Since our inception, Office Nomads has found a fantastic partner in Biznik, the small business networking hub that was founded in Seattle by our good friends Lara and Dan. Their slogan “going it alone, together,” could double as a slogan for Office Nomads. Biznik brings independent small-shop business people together to learn, share, and network for the collective strength of the small business community. Office Nomads is a big, big fan of our friends at Biznik.

With that in mind, we’re excited to announce a new special for our Biznik friends – get 50% off your first month of Part-Time membership at Office Nomads! That’s right – if you’re a Biznik member, you get yourself a sweet deal on your first month as a member of Office Nomads. Just show us your Biznik profile and we’ll be happy to extend the special to ya.

Sound good? Get in touch with us and let us know. Better yet, swing on by the office (M-F between 8:30 and 6) and we can tell you all about it in person.

That right there deserves a starfish high-five.

Well, everyone – it’s been a pretty darned significant week here at Office Nomads, as well as in the coworking world in general.  A few exciting things to note:

1. The acquisition of coworking.com by the coworking community. The coworking community received a great opportunity this week to collectively purchase the coworking.com domain to utilize as a tool for the coworking community. This has been a truly inspiring experience that both Jacob and I are honored to be a part of. The domain purchase has also kicked-off a continuing conversation on the future of coworking and how the larger community’s needs can be met.  Read a nice long post on the matter by Alex Hillman of IndyHall in Philadelphia. See the initial website by visiting http://coworking.com. If you’re into coworking and want to see the overall conversation about the site and what it means for our community, check out the Coworking Google Group and hop into the conversation.
2. Great response to our new membership rates! After only two weeks of our new Office Nomads membership rates, we’ve seen 11 new members at one of the new Part-Time rates. Whoa!  We’re taking that to mean that y’all dig the new rates, so we’ll keep ‘em around. As always, if you’ve been meaning to come on by and check out what’s happening at Office Nomads, now’s the time to take us up on that free trial day.  The office is full and brimming, even on a sunny Seattle Friday!

Jacob and I have also been brainstorming away with how to help coworking grow and thrive in Seattle.  If you’d like to join in the conversation, please join us at the next Coworking Seattle meetup on Thursday, February 25 at Indie Ballard.

Have a great weekend everyone. I can’t wait to see what happens next week!!

Thanks to flickr user digicla for use of the starfish photo above under the creative common’s license.

After receiving helpful feedback from our members and wider community, Office Nomads is proud to introduce some new membership levels! You can see full descriptions on our updated Memberships and Pricing page! Quickly, here’s what monthly membership now looks like at ON:

• Basic: 3 days/month – $50
• Part-Time: 5-15 days/month – $75-225
• Resident: 24/7 access – $475 + deposit

We hope that these new levels allow even more flexibility to potential members who are looking to be in the office on a regular basis.  As always, we know there is incredible value in a space that keeps its focus on the people, not on the pricing plans. We try to keep our membership plans simple, and designed to keep you focused on getting work done, not on whether you can afford to have another cup of coffee.

If you’ve been meaning to swing by and check out the office, now’s a great time!  Come on in for a tour of the space and we can chat you up about the new price points!

Kevin Moore

Website: www.kevinmooreconsulting.com

Member Since: January 2010

Type of Member: Resident

When most people are nine, they are mastering the early squiggles of cursive writing and are confident that their urges to eat paste are well gone in their past. At the wee age of nine, Kevin Moore was already tapping away at a keyboard in the early stages of his programming career.  By the time he was in high school he was doing professional web development. A visit to a career fair in college led to an internship at Microsoft, which blossomed to a career, which was a step along the way to his current freelance software consulting.  He was lucky enough to figure out what he liked doing early on and has been able to make a career out of it.

Kevin is a new addition to Office Nomads and he is fitting in perfectly. He became familiar with ON after participating in Green Drinks and Sustainable Capitol Hill. Every entrance and exit he makes in the space involves a fist pound with other Nomads. He’s a positive addition to the space, sharing his James Brown with everyone and enthusiastically joining in on the fun when we’ve gone to Happy Hour or had other events.  There are rumors that he has a singing and music background and we are eagerly anticipating the day when he decided to share that with us.

