Regina Villalobos, our genius PR goddess, got us booked on San Antonio Living this Wednesday at around 9:15 am. Watch for Todd talking the Pink Slip Mixer Talk and walking the coworking walk.

In case you missed it we’re having our second Pink Slip Mixer here at the space on Thursday, February 4 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. It’s a networking event for mid-level and professional job seekers and recruiters and HR staffers.

Our first event was a great success with good feedback from both the candidates and the hiring type people. We’re looking forward to more of the same.

Are registered yet? Do know someone out there looking for a position? Well Register Right Now!

See ya there!

By day, a mild mannered coworking space.

By night, a groovy, hip happening place!

We wanted from the start to have events in our space. It connects us to the community, exposes people to our members and evangelizes coworking in general. We’ve been blessed with lots of great events since we opened. And we’ve made lots of new friends and new connections.

Here’s a summary of events for 2009. Keep up with our events at our Calendar page or on our Facebook Fan Page.

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Well, there really is no such thing. But there are deductible expenses related to coworking* that you should consider.

Office

It doesn’t mater if you’re a full time resident or a Daily Desk drop in, every nickel of your coworking expense is deductible. Whether you call it “Rent” or “Office Expense” it can all come off the bottom line. I’ve had a home office for many years. I was often scared to deduct the expense of it because of “audit fear.” And the record-keeping for utilities, mortgage expense, etc. were a hassle. At a coworking space all of that is moot. You deduct one expense and the rest is included. And your clients don’t have to go through the dining room to get to your office. And the dining room doesn’t also double as the “conference room.”

Auto

Unless you’re a full or part time resident at space like C4 Workspace you should be able to deduct all of your driving expense to and from. You can use the mileage method or the all expense method by keeping receipts for everything car related. You never have to worry about “parking” since the parking free at C⁴ Workspace, either in the parking lot or on the street. The bummer on the mileage expense deduction is that it will go down next year from 55 cents in 2009 to 50 cents in 2010. Seems like an incentive to take public transit or ride a bike. Which are also deductible one way or another.

Meals and Entertainment

We’re luck y at C⁴ Workspace in that we have lots of great, cheap restaurants nearby (moderate and expensive ones too) to entertain clients or to talk about collaborating on a project. You can deduct 50% of the cost of a meal. (And have you tried the sandwiches next store at The Filling Station? You’ll never have a lunch meeting anywhere ever again!)

Legal and Professional Services

Part of coworking is discovering new resources and partners. If you hire or contract with another professional you meet at C⁴ Workspace you can deduct that expense.

Insurance

Like every business we have an insurance policy to cover the space or accidents. And that’s deductible. We also encourage anyone who works in the space to have their own insurance on the equipment they bring in. This is especially true for Residents who have a full time desk. They should have something like a renter’s insurance policy for their stuff. And that’s deductible. (And, coincidentally, we have a member, Joe Solis, who is a business insurance specialist. You just never know who you’ll meet when you cowork!)

Start-Up

C⁴ Workspace is a start-up business and we had lots of expenses to get the place open. Lord knows we’ll be deducting them! But, if you’re starting a business there are certain expenses that you can deduct to get started. They may include some of your operating expenses before you open your doors. But if start up capital is tight it doesn’t matter if you can deduct it or not. Coworking is perfect for a new business that needs a very affordable professional location. You pay rent for your desk and the infrastructure like a conference room, internet, utilities, even a printer, are thrown in. And you get an opportunity to meet contacts and do some targeted marketing for cheap. Such a deal!

* This is the time of year when you can play catch up on some deductible business expenses. In fact you can deduct an expense this year for a service you use in 2010. The basic rule is that you need to spend the money or write the check in 2009. So, if you need a workspace occasionally this would be a good time to pick up a 5 Pack of Daily Desk passes ($90). If you need a workspace on a regular basis then a Coworker Desk Plan ($150/month for unlimited business hours) might the right thing. And if one of your resolutions is to get a professional presence for your business then a Resident Desk Plan ($280/month for 24/7 access) might be the right step. And if you just want to get started coworking then an annual membership at $50 (including 2 Daily Desk passes) would be just the, uh, ticket.

