Current Findings So Far

[Jon Buford]

Talking with several people involved in both co-work spaces and
hackerspaces world wide recently at the hackerspace in Singapore, they
cautioned that you really can't do both in the same location. Not
saying that you can't have people working in a hackerspace, but the
kind of environment that you want for each is not the same. The kind
of community is not the same, and so I've been pursuing a dual
location path, with the hackerspace in proper industrial space, and
the co-work space in some more business-friendly location. Besides, I
don't think many people would appreciate having a lathe, bandsaw, or
milling machine in their office (except for me).

I've done a quick survey, to gauge interest for those so far. Pulling
out the ones that are for co-working, here is a scatter plot of the
results so far:
Co-Work Survey Results
https://spreadsheets1.google.com/oimg?key=0Ag_J9FjvAm4GdG9FQ3YydjFhTW1GMGV2NTU4Vm1GdlE&oid=2&zx=mepgacht0o2x

You can take the survey at Co-work Survey http://hkcowork.pandaform.com/pub/co-work-interest/new

Basically, everyone interested in co-work space is looking at HK
Island as a first location, with the immediate Kowloon side (TST-MK)
being second choice.

For the hackerspace, it looks like we can probably get a critical mass
of people that can keep that afloat itself, especially if we are able
to make it available for group meetups or classes which contribute
some income to the bottom line each month.

If you are interested in what the Singapore space is like, you can
check out my post Hackerspace Singapore (http://
startupshk.posterous.com/echelon-2010-wrap-up-part-3-hackerspace-and-
c) or their site http://hackerspace.sg.

Personally, I think there is a distinct need for both, and they will
both take some doing to pull together. Also, I think it would make
sense to have both be cooperative (potentially) depending on what the
goals are at the end of the day.

For the co-work space, outside of the obvious need for someplace for
people to work in a more engaging and social atmosphere, I think there
is a need for an accessible space in HK Island for groups to have
meetings at a low cost in an environment that is not just a normal
meeting room but that is also more suitable than the local coffee
houses or pubs. I'm thinking of these groups that have 10-25 people at
a meetup. Off-hand I'm part of a few different groups that fit this
description, and I'm sure there are others.

And, the last note, one recommendation that I was given is this google
group: http://groups.google.com/group/coworking as being the best
resource for info from people that have done this before.

[Jonathan Buford]

We had a meeting that was reasonably well attended, about 12 people ended up coming. After going through the results from the surveys, a plan of action was settled on. 

We've agreed that starting with a space that caters towards co-work and meetings on Hong Kong Island will be the first step. The intention is to put together a network of shared spaces that have different purposes and usage/access would be covered by a single membership. The next anticipated space would be something in a more industrial location that would be suitable for a workshop and studio space and less formal social gatherings. Other locations that will be looked at in the long run would be Fo Tan and the Cattle Depot. 

Since our goals are to create a broad network that encompasses a broad range of spaces, the hackerspace name is probably not suitable (as fun and engaging as it is) since we are trying to also include in business and there is some concern that it might create too much resistance for potential sponsors or benefactors. We are really trying to put something together that will be quite unique to HK, and so it is only right for it to have its own unique name that reflects that. 

Next steps: 

1) Start looking at properties this week in Sheung Wan. We will be looking for a total of 1000-1400 sq ft, with a target monthly cost of 15-20k, so need to find spaces that are around $15/sq ft including management fees. Ben Crox, Rod, Andrei, and myself are planning on going out and looking together, but others are welcome. 

2) Need to work on a name, I've made a survey form for submitting the potential name suggestions: http://hkcowork.pandaform.com/pub/cospace-name/new As soon as there are enough suggestions to start a poll, I'll post one for selecting the final name. 

3) We will need to look into the options for how to frame up the organization from a legal side. This will have an impact many different aspects of the organization, so some time really should be put into this to ensure that there is no big issue with the structure we go with. Anyone have suggestions on how to suss out these options, perhaps a lawyer friend?