Like many other Nomads, Kevin is a bit of a world traveler.   This summer he is off to explore Argentina and Peru.  Lucky for him, his business is mobile so in between the tango dancing and exploration of ruins he can continue his freelance software consulting business, Kevin Moore Consulting.  We all are eagerly anticipating his reports on eating cuy (guinea pig) and drinking chicha (corn beer).

We are thrilled to have Kevin at Office Nomads.  Not just because he has the magically ability of fixing our computers just by looking at them, but because he is a pretty stellar individual.

Wow! The January Open House was a great time!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by.  It was great to see everyone and catch up.

For those of you who missed out, I understand the weather was rather terrible that evening.  But, you missed out on some pretty spectacular fun.  Josh, from Bluebird Ice Cream, scooped out some incredible ice cream for everyone to try.  He very quickly ran out of the vegan coconut mint chocolate chip and there was a good reason why.  I had no idea vegan ice cream could be so fantastic!  The Stumptown ice cream and the snickerdoodle were also really delicious and it was all finished off by the time the night came to a close.    Mychal Richardson’s photography was a great conversation piece and had many people quietly going from one photo to the next reading about how each individual pictured fought for their rights.  I think we all came away inspired.  See more of his work on his website or stop by and check them out!

A big thanks must also go to Andy Aupperlee of Explosion 5000.  He took over the Green Room and shot portraits of our Open House attendees and their New Years Resolutions.  The results are rather amazing and you should make sure to read about it on his website and look at his Flickr page.

A big thanks to all of you who could come out.  Hopefully see you all at our next Open House!

Thanks to Flickr user Sukanto Debnath for use of the above photo through the Creative Commons License

It’s January so that means it’s time for our January Open House!  Fitting, right?  Well, we are really excited for this month’s open house on January 14th from 6 PM to 9 PM when we’ll open our doors to the wholecommunity to celebrate art, coworking and each other.

What: January Open House

When: Thursday, January 14th from 6 PM-9 PM

Where: Office Nomads- 1617 Boylston Ave, Second Floor

Food and Drink: We’ve got the goods, just bring your pint glass!

We are proud to be part of Capitol Hill Art Walk again this month and are featuring the beautiful photography of Mychal Richardson of Lost Photography.  His show, “Faces of Washington” was created for the ACLU and includes seventeen 36″ by 36″ black and white portraits of courageous individuals from all across Washington State who fought for their rights and the rights of others.  It is an inspiring show and one not to be missed.

Something we are very excited about is the opportunity to be part of the art!  Andy Aupperlee of Explosion 5000 will be here taking photos of you and your New Years Resolutions.  Andy is really excited to have some fun with these photography so bring a big smile and your creativity to be expressed in the photobooth.  At the same time, we have partnered with a couple local businesses in an effort to tempt you away from some of those New Years Resolutions. Ice cream from Bluebird Ice Cream and beer from Elysian Brewing always are incredibly delicious and will both be here.  Make sure your bring a sweet tooth and your pint glass!

The only thing that could make the Open House any greater would be you!  We hope you can join us and bring along your great friends and family.  What better way to celebrate winter, photography and the neighborhood than with our community?  We look forward to seeing you!

Coworking continues growing in popularity, and demonstrates it’s “darlingness” in the press this past week with some great national coverage!  Coworking hit the big time in the Wall Street Journal as well as on NPR this week, featuring several spaces throughout the country.  Check out some of these excerpts and click on the links for full articles:

From the Wall Street Journal, New Year’s Eve Edition (with one minor error included – we do not have closed-door offices available):

For those who lack a conventional office, shared, or “coworking,” spaces promise to solve some of the dilemmas of working alone. These facilities provide environments where professional nomads can work in relative quiet and even socialize around the coffee pot, or copier.

…Both coworking spaces we tried in the techie Northwest were bigger. Seattle’s Office Nomads, located in youthful and artistic Capitol Hill, can accommodate several dozen workers with its mix of closed-door offices, open desks and lounge areas. Office Nomads didn’t require a reservation and won’t charge for the first visit. Office Nomads was well-lit, with abundant plugs and desk options.

