1. John McKerrell
How to launch an awesome
collaborative co-working
community workshop events
hacker space

2. Community
๏ Most important thing in any collaborative
project - OSS, events, etc.

3. Community

4. Legal
๏ Speak to a friendly legal professional
๏ (Squatting is illegal and fairly easy to stop)

5. Practice

6. Practice
๏ Do as much as possible to have people
ready to pay you before you start paying
rent

7. Pa
nic
!

8. Form a Company
๏ Get someone else to do it!

9. Get a Bank Account
๏ Do it early or you can’t pay your bills (or
be paid!)

10. Find a Venue

11. What can you afford?
๏ Boring slide... but important
๏ What are you charging?
๏ Will anyone pay more than the standard
fees to get the place off the ground?
๏ Do you need seed money to bridge the
time between paying the rent and being
paid?
๏ cost * members = your budget

12. Pick a Venue
๏ Important Constraints
- Accessibility
- Opening Hours
- Reception Service
- Size
- Condition
- Light
- Rent!

13. Move in
๏ Hire a van
๏ Recruit some friends
๏ Go the gym first
๏ “Find” some furniture
๏ “Find” some more furniture (Thanks Aiden)

14. Prepare
๏ http://vimeo.com/26516764

15. Launch!
๏ Free Open Day

16. Pa
nic
!

17. Cake!
๏ Hire a van
๏ Recruit some friends
๏
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dichohecho/3793637658/

18. Market!
๏ Social Media
๏ Newspaper Coverage
๏ Tell everyone!

19. Events!
๏ BarCamp Liverpool
๏ Maker Night, Maker Days
๏ GEC2012
๏ Sewing Club
๏ GeekUp
๏ Ada Lovelace Day
๏ Lean Liverpool
๏ .....

20. Settle in
๏ It’s going to be a long ride
๏ There’ll be plenty of stressful moments
๏ You’ll need to rush to get things ready!
๏ But some things will develop slowly
๏ It’ll all be worth it in the end!