C4 Workspace, 108 King William Street 78204

Lunch included for RSVPs. RSVP Now.

What Will Work Look Like?

How will we be working? Where? What will that space look like? Who will be around us? Will anything be different?

Very likely.

This first C4 Workspace Lunchtime Learning Series session will look at tomorrow’s work styles, tomorrow’s workers and tomorrow’s workplace. Our three speakers will present and discuss the opportunities that the Future of Work will bring.

Clay Spinuzzi, Ph.D.

How Adhocracies Fit into the Future of Work

Clay will explore the world of kinetic organizations, new relationships and organizational forms and the “third place.”

Clay is an associate professor of rhetoric at The University of Texas at Austin.

Gina Schmidt

Harder Working Spaces

Gina will look at the key issues that businesses face today: enabling collaboration and teamwork, attracting and retaining the right talent, using the workplace as tool to build brand and reflect organizational culture.

Gina is a Workspace Consultant with Steelcase and a graduate of UTSA.

Todd O’Neill

It’s a Movement!: Coworking Around the World

Since 2005 coworking has grown from 0 to 600 space worldwide. Todd will look at what it is about this work style that appeals to so many people around the world.

Todd is the catalyst behind C⁴ Workspace, San Antonio’s first coworking space.

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This event made possible by:

I started coworking because I like working with other people and I have found that I don’t like working alone at home. So, when I heard about the coworking concept I thought “This is for me!” Coworking seemed like just the place I was looking to work in. Not only a workstyle I wanted to adopt but a “place”. A place to work in for a long time.

To stereotype myself I am not a typical coworking space catalyst or owner. After working professionally for 25 years I think of myself at mid career. To stereotype a bit, most coworking space catalysts are older Gen Y. You might say “hipsters.” So, now back to the whole profit thing.

Profit for Purpose

In order to work in a coworking space for a long time it needs to be like a perpetual motion machine. It needs to sustain itself over time through the actions of the community. Coworking spaces are not like any other traditional business investment, at least not the typical “I want my return as soon as possible; did my investment go up in value and/or deliver dividends this quarter, this month, this week, in the last hour.” It is, and can only be, a long term investment in the community.

Not One Business

It is many businesses together. It has much more in common with a co-op or an incubator. The “profit and loss” formula should be nearly break even, with just enough profit to fund larger capital improvements.

Many businesses. Working together. Collaboration is one of the core coworking values.

Coworking spaces that fully embrace the value of community are not owned by anyone. They may be funded by individuals and other sources but they are “owned” by the community.

How C4 Workspace Got/Gets Its Groove On

It was funded by three people: Todd O’Neill, Debbie Curtis and Perla Escobar.

It was created by : Steve Vanderver, Chris McDermott, Regina Villalobos, Dan Hong, Bo Lora, Bob Hotard, Erik Bosse, Patti Porter, the Blevin family, the Price family and many others.

It is hosted day-to-day by Debbie Curtis, and marginally, Todd O’Neill, and all the other people working in the space.

Its is sustained by Resident members Calley Gonzalez, Stacy Pape, Todd O’Neill, the Media Justice League; Coworker members Sofia Parafina, Knowbility, Susana Canseco and Brandon Seale; and regular Daily Desk folks like Patti Porter, Brian Dopp and others.

So you see there are a lot of moving parts.

ROI of C⁴ Workspace?

Does a return on investment exist for a coworking space? If it is sustainable, yes. Part of the overhead expense goes to repaying the initial capital with an agreed return. So that’s either a loan or an investment, depending how you look at it and how it was structured. The bigger picture here is it a sustainable member of the community?

Can a sustainable coworking space, that embraces the core values of collaboration and community, exist in San Antonio? That story is being told.

It is important for San Antonio that this coworking story has a happy ending. Not just a happy ending for the “Northern Wedge” but for the entire city.

“Coworking for Your Small Business is More Than a Rented Desk“ is a post from a favorite company, Outright.com. (We use Outright for our C⁴ Workspace bookkeeping and I use it at DoingMedia as well.)

Read the whole article but here’s the themes:

• Coworking is Community
• Coworking is Collaboration
• Coworking is Commerce

Hmm, just like our Four C’s!

So add coworking to your list of resolutions.

C⁴ Workspace is the only space in San Antonio (right now). Austin just added their 8th space (that’s like more than 7, less than 9) and the first space in Austin just doubled it’s space. Dallas has six spaces from downtown to Flower Mound. The first space in Texas is Creative Space in Bryan, and they’re growing as well. And Houston checks in with 3 spaces.

C⁴ Workspace members can visit almost any space in Texas, or across the U.S., (or around the world for that matter) for free under the Coworking Visa program. So anywhere you go, there it is. Check out this map of over 400 spaces in the U.S. and around the world.

But before you travel around the world to cowork set a reminder to try it out first close to home. Work Solo, Not Alone.

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

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

In case you missed it we’re having our second Pink Slip Mixer here at the space on Thursday, February 4 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. It’s a networking event for mid-level and professional job seekers and recruiters and HR staffers.

Our first event was a great success with good feedback from both the candidates and the hiring type people. We’re looking forward to more of the same.

Are registered yet? Do know someone out there looking for a position? Well Register Right Now!

See ya there!

Posted via web from C4 Workspace

By night, a groovy, hip happening place!

We wanted from the start to have events in our space. It connects us to the community, exposes people to our members and evangelizes coworking in general. We’ve been blessed with lots of great events since we opened. And we’ve made lots of new friends and new connections.

Here’s a summary of events for 2009. Keep up with our events at our Calendar page or on our Facebook Fan Page.

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

C⁴ Workspace will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If you need to get away from the retail insanity on Saturday the 26th (after picking up wrapping paper on deep discount) we’ll be open from 9 am to 1 pm as usual.

Next week we’ll be open Monday the 28th through Thursday the 31st from 8:30 am to 6 pm. And since New Year’s Day is on First Friday this year we’ll have our monthly First Friday Open House from 5 pm to 8 pm.

If you don’t have to work we hope you’ll enjoy the season and spending the time with your family and friends. We will!