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This is the page for anyone who thinks that Calgary deserves a coworking space and is willing to help make it happen.
Making it happen
We'd like to introduce ourselves as a group aiming to bring a coworking space to the Calgary market. Right now, we are calling it coworkYYC and have been sharing news and ideas through twitter: coworkYYC
First step is obviously finding the right space in this challenging Calgary commercial real estate market. The key elements of our search have been threefold. The ideal space would be 1500-2000sqft with a chance to expand in a success case. It would be close to downtown, with good transit, bike path and roadway links. And finally, the space would be generally an efficient open concept with somewhat separate social and meting areas. It is a tall order, but we've honed in on a few, but are trying to avoid substantial renovation.
We put out an online survey a few weeks ago and have garnered tremendous support. If you were someone who gave us feedback there, we really appreciate it.
We hope to open the doors of coworkYYC in October 2009. Our website is coming soon, but in the meantime, you can reach me here: Q [at] coworkYYC.com
Talk soon!
People
Sign yourself up if you're interested!
- Kimberly Gilbert (krg.work - at - gmail - dot - com): I'd love to join forces with other independent workers to find a common work space. I'm a writer/editor and new to Calgary. Has anyone been able to make any headway on the coffee shop idea? Sounds like a great place to start.
- Vladimir Sedach (vsedach - at - gmail - dot - com): I want a coworking space to work in, so instead of sitting around and waiting I'm trying to get people together to start one up. I can contribute my time and abilities
- Mark Rosenberger, SideFinder.NET : Idea, let's first see if we can get some "sponsored" space for evening/weekend hours in office buildings? For daytime use, maybe make a deal with coffee shops - we install a wireless LAN at our cost, they give us a deal on coffee, food, etc. Let them use the WiLAN for other customers? I can ask around for this.
- Ben Eadie (ben at Mountain-Wave dot ca) I will ask around to see who may have some space. I really like Marks idea, with the right coffee shop off the beaten path and not much traffic they would jump at the opportunity to do this, maybe add some desks to their shop....
- Jason Filiatrault (writedawg at mac dot com) Count me in for whatever - I'm going batty working at home. Other location thoughts might be a collectively rented apartment (though tough to find in this market) or establishing the Co-Working space as a non-profit organization and looking into government grant funding.
- Matthew Mastracci (matthew at mastracci dot com) [sept 02 2007] I might be interested. The coffee shop idea sounds great, but I might be open to alternatives as well. I'm in the SW myself.
- kitchen design Melbourne
- Strix "Strixy" Nebulosa (spamcatcher3 at strixy dot com): I was a baristo for several years and cafe manager in the past. I am now working full-time from home as an independant web developer and would love a coworking environment to work out of. The opportunities for collaboration in my field are huge. Keep me posted.
- elfie C (contact at nyummm dot com): I'm a designer/writer/entrepreneur trying to get a food magazine (nyummm dot com) off the ground - have been working on it for a good few months but am looking to be around other people to help motivate myself and also just have a social elements to the whole process. would be great to have other people's feedback, too. i've been involved in JELLYs in the US before and find them really helpful, so i would love for something like this to work in Calgary. [mar 30 2009]
- Jim McDonald [email protected]: I'm keen on participating in a space like this.
WebSite
Is anyone actively working on the website? If not I (Jim) could spend some time getting it polished and adding some content.
Checkout the coworkYYC website where you can add some comments to guide us along. You can also follow the coworkYYC fanpage on Facebook: coworkYYC on Facebook or the twitter account: coworkYYC
Should we approach some angel investor types to see if they would help foot the bill in return for new compaines/idea to invest in?
Has anyone contacted the City or CED , the CED would probably be able to get us in touch with some bigger names to ask for some funding.
Ideas
What would you like a Calgary coworking space to look like?
Location
- Close to the C-Train
- Parking and lack of traffic
- Close to coffee shops/restaurants
Atmosphere
- Big open space
- Lots of light
- Comfortable furniture
Equipment provided
- Lounge with couches and comfortable chairs
- Good coffee machine(s)
- Private and day-use desks
- Wi-Fi
- Meeting room with projector
Business structure
- For profit (if you want to invest in this, great!)
- Would be quick to set up
- Co-op (if no big investors come along, maybe we can do it together)
- gives the option to use grants or be funded by the City
- Non-Profit
Has anyone made a list of companies that might already have space and would be willing to offer it out to us? (Start with this? http://www.downtowncalgary.com/business.html)