It’s getting a little exciting here – my partner Matt and I sent out our first newsletter to all those who have signed up for Coworking Abbotsford so far.
I thought I’d include it here … but first, a very cool video on coworking, and coworkers:
And here’s the text of the newsletter:
Hola!
You’ve already received a welcome email from Matt Farley after signing up on the Coworking Abbotsford site. This is the first newsletter from John & Matt, the guys behind Coworking Abbotsford.
Thanks for signing up … the community is starting to take shape!
In this premiere issue:
1. Status
2. Timetable
3. Possible location
4. Spread the word!
5. Feedback & input><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
1. Status
Coworking Abbotsford is still very much in the startup phase. We just launched our landing page, http://coworkingabbotsford.com/, a couple of weeks ago.BUT … we’re super-pleased with the response so far. Some highlights:
- 12-15 people interested in coworking have signed up so far
- a city planner for the city of Abbotsford found out what we’re doing and is really supportive (!!!)
- lots of positive interest: many tweets, retweets, and encouraging notes
- Matt and I were able to attend a coworking how-to session in Vancouver and learn lots
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
2. Timetable
If things proceed at the current pace, we may be able to get started as soon as 2 months from today.As you know, being interested in coworking, the community comes first. Having 15-20 really solidly committed people will give us the critical mass to ensure we can:
- support the space
- have a sense of community in our space
- provide the kind of networking and support that coworking is famous for
If signups proceed as they have (perhaps a big if, perhaps a small one … we don’t know), we’ll have the critical mass very soon. And we think we have at least one potential space so far …
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
3. Possible location
We toured a space on Monday that looks very, very nice. It’s in old downtown Abbotsford, so there’s lots of transit, places to pop out for lunch, or walks to stretch your legs during a coffee break.It has some dedicated office space for those who want it, some room for dedicated desks, and lots of floating space for people who just want to pull up a chair to a table, belly up to a laptop bar, or flop down on the sofa.
Plus, it has a fully outfitted kitchen, a pretty serviceable boardroom, and safe storage space for bikes, documents, stuff, you name it.
Finally (and importantly) it’s looking pretty affordable 🙂
More details and photos are here:
http://sparkplug9.com/could-this-be-our-new-coworking-space-in-abbotsford/><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
4. Spread the word
As we said above, the really critical thing about coworking is the community. Without people, we’re just all working on our own again. With people, we’re learning, talking, growing, enjoying (and earning more … more on this later).If you can help us, please do! There’s lots of ways:
- tweeting the landing page out to your followers (or just retweet this)
- sharing it on Facebook
- writing a post about it on your blog
- or, easier yet, letting either Matt or I do a guest post on your blog
- or just old-fashionably emailing any contacts or friends or colleagues or family you think might be interested 🙂
You can also just forward this newsletter to anyone you wish.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
5. Feedback & input
Last but proverbially not least … feedback from you is critically important. If you know something we should, please share! If we’re missing something you know is important, let us know. We’re growing together, and we’re very open to input, suggestions, ideas, insults, threats and you name it 🙂. . .
. . .Thanks!
Matt & John