Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Now, there have been hints. And mentions. Of something more happening with XOXO, the annual—but never guaranteed to repeat—event that gathers independent artists in Portland every fall. And now, those hints have morphed into a gathering, in the new space that will house XOXO magic year round. Read More
Portland is no stranger to coworking. It’s been popular as both an office format—and an ad hoc coffeeshop format—here since the turn of the century. But we’re not the only ones who love it anymore. It seems these days every city and town has their own set of awesome coworking spaces. And with this whole Portland coworking renaissance taking place, it’s nice to see Portland startup Workfrom organizing Portland’s own arm of International Coworking Week, next week. Read More
It only makes sense. I mean, a couple of folks who rethought the whole event experience can rethink other things. Like not only how we collaborate in short formats but how we collaborate with colleagues day after day. How we extend an ethos into a culture. How we work together. And how we support one another. And that’s why I’m incredibly excited and inspired by the new XOXO collaborative workspace in Portland. Read More
Portland was pretty early on the coworking bandwagon. The lean and collegial environments—with little required in terms of financial commitment—seemed to work well with our disparate workforce and pervading startup culture. And folks flocked to them even in the doldrums of the last decade. Read More
[Editor: I received news late last week that one of Portland’s original coworking spaces, Souk, was launching a new $8/day drop-in incubator. At first blush, I didn’t really understand how it constituted an incubator. So I asked for some clarification. What I received from Alex Linsker at Souk seemed like a damn fine guest post. With permission, I’m sharing it here.]
Coworking (at least at souk Jellies and other special programs here, and at some other spaces and Jellies I’ve worked at in other cities) can work as an incubator program that’s self-led, peer-to-peer. Read More
So where are the best places in Portland Oregon to cowork with coffee wifi and cohorts? Here are ten choices for your coffee shop coworking pleasure, with a couple of bonus suggestions.
[Editor: Thanks for swinging by! Unfortunately, this post is severely out-of-date. But fear not, gentle reader. There’s a new and improved resource for coffee, wifi, and coworking here in Portland, Oregon.]
[HTML1]Admittedly, we in the Portland Web, Mobile, blogging, and startup scene are a bit of a nomadic bunch. Whether finding some place to camp out in between meetings or hunkering down to crank out code for hours on end, folks around these parts are always looking for a good spot to work—preferably with an infusion of caffeine nearby. And sometimes, it’s nice to have some peers around for bouncing ideas or simply just a little company.
So where are the best places in Portland to cowork with coffee, wifi, and cohorts? Here are ten choices for your coffee shop coworking pleasure, with a couple of bonus suggestions of up and coming spots. Read More
Aside from being the first publicly recognized Portland economic development strategy in 15 years, it’s the first time that Portland has formally recognized the open source, mobile, coworking, and startup community.
[HTML2]While the news coming out of yesterday’s Portland City Council meeting will likely be mired in heated he-said she-said debates about the fate of the 39th Avenue / Cesar Chavez hoopla, something very important happened late in the day: Portland’s City Council unanimously passed the Portland Economic Development Strategy.
Why is this so momentous? Well, aside from being the first publicly recognized economic strategy for Portland in 15 years, it’s the first time that Portland has formally recognized the open source, mobile, coworking, and startup community. And that’s a big step forward. As Eva Schweber says, we should be proud. Read More
NedSpace folks are teaming up with eROI—not only a successful Portland startup but also an Old Town landlord—to turn the former Vidoop space above Backspace into another NedSpace workspace.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of NedSpace, the coworking space on SW 3rd that’s full of some of the most business-minded tech entrepreneurs in town. I also like the fact that it’s run by a couple of already successful entrepreneurs as a way to give back to the community. And as if that’s not enough, NedSpace serves as the home of the Portland Ten, the startup bootcamp designed to whip would-be entrepreneurs into shape.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s a fan. The NedSpace concept is popular. So popular, in fact, that they’ve run out of room. Read More
Last Sunday, a group of folks representing the Portland open source, mobile, and coworking community got the chance to sit down and chat with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Among those in attendance were Rubyist and Calagator lead Audrey Eschright, CubeSpace’s David Komisky, Software Association of Oregon Interim President Scott Kveton, the Mayor’s Economic Development Policy Advisor Skip Newberry, CubeSpace’s Eva Schweber, General Counsel at Extreme Arts & Sciences J-P Voilleque, and Small Society’s Raven Zachary.
Eva has a great recap of how the meeting played out, including insight on the topics we covered from telecommuting to open source to mobile. [UPDATE] And Skip Newberry from the Mayor’s Office has posted his recap, as well. So I wanted to take a different tact. I wanted to find out how the attendees perceived the meeting and the Mayor’s willingness to engage this group in conversation.
Here’s what they had to say. Read More
It’s no secret that I started Silicon Florist to highlight some of the “under the RADAR” stories that might not garner coverage from traditional local publications.
So, when the mainstream pubs around town cover the stories I’d like to cover—and cover them before I do—it makes me ridiculously happy.
Today’s case in point: coworking spaces in Portland:
Several vintage Portland buildings have been renovated recently, blurring the line between co-working and traditional offices. Small creative entrepreneurs have office doors, but they share common areas and, sometimes, business.
Among the folks mentioned are some of our favorite coworking spaces in town.
Like who?
Well, CubeSpace, for one:
CubeSpace hosts evening events, including tech clubs and Beer & Blog gatherings. Schweber and Kominsky sometimes sweep through at 9:15 — quarter-past quitting time — and urge the crowd to move to a bar.
Souk for another:
When Julie Duryea opened Souk 2 1/2 years ago, cafes were the only choice for most freelancing Portlanders. She couldn’t find many co-working spaces beyond New York and London.
Now, her Old Town operation hosts an eclectic crowd: a footwear and apparel consultant, a strategic planner, a retail designer. Plus, Souk has company in the Portland market.
And up-and-coming Nedspace:
They recruit tenants through online networking, word of mouth and a startup event they hosted last month. Early residents are developing iPhone applications, an online rental payment service, board games, interactive music content and more. Some have started companies; others are first-timers.
If you haven’t checked out these coworking spaces, you should. Not only are they do they provide an amazing resource to our startup community, they serve as the warm little hub around which many of us gather.
And their continued willingness to support our events—often pro bono—is without a doubt a key to the burgeoning startup community with which we find ourselves enamoured.
For more, see The Oregonian article “Co-working: a room not of their own” by Laura Oppenheimer.
[HTML1]
[HTML2]
[HTML3]