A former coworker of mine recently sent me a photo.  He just moved into my old office and was proud to show me what he’s done with the place.  I showed the picture to a few people and they all had the same reaction, “Wow!  That’s a nice office!  Why did you ever leave?”  I’ll admit that seeing a picture of my office a year after I left it made me a little sentimental.  It really was a great space!  It was made up of two rooms – one contained a huge desk that nearly wrapped around the entire room, and the other was a small conference room.  I had seven windows, which faced the south east and gave me a nice view of the river.

The problem with that office was that it was confining – mentally.  The traditional work environment was very restrictive and after a while I just couldn’t fit the mold.  So I set out on my own and started a business.  Fast forward, and my office is now located here at the Docking Station.  Our coworking space is a new kind of office.  It’s open, modern, functional, and has plenty of amenities that everyone can enjoy.  There’s a great view of the Broadway District in Downtown Green Bay.  We have a creative conference room with whiteboard and glass walls to write on.  Every time I meet with clients at my office, they all say how much they love the space and want to work here.

As a solo entrepreneur, I wholeheartedly agree with the article on Womenetics.  I spent years in a fantastic office, but it doesn’t compare to the coworking office I’m in now.  Both have status, but I much prefer my current one.  My office is professional, stylish, and boosts my credibility.  And the best part is, there are no molds to fit.

Our member Tanja Schneider, owner of the Referral Institute – Northeast Wisconsin, will guide our members and their guests through a series of exercises to determine or fine-tune their target market.  Even if you have identified your target market a long time ago, refining it will help you focus your marketing and networking efforts.  You might even make some discoveries about the commonalities between the clients you’re currently attracting, and who you enjoy working with most.  Attendees will also walk away with an understanding of their coworkers’ target markets – a powerful key to generating referrals!  To register for this event, please email Melissa (melissa@thedockingstation.net) by Tuesday, May 21st.

Lunch n’ Learn – May 29th, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

The Docking Station is excited to announce that Amy Pietsch, Director of the Venture Center, will be presenting at our May lunch n’ learn event!  Amy’s message will be based on the creative book “Business Model Generation” by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.  Attendees will learn powerful tools for understanding, designing, re-working, and implementing their business models.  This event will be a blast!  Amy is very passionate about this message and an energetic speaker.  We’ll be drawing all over the conference room walls!  Click here to learn more about this event or to register.

Be sure to mark your calendars for our June events:

Free Coworking Friday – June 7th

Lunar Society (Exclusively for Docking Station Members) – June 12th

The Docking Station’s 2 Year Anniversary Celebration – June 20th

Lunch n’ Learn – June 26th

Are you an entrepreneur at heart?  Are you looking for ways to create value for your customers, build a new business, or transform your business as it exists today?  Are you trying to find new ways of doing business?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll love Amy Pietsch’s presentation based on the book, “Business Model Generation” by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.  Attendees will learn powerful tools for understanding, designing, re-working, and implementing their business models.  This event will be a blast!  Amy is very passionate about this message and an energetic speaker.  We’ll be drawing all over the conference room walls!

Event Basics

When:     Wednesday, May 29th

11:30 a.m. – Lunch (Catering by Glass Nickel Pizza)

12:00 p.m. – Presentation

1:00 p.m. – Conclusion

Where:    The Docking Station

111 N Broadway, Green Bay

Event Fee:  $10 per person

***Deadline for registration is Tuesday, May 28th

About the Speaker

Amy Pietsch is the Director of Fox Valley Technical College’s Venture Center, an integrated entrepreneurship center providing programming and services in three areas: entrepreneurial studies, business development and innovation. During her career Amy has been an entrepreneur and intrapreneur. Titles of Coordinator, Associate Director, Director of Next Generation Initiatives and Owner have come and gone from her business card. Through it all she has been working with people to launch and grow sustainable enterprises. From part-time, home-based, business owners to traditional small business owners to multi-million dollar entrepreneurial firms, Amy has helped them define their business model, develop strategic, marketing and business plans and access alternative, traditional, angel, VC and peer-to-peer financing.

