Exciting times here at Office Nomads!  After two years of being open (hooray!), Jacob and I are excited to announce that we have two kickin’ new employees at the office: Eric Von Blon, master of operations, and Alexandra Kruse, community cultivator extraordinaire.

Eric has been at Office Nomads since Day 1.  There are about a million stories we could tell about Eric’s time here, but perhaps the most poignant was the day he lost his job.  At about 4:45 on a Friday at the end of a month, he got the dreaded phone call.  His full-time telecommuting job that enabled him to work at Office Nomads was no longer.  No two week notice, no exit plan, just no more job.  Eric looked up from his desk and shared the news with the other Nomads.  Their response?  Drop their work, head out the door with Eric and get some much-needed beers.  Since then, the community has pitched in and provided Eric with enough part-time work to keep him at the office.  This is the power of community.  Eric has now happily stepped up to be the Office Manager at ON, with responsibilities including opening the space, keeping us stocked on supplies, updating member info, and helping us out with critical infrastructure issues.  Not only is Eric reliable, creative, and energetic as a worker, he’s a boatload of fun to be around, which makes him a great fit for the space. WIN!

Alexandra has been a longtime friend of Office Nomads, coming to many open houses and other events in the space.  Alexandra is a community-builder.  She can’t help it.  In her past work, she strengthened key programs at high schools, tutored math, and hosted after-school events to encourage student and parent engagement.  Alexandra took on the challenge of becoming Office Nomads’ first-ever Community Cultivator, with her job’s goal being making member life here at the office even better.  She makes it a point to get to know each member so she can carve out specific events that speak straight to members, or even just foster helpful conversations between members who may not have known one another.  It’s a unique job description, and Alexandra takes to it like a fish to water.  Within her first month here at the office, she’d already worked on building a member wall, hosted a new member lunch, and planned out a fall family night for our members with little-’uns. When she’s not hard at work on member life here at ON, she’s usually found geeking around with her many bikes, telling jokes, and babysitting for some very lucky Seattle families.  Oh, and going to school in preparation to fulfill her career dreams of being a math teacher.  Phew!  We are incredibly lucky to have her on board. DOUBLE WIN!

Jacob and I consider this a huge step in Office Nomads’ growth.  We want to ensure that this space is set up to run smoothly for years and years to come. By hiring on new additions to our team, we have been forced to start actually writing things down like procedures and ideas that have been bouncing around in our heads for the first two years.  So the value is twofold: we have an incredible team to help us make Office Nomads an even better coworking space, AND we are able to grow our business to the next level by mapping out key parts of the space that haven’t been captured before.

Eric and Alexandra, we are incredibly humbled and appreciative of your time and efforts here at the office.  You guys are rockstars!

Paul Pham

Website: http://pulse-programmer.org/

Member Since: June 2009

Type of Member: Resident

Paul Pham is an inventor.  How cool is that?  He might just say that he is an electronics designer but then he will explain his job and it’s clear that he is an inventor, like we all dreamed we wanted to be at some point.  Paul designs electronics for scientific instrumentation, like physics experimentation.  This is something that grew out of his graduate school work and has taken off to be his full-time job.  At his desk in the Green Room here at Office Nomads he adjusts his designs per requests of clients from as far off as Germany.

Paul is a huge fan of shared spaces like Office Nomads.  He had been working in his apartment and in coffee shops but he found that isolating and discouraging.  Now he has his hand in two shared spaces, here at Office Nomads and at a workshop space in SoDo.  In the workshop is where he solders together his pulse programmers.  We get him most of the time, luckily, when he has put down the soldering gun and is tapping at his keyboard. “I left Amazon to work here full time.  It has helped me focus on this project, which I’ve been working on for a while.  I thought I should get serious about it and now it can be my main focus and this space lets me concentrate on it.”

