Great timing for this article and thread. Do you see a physical space in Cabot or Montpelier? There are two other members (other than myself) thinking about a Ned space as well.

Driving out of Cabot Cathleen told me about a building that had recently sold that sounded like it could have been a perfect Ned location. Funky building...and cheap. So it goes.

I would rent a spot in Montpelier to start. That's where the young people with ideas are - at least when they gather. I'm also not in a position to be buying any buildings right now.

>>I'm also not in a position to be buying any buildings right now.<<

Heh, no I hear you...the one in Cabot was silly cheap as I recall, something like 25K. I was just blathering.

Yeah, Montpelier seems like the perfect city for something like this. Funky, beach like, casual, indie spirit...

This is what I've seen as the Ned.com online meets Ned physical space connection. Though all Ned physical spaces intersect at Ned.com of course. If the physical locations had a good blend of artists, techies, social entrepreneurs etc...it would be a great blend of mixed talents that could indeed help support one anothers efforts in very tangible and real ways.

Anway, long story short...I love the idea and would support it as much as I possibly could.

First of all, BRAVO Lars for having your finger on the pulse of a great idea, yet again! And let me know if we Hinesburgers can help in any way!

Secondly, Vermont does seem like a great location, Mark - as its rural nature could be a great testing ground for other small global locations.

However Mark, you are the first person I've EVER heard describe Montpelier as "beach-like". SOOOO obvious you were there in august, NOT February! :)

>>I've EVER heard describe Montpelier as "beach-like". SOOOO obvious you were there in august, NOT February! :)<<

Heh. Also, Oregon coastal towns are far from sunny California as well. No snow (usually), but windstorms and rain a plenty.

<quietly smiling, she visualises the future. The Ned-Melbourne office, home of Ned in the Southern hemisphere, replete with warm/hot summers and mild winters, and.............>

Snow???? I've seen pictures of it. :D

This one fresh from today, just for you Gayle...

From one of many snow princesses of the Piedmont...

Mark, nice to chat. I know I always seem to be trying to get Ned.com under my thumb (as in pin it down long enough so I can study and understand it; not squash it!) so I apologize in advance for any flogging of a dead horse I might be inclined to proceed with.

What excites me about the Hub is a simple mission: a blend of social and business meeting spot. A resource and idea rich den of young business-minded start-ups. A creative environment to feel stimulated and inspired by each time you go to your desk, even if it is in a corner or faces a wall.

It's a walk-in friendly mixed-mission space where more than one meeting can happen - accidentally or not - when you enter.

I also envision it as a community-minded space that aims to broaden awareness about the new ideas of the next generation of business owners. In our call I mentioned petakucha - this is the kind of community activity I can see a hub undertaking regularly, and it does look a bit like the ignite portland stuff.

Where I get stuck is on the retail, coffee shop and internet cafe side of things. for now, i can't see myself getting into quite such an endeavor.

Here's the proposition I'd like to pitch and pull together:

The Hub Montpelier is a place to incubate the next generation of small business ventures in Vermont that combine a passion for our state with market forces to deliver innovative products and services.

The Hub will be a place to share, refine, and launch these ventures within a relaxed physical space that is connected to a vibrant global network of innovators.

In addition to providing low-cost access to a fully-featured office environment, the Hub Montpelier will provide regular structured and unstructured learning opportunities for members and the community. These will include the latest ideas in technology, sustainability and development as well as social gatherings and arts-related events.

How does that sound?

I am hoping to connect with some folks in the governor's office and some prominent businesses to see whether they'd be interested in subsidizing the first year.

Lars - in the morning when she wakes, would you please tell Isabel that I don't care how many snow princesses there are, I think she is the shiniest, brightest and most sparkley of them all!!! (and thanks for the photo - it's gorgeous!)

>>Where I get stuck is on the retail, coffee shop and internet cafe side of things. for now, i can't see myself getting into quite such an endeavor.<<

I think Ned is much closer to The Hub than it seems. The retail isn't 1,000's or even 100's of SKU's, perhaps a few dozen from other "partners". The coffee/tea isn’t full blown "Starbucks" style, but a few selections of some of "the best" fair trade and organic (Thanksgiving, Equal Exchange, Salt Spring Island, as decided in each location), free to for members, and low cost for guests. And the internet is simply free wifi, with perhaps 4-5 guest terminals.

