If you have ever shopped for a coworking space, you would notice that it is not a perfect competition type of market, and not all coworking spaces are made equal. In San Francisco alone, there is a wide range of what coworking spaces offer. The environment, vibe, and price are all very different. The owners of a coworking space could range from just a yogi to a small business owner to a corporation.
Coworking Spaces vs Large Corporate Spaces Coworking originated in San Francisco by Brad Neuberg with the idea of combining the freelancing with a structure of a community of office space for freelancers to feel as if they belong somewhere. A coworking space is an environment that allows a different set of people to work on their desired project at an independent level. Since then coworking spaces have sprouted everywhere, not only in the Bay Area but also internationally. Smaller and independent business owners were first onto the idea of gathering other freelancers. And if you think about it, freelancers have a lot in common with small business owners. First of all, they all work independently and they don't belong to a large company who gives them directions on their work. Once this movement gained tractions, larger corporations joined in. Corporate coworking spaces started sprouting everywhere. Large corporate spaces are normally larger and specially designed to accommodate larger companies. In truth, a large corporate space is the enterprise version of the smaller coworking space environment. They both usually offer private offices for companies and the main area for independent workers. Which Choice Is Best For You? There are numerous points essential for consideration when picking out your preferred coworking space. But you should pick one that fits your vibe, energy, and budget. As relative as choices can be, here are some of the important points to consider while choosing between coworking spaces.
Picking a smaller coworking space could provide an environment with fewer people and less noise.
If you are in any type of environment that requires you to put in the work, you might need to consider going for the smaller coworking space for this advantage.
In a smaller space, it is easier to manage this with the fewer set of people in the same coworking space. People who opt to use smaller coworking spaces are also normally a set of more down to earth people. Conclusion It is very important to pick the coworking space that will facilitate your productivity and provide you with a comfortable environment to work in. If budget isn't a constraint, of course, you should sign an office lease to work in your workspace. However, you could always do cooler things with your money than renting an office space. Come check out why Treehouse Society could be a great choice for your team's productivity, budget, and space needs. References https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coworking https://www.coworkingresources.org/blog/difference-between-coworking-spaces-and-executive-offices
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With the use of social media and fast-paced marketing, there are so many expectations for us in the world right now in whatever screen we are staring at. It's human nature that we do not want to accept who we are, what are our flaws and lacking, and what negativities that we adapted in our nature. We do not want to come out from our nutshell to think positive and accept who we are from inside. Sometimes, when expectations and realities don't exactly align, it can cause a lot of frustration and anger to build up. That could cause us to react aggressively and become outrageous if even a little thing goes against our nature. If we are unaware of our emotions and mental state, we can become disconnected from our emotions and the cause of the anger. Then, we will be unable to understand the real reason behind the situation. Here are some tips to overcome these frustration points:
Accept Who We Are That is why it is important to bring in patience and peace in us. One way to do it is to stop being so connected all the time. Take a deep breath and recollect on our surroundings. Take notes of your surroundings and notice what you like or dislike. If you dislike and are irritated, just nod and continue breathing. We need to accept who we are and our current state. We need to move on. We need to continue moving on with what we are to become more productive. We do not need to prove ourselves to others. Tell them openly who we are and make them accept us. How do we stop getting angry on our self and move on It is important that you quickly ask yourself a question whenever you feel angry. Ask yourself right away that is it necessary and something really serious to get angry at? This is because we do get angry with ourselves within seconds even if there is a slight mistake or we did something disadvantageous to us. We curse ourselves and get demotivated. That is a lot of energy wasted. We do not think proactively so that we quickly fix what we did wrong. It is for our health and peace that we bring positivity in our self. We try to help our self through patience. We need to move on by not wasting more time and energy on thinking and cursing our self. Leave anger and get productive: Anger stops us from moving on and to do something productive in life. It brings negativity in our thoughts and nature. Anger is like a poison in our life. It does not let us achieve what we dream of. Getting angry on our self makes us more frustrated and we tend to leave things like that. This is the worst part. We are not able to continue with our productivity and get success in life. It is better and beneficial to leave anger and take a positive move. We need to think patiently about the consequences that how negative they are. Act patiently and think wisely: Sit in solitude. This will make you think before any action or move you plan on to take. This will bring peace in your soul and reduce your anger. It will bring patience in you and will encourage you to think wisely. Unlike anger, it will halt every positive thought entering your mind. You can never become successful if you let anger defeat your thoughts. That is why, stop being angry with yourself, accept your current state so you can move on and get productive. After you have accepted the state of the happenings, you will notice that you are 5x more productive than ever! Bring that new energy here and cowork here with us! The old stories of success in America from the 80s always involve a garage somewhere. The garage seems to be the American innovative culture from garage bands to Apple. However, given the current housing crisis, would it affect American innovation? Or is the genuine American garage innovation taken somewhere else?
