Is this really a hackspace? I know it's a woolly word, but a hackspace seems like a different thing to a coworking space - less focused on building businesses, and more on making cool shit and the sense of community.
Sure there's overlap, but it seems to me the ideal time at a coworking space would be quiet crunching on your business, with some interesting people to chat to in the kitchen. The best times at a hackspace are when someone gets an idea, and someone else gets excited, and before you know it you're learning how to cast something in resin. The hackspace is the ideal "Third Space", whereas a coworking space is still ... work. Cool work, and hopefully pleasant and fulfilling to be at, but still work.
It will depend on the space I believe, but both can definately have a community vibe, though the people they attract may be different. A hackspace may attract more of the "hacking/building/creating" crowd, but a coworking space may attract more business-type folks, like consultants and freelancers. The last group still may work together and network.
Also, lots of coworking space host a variety of events, so you can get to know people and network.
I like the idea of a compromise, a coworking space where you generally come in each day planing on working on your own thing, but things may randomly popup during the day and you might end up getting involved in something completely different for a bit.
Dedicated members get the best treatment, of course, but community members like me still get 24/7 access to the building and full use of the conference rooms, etc.
The remodeling is great and they've done a good job with furniture. The common areas are perpetually occupied, but not crowded.
Will be interesting to see how the mandatory lessons and blog posts pan out. I'm actually quite looking forward to them.
"... General Assembly has three tiers of membership. Entrepreneurs and start-ups can rent desks and work spaces for $500 per month to use as a full-time office, which roughly 90 people already do. ..."
Remove the middle man.
A startup cost for an office is a) access to "cheap processing" (Laptop) and b) "cheap office
(house, rented flat or coffee shop) and c) "cheap net access". The common factor, cheap. Spending excess money can be a substitute for being "relentlessly resourceful" and fostering a culture of "cheapness".
It's definitely nice to see coworking taking off. There's a combination of factors that I think are leading to increased popularity of coworking: proliferation of smaller teams, more remote workers, cheaper real estate prices. Even with the lower real estate prices, however, it's very difficult to make them profitable, so operating one is often a labor of love.
Anyway, to any Chicagoans looking for a nice coworking space, check out Desktime: http://desktimeapp.com
I'm currently opening a 2500 sq ft coworking space in Evanston, IL (http://coworkingevanston.com/). The website isn't updated yet and we are still building out one of the private areas, but we are already fully operational in the main spaces (http://desktimeapp.com/spaces/92-coworking-evanston). Even before officially opening we already started developing a nice community of developers and designers. If you are on Chicago's north side, in Evanston, the North Shore or anywhere else in the area, drop by (600 Davis, 2nd Fl).
It looks like their coworking space is by invite only and is currently full. Anyone know of any other good coworking/hackspaces in the NYC area that have space available?
AFAIK the "drop-in" membership isn't full yet, just the dedicated desks. The common space is beautiful and well-designed; there are details that aren't finished (I think more couches are going in soon) but the vibe is nice and I've already met some nice NYC folks there.
For those of you who have worked in a space like this: How is the environment? Noise, distractions, people coming-and-going, phone calls, etc. How does it work in practice for heads-down productivity and how does it work for sitting down and hashing something out with your co-founders?
I really like the concept of community, but how is it in practice?
I've worked in places like this. I am very easily distractible by noise, but I can usually ignore people walking around me, so for heads-down productivity, headphones or earplugs for me are a must. However, I've always had headphones even in standard cubicle/office environment where it's supposedly quiet and easy to concentrate and get work done. If you find the visual aspect of people coming-ang-going distracting, you might have an issue.
For sitting down and hashing something out with your co-founders, these places are great - conference rooms and whiteboards are usually very available, and that guy across from you who usually has headphones on might actually turn out to be a MySQL expert who can answer a very obscure question in 15 seconds.
Coworking is really gaining a head of steam. I use a coworking space in Seattle that I can't say enough good things about: http://officenomads.com. Great space, great community. Indispensable for those who could work at home, but don't want to.
Awesome! I'm also in Seattle- I'm not working for myself yet, but I might be in the future, in which case I'm really thinking about joining office nomads.
Do the people from similar disciples give each other help much? I like the idea of being around other programmers that I could query, but I'd feel guilty about wasting their Work time.
In London, Islington there is "the Hub". A visit to that space a couple of years ago, as part of an introduction to the startup-scene by a friend of mine, was a very inspiring experience, that oddly enough made me decide to study in the UK :)
It seems like the co-working movement is picking up steam. General Assembly, SunshineCo and a bunch of other spots.
The best thing about co-working is that it gets you away from the isolation some people feel when they are working from home. Also, meeting with other "smart" people is a great way to get and stay motivated. Northern NJ has a great spot I use called ConvergeNJ. http://convergenj.com.
Sure there's overlap, but it seems to me the ideal time at a coworking space would be quiet crunching on your business, with some interesting people to chat to in the kitchen. The best times at a hackspace are when someone gets an idea, and someone else gets excited, and before you know it you're learning how to cast something in resin. The hackspace is the ideal "Third Space", whereas a coworking space is still ... work. Cool work, and hopefully pleasant and fulfilling to be at, but still work.