 "Socialising in the workplace")
Laura Quinn, 32, an advertising and entertainment executive and founder of strategic consultancy start-up Do One Thing, often works from home. But today she is at Social, a new co-working space and restaurant in New Delhi's Hauz Khas Village. "Ours is a remote working culture, all our work is done on the cloud," she tells me, sneaking a few admiring glances at the gorgeous view of the lake outside.
Spread over two floors above Smokehouse Deli, Social is an experimental space launched by the Impresario Group first in Church Street, Bangalore, last year, and is on its way to Mumbai next. What it aims to do is to offer working professionals and freelancers, for a price, the amenities of an office with the informality of a cafe. Combining hard industrial elements with cushy sofas, long community tables, a meeting room that can be booked in advance, a large projector to which you can hook up your laptop and hold presentations, Social also has all the regular office basics like high-speed WiFi, printers, scanners, stationary, personal lockers, even a PO Box number. However, it goes one step further and comes with a well-stocked bar, leading one to wonder, exactly how much work can happen here?
Quite a lot, feels Quinn. At Rs 5,000 per month that is redeemable on food and drinks, it's a sweet deal. "Cafes have a leisurely work culture, but at a co-working space, since everybody's here to work, there's great energy as well as a professional vibe. When you have a start-up you're already putting your heart and soul in it, so it's just convenient not having to run a small office." Having worked out of cafes before, many young professionals professed to having felt as if they were unduly occupying a seat, no matter how many coffees they ordered.
Co-working has been around in the West for many years now, and various revenue models have emerged with time. For instance, a new trend in London cafes is that you pay according to the minutes for which you use the space, minus all the coffee you may quaff off. In New Delhi, co-working was originally started in 2010 by Jacob Jay with Moonlighting, an informal space in the Greater Kailash neighbourhood, with a combination of living and working arrangements.
Impresario aims to make Social a creative hub for artists of all kinds, from musicians to filmmakers, photographers, designers, web developers, architects, brandologists, so that working here can be a mutually benefiting exercise for all. Add to that, the reasonably priced comfort food, interesting drinks (you don't even have to move an inch for that after-work fix), with room for social and professional interaction, 'networking off the net', if you will. In the pipeline are finalisation of the applicants, (they've already received over a 100 applications for 40-50 spaces), then there'll be gigs, screenings, workshops and other cool pursuits for you to join in.
Co-working spaces to check out
Delhi:
A Little Anarky, Hauz Khas Village, Rs 5,000 per month
The Studio, Kalkaji, Rs 5,500 per month
Mumbai:
The Hive, Khar West, Rs 3,500 for 30 hours, Rs 11,500 per month
Bombay Connect, Bandra West
The Playce, Mulund West, Rs 5,500 per month
Bangalore:
Bangalore Alpha Lab, JP Nagar, Rs 4,000 per month
Jaaga, Richmond Road, Rs 6,000 per month for a private office
Spread over two floors above Smokehouse Deli, Social is an experimental space launched by the Impresario Group first in Church Street, Bangalore, last year, and is on its way to Mumbai next. What it aims to do is to offer working professionals and freelancers, for a price, the amenities of an office with the informality of a cafe. Combining hard industrial elements with cushy sofas, long community tables, a meeting room that can be booked in advance, a large projector to which you can hook up your laptop and hold presentations, Social also has all the regular office basics like high-speed WiFi, printers, scanners, stationary, personal lockers, even a PO Box number. However, it goes one step further and comes with a well-stocked bar, leading one to wonder, exactly how much work can happen here?
Quite a lot, feels Quinn. At Rs 5,000 per month that is redeemable on food and drinks, it's a sweet deal. "Cafes have a leisurely work culture, but at a co-working space, since everybody's here to work, there's great energy as well as a professional vibe. When you have a start-up you're already putting your heart and soul in it, so it's just convenient not having to run a small office." Having worked out of cafes before, many young professionals professed to having felt as if they were unduly occupying a seat, no matter how many coffees they ordered.
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But the best part about a co-working space, according to Swati Janu, a freelance architect, is the chance to work with like-minded people, "so the creative energy rubs off on you, leading to great collaborations for interdisciplinary projects." Janu, who works out of MHS Collective, a co-working space in Delhi's Pamposh Enclave, finds it a great morale booster working with creative entrepreneurs.
Co-working has been around in the West for many years now, and various revenue models have emerged with time. For instance, a new trend in London cafes is that you pay according to the minutes for which you use the space, minus all the coffee you may quaff off. In New Delhi, co-working was originally started in 2010 by Jacob Jay with Moonlighting, an informal space in the Greater Kailash neighbourhood, with a combination of living and working arrangements.
Impresario aims to make Social a creative hub for artists of all kinds, from musicians to filmmakers, photographers, designers, web developers, architects, brandologists, so that working here can be a mutually benefiting exercise for all. Add to that, the reasonably priced comfort food, interesting drinks (you don't even have to move an inch for that after-work fix), with room for social and professional interaction, 'networking off the net', if you will. In the pipeline are finalisation of the applicants, (they've already received over a 100 applications for 40-50 spaces), then there'll be gigs, screenings, workshops and other cool pursuits for you to join in.
Co-working spaces to check out
Delhi:
A Little Anarky, Hauz Khas Village, Rs 5,000 per month
The Studio, Kalkaji, Rs 5,500 per month
Mumbai:
The Hive, Khar West, Rs 3,500 for 30 hours, Rs 11,500 per month
Bombay Connect, Bandra West
The Playce, Mulund West, Rs 5,500 per month
Bangalore:
Bangalore Alpha Lab, JP Nagar, Rs 4,000 per month
Jaaga, Richmond Road, Rs 6,000 per month for a private office