Carrboro Creative Coworking - North Carolina's First Professional Coworking Space

Year One

brian — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:05:04 -0400

Last week was Carrboro Creative Coworking's first birthday. We opened our doors in early October 2008.

So much has changed. I've learned SO much. I have a beautiful son. The community has grown. So many smart and friendly people work here now. Its an amazing environment that is bursting with energy.

Unfortunately the anniversary came and went without much fanfare. Fact is I'm so busy that planning a party or other celebration was just too much. But sometime soon I'll organize something special. I want it to be fun and different. So stay tuned!

A GIANT thank you to everyone who's made this year possible!

More Coworking spaces: Where in Raleigh?

brian — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:43:04 -0400

Our survey, and lots of feedback, has uncovered that you'd like a coworking space in Raleigh, North Carolina. Where in Raleigh would you like to see it built? Please take this survey to tell us where. Thanks!

What can Coworking do for Journalism?

brian — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:07:45 -0400

Andy Bechtel, who teaches Copy Editing at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communications, came by last week. I gave him a tour of the space and we had a great chat. Like a pro he did his research right and asked me a ton of questions. He followed up our talk with some questions via email. See my answers on his blog in this post Q&A with Brian Russell of Carrboro Creative Coworking. Here's a taste.

Q. Newspapers have typically operated from a central newsroom with bureaus in surrounding communities. Now, many bureaus have closed because of financial pressures. How could newspapers use coworking to cover the news?

A. Newspapers could use coworking spaces as ad hoc gathering places to meet and create news. Journalists should be in the field covering the news and regenerating the news beats of old.

Coworking spaces are also greater community hubs. With a diverse group of people working in the same place, lead generation is amplified. Plus, coworking spaces are about sharing resources and are very cost effective.

Thanks for coming by Andy. I'm looking forward to the future of coworking journalist.

Location, Location, Location

brian — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:21:59 -0400

When I was doing my original business market research for CCC I discovered that place is very important. This is the case for most physical businesses with public space. (ex. retail) Experienced business people express this with the refrain, "Location, Location, Location".

As I got into the day to day of running a coworking space the assumption about where our space is located seemed to be validated. I believe that being close to where people live, shop, and play is essential. But can coworking spaces exist in other places?

This is why I created the following survey. If you work at a Coworking space I'd really appreciate it if you could take it. The results are located here. You can even download the data and use it how you want.

I feel its essential we have big numbers of survey participants to validate or disprove this assumption. Once we've made it over two hundred participants I'll elaborate more on why I think this is important.

Thanks!

Twitter is Important for this Business

brian — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:13:58 -0400

Telling people about Carrboro Creative Coworking has been largely done by word of mouth. Social Networking websites have really helped amplify this. By far the most valuable site for us is Twitter. Its a POWERFUL two way communication medium via your computer and mobile phone.

This week Twitter released Twitter 101. Its a great introduction to what Twitter can do for business. So if your curious how this free service can help you check this out. Here's a bit.

So what does Twitter do for businesses?

Twitter is a communications platform that helps businesses and their customers do a number of useful things. As a business, you can use it to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company. As an individual user, you can use Twitter to tell a company (or anyone else) that you've had a great--or disappointing--experience with their business, offer product ideas, and learn about great offers.

New Coworker Pricing

brian — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:20:18 -0400

Howdy Coworkers! I'd like to introduce you to our new Coworker pricing levels. Some you're familiar with. A few are brand new. You can now pay for all four Coworker options with PayPal at http://www.carrborocoworking.com/pricing.

One Day - $10 a day
This service is for folks who would like to Cowork ad hoc. If you'd just like to drop in and work when YOU want to use this option. Just click the PayPal buy button and get to work.

Friend of CCC - $50 a month
This option is for folks who may not use our services often but would like to support CCC. We're developing special gifts and events just for official Friends of Carrboro Creative Coworking.

Coworker - $100 a month
This is the classic Coworker option. Drop in any time you want during business hours and get to work. Hot coffee, plenty of electrical outlets, comfortable seating, professional atmosphere, and open wireless.

Super Coworker - $200 a month
This option has the same features as the Coworker but with 24/7 access. If you use monthly reoccurring billing with a credit card or check (ACH) you get a electronic key fob. Let yourself in late at night or on weekends.

(Conference rooms prices remain the same and Offices are still done separately. Check out the new Office page and Conference Room page with pictures!)

Right now we have seventeen regular Coworkers. On average eight Coworkers are here during the day. Plus there are always Office Coworkers in the space. Its getting busy... but we need to do more to energize the community and help it stay open. Please tell someone about CCC!

jQuery Fundamentals Registration Deadline Extended

brian — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:34:37 -0400

The deadline for registering for our training jQuery Fundamentals has been extended to July 27. At this point three people have registered. We have room for seven more. The class will go on. So if you've been sitting on the fence or waiting for funding now is your chance in get in. If you have any questions please contact us. More information about this class and a registration link are here.

How far away from a coworking space do you live?

brian — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:33:28 -0400

To learn a bit more about WHERE coworking spaces can work I've created a survey. Please fill it out when you have a moment. It's short.
http://flur.be/11

The results can be viewed in reports here. http://flur.be/12
You can even download the raw data.

I promise to elaborate on my assumptions once we have a good amount of data. I don't want to influence your answer. :)

Jobs and Gigs Board

brian — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:04:45 -0400

A coworker here at the space started posting available jobs and freelance gigs on our board. A cool old fashioned way to get the word out. Even though most of us are web geeks and do everything online this method is still really valuable. A coworking space provides a physical location for people who live much of their lives in virtual worlds.

Westend Tweetup at CCC

brian — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:07:44 -0400

August 4th from 7-9PM Carrboro Creative Coworking will be sponsoring the West-End Tweetup. Wayne Sutton will be joining to talk about Social Media and Real-Time Information. So all you tweeple who live in the westend of the Triangle (Chapel Hill, Carrboro, etc) join us. Please RSVP here.