columbus – Cincinnati Coworks – A Coworking Community & Shared Office Space

Quirky Qwirk &, Uh, Sandy Sandbox

gerard — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:15:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago Bill and I ventured north to Columbus, OH to gain some coworking knowledge from those who have gone before; namely, Qwirk Columbus and Sandbox Columbus. As said in an earlier post, there was no shortage of possible spaces to choose from. The primary limitation was time. As it was, we picked the ones were looked to be most closely aligned with our own goals.

We found Qwirk on the second floor of a little brick building in German Village. Neal greeted us upon our arrival in the morning. Turns out the space was formerly a real estate office, so as luck would have it a suite full of private office rooms were already built out when Qwirk moved in. After a little tour, we sat down in the conference room and Neal answered all our questions about his experience. Thanks, Neal, you were exponentially helpful.

Photo from RubyNuby/Flickr

After a lunch break, we followed the GPS to Sandbox Columbus, just off the main drag in Short North in a little alleyway. David gave us a quick tour. The main space was painted entirely white. A half-dozen large islands of desks filled the area, except for one corner containing some black leather sofa furniture. A modern conference area, drop-in area, full kitchen, and eating area rounded out the space. I could not forget to mention of course the namesake sandbox at Sandbox Columbus, complete with beach ball, pail, and shovel. After the tour, David took us on a walk up the block, and we chatted about coworking.

Thank you, Qwirk and Sandbox. We hope to find at least some of the success that you’ve already achieved. And if you find yourself in Cincinnati in need of a desk for a day, you know where to call.

Why Cincinnati Coworks?

gerard — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:05:00 +0000

I’m often asked about coworking. I give the “get out of the house” explanation. I give the community story. But if pressed, I give the Cincinnati answer.

The Cincinnati answer begins in Columbus. I am on some random Columbus mailing lists, and I one day I realized that Columbus has a lot going on. If someone asked me if Columbus is more innovative than Cincinnati, I am tempted to say yes. Why does Columbus have a GiveCamp and Cincinnati doesn’t? PodCamp? Wordcamp? Freegeek? Tech swaps? A bootcamp program for startups? Inexpensive community classes? And yes, coworking.

I know of no less than four coworking spaces, apparently thriving, in Columbus. It’s probably more like six, if you include incubator-type spaces, with probably more in the art/hacking genre.

(Now, I am primarily talking about web, tech, and design activities. If you throw in things like gallery walks, street fairs, and festivals, I’m sure Columbus doesn’t hold a candle to Cincy. )

Why aren’t these types of things happening in Cincinnati? I used to think that Cincinnati and Columbus had the same things going on. That they were just harder to find, smaller here. Now, I’m not so sure.

But it’s getting better. I know this firsthand because lately I could attend a different startup, technology, marketing, social media, or entrepreneurial event every night of the week if I wanted to here in Cincy. In time, I think that Cincinnati can achieve the same kind of energy present in cities like Columbus, and even surpass them. Starting with things like Jelly Cincinnati, our mission at Cincinnati Coworks is to be a part of that.

Does Cincinnati have some of these things, and I’m just not aware? Let us know in the comments.