Nothing in this article should be considering accounting advice. In fact, even as a advice you should take it with a grain of salt. You should definitily consult with an accountant or financial adviser whenever you try to negotiate the labyrinth we know as the “U.S. Tax Code.”

An oldey but goody from the Business Pundit blog.

Coworking vs. the Coffee Shop: Who Wins? | Business Pundit

Enjoy!

In late September we put a survey out to our members to find out how they felt about the space. There were a few Yes/No answers, a multiple choice or two and a free from space. We got a great response! Out of about 50 members at the time we had 19 members completed the survey and 15 left their names. And… we offered a drawing for a 5 day pass to the people who filled it out.

Winner of our Survey Filler Outer 5 Day Pass Drawing

George Roberts from Promotivations.

(The process to select the winner went like this. We counted the number of named filler outers; a total of 15. We went to Random.org and used their random number generator to select one number within the group 1 to 15. The selection was 9, George’s number.)

Congratulations George!

Survey Synopsis

Here is the raw data from the survey.

(as of October 8, 2009)

I joined C4 Workspace during the Free membership deal before the space opened.

• About 63% of the respondents joined before we opened during the Free Membership period

Have you attended an event at the space?

• About 68% have attended some kind of event at the space

Since it opened I have worked at C4 Workspace…

• 19 people have worked 2.3 days on average since we opened on June 5.
• 5 people had never worked in the space to that date.
• 8 people had worked 5 times or more.

I haven’t worked in the space because…

For the five people who didn’t work in the space here’s their answers.

• “make a lot of sales calls all day”
• “Haven’t had the opportunity yet.”
• “Because I realized I am totally set up here at home and my business is so specialized it is hard to connect with others.”
• “I usually travel to my customers’ offices.”
• “I have a full time job.”

What’s on your mind?

This was an open ended question to get some feedback and ideas.

• Hi Todd, I’m on the sales/marketing/bizdev side.  I like going there for events and dropping in to be social.  However, my perception is that there are some problematic things for me doing my work there.  First, the noise level.  Second, everyone would be hearing my sales calls — not that I’m not proud of what I’m doing, but kind of uncomfortable.  Third, I don’t think everyone else would want to be hearing my calls all day.
• I have an opportunity to work there soon — it takes the right project for me to be able to co-work at a remote location.
• I love the concept of what you are doing. I initially joined because my husband, who is a graphic artist and also works from home, was interested in learning more about the concept. However, I think we have been busy with our lives, and during the summer with four kids still at home, it was a little harder to break away.
• I think C4 is awesome – very versatile, very “forward thinking” for San Antonio.  I expect to see great things to continue to happen here!
• I like keeping up with C4 just in case I can make it down some time.
• Love the space, the location, the area, the concept.  Recommend working on the “privacy” of the conference rooms. Thanks for bringing co-working to life in SA town!
• I love C4 and wish I got to work there more often. But now that the kids are both in school 5 days each week it’s been too easy to work from home where it’s nice and quiet and I can slum it up in my jammies. I’m sure I’ll get sick of that lifestyle soon enough and head down to C4 where I can meet others and be stimulated by their awesome ideas.
• I loved it. Wish you were closer to the Northside. It’s a great place to meet with clients.
• I love working at C4 and wish I came back more often. I do need to start putting days on my calendar because it is a lot of fun. I’d also like to attend more of the events! I travel a lot (mainly to Austin but also around the state) so it’s often hard to predict where I’m going to be.
  C4 is great!
• I love C4~
  What a great and original idea for San Antonio.  I can tell you that something I would like to see is an area where we could have maybe “cubicles” or space to bring in our own filing cabinets or printers.  Not really sure how true that is to your concept, but that is kind of what I had in mind when I signed up.    Hope this helps!
• The only thing I would comment about is the acoustics.  I believe of rugs, perhaps wall art may help.
• It’s very easy to get work done. Despite the echos, it’s easy to stay focused on work without any distractions.
• At this point I have the opportunity to raise capital (work about as much overtime as I’d like) for my ventures in development. I consider C4, Doing Media, and others partners as such and hope to bring these ventures to live in the near future.
  I am constantly talking up the Social Networking community in San Antonio and working diligently to stay connected. Thanks for the opportunity!!
• I like the networking events and opportunities to meet others.  I especially like the meeting new people as it brings a whole new dimension of social interaction to me versus when I work out of the house and have to talk to the cats and dog.
  On the down side, the echo is pretty bad.  I understand why it can’t be fixed right away but am concerned this is a big turn off for new people who are expecting a place that is quite.  I do think the music in the background helps somewhat.
• Great ambience. Wonderful location. Smart people to network with. I’m a big fan.
  I’ll continue to give my marketing ideas to Debbie. Marketing funnel: Hear about C4Workspace, Tour or attend an event, become a member, buy day pass or conf rm space, upsell to continuing
• Biggest mktg challenge: Convert from “free visitor” to paid (in any form).
  I’m still swayed by “Predictably Irrational” to think that we need to position the daily (weekly, monthly) cost against what a “regular” office costs, with all its attendant headaches and commitments. I have a commercial real estate agent we can tap for the research.
• I really appreciate the ability to connect to a place I can call home. I have found that sometimes I don’t get as much work done because it can be pretty social in the open space. I find when I really need to get a lot done I stay home so that I won’t be distracted. I have made Thursdays my coworking day and the last 6 weeks have been booked with travel and training on those days. So, I miss y’all. I appreciate the quietness of the phone room and all the efforts made to keep the noise down. The last thing is that the chemical that was put on the floor can be too much for me after a full day but I’m getting used to it. It’s getting better. I look forward to getting back down there. See y’all tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for participating and all your feedback!

