A city as large and as diverse as Long Beach needs a community spot beyond the coffee shops for social and collaborative efforts. Somewhere Downtown or East Village Arts District is probably ideal and would include some of these aspects.
- Reasonable access rates
- High speed wifi access
- Comfortable furniture
- Different work environment options (desks, cubicles, communal tables, etc.)
- Wide open space for events
- Decent sized meeting space
- Locker space
- Bike friendly
- Cheap/free parking
I'm truly inspired by this idea and would fully embrace the possibility to move forward on it, but I'd like to gauge some interest. Of course some locals would have to check in here, but maybe we'll get lucky.
Questions I have for Space Owners
- How do you gauge pricing?
- What's the minimum amount of square footage to be worthwhile and profitable?
- When do you know you've reached critical mass between members and space?
I'm sure more questions will come, but fel free to chime in with any thoughts you might have. I'm fully open to all points of view.
Comments (3)
thund3rbox said
at 11:58 am on Jul 8, 2009
Hi Dave, I live in Long Beach, too, (East), and am interested in this as well. Downtown would be an awesome location for a space.. I'm working out of NextSpace up in Santa Cruz for the week, and after being here, this is a model that is sooooo needed in LB. Would be interested in pursuing further.
Michael Gross said
at 7:38 am on Aug 11, 2009
Dave, Like "thund3rbox," I recently visited NextSpace in Santa Cruz because I was interested in seeing the prototype for what I think would be a perfect sort of facility for Long Beach, particularly for some of the superb, puzzlingly vacant, downtown commercial spaces. The most important take-home message from meeting with Jeremy Neuner, the co-founder of NextSpace, is that 'community comes first,' that is, that NextSpace is about the community of people who work there. In turn, that means that he sees his role as evenly divided between that of facilities manager and community organizer, in the sense of getting to know the members well enough to foster synergies and productive connections between and among them.
As you can tell, I'm excited about this concept and interested in seeing it realized in Long Beach. Initially I thought it would be great for me if it were available as a resource, Then I thought, "well, if it's not going to happen and I want it, then I should see what I could do to push this forward." Because the community development and community organizing aspects appeal to me, my feelings about playing a more proactive role have moved from a sort of grudging acceptance to enthusiasm.
I'd love to be in touch with you because the most important consideration is to have a collaborator / co-conspirator or a small team who want to work together on pursuing this.
I've been in touch with "thund3rbox" directly and would welcome an opportunity to connect with you and see if we could find a way to collaborate in achieving ths appealing vision for co-working in Long Beach.
Michael
daveconrey said
at 9:21 am on Aug 11, 2009
Hi Michael and thund3rbox,
Well, I would love to say that I'm all for pushing forward on the space, but for the time being, my work situation has changes dramatically. I'm no longer working in Los Angeles and have a full time commitment Orange County. So I'm a bit off the track on this idea for the time being, but if there is anyway I can help support anyone, I will. Just say the word.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.