with local raw food chef Christa Emrick.
  • Veronica from NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) stopped by and she’s thinking we may be the perfect spot for some workshops.

What would you like to do at C4 Workspace…besides cowork that is?

Here’s the July rundown (so far) but you can always check our Calendar or watch our Twitter feed.

July 3

  • 5-9 pm – First Friday Open House

July 9

  • All Day – Jelly San Antonio – FREE, open coworking
  • 5-6 pm – C4 Workspace Member Meeting – come out to see what we’re all about
  • 6-8 pm – Social Media Club San Antonio – “Social Media Entrepreneurship”

July 14

  • All Day – Bastille Day (Todd’s B-day) – FREE Next Pass; A 2 for 1 deal! Cake for everyone! YEAH!

July 22

July 25

  • 9 am – 6 pm – AdFed SA Board Retreat (Private)

July 28

  • 5:30-7:30 pm – Southtown Chamber Board Meeting
  • 6:30-8:30 pm – Astrofish Astrology Workshop