First, a little update on the Starbucks wifi front, the two I go to* (on Mont-Royal and Parc/Laurier) have now completely cut off the electricity, no more long sessions there. Not on a laptop anyway.
A lot of people are having the same kinds of discussions, this time Jackson West on Om Malik’s blog, lists a bunch of good places to work from in SF but also links to a couple of interesting places having to do with freelance/startup bedouin space. In particular:
Niall Kennedy brainstormed on the idea and has a few good items in his list.
Historical coffeehouses contained small libraries, bulletin boards, and self-publishing. We now use the Internet, blogs, and cell phones to remain connected to the ideas and happenings in the world. We also have a need for startup business services to create new and revolutionary ideas. Below is my short list of ideas on an ideal sppace of work and collaboration.
Here a coffee shop owner lays out his place’s situation and starts considering some ideas, asking for some more input.
Since the last thing we want to do at CTTP is restrict who can and cannot come to our shop on the basis of income, we are determined not to introduce a mandatory minimum. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t expect our better-off customers to contribute their fair share of our revenues. For now, we are working off the honor system, trusting our patrons to do the right thing.
Good stuff. It’s not necessarily what they are talking about but to me that flows right into the co-rented/club ideas that have been floating around. I’m still throwing numbers around in my head, trying to “crack” the problem, find a way to make a place work. No luck so far, the biggest issue being the combination of opening hours and keys. To get services and pricing to a level people would like (lets say 40$ to 75$/month), there needs to be “too many” involved, can’t give access to that many people (15 to 30 to 50, depending on formats) and if you thrown employees in the mix to keep the place open, it messes up all pricing. Thinking, thinking.
*Went to, haven’t gone to either since they’ve cut the juice.
[Later] Already an example of one that didn’t work. Gate 3 closes it’s doors.