At our last Open Coffee Sligo meeting in December – discussion turned to office space and how people do a “nine to five”.
We talked about the advantages of home office space and shared office space – and the options that are out there for people in the Sligo area.
It seems to be that a shared office space – that supplements a home office and provides opportunity to chat and interact with like minded creatives on a day to day basis – might be something that would be of interest to a lot of people in the area.
Some of the examples mentioned of similiar spaces included FumballyExchnage.com and AmWorks (both in Dublin - Irish Times article article on Fumbally )
We are aware of effort by a group of artists to use the Old Mill on Union Street – while there was some interest, it wasn’t followed through in the end.
So what would you look for in such a shared space if it existed (or if there was enough interest) in Sligo?
- dedicated/shared workspace (desk area)
- high speed broadband
- access to meeting room
- presentation/brainstorming media – projector, flipchart, whiteboard
- PO Box
- access 24/7
- foosball
What do we mean by creatives? Not being smart here – this is really anybody who needs office space to run their business. In other shared spaces, typically the types of businesses include
- Web and software people included programmers and designers
- artists, photographers, film makers, media
- people working in finance/architecture/legal profession
So don’t crack me down on this post guys – it’s just a quick note to gain an understanding of who out there might be interested. We have no idea of suitable locations, costs, legal issues with leases, etc – at this point.
If we had a group of say 15 people – then this would give the wherewithall to actually do some research and keep interested parties in the loop.
If you are interested in this – chances are we can be able to discuss it at the next Open Coffee Sligo meetup next thursday – 3rd February @11am in the Clarion Hotel Sligo. You can also drop me an email kevin [at] electricmill.com or drop a comment on this blog post.
Shared office spaces in Sligo would be a very welcome addition. In our industries, as much overlap as there is, between the arts, design, web dev, finance and legal, it makes perfect sense. I hope to make the Feb. Meeting to discuss this again. Is it at the same location as December’s meet?
HI I started this discussion on Linked in in November 2009 with a view to creating the Hub in Sligo I ve attached the question below. I also advertised it locally and the response was poor and no subsequent uptake .It was difficult to see how it would work financially and people were not prepared to pay the type of money required to manage a good facility. Some “anchor ” clients from major institutions would need to provide the core funding of same
Best of luck
Susan
Would a Hotdesking facility or co-working shared office be of interest to you ?
I am considering opening a Hotdesking or Working Hub in Sligo town ie somewhere you could rent a desk on a monthly basis with full services supplied.If you currently work from home and would like to have a town “Office or presence ” perhaps this is the way forward for your business without all the costs and overheads entailed. The space includes kitchen facilities and shared meeting rooms located in the heart of the Business Centre of Sligo City.
Location specific: Ireland
private question | posted November 9, 2009 in Starting Up, Mentoring
We are going to revisit to possibility of introducing Executive hotel in the region, which includes high speed Internet (not broadband), shared suites, drop boxes, remote management, short stay business accommodation, executive chaperonage, concierge and conference rooms facilities. Its long over due in the area.
However, renting and buying space in Sligo is not comparable to other competing cities. Again, if the number of interested parties were sufficient to start then its would benefit new entrants to the area. The Executive hotel option would well with existing business centres in the region, providing two services.
Teleworking is an has been around a long time, however, there are many obstacles, socially and commercially, that can be overcome by collaborating with a small business community.
One solution regarding to online social networking, would the Piazza Business, not too far from Open coffee idea. But its not for business networking, but rather for business freedom in building social bonds between similar minded people within a business community.
Sligo does not have a Piazza Business yet, but we are working on one.
Great to see Sligo folks thinking along the coworking / hotdesking lines. When I was writing for Coworking.ie a few years ago I was confident that we were going to see a plethora of hotdesking facilities popping up all over the country but of course it’s taking a lot longer than I’d hoped.
However I do see a strong momentum in that direction now. We’ve been experimenting with a number of different formats down here in Limerick, first trying ‘Jelly’ events last year and now at advanced stages in setting up a ‘hackerspace’ ala 091labs.com in Galway. In fact I read only yesterday that 091labs.com is now running a coworking day every Monday from 11am onwards.
So it seems that these hackerspaces are going to emerge as casual coworking spaces (as much for hobbyists as professionals) and perhaps that’s a model Sligo could look into? I know that Heather James was hoping to visit us here in Limerick so perhaps she’s interested in the hackerspace model herself?
By the way, please don’t be put-off by the term ‘hackerspace’ – we don’t break into computers
@Nathan – yes, meeting is in the Clarion hotel
@Susan – agree with all that you’ve said – the proof of the pudding is getting people over the finishing line – but the model has been proved in other locations around the country; would be useful to find out more about what you were offering regarding location?
Hey @James – If the profile of the person who might be interested in this is a primarily a home office worker wanting some facetime with others – I think the hackerspace concept fits well. Discussing this on the phone with a co-conspirator a few weeks back – the concept that came to both of us was more like a meeting club – albeit with availability during standard hours. Might chat to you before thursday to discuss?
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