4) Need to start writing materials to use when talking to potential sponsors that helps to summarize both what we are trying to do and what we need out of a sponsor.

Volunteers to run with any and all of these items are always welcome. 

Jon

[Ben Lau]

For the name , I have a suggestion - E-fever space / workshop / lab / ....

The homonyms word of E-fever in Cantonese can be "意非凡" (Excellent idea).

There have a story behind the name. When I was a high school student,
I tried to gather a group of hobbyist for various creation project
(Robotic , or any software). They have programmer and electronic
hobbyist. And then we started to think about a name of our team.
Finally, we choose e-fever.org as our domain name. However, the
project was dead , everybody is busy with their University life
(dating ... ). The only service under the name E-fever is a BBS site ,
but is not running any more.

We have two domains under this project , the first is e-fever.org (now
owned by my friend) and e-fever.net (owned by me). E-fever.org only
have a mail service running, and nothing is running under e-fever.net
. I just keep this domain for future use, but I don't see I can do
anything on it anymore. So if you like the domain , I can transfer the
ownership to Hackerspace / Cowork for free.

> 3) We will need to look into the options for how to frame up the
> organization from a legal side. This will have an impact many different
> aspects of the organization, so some time really should be put into this to
> ensure that there is no big issue with the structure we go with. Anyone have
> suggestions on how to suss out these options, perhaps a lawyer friend?
> 4) Need to start writing materials to use when talking to potential sponsors
> that helps to summarize both what we are trying to do and what we need out
> of a sponsor.
> Volunteers to run with any and all of these items are always welcome.
> Jon
>

> --
> Post: hkco...@googlegroups.com
> Unsubscribe: hkcowork+u...@googlegroups.com
> Visit: http://groups.google.com/group/hkcowork?hl=en
>

[李學斌]

Chinese version

有關共同工作空間 / 駭客空間的最新進展

( 此文大意譯自 Jon Buford 的報告 )

就創立共同工作空間 / 駭客空間事宜，我們於周四 (6月17日) 召開討論會，計有12人出席，反應不錯。期間 Jon 報告網上意向調查的初步結
果和分析，隨而議定行動計劃。

我們同意，第一步要做的，是於港島設立一個可供共同工作、會議的場所。長遠而言，我們將要建立一個分享空間的網絡，包攬不同用途的場所，納入同一個會員
制中循規使用。下一個建置點，傾向從工業區找空間設立工坊，以便從事設計、手作和作較輕便的聚會。另外，我們也可以考慮於火炭、牛棚藝術村設點。

既然我們的目標是要建立多元化的活動空間網絡，駭客空間未必適合用作統稱，不然商業活動部份會顯得格格不入，而找贊助商和其他支持者時，亦會遇到無必要
的阻力。我們真的希望做出一點香港特質，是故必須找個匹配的名義，才能反映出來。

接著來要做的事：

1) 此周要於上環找可供租用的地方。目標是一千至千四方呎，月租萬五至二萬，亦即呎租 15 元，包管理費等。 BenCrox, Rod,
Andrei, Jon 正計劃行程，歡迎各位加入。

2) 以後怎樣統稱，或組織叫甚麼名，要大家集思廣益！請於下表填報建議：
http://hkcowork.pandaform.com/pub/cospace-name/new
當有足夠多的提案後，將轉進投票階段，屆時另文通告。

3) 我們要為組織章程立個框架。此將帶來相當多影響，亦終不能免，應好好籌劃以便持續運作。希各位提案，或許找個律師朋友代辦？

4) 要寫點東西，以便找贊助時簡明交待計劃，有甚麼可以接受贊助，用了人家的錢也可做到怎的事業。

以上東西皆需要人落手落腳做，歡迎志工加入。

[Bill Liang]

Just a suggestion that if we are to get a domain name for the
coworking site we may want to get a .co "dot see oh" rather than a
.com.hk or .hk at

http://opportunity.co/

[Jonathan Buford]

Since those will not be available until late July, so we will probably be up and running on a domain at that point, but something to keep in mind.