Posts tagged colab nashville

Jennifer Way had been working out of her house for the past 15 years. Moving into CoLab was a big change, but a change that has been worth it.

Jennifer Way

She moved Way Solutions, founded March 1, 2004, into CoLab in June 2010 after hearing about the new downtown coworking space at The Social Media Club of Nashville. Way Solutions provides HR consulting, including executive search services, for companies and coaching for job seekers. The company has worked with clients of all sizes, from start-ups to major firms such as CareerBuilder, Amazon.com and Microsoft. Jennifer also writes blogs for CareerBuilder on job searching and landing the right post.

CL: How much did you know about the coworking movement before moving into CoLab?
JW: I wouldn’t say too much. It was something I had never considered. I love being virtual, and I didn’t know if it would make sense for me because I travel. That changed when I started doing more local business and becoming more active in the Nashville community.

CL: Are you happier now working here than where you were working before?
JW: Yes. First of all, I think it offers my business a legitimacy that I didn’t have before. It solves all my problems when I have clients from out of town. We have meeting spaces, and I can bring them somewhere. An added bonus: any time I sponsor meetups or community activities, I can have them meet here.

CL: What are some activities that you have hosted at CoLab?
JW: I’ve hosted job seeker receptions, writers meetings, social media technology group functions and participated in lunch and learns.

CL: What do you think about working Downtown?
JW: I love it! I love being in the heart of Nashville and participating in more of the events that go on downtown whether it be the art crawl or music. Everything seems so close and convenient.

CL: How has the location helped your business?
JW: The location has allowed me to expand my network, resources, access to vendors and technology awareness. Working downtown allows me to have more resources at my disposal.

CL: Does it help to be around other professionals?
JW: I’ve found that the spirit of collaboration here really lives up to the name. That doesn’t mean everyone is here all the time or at the same hours. CoLab is flexible in nature. Everyone is really supportive of each other’s businesses —  even businesses that would seem to compete are supportive of one another.

Website: www.waysolutions.com
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CoLab’s mission is not only to create a vibrant, creative community but also open its doors to the larger Nashville community.

So when CoLab’s Nashville Director Kailey Hussey was approached by Firefly Logic to team up to give GiveCamp a home here, she knew it was just the kind of way she wanted to show support in the community.

Microsoft’s Chris Koenig came up with the idea in 2007 to host a weekend-long event where software developers, designers and other skilled volunteers donated their time to help non-profit organizations with work they might not otherwise afford.

“We are a starting place for growing companies, and I think we can be a starting place for non-profits as well,” Hussey says.

Firefly Logic, a local software development company, filled CoLab’s space with nearly 50 volunteers working on projects for 10 different non-profits. Over the course of 48 hours from Jan. 14-16,  the volunteers met with the non-profits, determined what they needed and completed the work. Volunteers designed and renovated websites, edited web content to make it fresh and trained non-profit representatives how to use donor database software. Completing all the work needed was a daunting task, considering the time constraints.

“We were very much trying to prioritize what they were asking for that would have the most impact,” says Ben Henderson, a partner at Firefly Logic. “We had to be realistic about what could be achieved.”

The event was a complete success, and is something CoLab is interested in hosting again next year. “I sat in on the ending presentation where everyone showed off what they had done,” Hussey says. “It seemed like it was a really successful weekend.”

Give Camp was the second such even CoLab has hosted so far ─ In July they hosted a similar event, Designathon ─ and Hussey plans on it being just the beginning. “If we can help someone get their start I am more than happy to be involved in projects like that.”

In fact, one of the non-profit agencies that benefited from the July event, YouthTurns, is based at CoLab Nashville. YouthTurns works with children whose parents are in prison by providing counselors, mentors, educational programs and other support so they don’t repeat the cycle of incarceration.

Interested in joining a community that makes a difference? Come check us out.

Daniel Heacock, owner of Supplybuy.com

Daniel Heacock is a pioneer.

He is CoLab’s first tenant on the 3rd floor of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Nashville and the first tenant on the floor in more than five years.

Heacock, whose has a background in computer programming, owns and operates Supplybuy.com, a one-stop online office supply company he started in December 2009. Supplybuy.com uses third party suppliers and ships to anywhere in the continental United States. While Supplybuy.com hopes is to be on the forefront of the e-commerce supplies, the company’s main goal is to provide great service and build trust within its customer base.

