By Jessica Edwards:
Oh, the disgruntled coffee shop loiterer. You can usually spot them by the fortress of books, papers and laptop defending their table. You know, the ones who have been buying pastries and coffee all day to pay their way to a Wi-Fi connection. Occasionally, they will look up to give an irritated glance at those whose chatter is above the ‘inside voice’ decibel. This causes an awkward exchange between loiterers and non-loiterers…they forget it isn’t their personal study, while you feel that sitting anywhere near them is intruding on their concentration. But, where else can they find a home away from home (office) to get some real work done, and not feel so isolated?
CoworkBuffalo seems to be filling that void. Up and running since May 2012, this space provides an abundance of outlets, high-speed Internet, and unlimited access to fancy “Joe Bean” coffee. There are many options for membership, but the “flat rate” for a day is $10.00.
Buffalo may be far from Silicon Valley, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a small tech community here. Mainly through word of mouth and Craigslist postings, various computer savvy meetup groups regularly use Cowork to work, and hold events. Having a place for local tech gurus and other professionals to meet is essential. Working from home, or a coffee shop for that matter, doesn’t allow the chance to be in a relaxed-yet-productive environment where there is opportunity to network.
Privately funded; the partners are Brian Fending, Dan Magnuszewski, Nick Quaranto, and Kevin Purdy. All of them are working on individual projects, but understand the benefits of being in a collaborative community space. Dan describes the local .com culture as “active and supportive,” adding that it would be “impossible to hire” if there wasn’t such a setting.
This Friday, CoworkBuffalo will be having an open house for tours and free trials. Located at 225 Delaware Avenue, Suite 10, (just above Spot coffee). Open Monday through Friday, from 10:00am to 6:00pm.
225 Delaware Ave, Suite 10,
Buffalo, NY.
(716) 939-1591