In any event, things will work out the way they are meant too, as they always do. Seems to be the nature of things. And like I'd mentioned, Ned could very well be interested in helping subsidize the first year, but that can still be explored, and meeting with local gov and prominent businesses is a great idea.

And more important than everything that is a great pic!

edit: clarity

I know what you mean. Here is another dilemma, and you can let me know how you'd solve it:

• What's nice about the Hub is that one can point to them as concrete examples of what one is a part of. I have asked them to share with me a sample business plan.
• Ned, by the fact that it is Mark's Martian Baby, is business plan averse. It is harder to point to something here and say, "This is where we want to go, who we are working with." I could spend time inventing that, but I'm not sure it would be valued (not as in, "hey that's cool - thanks!" but as in, "we'll stick to this as core to our success.")

Its what I love and what I hate about Ned: much of it lives in Mark's head and on the pages here. At the same time, its hard to find the unified field that constitutes its energy and momentum for sustained growth.

How far off am I on this, and is there anything that can be done to help balance my need for cranking out numbers and a plan, with Ned's loose collaboration and openness? I mean, here's another way of looking at it:

How different would Ned look if people actually relied on it for livelihood?

Okay, so the local start-up, Onion River Exchange is in. I need to find at least 5 other groups who can go in at an entry-level commitment of $300/mo. Business partnerships will be the other 1/3 and grants will subsidize the final portion of at least one year. I'll have to explore the possibilities for renting space by anything other than a month...

As I wrote over here I'm reading with super interest.

<It's what I love and what I hate about Ned> from Lars' post above is often how I feel...... to the point that it has given me cause for pause over the last little bit of time.

I actually wasn't mucking around about the Ned-Melbourne real world location. It's been in my mind since day 1 as a 2009-10 (and onwards) distinct probability. (allowing the real world home of Ned in the States to get on its feet first)

When this hub discussion got started, I could see the Melbourne thing in my mind really clearly again and with overlap bw office and hub - both physically and conceptually.

---

Located in one of the old style shop fronts in either St. Kilda or Prahran (beach or inner city respectively - both funky, leftie, creative, monied and action-oriented suburbs) that has an upstairs space as well as the downstairs, street access part. (very common in many parts of Melbourne as the building would once have housed a residence above each of the shops that is now more commonly used for other purposes.)

So - wi-fi cafe and Ned shop downstairs (walls housing peacetiles installations) and meeting spaces, offices and studio (and the like) upstairs .... but not all boxed off - more free-flowing.

The "shop" has Ned t-shirts (from Made by Survivors), Peacetiles cards/envelopes and books and any/all Ned related products along with a mini-library/resource area housing information from all of the Ned clan - including the Ned-Uganda, Ned-Thailand and, and, and initiatives (intern programs???) along with SOLID, Ray and Jackie's latest work (he just sent stuff to the southern hemisphere!!!) and any/all work that is happening and could be promoted/enhanced/linked up with others doing similar stuff down here.

And the coffee and biscuits (cookies) would so not be free!!! (between small and simple cafe, Ned t-shirts and the small percentage off the top of merchandise sold for all other initiatives, the rent would be paid for the space and all other revenue then gets directed towards real world projects and start-up grants/funding - and just creating a space for these things to hatch...... and the space needs to be paid for so that can happen)

---

So there you go. That was just the first mental picture that popped into my head.

But (and I truly loathe that word) all of that is based on assumptions I'm not sure actually exist for many of the reasons already mentioned by Lars in earlier posts.

(and I haven't even mentioned Ned-Vietnam or Cambodia and the epileptic activity such thoughts induce given the blurriness of Ned)

PS: Are we now officially referring to Mark as Martian-Boy? (or is that just me) lots of :D

For anyone else reading along with this thread, I think this post on the "other" thread offers thoughts on overlap between offices and hubs. Cool.

