Update June 2, 2008

Coworking in Salt Lake City

A few months ago I had a dream. In my dream I rode my bicycle to a small 5 story office building in my little suburb city 10 miles outside of Salt Lake. In the office there were open cubicles, general work areas, private desks and offices, meeting rooms, most of the general equipment that one would aspect to find in an professional office setting, but there were other amenities and an ambiance which gave it a relaxed feel. There were working professionals from all sorts of fields and different companies working there. Some were independent, some free lancers, some were work from home moms who just needed a place to meet with a client,  others telecommuted (like myself) but they shared the office space and even collaborated and networked together. Some were only there a couple days a week, some came and went yet a few were always there. I enjoyed the fact that I could finally walk over to another graphic designer and get some feedback (as apposed to my current office were I am the sole creative professional) and he wasn't trying to give me the line "but the boss said he wanted..." because he didn't care what my boss thought. He cared about current trends in design, CMYK and DPI.  I enjoyed socializing and finally getting some work down now that I wasn't at home with 100 distractions, pretending to be busy in the closet i called my office. It was a beautiful dream, The exchange of ideas never flowed so freely. We even had events held in our space from time to time, topics from web development to business practices to fun community things like cinema, art and outdoor adventure.

It was a grand dream.

Last Thursday three individuals who had never met before came together and gave the Salt Lake Coworking ball a push. We shared stories and visions. We generated some good ideas and made basic plans. The smallest steps, continuing to put out feelers to see who is interested in joining us, getting a poll going online and keep spreading the good word.

If you are interested in knowing more check us out on our site my coworking page where you can take our poll or leave a shout out in the wiki or leave us a comment below.

Heres to dreams!

My name is Glen Gunnell (glenerd at gmail dot com), I currently work as a Graphic Designer for an Internet company locally as well as a few freelance gigs from time to time.

More about me to come (as I am in the process of redesigning my website) but you can connect with me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/4/1b/55a

or FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=538827593

My Coworking Vision

• The Coworking Environment I envision would treat People as Assets, not the space, not the equipment but the connections of positive, creative, inspirational people who are striving to accomplish great things and improve their lives and the lives of others.
• Exchange of Ideas and Creating Value would be a central focus for members and the community. Cultivation of an atmosphere where collaborations happen spontaneously, as well as planned events that bring in outside business development opportunities, sponsors, community events, creative/finance/skill building workshops and the like.
• The space would be used by anyone from small businesses for conference meetings to executives who require a private office to independent freelancers who are ready to step up their game to network marketers to those who work from home but need a place to meet clients in a professional atmosphere.
• I envision a 2,000-3,000 square ft. space, private offices, private desks/cubes, public spaces, most of the "usuals" that coworking spaces have (copier/fax/wifi/projector/lockers/tablets and various things for rental) I would like to have a very creative space(s), inspirational, relaxed with areas for couches and waiting/reading/discussing.
• Productivity as a standard and the success of each member promoted and encouraged.

My Current Goals:

• I am highly interested in starting a coworking company.
• Probably downtown (depends on the community response).
• I am going to begin by networking both online and face to face, attending workshops and community events that sponsor or would have high attendance by freelancers,net-workers, entrepreneurs and the like.
• I am seeking a partner or two who have the entrepreneurial spirit, the desire, drive and compassion to help create this vision.
• I am going to visit as many coworking operations as i can in the next 2 months (mostly in the Bay area)
• Continue to research and develop a model that will fit the needs of the Community the best with potential for expansion to other markets such as Utah county and St.George.

connect with me or post your interest here.

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