Paul is a constant and positive presence in the space.  Whenever there’s a Brown Bag Lunch or any events with the Nomads gathering, he is sure to be found.  He wows us with his brightly colored hair and willingness to help out.  If he’s not at his desk, he can be found mingling around.  “I enjoy going around and seeing what other people are working on.  We’ll have game nights sometimes.  Last week three of us went out and saw a movie during the day.  If you can’t watch a movie in the middle of the day, why be your own boss?”  Excellent question.

Nancy Ward

Website: http://www.worldjusticeproject.org

Member Since: June 2009

Type of Member: Basic

Nancy says she’s not a superhero, but listening to the mission of her work one might be able to argue that she just about is.  No, she doesn’t put on tights and fight crime or run into burning buildings to save people. Instead her subtle hero work involves getting people from 90 different countries together who work every day to strengthen the rule of law. These are people who work “to make societies safe, lift people from poverty and build economic prosperity, reduce corruption, improve public health and enhance education”.  Any person who makes that collaboration possible is a hero.

Nancy is the Event Manager for the World Justice Forum, which is part of the World Justice Project.  The forum will be in Vienna this November and Nancy is behind inviting all the participants, agenda development, logistical arrangements, and program materials.   At the World Justice Forum the participants will work to create new projects to strengthen the rule of law globally.  Nancy is “facilitating their ability to impact change.”

“[The World Justice Forum] is like Office Nomads.  ON creates a space for people to come in and do their best work.  It creates a community that can learn from each other and encourage each other.  I see ON as a community like I see the World Justice Project as a community.  They are getting people from different backgrounds and fields together to effect change.”

Nancy signed up as a Basic member in June 2009 and we saw her once a week but she has become a more frequent presence as the World Justice Forum nears. “As an event planner, I ramp up to an intensity as I near my event date,” she says. “Having an office as flexible as my schedule is helpful.  It doesn’t make sense for me to have a permanent office because I don’t know how my contracts will go.  This works with my contracts.”

When asked why she loves Office Nomads, she has much to say.  “It’s near Molly Moon’s.  It’s easy to get here by bike or bus. I love that they play KEXP all day.  I love the music.  I also like the tea varieties.” Oh, and she finds it to be a great place to get work done, too.

Suzi Tucker

Website: http://biznik.com/members/suzi-tucker

Member Since: July 2008

Type of Member: Resident

Suzi started coming to Office Nomads after three months of trying the ‘home office’ thing in her one bedroom condo.  She would try and work from her living room then go to Victrola (local coffee shop) then home then to Remedy Teas (local tea shop).  Each place could only keep her focused for two hours before she needed something different.  She found Office Nomads and, with it, a place to hold onto her sanity.  “I came here one day over a year ago and never left.  That day when I left Office Nomads I walked by Victrola and knew I was done with that” (for work, I’m betting she’ll still head there for the delicious coffee).

At Office Nomads Suzi has been able to stay focused on her work and complete major projects. She is an independent contractor working for a client that is a multinational, multi-institutional research organization creating an online interactive learning experience. “I bring to bear my unique combination of experiences in education, the physical sciences, and design to create engaging experiences that educate and inspire visitors. I handle concept, development, and design for both physical and online exhibits.”   Her work has led her to learn more about such topics as Alzheimer’s, global warming, neurology and more while creating educational exhibits.   Check out her latest project at http://www.emergentuniverse.org when it goes live on October 1st.

Closing her apartment door behind her in the morning and coming to work at Office Nomads has helped Suzi feel like a real person.   “My job didn’t feel real when I wasn’t leaving my house to work…Now I can set these very clean boundaries for my work.  When I’m here I work.  When I’m home, I don’t. “

Suzi is a great, positive individual in the Office Nomads space.  She loves coming to many of the evening events.  These events prove to be great opportunities to connect with the other folks working around her.

“I rave about this place all the time.  Office Nomads is $475 a month.  Therapy is so much more expensive.  This is the better deal.”

Look for Suzi at Office Nomads Turns Two and chat her up about her awesome experience here at Office Nomads.