< edit: removed my own excess mucking around :) >

Good local feedback from a lawyer and former NPR reporter with lots of good connections to the business community:

This is a brilliant idea. SCORE [SBA program] for young people with a shot of Starbucks. It feeds into a host of important themes -- economic regeneration, retaining Vermont's youth, re-inventing our small towns. harnessing the power of the creative generation.

You need to develop a list of your natural allies -- existing groups/institutions that may or may not have money, and may welcome this as an extension of their mission. You don't want it to be a drop in center for the dispossessed (that's a different model.)

So there seems to be some good local interest in this thing. At the moment, the basic idea will be to:

Phase I

1 - Establish an accessible, fully-featured and up-beat office + meeting space for young, entrepreneurial start-ups in Vermont [Model: The Hub]

2 - Tie this space into an online platform for collaboration, networking, and social interaction [Model: Ned.com]

3 - Develop community programming that turns on interests of Hub members [Model: O'Reilly Ignite]

Phase II

4 - Grow into a resource/reading room [Model: Provisions Library]

5 - Create arts and retail opportunities [Model: hmm...]

Phase II it would be neat to see this grow into a space where retail a la ned vision can happen. Won't commit to that piece until stage 1 stuff is a solid entity. Make sense?

Mark, would you be interested in having ned.com experiment along with the hub vermont as "the space" for online interaction? the way i see it, this could mean:

• Everyone who come in is encouraged to join ned.com to get a taste of the entrepreneurial spirit online.
• The Hub Vermont uses ned.com to manage its online collaboration/networking.
• Down the line, we'd figure ways to tie the global links more directly to local activities, whether that's retail, through special events, etc.

Other ideas? I am working on getting the business plan completed this week and out to both possible tenant audiences and investors next week.

Gayle Rogers said:

And the coffee and biscuits (cookies) would so not be free!!!

Might I suggest the addition of s'mores and peanut butter to the menu? People will stick around longer.

:0

Lars Hasselblad Torres said:

Other ideas? I am working on getting the business plan completed this week and out to both possible tenant audiences and investors next week.

I realize you cannot create and environment to be all things to all people, I would suggest a goal of creating an atmosphere that would include not just young, single, childless types, but also family types. Mom's network on a daily basis and are a vast untapped resource. (Not to mention the need to cultivate second generation Ned Heads.) Boomers are another segment not to be under estimated.

This is perhaps not as specific a suggestion as you were requesting, but I offer what I have.

Dawn, thank you. That is a great suggestion. What do you think would take to successfully cultivate that atmosphere? I think the ultimate aim is to welcome anyone who is starting a small business and needs that place they can share ideas, get work done, etc. I do have a bias - based state trend data - that we need to make special efforts to support and train our youth - but i would not want this to come across as a message about who is and is not welcome.

Mark, would you be interested in having ned.com experiment along with the hub vermont as "the space" for online interaction? the way i see it, this could mean:

• Everyone who come in is encouraged to join ned.com to get a taste of the entrepreneurial spirit online.
• The Hub Vermont uses ned.com to manage its online collaboration/networking.
• Down the line, we'd figure ways to tie the global links more directly to local activities, whether that's retail, through special events, etc.

Yes, very interested and it makes total sense.

one thing that i will need is a software "back-end" through which people can book their 'hot desk' station and/or meeting space. this could be totally The Hub + Ned branded - and perhaps set an example for how other Hubs could work - through and with ned.

and would be great visibility for ned - to both users and sponsor communities.

part of my revenue model for the first year is a "one time" ask of businesses to sponsor a work station - the "zutano" desk, the "native energy" station, the "burton" desk etc. entry-level sponsorship: $1500 (basically one mac or pc station)?

>>one thing that i will need is a software "back-end" through which people can book their 'hot desk' station and/or meeting space.<<

Could this be done in a Ned workspace? If not, perhaps it is could be a new feature?

>>part of my revenue model for the first year is a "one time" ask of businesses to sponsor a work station - the "zutano" desk, the "native energy" station, the "burton" desk etc. entry-level sponsorship: $1500 (basically one mac or pc station)?<<

Love the sponsorship direction, what does the sponsor get?

Could this be done in a Ned workspace? If not, perhaps it is could be a new feature?

