Made the leap and signed a lease! Advice?

We did it. WIMP signed a lease on a conservative 800 square foot space in downtown Santa Rosa, California and WIMPspace will be opening soon. I have run this meetup community for the last 3 years and change and we are over 400 members strong. The space is small but it’s awesome. We’re planning on converting one of the closets into a phone booth and probably just using a mobile partisan to separate the main space from a 4 person meeting table. We may not even use a partisan (thoughts??).

So we anticipate having about 18 seats. Not sure yet as we haven’t gotten furniture yet so it’s a little hard to visualize at this stage. We also plan on hosting our (free) events, and (paid) workshops and classes. What I’m finding is that there is actually a demand for the public to learn web design and social media basic skills (which is what the core of our membership specializes in) so we’ll probably host a mixture of beginner level as well as expert level classes.

Does anyone here have experience running a similar business model? Any tips on logistics or projections for the size of our operation?

Also wondering what you all use for keeping track of your membership subscriptions.

Thanks all!
Melissa Geissinger
President & COO | WIMP

Hi Melissa,

Congratulations! I’m glad to hear this has finally happened! I run Tech Liminal in Downtown Oakland - I think Greg Turner introduced us a little while ago.

Do you really mean 800 square feet? That seems awfully small for a space for coworking and events.

In our space (about 2100 square feet) we are able to accommodate about either up to 20 coworkers, or 3 coworkers plus an event or workshop. We run one daytime weekly event that takes over the main space as well as our two conference rooms - which our coworking members either hide from or participate in.

Our model is focused on workshops, coaching, and projects, so we aren’t really working towards coworking members at the moment, but we do have a couple of meetup/education memberships that are going strong.

Workshops of more than 3 people don’t work well in the same space as people trying to work quietly or hold a meeting, so it’s pretty important to be able to have a space with a door that closes for those.

I found that creating a space that’s conducive to the kind of concentration that’s required for programmers or designers, while also being able to have a gathering spot for people to have conversation, was really incompatible in the same physical space.

Good luck with your space! I hope to visit sometime soon.

Anca.

···

On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 10:58 PM, Melissa Geissinger [email protected] wrote:

We did it. WIMP signed a lease on a conservative 800 square foot space in downtown Santa Rosa, California and WIMPspace will be opening soon. I have run this meetup community for the last 3 years and change and we are over 400 members strong. The space is small but it’s awesome. We’re planning on converting one of the closets into a phone booth and probably just using a mobile partisan to separate the main space from a 4 person meeting table. We may not even use a partisan (thoughts??).

So we anticipate having about 18 seats. Not sure yet as we haven’t gotten furniture yet so it’s a little hard to visualize at this stage. We also plan on hosting our (free) events, and (paid) workshops and classes. What I’m finding is that there is actually a demand for the public to learn web design and social media basic skills (which is what the core of our membership specializes in) so we’ll probably host a mixture of beginner level as well as expert level classes.

Does anyone here have experience running a similar business model? Any tips on logistics or projections for the size of our operation?

Also wondering what you all use for keeping track of your membership subscriptions.

Thanks all!
Melissa Geissinger
President & COO | WIMP
www.beawimp.org

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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-=-=-=-
Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal

[email protected]

M: (510) 220-6660

http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal

Oh hi, Anca!

Yes I’ve been meaning to write to you. I think you might also know my husband, Cole (he’s a WordPress guy). I’d love to come by your space some time and see it.

You heard that right - 800 square feet. Since our primary objective is to have our own event space, the coworking will need to fit around it. We’ll be using the same open space for everything, so getting movable furniture is going to be key. Thankfully the space has a ton of storage so I think it’s going to work just fine. We’re planning on designating 9-5 (or 6?) to coworking only, and then 6-10pm on weekdays plus weekends as event or workshop time, Is it ideal? Probably not, but we’re going from a place of next to zero income so I figured it was worth it to work our way up over time. Plus, once you see the spot you’ll get it. So much about the location is ideal.

The idea right now for our workshops and classes is to allow the WIMP membership to be able to conduct them (register for time, etc) and have WIMP take a percentage for the usage of the space and promotion. Who leads your workshops and how do you work that part?

Thanks Anca, looking forward to chatting with you more!

Melissa

···

On Monday, June 30, 2014 11:51:22 PM UTC-7, Anca Mosoiu wrote:

Hi Melissa,

Congratulations! I’m glad to hear this has finally happened! I run Tech Liminal in Downtown Oakland - I think Greg Turner introduced us a little while ago.

Do you really mean 800 square feet? That seems awfully small for a space for coworking and events.

In our space (about 2100 square feet) we are able to accommodate about either up to 20 coworkers, or 3 coworkers plus an event or workshop. We run one daytime weekly event that takes over the main space as well as our two conference rooms - which our coworking members either hide from or participate in.

Our model is focused on workshops, coaching, and projects, so we aren’t really working towards coworking members at the moment, but we do have a couple of meetup/education memberships that are going strong.

Workshops of more than 3 people don’t work well in the same space as people trying to work quietly or hold a meeting, so it’s pretty important to be able to have a space with a door that closes for those.

I found that creating a space that’s conducive to the kind of concentration that’s required for programmers or designers, while also being able to have a gathering spot for people to have conversation, was really incompatible in the same physical space.

Good luck with your space! I hope to visit sometime soon.

Anca.