“The Internet causes uncertainty among people,” says Heacock. “Some are still unsure about putting their credit card numbers online. At the end of the day, customers will use and return to your site if you have built trust.”

Like many entrepreneurs, Daniel worked out of his home at first. As Supplybuy.com expanded, the business could no longer be confined to the four walls of his bedroom, and he found a listing for CoLab of Nashville on Craigslist. He moved into CoLab as soon as the third floor was ready.

CoLab: How much did you know about coworking before moving into CoLab?
Daniel Heacock: I really didn’t know much, although it makes a  lot of sense, especially with the economy. A lot of people are self-employed because they can’t get full-time employment. Money is tight and it’s hard to get full-time benefits. Coworking is going to happen a lot more if things keep going this way.

CL: What do you like best about having an office in CoLab?
DH: The opportunity to work with other people doing similar things is great. I’ve met several people I will be working with to some extent, which is something you don’t get at all when you work out of your bedroom.

CL: How has the location helped your business?
DH: Since I just moved in, I haven’t seen much of a difference. The business is growing and we are looking at hiring more people, so an office is necessary. Moving from home into an office space was a smooth transition. Working here, the business will benefit more than from working at home. CoLab also is more affordable than a lot of the other options I was looking at.

CL: Parking downtown can be difficult. Is it worth it?
DH: CoLab helps make the parking convenient. I park less than a block away from the building and get the CoLab rate. I like the downtown location; I feel the buzz.

“For me, mentally, it’s good to go to a place where people are working hard,” says Heacock. “It is definitely a good place to network and interact. It’s neat to be part of something bigger like that.”

For more information on Supplybuy.com:
Website: Supplybuy.com
Email: Daniel@supplybuy.com
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CoLab, Nashville’s first and largest coworking space, hosted a successful Wordpress Nashville meetup this week.

Wordpress has fast become the industry standard software platform for building all types of websites and blogs. Several CoLab members either work with Wordpress or help clients get better results with the popular platform including SearchViz, MetaMarketers, Brand Journalists, Collins Imagery and Kaleidoscope PR.

This week local programer and web developer Peter Mancini gave a presentation on using Wordpress plugins. To download his presentation, click here:http://nectarineimpllc.com/?p=128

Nashville programmer Peter Mancini at the Wordpress Nashville meetup

Thanks to Wordpress Nashville organizer Scott McIntosh for getting this group going. The group will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at CoLab in the training room. If you are interested in joining this free group, sign up here:

http://www.meetup.com/NashvilleWordpress/

CoLab is a proud sponsor of Wordpress Nashville and offers free use of our training room and projector for meetup groups. Our convienent downtown Nashville location makes it easy to attend.

If you are interested in a tour of CoLab’s coworking spaces, contact us for a tour. CoLab is Nashville’s coolest downtown coworking space and one of the best deals in town for executive suites. Prices begin at $49 a month for full access two days a week, $99 a month for a reserved desk five days a week and offices starting at $385 a month. All memberships include Internet, coffee, copier and fax access and come with access to reserve the training room or one of our conference rooms at no additional charge.

Come by and see for yourself!

Brand Journalists’ Senior Reporter Linda Bryant wrote this article for the Nashville Business Journal about Co-working in Nashville and it mentions CoLab, where Brand Journalists is officed:

Angie Gore’s public relations firm, Kaleidoscope Media, weathered the recession, but not without some major changes to the business plan. Many of the non-essentials are gone, including a 3,000-square-foot office on Music Row.

Kaleidoscope now operates in shared office space at CoLab, a membership-based group of small businesses, entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals on the ground floor of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Nashville. Kaleidoscope’s new office is small – about 300 square feet. But Gore and her in-house staff of four share spacious “co-working” areas, a conference room, wireless Internet, a printer and copier, kitchen and training room.

“The recession created an opportunity for us to refine our vision and get back to the basics,” Gore said. “I’m grateful for the nudge to streamline.”

Co-working is a style of work which involves shared workspace among a group of independent workers or companies. Co-working offices and communities have spiked worldwide since the recession hit, though industry experts say belt-tightening isn’t the only motivation. Participants also like the social and professional interaction.