Coworkers—as well as the site’s founders—introduced themselves and offered help. We weren’t sure if we visited on a particularly friendly day or if this was the norm. Office Nomads appeared to place an emphasis on creating a community for its members; there was a “State of the Nomads” monthly meeting at midday. A bulletin board listed in-house social options as well as visiting speakers slated to appear, and also featured quirky photos and fun facts about members. Office Nomads also offered the most extensive weekday hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And today, our friends at New Work City were featured on NPR’s Morning Edition!

New Work City is part of a trend that started a handful of years ago on the West Coast. Newly mobile tech workers with laptops liked their freedom but still missed the human interaction they got from going to an office. So they formed meet-up groups: casual, once-a-week deals at different locations — sometimes even people’s living rooms. Today, Bacigalupo says more and more people are working independently — either by choice, a layoff or both.

“The same way that [during] the last century work shifted from blue collar to white collar,” Bacigalupo says, “I think we’ll be seeing in this century, we’re going to be moving away from the idea of a centralized Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 workplace, and we’ll be moving much more in this direction. People will work when they want where they want.”

All in all, quite a week for coworking.  As usual, if you’ve been meaning to get yourself out to a coworking space but somehow haven’t managed to, there has never been a better time than the present.  Make yourself a 2010 resolution to get more work done and have a better time doing it and get out to your local coworking space.  Find the one near you at the Coworking Wiki.

Office Nomads is in the midst of some end-of-the-year reviewing, plotting and planning. Part of the process this year included our first-ever Member Survey. After two years of coworking in Seattle, we’ve had a lot of informal feedback and have drawn some basic conclusions about what our members like and dislike. But we decided it was about time to ask them for their suggestions.  Their rants and raves.  In their words.

The results were fantastic. Our members  provided us with some excellent hard data on what makes our coworking space work, as well as some great feedback on what we can be doing better. Here are three big takeaways:

• We’ve said it before, but now we have some data to back it up: it’s all about the people.  When asked about the thing that members appreciate most about being at Office Nomads, they replied nearly in unison that it is the people that make it great. We can now say things like “the proof’s in the pudding.”  Well, maybe we can’t.  I’m not really sure what that means, actually.
• Our members are interested in figuring out even more ways to share resources (including people-powered resources such as bookkeepers and admin assistants), and pass business to one another.  From recommendations of even more way to highlight what it is that each of our members do, the Nomads spoke out loud and clear that they want to help one another out as much as possible.
• Working in community means being human.  When asked what our members would like to see improved, several of the responses revolved around typical shared space gripes: being mindful of one another when on long (and loud) phone conversations, remembering to do the dishes, cleaning up after one’s self.  These frustrations came as no surprise; we all take turns being more of a distraction than we normally are, forget to do a dish now and again, and decide to not replace the toilet paper roll when it runs out.  We’re all human. These challenges (while very real and requiring quick and responses by us as business owners) demonstrate another part of being in a community with one another.  It is about our members working towards the best way to work successfully with one another.

Our members continue to humble us with their thoughtfulness, willingness to help us make the business better, and spectacular senses of humor.  So with that, here are some of our favorite quotes from members:

“I feel like Office Nomads is saving my business. The isolation was killing my attitude and creativity. Thanks to Office Nomads I am not confusing my clients with my social opportunities (not as chatty, not as ‘charitable’ with my billing ), I have closer ties with downtown clients. I am quite productive at Office Nomads because everyone is there to get things done, not socialize all the time. A+ guys, really.”

“There is a lot of small business know-how which could be shared more.  The brown bags are a good start.  And the email list is good for the occasional recommendation query.
Maybe we could occasionally collect and share links to public stuff people are working on?  Blogs, artwork, trip photos, …  I feel like there’s a lot of creative work going on but I’m missing a lot of it because I can’t get to happy hour due to other commitments.  Maybe a “shameless self promotion” email list?”

“I just sat here for five minutes trying to think of something which I’d like to change which I actually want you to take on.  There are big “nice to haves” like more light in the cafe area, but I actually don’t want you to busy yourselves with big projects which I don’t think are worth the effort when things are running smoothly.
So, I guess if I have to choose then I’d like everyone to have free ponies.  With wings.”

Wow.  Thanks everyone.  We hear you!  Thanks for helping us continue to breathe new life into the business.

(In case you were wondering,  I used Google Forms to complete our survey, which was an absolute breath of fresh air after struggling with Survey Monkey. Thank goodness for Google’s helpful new tools, which bring together Google’s simplicity and exciting analysis capabilities. It saved me time, effort, and endless frustration.