Coworking could be the answer given the lack of garages in an urban setting. Coworking fits the budget and allows you to have an extra space where you can meet with others, connect, and innovate. It can simply be described as a new way of working and sharing. As many believe it is not just the sharing of cost and infrastructure where different people work. This is bigger, this is about a community, accessibility and even sustainability. Coworking spaces are usually designed in such a way to provide a productive and collaborative environment for their energetic occupants. The best thing about coworking spaces, especially the small ones, is that these are created free from corporate constraints of the perception of an office. Most of the smaller coworking spaces flexible memberships that will fulfill the most needs of the occupants. One of the reasons much work is done in the office is due to the environment. Going to a dedicated workspace creates an energy and mindset of “hard work” that can only come from the interaction with other colleagues. The fact remains that people who go to a workspace are more motivated to work and get the job done. Similarly, in coworking spaces, every person is busy and passionate about his/her own work and working on different projects. The work buzz is highly contagious and will definitely be a reason to motivate you to make your business a success. In a way, coworking space might even be better than a garage space as you get to interact with others. Others' ideas might help you innovate and create a better product. The life of an entrepreneur can get lonely and sometimes, you are too dependent on your initial idea and opinions without seeking others' council and it could be a fatal mistake. On top of that, isolating oneself, even for work, can harmful to mental health and wellbeing. Interacting and communicating with other people is an important aspect of the work environment. Even if you are working on completely different projects, having a companion to share a day with is a good way to be mentally fit and keep your eyes on the goal. Coworking with similar minded people will leave you feeling joyous, social and even energized. Coworking space will have you being in a room with someone with a completely different set of skills and talents. This can be a great source of ideas for you and your project. Getting a fresh perspective from a person with a very different set of skills can aid you to reach your goal sooner. This will even train your brain to view problems and hurdles from a different point of view. This could help a lot with creativity. Examples: Apple was founded in a garage space in the 70s. Had the time been changed and if Steve Jobs was facing a housing crisis, he might have founded it in a coworking space. In fact, his cofounder, Steve Wozniak looks like someone who could be hanging out at a coworking space. Instagram is one of the most popular apps in the world. Almost everyone knows about it and almost everyone knows it. People use Instagram for their own business startups. The lesser-known fact is that Instagram is a product of just eight weeks of work in a coworking space in San Francisco by Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom. It is the most popular image-sharing app there is. Coworking space could be better than a garage space as many coworking spaces offer free coffee, brightly lit space, and super-fast internet. Also, it allows you to connect with other creative people. Check it out for a week and let us know what you think! Running a business in today’s world is risky and one must always be ready for some kickback. Especially with the volatility of the market every day. With the volatility comes rumors, and the latest rumor is that the recession is coming. The best time to prepare for a recession is when the business is still running. You will have the chance to make your choices playing offense instead of reacting to circumstances playing defense to make sure that your business survives.
Because the recessions are unpredictable and can occur anytime without any prior notice, you will be learning the tips & tricks to get your business ready for recession. Currently, the yield curve is looking bearish, as in a bear market is coming. But judging from the current world situation, anything could happen. Cash Reserve: One of the very first signs of a recession is that invoice payments of the companies become slower and start demanding earlier payment from their clients. The flow of cash is disturbed and without that, the survival of the company during a recession is not possible. The idea of cash flow and cash reserves are two different things so make sure not to confuse those two. Of course, a business can be profitable even when the cash flow is not good and you do not have any cash reserves, but you do not want to do that when the economy is not going great. If you want your business to build a cash reserve, then the idea is simple but acting upon it is not that easy. Make sure to store enough money in your bank account for the times of recession. The longer period your cash reserve covers, the better. It depends upon your business how much you can cut and put aside. Coworking can definitely help you save money so you can put more aside. One disadvantage of putting money in a bank account is that the money just sits there without giving you any profit since you are not reinvesting that money. The money sitting there without being invested can hinder the growth of the company. Payment and Invoice Management: As mentioned earlier, during the recession your clients will take longer to pay and some may never pay because they went bankrupt. The times of recession are really hard and can impact your business even if you are stable. The best you can do is manage your invoice and collection more carefully. Most of the clients may want an extension of terms, make sure that you check the credits of the client before you offer them a term. If they have been paying their other vendors on time then they might be worth giving an extension. In the end, if you do not have any means to know the track the invoices then implement a system to do so so that you can collect the overdue invoices. Another reason for having a good invoice and tracking system is that you will get to know when the clients will change their methods of payments. The change in habits of payments can be used as a measurement for the indication of recession. If the clients have not been paying immediately then it means they are getting ready for downtimes. New Costs: The mistake most of the business owners make is that they do not give any attention to the new costs, probably because the business is good and the cash is flowing smoothly. When not given any attention, new costs can pile up and cause a problem. The worst-case scenario is that this pile of costs can pose a threat during a recession and maybe too late to go back. This is the reason you must not spend the money on something unnecessary. You can spend the money on things that can improve the business but be fair with the cash. Financial Statements: Keep track of the financial statements of a company is crucial and it is a good practice to be followed by good company owners, does not matter if the times are good or bad. Keep the reports and accounts updated while reviewing them regularly so that there is not anything missing from the picture.