Not certain it could be run well as a workspace - too subject to hacking. What is required is a:

• Workstation view that clicks through to a Calendar for that station
• Calendar view with reservable blocks of time - one hour minimum.
• Public "View" mode
• Private/member "Reserve" mode
• Confirmation/Cancellation feature
• Turn reminders "On/Off"

Love the sponsorship direction, what does the sponsor get?

Sponsor gets visibility on all press releases, publicity materials, "wall of sponsors" type thing. "Lifetime" membership aka "free to reserve" privilege for use of space. What else? Better night's sleep?

This thread has really gotten me thinking: not that I have any good thoughts to report!

I think Dawn's point that moms are an untapped resource is a good one--Yes!--and I'm pleased to see Lars pick up on it and hope that generates a bit more discussion.

I live about 25 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Most of my friends are around Pittsburgh. Our house is in Beaver County in a section that abuts Allegheny County and Butler County. In the thirty years we've lived here the Butler County area close to us has exploded in the everywhere-America uncontrolled suburban sprawl. The edges of Allegheny County have also grown in a sprawling suburban direction, but with a little more control. While our area is suburban, it's got a rural character and the suburban development has been subdued. While the new development has brought in all sorts of commercial development, there's still good reasons to connect to the river towns of Beaver County.

In 1980 Allegheny County had more than 250,000 people working directly in the steel industry. By 1985 less than 5,000--Why I don't remember the Reagan years as good economic times.

It is interesting is to see some of the local efforts that are somewhat hub-like which have panned out. A good number of them were formed in the 1970's as if anticipating the depression.

A real advantage that the area has had is a very solid foundation community. The infrastructure of neighborhood groups has benefited from overlapping projects sponsored by foundations. Few of these organizations got much if any direct funding from foundations, but foundations seemed to have been astute enough to make sure there was a seat at the table for them. As a result synergies have resulted. Not too much to look at but you might look at The Sprout Fund.

I've been really fascinated by Transition Towns Totnes which I've been following through Rob Hopkins' blog Transition Culture. I've been so interested in Transition Towns in large part trying to imagine how to build resiliency in our local area. Recently I discovered a blog called One Sustainable Block chronicling an effort in Australia.

The long and short of it is that I've not really come up with an idea of what to do here. Part of my problem is the people I most want to collaborate with are spread out in the general geographic region, and I do think what I want to do needs to be very local. The point of mentioning any of this is that your effort to build a local hub is of great interest to me and to many outside your general area. And there are lot of bits of programs that have worked elsewhere which might be useful to your endeavors in Vermont.

Your willingness to put up $3600 of your own money for the first year suggests that you envision tangible value for yourself. Listing the ways that you imagine getting value from the undertaking is a good way to begin to sell the idea to others. I suspect you also have partners already in mind for the $300 a month club. Getting these partners on board seems a high priority as such a team will be quite encouraging to grant funders. It also seems that getting the major partners together will be important in figuring out how to involve the minor partners in the undertaking.

LOL Lars, forgive me, I'm utterly useless, but I wanted to chime in to say how excited I am by this idea. In that vein I'll also mention that John Robb today linked to a Business Week article on Ben Kaufman CEO of a Burlington start-up called Kluster.

Jon Udell seems a likely New England resource. Locally there's a blogger Jim Russell whose blog is called Burghdiaspora who tries to figure ways to involved the people who've left the area in the development of the Pittsburgh region. Russell and Udell share a general interest with what you're trying to do and corespond. So there's a network of people out there. The funny thing about the Internet is when you hang out at approximately the right place connections are quickly made.

John, you are ever a trove of lancet-sharp orthogonals. loved the article about ben kaufman; while i track the 'field' a bit (spaces for online decision-making) hadn't heard of that one. great to see young techpreneurs. reminded me of a colleague who started up civicevolution with a lot less cash.

which leads me to the question of how ned.com can attract some development cash to create a back-end that supports its location-based growth needs ie branded landing pages (ie thehubvermont.ned.com), ecommerce, scheduling etc...

Mark, thanks for chatting last night about the business plan. I'm glad the two-staged plan works for you, and look forward to exploring what sponsorship can look like. thank you for the offer!