Category Archives: Office Space

June Open Coffee Sligo – Collaborative Workspace Discussion

Posted on 25 May 11 by | Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce that Vincent Naughton from Sligo based Verus Precision will be  discussing the possibilities of a commercially-driven collaborative workspace for Sligo based creatives and companies.

Verus plan this as a commercial venture – and are now seeking the input and interest of all those who would like to see such a space in the town centre.

Attendees of Open Coffee Sligo will be aware of some of the efforts we have made in the past (along with the survey we put together) .

To this end – Vinnie will outline the work that Verus has completed to date including office layouts, landlord engagement, fee structures, membership options, etc – and is looking for your input and discussion to progress these plans.

If you are interested – then please come along to the next meetup of Open Coffee Sligo in the Clarion on Thursday 2nd June from 11am-12.30pm.

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Posted in Office Space

Coming up at Open Coffee Sligo over the next few months

Posted on 3 May 11 by | 1 Comment

So just to let people know that there is no ‘official’ Open Coffee Sligo happening this thursday (5th May) – but we plan to have some interesting gatherings  and discussion over the coming months.

First though – I want to mention where we are at with some of the ideas we were throwing around for a collaborative workspace in Sligo.  Back in our January meetup – we discussed what a shared work space might look like, and the type of person that might be interested. To move this forward – we compiled a survey so that we could get an understanding of what the level of interest was like.

To date – we have received 15 responses; If you have not already completed the survey but are genuinely interested in a shared workspace – you can complete it here:

http://polldaddy.com/s/480D645D2974B547

Unknown to us while doing all of this – a local Sligo based company is interested in providing a facility like the one that we had imagined. To this end – they are going to be a outline and present the workspace – along with fee structures, membership options, etc – at our next meetup.  More details on this to follow – but if you want to have input on this, the June meeting is definitely one to be at.

Moving on to some topics we covered in April’s meetup – one thing we know very well at this point is that predefined topics, with a speaker – always provide great interest to attendees. With that in mind – we brainstormed a few topics that would be of  interest to lots of people. These included individual sessions/discussions on

  • Search Engine Optimisation (surprise surprise)
  • The Sales Process
  • Creativity/Innovation for SME’s
  • Monetising Facebook (paraphrased as making best use of followers)
  • Google Ads & Analytics
  • Employment issues for SME’s taking on staff (contracts, motivation, self-directed working, etc)

We agreed that much of these topics would NOT be 101 type stuff – we have moved beyond that – but would actually provide insight and real experience from practitioners.

With that in mind – we have made some initial exploration on the possibility on getting people from Facebook/Google to an event in Sligo – but it appears travel beyond the pale is out of the question.

So while we have not scheduled any of these topics just yet – this post should provide readers with a good update on our thinking, and of the range of topics that we might cover over the upcoming months.

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Posted in networking, Office Space, sligo

Survey for Collaborative Workspace in Sligo town

Posted on 21 Feb 11 by | Leave a comment

Following on from our last meeting – we have put together a survey which will help to gauge interest and appetite for a shared workspace/collaborative space in Sligo town.

If you are interested  then please fill out our survey
http://polldaddy.com/s/480D645D2974B547

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Posted in Office Space, opencoffee, sligo

Collaborative working and office space Sligo

Posted on 27 Jan 11 by | 7 Comments

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.

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Posted in Office Space, opencoffee