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Today we talked about the City's plan to cover 30 % of the city with tree canopies. From restoration we got to homelessness and it's many reasons. We talked about services and this brought us to a economy session on the development of the Middle Class versus the 1 %, cultural differences in the working class globally, the lottery of gaping successfully from one class to the other, a linear tax system with services for the low income group, health care generally and the struggle to advocate as someone who is overwhelmed with the complexity of life, automation, automation tax and jobs that don't require higher education or computer skills (even a cab driver needs to be able to work with apps) and can be brought to regions with low employment options.
It's hard to make time to treat yourself well. We want to come together and block 3 hours out of our hectic lives to just focus on us.
Everyone is invited to share an activity, skill, talk, game, craft project to the group and everyone gets to pick what they want to do or if they just want to hang. The last part of our time we will reserve for some quiet activity. If you want to join us, please let us know what you want to offer to the group: For more info visit our Facebook event In the spirit of Neighbor Day, which celebrates the goodness in our communities, we are inviting neighbors, small business, and community groups to gather, have a cup of coffee, and make connections.
This is a free, drop-in event, at the West Seattle Office Junction, with a staffed activity table for kids. Refreshments provided. All are welcome. A collaboration between the West Seattle Office Junction and West Seattle Timebank, we welcome the following participants. By attending on Neighbor Day, find out how to uniquely support each community group, small business, or entrepreneur. West Seattle Office Junction West Seattle Timebank Plant for the Planet - Washington State Urban Homestead Foundation Terraganics Living Seattle Farm School West Seattle Bee Garden West Seattle Food Bank Chokurei (Frances Yang) Backyard Barter The Community General Store Spend a few minutes or the entire event getting to know us - We hope to see you there! Are you an organization, small business, or entrepreneur who would still like to participate? Just let us know - the more the merrier! The importance of a work communityWorking from home can be draining. Tasks have to be done, but the motivation is lacking and too many distractions are lurking. No one really seem to care how specific minutes are spent during a work day and productivity suffers from all these temptations. We know what we are talking about. We've been there.
By coming to the Office Junction for the last 3.5 years we changed the focus of our work life. We go to the office with the intent to get the work done in the time it will require, but not any longer. We still have to plan some extra time in for a bit of socializing, so we can share the successes with getting something done or where Eric went on his Euro trip. Or shared lunch we host every Wednesday. Sharing the space with like minded people that also need company to focus is a great benefit to a work day. But the best part we all don't have a boss around. We all can just do our work and be nice to each other without an agenda. We can't even recount all the wonderful connections that where made over the years. Friends for weekly walks, play buddies for the kids, vacation planning, free fruit for lunch from different gardens, help with excel, help with word press, help with CSS, books exchanged, meals enjoyed together, celebrations with cupcakes, pie and ice cream. But still our productivity is right where we need it. Stuff gets done. We can walk out of the door and then don't have to think about it for the rest of the day. The more the merrier!
When we started thinking about bringing Coworking to West Seattle in 2012, we did some research on our competitors. We thought about attending free days in their spaces to scout out the ins and outs, spying. Little did we know about the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance yet, that we joined shortly after we opened the doors to the Office Junction. To our surprise, no spying on competitors was necessary. We are very fortunate to have great community leader in our Coworking spaces in Seattle that took a collaborative approach to what could be a competitive environment. Coworking spaces preach the benefits of collaboration and sharing information and resources, so it makes more then sense that we, the operators, do too. The picture above is from one of the very first SCSA meetings I attended. Next to me are Susan and Jacob who founded and operate Office Nomads together, one of the most communal and awesome Coworking spaces I have ever visited, also one of the oldest in Seattle. These guys took Stefan and me under their wings from the get go and are still very supportive to us and all of the other Coworking space owners and operators that came after. We share a well of knowledge and also communicate our failures and successes, as well as our personal life stories, and many of us also became friends. Some would think 'Isn't this dangerous? They can steal your business.', but most of us know, it isn't. It's way more beneficial to all of us to be part of a support group while many of our spaces will have some of the same members over time, but we believe, our job is to guide every member to the right fit and they should make up their own mind and find which space will feel the best to them, so we don't have to compete. Every space has it's own spice, set aside a different location, style and membership. We even encourage people to tour many of our spaces with our Space Travel Program so they can find out which space feels right for them. I really love being part of this community. It's finding support to give all of our members support and knowing I can sync notes and find feedback anytime. No competition. Let's weave the magic of collaboration and join us for our weekly networking meetup!
We started this tradition in our West Seattle community in 2013 and would like to invite you to our free for all, informal meetup where you can share and talk about life in general, ideas, food, volunteer projects, business, get feedback and make new friends and business connections. Bring your lunch or a snacks if you'd like. Our meetings are consistently attended by 5 to 10 people, so we host an intentionally small, but vibrant, very communal event where everyone gets to share and get to know each other. We invite all walks of life and find it inspiring to hear different views and experiences. If you are also interested in Coworking (share an office) with us, you are invited to a free trial day. Just email us at [email protected] to arrange a date. We want everyone to participate comfortably and support each other in whatever capacity life will present itself. We are looking forward to meet you! My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Also how I feel about our meetups. Weather was really nice yesterday. It's July. Many of our members are traveling. I got ready for our weekly Networking Meetup not expecting too many participants. Days are kind of quiet in the office these days, but one by one regulars and semi-regulars showed up mixed in with someone new. We had a good group. We shared ideas about living abroad, received a little 'Private Finances 101', an expert's view about Seattle's Housing Market, coaching advice, college tours, checked in with each other's business needs, exchanged business cards and brainstormed about an upcoming bike trip. You never know what you're gonna get, but I'm always happier than I was before seeing real life collaboration and connections happen. Join us every Wednesday at noon at the Office Junction! Hello,
We are excited to start our 4th year of Coworking in West Seattle with all of you. We have a couple of upgrades planned for the interior of our space after consulting with our interior designer and art curator Krystal, and hope you'll like it. If you have suggestions, we are happy to hear them. We started painting the focus room to give it a warmer feel (feedback was it feels a bit cold). Stefan will be out of town for Spring Break and I'm doing day trips with my family, so our response time might be a bit slower as usual. Emails usually work best for all questions, concerns, billing, tours and tech support which we try to respond to within hours during our business hours Monday to Friday 9 to 5 pm. In case of emergency (locked in/out, water damage, fire), call Stefan Please mark your calendar for our next member event on Thursday, April 21st at Alki Beach. We'll try to score a fire pit for a bonfire and family members and close friends are welcome, too. For more events this months visit: http://www.wsofficejunction.com/calendar.html We added a couple new members in the last weeks. Please introduce yourself if you see someone new to you and welcome Norman, Brandon, Elaine, Rob, Phoebe, Stephanie and Krista. Please help them out, if they need anything. Did you know the Office Junction has - a small ladder (tugged away behind the fridge) - 2 fire extinguisher in the hall way - a lost & found bin (behind the blue curtain in the storage area) - a mini bar (hidden in a locker) - a small business/start up library (in the conference room cart under the TV) - a chrome cast to connect the conference room TV/monitor to your device - a new vent in the conference room - refill paper products stored behind the blue curtain - high end KI office chairs (same as Microsoft uses) with lots and lots of settings - 95 % second use furnishing (except for IKEA desks) and operates with a focus on sustainability - free beer (bottled + keg) in the fridge? Enjoy your Spring! Have you heard of the space traveler program yet? If you visit 5 different Coworking spaces that participate in the Space Alliance (http://collaborativespaces.org/) you earn a mug!
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AuthorChristine and Stefan, Co-Founder Archives
March 2017
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