In total, we had 22 members fill our our survey, representing several membership types including Basics, Residents, and those who have been Pink Slip Scholarship recipients.)

Thanks to Flickr user tonamel for use of the photo above under the Creative Commons license.

Ron Theis

Website: http://www.ridic.com

Member Since: April 2008

Type of Member: Resident

Ron felt as if working from home was working for him although it also felt like it was pulling him in two directions.  His work as Lead Game Designer for Ridiculous Software, Inc. had him focused on the creation of new applications for Sidekick phones and IPhones.  It had him at his computer designing and then writing code for different applications.  At the same time he was always aware of his wife working as a stay-at-home mom with their one-year-old daughter, Addison, who was also in the house.  His fingers would be typing but his mind was aware of laughter floating in from the other room and he wanted to be there to play.  If she cried, he wanted to be there to comfort her.  Working at home was not working at all.

Ron found Office Nomads and, with it, a place where he could work with less distraction.  Before, he said, “…my one-year-old daughter did not understand why Daddy could not play right now.”  Now, he goes home in the evening and can focus on his family.

An additional perk to spending 9-5 at Office Nomads is that Ron has found a great mix of people who can be fantastic resources.  He sits in a cluster with two other Nomads in a similar industry.  Also, when he has questions about topics such as web development, there is usually somebody in the space who can help him.  “These are committed people,” Ron explained.  “They have everything together.”  He finds that that helps him and makes him love this space even more.

His wife and daughter love Office Nomads, too.  Addison loves to run around and play with Cortez, one of the resident pooches, when they come in to check on Ron.  The whole family comes out to the open houses to catch up with the other Nomads and just have fun.  As a whole, the Theis family loves Office Nomads which is fine by us because we love them, too!

Greg Wyckoff

http://www.gregwyckoff.com

Member Since: October 2009

Type of Member: Resident

Greg makes the longest trek every day to come to Office Nomads.  He makes the journey from Edmonds to Seattle on the the Sounder train, followed by a  ride through Seattle in the Metro Bus Tunnel. After about an hour of reading, thinking, working and a little exercise, he arrives at ON ready for the day.  Greg sought out Office Nomads to transition from being a stay-at-home dad and part-time web developer to a being a full-time Software Requirements Analyst. It was very difficult to separate his personal time from his professional time, and he knew he needed to move the work elsewhere.  Greg found Office Nomads and found somewhere he can “be productive without being part of the machine.”  His fondness for the space and the collection of people here are what get him out the door in the morning to start the commute.

Greg lights up when you ask him about Office Nomads. “Office Nomads provides the ‘missing pieces’ for independent professionals. The perceived opportunity of working independently motivates many to break out of the traditional 9-5 office job. There are many benefits to working “on your own,” but it seems that the impact of the energy that comes from interacting with other interesting, lateral thinking, motivated individuals is often overlooked or underestimated. Office Nomads is a unique space that provides an inspiring blend of independence and interaction.”

When he does finally make it to Office Nomads, he settles in and gets down to business.  With more than 10 years of IT experience, Greg recently started working as an independent consultant for organizations looking to  improve their operations through the use of software.  He systematically analyzes  business objectives and maps processes, looking for opportunities to apply software to increase efficiency and capacity.  Greg offers recommendations for software solutions and also manages the execution of projects.

Greg’s path to his current job is a unique, starting with working on his family’s farm in the Yakima Valley.  He says he has always been geek at heart.  Working on the farm, was involved with several data collection projects: Yield projections, pest monitoring pesticide application tracking, horticultural activity tracking, etc.  After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Geology at Whitman College, he spent some time in Germany working for a hop grower/processor where his inner geek and farming roots really melded together. Listening to his story of his time in Germany and work history, it’s interesting how those summers working on the family farm really were the foundation for the work he does today.

Outside of Office Nomads, Greg makes sure to spend quality time with his wife and two kids.  Weekends often include trips to the pumpkin patch, adventures to the zoo or maybe a father-daughter outing to the climbing gym. It’s fun talking with Greg because there is more than meets the eye: He always seems to have an interest or story you wouldn’t expect.  To say the least, he’s a great addition to Office Nomads.