Office Nomads is incredibly proud to be part of a wonderful piece on coworking in October’s Entrepreneur Magazine!  Along with coworking representatives from The Hive (Denver), New Work City (New York City), and Cubes and Crayons (San Francisco area), Office Nomads was highlighted as part of a rising trend of innovative, collaborative workspaces.  Here’s a snippit:

The appeal of co-working seems clear: It provides people like Brunelle a professional and social package that most alternatives can’t match. For starters, there’s the real-live-human camaraderie you can’t get from Facebook or text messaging, as well as the potential for networking and uncovering new business opportunities. A co-working office can also offer a sounding board for ideas in an informal setting. And it relieves, for the most part, the energy-sapping world of office politics–not to mention blood-draining commutes.

Pretty awesome!  And yes, they’re talking about Resident member David Brunelle, also in the photo above.  Definitely take a look if you get a chance, and be sure to pick up a copy of Entrepreneur Magazine when you get a chance – this month is ch0ck-full of great articles.

…and you’re invited!

It’s officially time to celebrate Office Nomads turning two! That’s right, we’ll be crossing into our third year coworking in Seattle, and want to throw a party to celebrate.  Here are the important details:

Office Nomads Turns TWO!
Thursday, October 8
6-10pm
@OfficeNomads – 1617 Boylston Ave., Second Floor

As usual, there will be drinks, food, and great people.  We’ll also be featuring new art from Kuros Zahedi, who’s beautiful piece “Garden of Hope” has been living in our main conference room for almost a year now.  More of his art will be out and about throughout the space, and it is not to be missed!  This date syncs up with the Blitz! Capitol Hill Art Walk – so if you’re planning on attending the art walk, make Office Nomads a stop for sure!

Come on by, meet the awesome members of Office Nomads, and raise a glass with us as we celebrate our first two years.

Want to RSVP to let us know you’re coming?  Here are some of the spots you can find the event online (because everyone has their favorite…):

Facebook
Twitvite
Upcoming

We can’t wait to see you!

As a quick follow-up to our recent post, we had a great time at Lunch 2.0 today!  Here are some photos to prove all the fun….

Thanks to everyone who attended, the great panelists, and for the support of the sponsors (Thank you in particfular to Redapt.com for supporting the purchase of the lunch!).  We had a great time and loved bringing this group’s vibe into the office!

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. Blogs. I know there’s a ton more social networking platforms and apps out there, so what am I forgetting? Oh yeah: Yelp. Discussion Boards. Flickr. YouTube. Viddler. Does that cover it? Nope, because I forgot the biggest, baddest, oldest, most important social network of them all: Word of Mouth.

It’s amazing isn’t it? Most of us who live and work online think and talk about and interact with social networking platforms all day, every day thinking all the time that the world of social networking is some new phenomenon that we need to learn how to manage. But humanity has been networking since we’ve had language and Ugg told Grog about that new warm and bright thing in the back of the cave.

A good friend of Office Nomads, Jeremiah Andrick, who happens to be a social media guru brought all of this to our attention yesterday with a post that says simply:
“We forgot about word of mouth.”

Often when I hear people talk about the how “Twitter is changing everything” I laugh because while I get that twitter and other social platforms are changing our ability to stay in touch, these tools are just enabling us to have conversations that we might have had by other mediums. Real change occurs not by a medium, but by people how people use it.

Take some time to read it. Jeremiah’s idea is pretty brilliant in it’s simplicity, and it’s definitely a D’Oh! moment because it reminds all of us who are in customer service (and which of us running our own business isn’t?) that every interaction is a social interaction, replete with all the opportunities and risks inherent in every social media platform there is.

As a quick reminder, tonight is the Office Nomads Spring Open House and it’s gonna be a good one. Those of us in the space regularly have been loving Andrea Huysing’s photos that are on display. We’re also all excited to show off the brand new library conference room.

