We created NextSpace with the hope that our members would find ways (as our tagline says) to connect, catalyze, and create new ideas. I use the word hope here on purpose: we weren’t exactly sure if or how our members would come together, let alone trust each other enough to collaborate on projects. But we knew that Santa Cruz and the ridiculously talented people who live and work here is the kind of place where this slightly hair-brained experiment just might work. We even gave this grand experiment a name: the NextSpace Effect.
After nearly six months in business, I’m proud and humbled to report that the NextSpace Effect is in full swing. Here are just three examples of the connecting, catalyzing, and creating that are happening here at NextSpace:
Ditech Networks™ TokTok
Ditech Networks (http://www NULL.ditechnetworks NULL.com/united_states_home NULL.html) is a publicly-traded high tech company in Mountain View, CA, that delivers voice quality solutions to the world’s communications industry. NextSpace member Alan Hawrylyshen is the director of strategic technology applications for Ditech and uses NextSpace as a remote workspace (his carrel is brimming with routers and CAT-5 cable and lots of empty Lulu’s coffee cups). At NextSpace, Alan began working on a project to mash the mobile phone and web world together. Pretty soon, he found a great team of collaborators for the project in his fellow NextSpace members. Alan met Galen O’Hanlon and his team of developers at Gohanlon LLC (http://plastictrophy NULL.com), and through the relationship with GoHanlon, Ditech ended up using Quiddities (http://www NULL.quiddities NULL.com), Harlan Lewis (http://www NULL.harlanlewis NULL.com/), and additional Santa Cruz design resources for the consumer aspect of the project. Ditech is also engaged with NextSpace member company UserVoice (http://www NULL.uservoice NULL.com) to handle their site feedback and customer feature requests. The result of Ditech (and Alan)’s efforts is TokTok, an application that provides voice-enabled access to your email, calendar, task lists, and social networks during a phone call. Ditech launched TokTok at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain in February 2009 and will begin a public beta phase in early May. The NextSpace mission statement talks about creating products, services, and solutions for the global marketplace. TokTok is one of our first steps in accomplishing that mission, brought to you by the NextSpace Effect.
California Energy Initiative
One of our member companies at NextSpace is Awake Media (http://www NULL.awakemedia NULL.net/), run by a fabulously creative woman named Lakshmi Narayan. A very smart guy named Tom Rosewall hired Awake to help him launch his new venture, the California Energy Initiative (http://california-energy NULL.com/) (CEI). CEI’s mission is to support California’s decision makers in successfully identifying and implementing strategies to respond to the causes and impacts of climate change, utilizing practical, accurate and cost-effective solutions. Tom asked Lakshmi to do the branding, logo, and website for CEI.
Here’s the cool part: the more time Tom spent at NextSpace for meetings, the more members he met. And the more members he met, the more he discovered that NextSpace is full of talented people who could help him launch his company. So Tom hired Dusty Nelson from Dusty Nelson Pictures (http://www NULL.dustynelson NULL.com/) to create a bunch of kick-ass videos for the site. Sandy Skees, president of Communications4Good (http://www NULL.communications4good NULL.com/), helped Tom with the messaging and PR for CEI. Tom hired Harlan Lewis from Harlan Lewis Design (http://www NULL.harlanlewis NULL.com/) to develop the website code. And ScratchSpace (http://www NULL.scratchspace NULL.com/), run by Chief Rocket Scientist Chris Miller, hosts the CEI site.
Tom Rosewall is certainly the brains and energy behind CEI. But Tom has graciously pointed out that his company was “brought into the world through the NextSpace Effect.
Lightfoot Industries
NextSpace member and Santa Cruz native Carmen Kubas has a vision. And the NextSpace community is helping her fulfill it. Carmen has a long history in the restaurant industry, has a passion for sustainability, and has years of experience working with at-risk teens. She is combining those disparate interests into launching Lightfoot Industries (http://www NULL.lightfootconsulting NULL.com/LIghtfoot_Industries/Welcome NULL.html) (LFI). LFI couples a for-profit restaurant and retail line with a non-profit Sustainability Lab. Together these organizations provide apprenticeship-based work experience in sustainable industry and a sustainable life skills curriculum.
Compared to other ventures at NextSpace, LFI is on the low tech end of the spectrum. But LFI stands as a great example of how different business can thrive at NextSpace thanks to the NextSpace Effect. NextSpace members Alan Harlwyshen (Ditech Networks (http://www NULL.ditechnetworks NULL.com/united_states_home NULL.html)) and Jason Liske (from Redwood Design (http://www NULL.redwooddesign NULL.com/)) helped Carmen with technical issues. Member Ian Stock (Enterprelaw (http://www NULL.entreprelaw NULL.com/)) provided legal help. And NextSpace co-founders Ryan Coonerty and Jeremy Neuner helped Carmen make connections with the city’s economic development office and with other local non-profits.
Lightfoot Industries will launch their pilot in a revitalizing area of Santa Cruz later this year. We’re proud that the NextSpace community will play a role. As Carmen says, NextSpace rocks! And we didn’t even pay her to say that.
So far, so good. Like I said, we’re equal parts proud and humbled by what’s happening here at NextSpace. Are you a NextSpace member with a story about the NextSpace effect? Got a similar story from elsewhere in the world? We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or drop us a line at nextspace@nextspace.us (nextspace null@null nextspace NULL.us).
This Friday, I attended the campus open house, and was welcomed like an old friend. Next space’s wicked awesome!
Funny thing, while there I thought I’d be surrounded by the chatter and sounds of office work, but on the contrary what was greeted me was the pleasing sounds of collaboration and community…keep on, keeping on!
S’ya next month
Ed
P.S. Jeremy-regarding your whiteboard recordkeeping solution (smile), the web site I mentioned can be found at http://www.qipit.com-best (http://www NULL.qipit NULL.com-best) luck!
[...] to over 100 strong. What’s happening at NextSpace? A lot.  Take a look at this post on The NextSpace Effect for a quick rundown. Mostly, I want to acknowledge that NextSpace would not be possible without [...]
[...] to over 100 strong. What’s happening at NextSpace? A lot.  Take a look at this post on The NextSpace Effect for a quick rundown. Mostly, I want to acknowledge that NextSpace would not be possible without the [...]
[...] to over 100 strong. What’s happening at NextSpace? A lot.  Take a look at this post on The NextSpace Effect for a quick rundown. Mostly, I want to acknowledge that NextSpace would not be possible without the [...]
Nextspace does rock great post thanx