The next two weeks are probably the most unusual in business. Heck, even for retailers this time of year isn’t like normal day to day operations.

C⁴ Workspace will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If you need to get away from the retail insanity on Saturday the 26th (after picking up wrapping paper on deep discount) we’ll be open from 9 am to 1 pm as usual.

Next week we’ll be open Monday the 28th through Thursday the 31st from 8:30 am to 6 pm. And since New Year’s Day is on First Friday this year we’ll have our monthly First Friday Open House from 5 pm to 8 pm.

If you don’t have to work we hope you’ll enjoy the season and spending the time with your family and friends. We will!

We dodged the blizzard conditions the folks in the northeast had for their last-shopping-weekend-before-Christmas. But, hey, we’re all busy right? So if you need something for the solo entrepreneur or digital nomad in your life here are a few ideas.

• Kensington Cable Lock; I’ve had one of these for a few years and it has given me the extra confidence to go to the bathroom at a coworking space or coffee shop without bringing my laptop along. (Eww.)
• 5 Day Daily Desk Pass: This is perfect top make a person’s New Year’s resolution come true. What better way to give someone’s business a jumpstart than by  connecting with others down at C4 Workspace. Makes a great stocking stuffer
• Noise Canceling Headphones: Who invented these? Can I send them a check? Whether you’re traveling, working at home (tunes out the kids AND the washing machine), coworking or coffee shopping these are a godsend. Go for the Bose for the Extra special person in your life or look for a nice pair of Sony’s.
• C4 Workspace Annual Membership: All year access to member rates and events at San Antonio’s first coworking space. It comes with 2 Daily Desk Passes and there’s a cool Member Card with discounts to restaurants, theatres and businesses in Southtown and beyond

‘Tis the season!

Coworking is spreading. In fact, it might be a good way to stay warm in the northern climes.

CoCo will be opening in St. Paul Minnesota sometime in January. They have a very cool, 3 story space. Check out the video.

One of the cool things about coworking spaces is the variety of people that are attracted to working with others from different backgrounds. What happens is that you get a mashup of skills, talents and services that generates new ideas and opportunities.

C⁴ Workspace is just like that. Check out our new Member Skills and Talents page. If you’re looking for someone to help out with a project you’re likely to find them there. And if you find something missing that is a skill you have to offer it might give you some food for thought (“Why don’t I join?”).

So check out the page and then come down and rub elbows with these folks. You never know what will develop.

Members: If you see an error or omission on the list let us know and we’ll update it. If you don’t see yourself listed that means we just don’t know what you do. Tell  us and we’ll add you!