On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 10:58 PM, Melissa Geissinger [email protected] wrote:

We did it. WIMP signed a lease on a conservative 800 square foot space in downtown Santa Rosa, California and WIMPspace will be opening soon. I have run this meetup community for the last 3 years and change and we are over 400 members strong. The space is small but it’s awesome. We’re planning on converting one of the closets into a phone booth and probably just using a mobile partisan to separate the main space from a 4 person meeting table. We may not even use a partisan (thoughts??).

So we anticipate having about 18 seats. Not sure yet as we haven’t gotten furniture yet so it’s a little hard to visualize at this stage. We also plan on hosting our (free) events, and (paid) workshops and classes. What I’m finding is that there is actually a demand for the public to learn web design and social media basic skills (which is what the core of our membership specializes in) so we’ll probably host a mixture of beginner level as well as expert level classes.

Does anyone here have experience running a similar business model? Any tips on logistics or projections for the size of our operation?

Also wondering what you all use for keeping track of your membership subscriptions.

Thanks all!
Melissa Geissinger
President & COO | WIMP
www.beawimp.org

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


-=-=-=-
Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal

[email protected]

M: (510) 220-6660

http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal

Hello Melissa,

I also have a small coworking space. We have around 14 spaces. We also make events during the nights and host workshops from 8 to 10 pm and on weekends. The chairs are like the ones you fold so it makes it easier for us to move them. We have a problem, the tables we have are very heavy to move. And that complicates the space a lot. We also have a little terrace with a hamoc for people to rest. In this terrace we do not have internet acces so it makes it more fun. The walls have a lot of sketch paint so everybody is all the time painting the walls. We have a tiny library that nobody uses at the moment we need to find the way to catalize this. But we do receive a lot of donations. We also have a little private room that is under construction were we are going to make it the zone for workshops and meetings. As soon as we have this zone available it will catalize better the hole space.

Enjoy the ride!

···

El martes, 1 de julio de 2014 10:07:00 UTC-5, Melissa Geissinger escribió:

Oh hi, Anca!

Yes I’ve been meaning to write to you. I think you might also know my husband, Cole (he’s a WordPress guy). I’d love to come by your space some time and see it.

You heard that right - 800 square feet. Since our primary objective is to have our own event space, the coworking will need to fit around it. We’ll be using the same open space for everything, so getting movable furniture is going to be key. Thankfully the space has a ton of storage so I think it’s going to work just fine. We’re planning on designating 9-5 (or 6?) to coworking only, and then 6-10pm on weekdays plus weekends as event or workshop time, Is it ideal? Probably not, but we’re going from a place of next to zero income so I figured it was worth it to work our way up over time. Plus, once you see the spot you’ll get it. So much about the location is ideal.

The idea right now for our workshops and classes is to allow the WIMP membership to be able to conduct them (register for time, etc) and have WIMP take a percentage for the usage of the space and promotion. Who leads your workshops and how do you work that part?

Thanks Anca, looking forward to chatting with you more!

Melissa

On Monday, June 30, 2014 11:51:22 PM UTC-7, Anca Mosoiu wrote:

Hi Melissa,

Congratulations! I’m glad to hear this has finally happened! I run Tech Liminal in Downtown Oakland - I think Greg Turner introduced us a little while ago.

Do you really mean 800 square feet? That seems awfully small for a space for coworking and events.

In our space (about 2100 square feet) we are able to accommodate about either up to 20 coworkers, or 3 coworkers plus an event or workshop. We run one daytime weekly event that takes over the main space as well as our two conference rooms - which our coworking members either hide from or participate in.

Our model is focused on workshops, coaching, and projects, so we aren’t really working towards coworking members at the moment, but we do have a couple of meetup/education memberships that are going strong.

Workshops of more than 3 people don’t work well in the same space as people trying to work quietly or hold a meeting, so it’s pretty important to be able to have a space with a door that closes for those.

I found that creating a space that’s conducive to the kind of concentration that’s required for programmers or designers, while also being able to have a gathering spot for people to have conversation, was really incompatible in the same physical space.

Good luck with your space! I hope to visit sometime soon.

Anca.

On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 10:58 PM, Melissa Geissinger [email protected] wrote:

We did it. WIMP signed a lease on a conservative 800 square foot space in downtown Santa Rosa, California and WIMPspace will be opening soon. I have run this meetup community for the last 3 years and change and we are over 400 members strong. The space is small but it’s awesome. We’re planning on converting one of the closets into a phone booth and probably just using a mobile partisan to separate the main space from a 4 person meeting table. We may not even use a partisan (thoughts??).

So we anticipate having about 18 seats. Not sure yet as we haven’t gotten furniture yet so it’s a little hard to visualize at this stage. We also plan on hosting our (free) events, and (paid) workshops and classes. What I’m finding is that there is actually a demand for the public to learn web design and social media basic skills (which is what the core of our membership specializes in) so we’ll probably host a mixture of beginner level as well as expert level classes.

Does anyone here have experience running a similar business model? Any tips on logistics or projections for the size of our operation?

Also wondering what you all use for keeping track of your membership subscriptions.

Thanks all!
Melissa Geissinger
President & COO | WIMP
www.beawimp.org

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


-=-=-=-
Anca Mosoiu | Tech Liminal

[email protected]

M: (510) 220-6660

http://techliminal.com | T: @techliminal | F: facebook.com/techliminal