I just got a tour of the space...and I think it's going to be a great thing for Austin startups. The startup scene here has been fragmented over the past few years, with little pockets across the city in smaller coworking places, creative spaces like 501 Studios, and smaller offices in downtown buildings like the Omni. I think this space will really bring people together and gel the Austin community in a way that hasn't happened before.
It occupies the entire 16th floor of the Omni, which is right in the heart of downtown. It's also just a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center where they host SXSW. Right now there are 60 dedicated desks and room for another 100 people for general coworking—and they have plans to expand to about 250 people total when they're fully up to speed.
I'm going to start there on Monday. If anyone has questions or is interested in seeing the space, feel free to get in touch.
"The No. 1 challenge for tech startups in Austin and around the country is hiring critical engineering talent," Baer said. "We are going to bring the best talent here for all these events we will be having."
That seems like something of a leap of faith, especially if "these events" are the same ones mentioned earlier in the article, i.e., they're geared toward "entrepreneurs". Why would an engineer be interested in that sort of content unless he or she were trying to launch their own company? And if they're trying to launch their own business, of course, they're not likely to be looking for a job. Sounds like another echo chamber where business people congratulate each other on Austin's awesome tech community while avoiding doing anything, you know, technical.
What classes or groups would you want to see in this space?
I'm guessing many of the existing tech oriented groups (Austin on Rails, Austin.rb, et al) will start meeting there. Many of these groups already met at the OtherInbox offices on the 8th floor. OIB is moving up to this new space—so it's natural that those groups will move up as well.
There are also several (albeit more business-focused) groups like Refresh Austin and Lean Startup Circle that have held meetings at Buffalo Billiards. That space is not really conducive to meetings of any sort (it's loud, dirty, and has few outlets) so I'm guessing those groups will move two blocks to the new space as well.
I don't really have an interest in what kind of events happen in the space. It appears to be a venue for business people so, as an engineer, what goes on there doesn't really affect me. Neither of the groups I run is likely to be able to afford to rent the conference room. I do, however, hope Refresh doesn't end up there - in spite of its flaws, I like Buffalo Billiards for meetups.
It sounds like something I would be interested in checking out. Regrettably though it'll be less often than I would rather, simply because it's downtown. I'm not sure I understand why, and why virtually all the tech meetups meet downtown either. Almost all the programmers live in the north because that's where our day jobs are...
You are on your own for parking...but there are lots near the Omni available for rent starting around $50 / mo. I believe most of the people working there now rent spaces in the St David's lot a couple blocks away. I personally live downtown and so I'll walk or ride my bike there.
It occupies the entire 16th floor of the Omni, which is right in the heart of downtown. It's also just a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center where they host SXSW. Right now there are 60 dedicated desks and room for another 100 people for general coworking—and they have plans to expand to about 250 people total when they're fully up to speed.
I'm going to start there on Monday. If anyone has questions or is interested in seeing the space, feel free to get in touch.