Amy’s work to drive economic development via entrepreneurship and small business creation and expansion has been recognized by organizations from around Wisconsin. In 2009 the MIT Club of Wisconsin selected the FVTC Venture Center as the recipient of their annual Innovation Award. Amy received the Woman of Distinction Award from Mid-Day Business and Professional Women in 2007, the Cutting Edge Award from Appleton Rotary in 2006; and, Amy was the recipient of the 2005 Alverno CollegeYoung Professional Achievement Award.  During November 2013 Amy traveled to San Francisco to receive certification in Business Model Design from the authors of Business Model Generation and in May 2013 Amy earned her MBA, with a focus on innovation leadership, from Alverno College, in Milwaukee.

Amy resides in rural, central Wisconsin and is the proud Mom of Sadie, Cole and Paul.  She is an avid reader, lifelong learner, outdoor enthusiast and loves sports. In 2010 Amy wrote a short story about former Green Bay Packers player, LeRoy Butler, which was published in the book, Pea Soup for the Packer Soul.

Most companies employ sales reps, service technicians, and other mobile personnel.  For employees who are in the office less than 50% of the time, is it worth the cost of utilities and building space to maintain a workspace for them?  Coworking memberships can provide employees with a professional office space for a fraction of the cost, since they only pay for the space and time they need.  It’s also a practical alternative to working from home, where employees are much more likely to lose focus and productivity.

Maintaining a building’s appearance is also costly for corporations.  As office seating arrangements continuously change and décor becomes outdated, companies must invest in new furniture and equipment, and building renovations.  Coworking spaces are notoriously modern, and designed to be flexible for members.  As people are promoted, transferred to other departments, or assigned to project teams, there is no rearranging required at a coworking office.  There are plenty of desks and tables and chairs to accommodate ever-changing work teams.

Finally, corporations are embracing technology to cut back on expensive business travel for meetings.  Coworking spaces and creative meeting centers usually offer amenities such as Skype video conferencing to host virtual meetings with participants from around the world, thus saving companies on the costs of airfare, hotels, and wasted time.  In addition, Deskmag’s article noted, “American Express recently lowered its carbon footprint by 27.5 percent, citing a decrease in business travel and the creation of centers for virtual meetings.”

As corporations continue to look for ways to save on overhead costs, traditional office settings are likely to decline.  Coworking offices have work space options that are flexible and accommodating, for a fraction of typical real estate costs and utilities.  Further, these modern offices tend to have creative conference rooms that allow their members to host low cost, virtual meetings.  In the future, work as we know it will change, and coworking spaces are leading the way.

This is your opportunity to try coworking for free!  Come and work with us for the day, and enjoy the fun community and professional atmosphere The Docking Station has to offer.

Lunch n’ Learn – April 17th, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

This month’s presentation by our member, Tanja Schneider of the Referral Institute, is titled “Communicating with Style for Better Relationships.”  The lunch n’ learn is part of Current Young Professionals Network’s event series.  Click here for more information or to register.

Lunar Society (Exclusively for Docking Station Members) – April 22nd, 5:00-7:00 p.m.  **Revised Date**

Lunar Society is an exclusive series of professional development events for members of The Docking Station and their invited guests.  This month’s presentation by Jay Harris is titled “Taking Creative Potential to New Levels.”  You won’t want to miss this event!  To register, please email Melissa (melissa@thedockingstation.net) by Friday, April 19th.

Be sure to mark your calendars for our May events:

Free Coworking Friday – May 3rd

The Docking Station’s 2 Year Anniversary Celebration (Open House) – May 15th

Lunar Society (Exclusively for Docking Station Members) – May 20th

Lunch n’ Learn – May 29th

1. Don’t drink soda!  Soda contains high amounts of sugar, and other harmful chemicals.
2. Drink water.  You should aim to drink 4 bottles of water per day.
3. Eat a good breakfast.  Maggie suggests having eggs, fruit, or oatmeal.  Just make sure you don’t add excessive amounts of fat or sugar.      
4. Fruit should be consumed by itself.  Don’t eat fruit as part of a meal or a dessert – the sugars won’t break down properly in your stomach.  Eat fruit by itself as a breakfast or snack.