We’re cohosting tonight with BALLE Seattle, an excellent local business support organization, so in addition to the usual gathering of good people to celebrate new art and enjoy some yummy snacks and beer, there will be some lightly facilitated talks about local business issues for those that want to take part.

So come on by and say hi, check out the new art and find out a bit more about Office Nomads.

WHEN: 6:30 – 9pm (lightly programmed portion of the event to begin at 7pm)
WHERE: Office Nomads – 1617 Boylston Ave, Second Floor
WHY: Our spring open house & BALLE Seattle networking event!
FOOD/DRINK: Provided. Please don’t forget to bring your own cup!

Andrea Huysing's "xxx Rootbeer." Happily, I get to look at it all day long at Office Nomads right now.

Spring is in the air and it’s time for another open house at Office Nomads!

WHEN: Monday, April 27th, 6:30 – 9pm (lightly programmed portion of the event to begin at 7pm)
WHERE: Office Nomads – 1617 Boylston Ave, Second Floor
WHY: Our spring open house & BALLE Seattle networking event!
FOOD/DRINK: Provided.  Please don’t forget to bring your own cup!

There’s a ton of great stuff going on at the Spring Office Nomads Open House, we hardly know where to begin:

• We have room for new members and want people who have been curious about ON to see the changes in our space, including the new library! Since our Pink Slip Special is still going on, now’s a great time to check us out.
• It’s time for new art from photographer Andrea Huysing, who says she’s “been capturing shapes, pieces & parts and color for as long as I can remember” in “photography [that] is not specifically complex,” but she hopes, “create curiosity and emotion.”
• We’re co-hosting with BALLE Seattle, a networking group that aims to connect, educate and promote King County businesses supporting local living economies. They’re adding a new spice to our regular Open House format: the opportunity to take part in a few short breakout discussions about building the local economy from a business and consumer perspective. BALLE Seattle + Office Nomads =

For more detailed information, read on, or just come by on Monday, April 27th from 6:30 – 9 and remember to bring your own glass for beverages!

BALLE Seattle + ON =
We are incredibly excited to co-host this open house with BALLE Seattle, who is teaming up with us to run their quarterly networking event.  Never heard of BALLE Seattle?  Well, it’s about time you did – these guys are awesome.  BALLE Seattle is the local Seattle chapter of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.  BALLE Seattle’s mission is to connect, educate and promote King County businesses supporting local living economies.  Pretty great, right?  They achieve their mission by hosting educational events, connecting local businesses to support one another, and promoting local businesses through their network.  They are an incredible partner of ours, and will create an incredibly dynamic addition to our classic open house model.

Along with plenty of networking, there will be a chance to delve into the challenges of building the local economy from both the business and consumer perspectives during short breakout discussions.  These are a new addition to our open house model, and should provide for some great, relevant conversations to independent business folk in the neighborhood. These conversations are meant to be casual, and are a great time to connect with others on the topics that impact you the most.

Spring featured artist: Andrea Huysing
We are excited to open our doors to show off the space and the new artwork by Andrea Huysing! A little bit about Andrea:

I’ve been capturing shapes, pieces & parts and color for as long as I can remember.  My friends and family know me as the shutterbug, always with camera in hand, finding beauty in the simplest things.  I find so much happiness in charming and bold moments of everyday life.

My photography is not specifically complex, however if it can create curiosity and emotion, I have succeeded in relating to each person.

I hope you find even one photo that seizes your attention, creating feeling and thought that you enjoy experiencing, sharing and revisiting.

To view the rest of my work, please visit http://www.andreadesigns.com.

Support ON!
Please come and join us, and bring a friend or two!  We have room for more members at the office and are excited to have interesting, fun indie workers join the office community.

Additionally, we are still running our Pink Slip Special for anyone who has recently been laid off.  So if you’ve just gotten your pink slip handed to you, come on over to the office for a free month of coworking with us!  We like to think of it as our own little economic stimulus package.

Hope to see you on Monday the 27th!