“You are surrounded by innovative, hard-working and change-making entrepreneurs forging new paths online and in the world,” Gore said. “It’s inspiring and easy to stay at work in these conditions.”

E-Spaces, also a membership based-shared office space, recently opened on the fourth floor of the Belle Meade Hill Center. The 8,000-square-foot business center caters to what CEO and co-founder Phillip Gibbs calls “mobile, connected professionals.”

E-Spaces targets senior executives and high-level freelancers who often need a quiet, stimulating place to work as well as an impressive, welcoming top-tier Class A office atmosphere to meet with clients, Gibbs said.

Frank Pazera recently launched a Nashville office for his Chattanooga-based startup, CFO2Biz, at E-Spaces. Pazera started the business a year ago in response to a growing need for outsourced financial services professionals.

“Before my Nashville office was at Panera Bread in Brentwood and, of course, my laptop,” Pazera said. “This is leading edge; it’s a sophisticated, affordable package. It’s so helpful for me to have the capability of impressing prospects in a beautiful office space.”

There are no cubicles or separate office suites at E-Spaces, though there are several conference and meeting rooms and a menu of amenities that include concierge support, covered parking, voice and video conferencing, a business phone, document shredding and quick access to express shipping.

Member Peter Durand said he has no problem settling into a productive work day at E-Spaces.

“It really works for me,” Durand said. “There are so many intelligently designed nooks and crannies. By my third day, I redesigned my website and made a marketing plan for 2011.”

Durand, founder and Creative Director of a graphic facilitation company, Alphachimp Studios, was working from home exclusively with a staff scattered all over the country before discovering E-Spaces. He didn’t want to change Alphachimp’s virtual working model, but longed to get out of the house.

“There are no boundaries when I work from home,” Durand said. “I have two small children. When I saw this place, I said ‘I’m home.’ ”

Mobile workers such as Durand, Gore and Pazera are part of a trend that’s likely to keep growing.

According to a forecast from the International Data Corp., more than 72 percent of the country’s working population performs work in multiple locations. About 120 million Americans are expected to be mobile by 2013, the survey said.

Co-working membership fees are typically quite low compared to traditional commercial office rental prices.

At E-Spaces, memberships for 24/7 access are $195 for 10 hours a month, $395 for five days a month, $495 for 10 days a month, $695 for 20 days a month and $295 for nights and weekend.

Gibbs declined to give the number of members but said the space is renting to a wide range of professionals, including an attorney, an oral surgeon, IT professionals and a published author working on a book. There’s room for 200 to 300 members, he said.

CoLab ranges from $49.95 a month for two days a week access to shared co-working areas to $99.95 a month for five days a week in the shared area to $400 a month for a small office.

Gore said she is saving so much money from downsizing to the smaller office that she’s been able to establish a satellite office in New York at New Work City, which is also an office co-working space. Kaleidoscope Media has held onto its key Nashville-based clients such as The Loveless Café, Barbara Mandrell and the Bonnaroo music festival.

However, the newfound ability to network with a broader client base in New York is vital to the firm’s future growth, Gore said.

A new kind of office

Co-working spaces are popping up all over the globe – from Nashville to Philadelphia, from Rio de Janeiro to Rome.

According to the Society for New Media Communications Research, there are more than 300 co-working startups in the United States and more than 600 worldwide. Analysts at the California-based think tank, which studies the impact of new media on communications, culture and society, first started tracking co-working five years ago.

“People need new support structures to reflect workstyle shifts that are increasingly more mobile and flexible,” said Jacob Sayles, founder of Office Nomada, a three-year-old Seattle co-working startup. “But it’s also about more than that. It’s about the need to get out of the home office or coffee shop and interact with other creative professionals. It’s about business being more personable.”

But does co-working work as a business model?

Analysts at the Society for New Communications Research say they expect profitable business models will emerge as the trend burgeons worldwide.

“Yes, it can be profitable and successful,” said Alex Hillman, a leader in the international co-working movement and founder of Independents Hall, a co-working space in Philadelphia. “But most co-working communities don’t define their success in terms of getting rich. You are involved in something bigger than you. It’s a community where people want to be. It’s a 100 percent opt-in culture.”

—­ Linda Bryant, Brand Journalists Senior Reporter

(Source: nashvillebusinessjournal.com)