Are you a business owner struggling to keep up with day-to-day responsibilities?  Do you need to reprioritize your to-do list in order to focus on growing your business?  During this workshop, you’ll learn how to utilize the skills of a virtual team to accomplish your goals.  We’ll explore topics including:

• How to effectively outsource your to-do list
• Why not delegating is costing you money
• What tasks you can be handing off to others
• How to find your virtual team members and build a cohesive support team
• How to work with outside contractors (making friends with technology)

Event Basics

When:     Wednesday, March 27th

11:30 a.m. – Lunch (Catering by Green Bay Pizza Company)

12:00 p.m. – Presentation

1:00 p.m. – Conclusion

Where:    The Docking Station

111 N Broadway, Green Bay

Event Fee:  $10 per person

***Deadline for registration is Monday, March 25th

About the Speakers

Melissa Swink is the owner of Savvy CVA, a full-service consulting and virtual assistant company located in Green Bay.  She founded Savvy CVA to utilize her skills in efficiency and organization to help small business owners and entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  Savvy CVA specializes in business and residential organizing and continuous improvement consulting, as well as administrative, financial, and project management assistant services.  Melissa truly enjoys helping her clients achieve the success and work/life balance they deserve.

Rachel Rasmussen is owner of Rescue Desk Virtual Assistant Services, located in Madison. Rachel’s team at Rescue Desk has been providing outsourced executive-level support to clients around Wisconsin since 2008, taking time-consuming tasks off their clients’ to-do lists. Thanks to Rescue Desk’s expertise in marketing, communications, project management and business-process outsourcing, their clients have gotten back the time, focus and balance they need to grow and succeed.

Lunar Society is an exclusive series of professional development events for members of The Docking Station.  This month we will be having a casual, open topic discussion about your current challenges and successes in business.  To register for this event, please email Melissa (melissa@thedockingstation.net) by Wednesday, March 20th.

“Build Your (Virtual) Team: Effectively Delegating to Outside Contractors” Lunch n’ Learn – March 27th, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Join us for lunch and a presentation by Melissa Swink of Savvy CVA and Rachel Rasmussen of Rescue Desk.  For more information or to register, click here.

Be sure to mark your calendars for our April events:

Free Coworking Friday – April 5th

Lunch n’ Learn – April 17th

Lunar Society (Exclusively for Docking Station members) – April 19th

• Start by assessing your needs and rating them in order of priority (A = Imperative, B = Important, C = Desired).  Refer to your needs assessment as you research different types of software.
• As you’re doing your research, watch the quick tutorials for a good overview of the software.  They should help you decide whether or not to try it.
• Make a list of 6 systems to try based on your needs assessment and budget.
• Don’t overwhelm yourself while going through this process.  Try one project in each system to experiment, and only try a couple of systems at a time.

1.  Community – Working from home can be isolating, but coffee shops can be noisy and distracting.  Coworking offers the unique ability to work independently, yet together with other professionals.  Many coworking spaces offer the option of working in an open desk area or a private office, depending on your needs and preferences.

2.  Collaboration –  Coworking spaces draw a crowd of creative professionals who truly enjoy the talents and knowledge of other business owners.  They support each other, freely exchange ideas, and even cross-promote each other’s work.  Coworking offers terrific networking opportunities.

3.  Professional Environment – In a world where image is everything, running your business from a coworking space can give you a competitive edge in gaining clients.  Many coworking offices have conference rooms and meeting space available for members to meet with their clients.  This is much more professional than meeting at your home or a busy café.

4.  Work/Life Balance – Keeping a balance between your work and personal life can be a real challenge while trying to run your own business, especially if you primarily work from home.  Coworkers have the ability to separate home and office as they please.  They have a designated work space where they can go to focus and get things done, and reserve their home for family life and relaxation.

5.  Events – Coworking spaces around the world are infusing professional development events into their office culture as an added benefit for their members.  These events give coworkers an opportunity to get to know others in the office, and learn valuable skills to help them grow their businesses.

If the idea of coworking intrigues you, why not give it a try?  Many coworking spaces offer free trials for you to experience their environment.