If you want to prepare your business for a recession that you will have to expand your client base. A wise man once said not to put all your eggs in one basket. Most of the businessmen make the mistake of keeping only a few clients and only concentrating on them. This can cause problems for you in the future if you do not diversify your client base because with the few clients that you have if they start to leave then you can go out of business. This happens very often when the recession hits. To make sure that you survive, diversify your client base to fix the situation. If the cash reserve is more important, diversifying the client base can become the second priority. During peaceful times, if you diversify your client base then you can have the chance to try different techniques and strategies to get a better hold of the business. Diversifying your client base can make the recession times easier for you and increase the survival chances of your business. Similar to the diversification of the clients, diversify the means through which you acquire your clientage. Do not depend on a single channel through which you get your channels, it can pose a threat to your business if that single mean of getting clients ceases to exist. Diversification of your channel for getting clients shall be on your list of priorities. If you prepare when the times are good then you will not have to worry much when the recession hits. Come to Treehouse Society to cowork and ensure to meet others so you can diversify your client base and get creative on how to tackle your upcoming project! Traveling – even though it can be a little exhausting and tiring but trust me, it is worth it. The way a journey impacts your life changes your perspective and transforms you as a human being is completely commendable. Thus, taking some time off of work, venturing and exploring, and making memories can alter one’s perspective quite a lot.
All the excitement, enjoyment, and eagerness to discover different places makes traveling a vital part of personality development. But, most of the people often neglect traveling because of the workload. If you are one of those people as well then trust me you have to make a tough decision. Either choose to work day and night without taking a day off or take a vacation from work and plan a fun, thrilling and exciting journey. Once you are back you’ll see yourself more motivated, excited, and dedicated towards work. Honestly, adventuring and traveling are recommended by psychologists as well. After this brief discussion most of us are probably thinking; “how can traveling change one’s perspective in life?” Well, if you are eager to find out as well, then keep on reading as you’ll find tons of interesting facts down there. It’ll broaden your outlook in life: Nothing impacts you more than observing how other people live. How they manage their life? What are their struggles? How is your life different from them? The answers to all these questions lie in an exploratory and learnable trip where you find out more about different aspects of life. Thus, a trip, no matter it is short or long, can help you grow as a person and broaden your perspective. You begin to value experience: One thing most of the people often realize during a journey is valuing experience over materialistic things. And trust me, no matter how much struggle you go through in daily life, you’ll hardly ever learn to value experience more than things. But once you’re out there you’ll begin understanding the value of experience. Live in the moment: Traveling teaches us to live in the moment. Rather than emphasizing and stressing over the mistakes made in the past and worrying about the future, it’s better to opt for making our present better. And this can be done through traveling. Traveling guides us to appreciate life, be grateful and enjoy every bit of happiness we have. Accept different ways of life: Life is a roll-coaster ride. It comes with its ups and downs. If you are one of those people who stress over little things and become anxious on the tiniest changes in life as well, then trust me, you need to schedule a journey and experience the different ways of life. Get to know the different people, cultures, beliefs, and traditions. You’ll see the apparent and positive changes and results in yourself soon after you come back. Therefore, from the above discussion, we can say that traveling changes your life to a great extent after all. So, the next time you need some diversity and versatility in life, get yourself ready and go out on a trip. You’ll feel the change yourself. Join other productive travelers at Treehouse Society and schedule a tour today! There is no specific formula, be it secret or otherwise, that explains in detailed terms what it takes actually to be successful. However, there are lots of signs and even indicators that point to some typical factors.
So many people can predict if a startup will flourish or not. Nevertheless, we will be looking at some factors that will help determine this. Some of the factors include: Personal Finance Background of the Founder Some people say that if you are incapable of leading your family on a responsible path, then why should you think you can lead those that are outside your circle of influence. This notion has been taken to finances as well if you are not able to manage your finances, who can testify that you will do a fine job in managing a whole business. If you have shown yourself as a good steward of money, it means you have a sound monetary head on your shoulder. Should you be struggling with poor credit, you will need to get a grip of yourself and solve it. As a startup, you may need to put in your personal finance from time to time, and this is why you will need a good finance background before assuming the position of a founder. Team diversity A very huge prediction of startup success depends on the diverse team. Many people come across the word diversity and suddenly think about race, gender, and religion, but age is a factor as well. In a bid to give your startup the best opportunity of being successful, then you will have to try your best to account for age diversity as well. Studies have shown that female-founded startups outperform those that are completely male. However, as for the age, conventional wisdom suggests that experience is better, but the startups with older founders of about forty years upwards do not always perform better. Business Model The business model is always in a finished alignment with the market trend that is current, and it plays a much more definitive role in building growth platforms that can align with the vision of the company. With a very good business plan, the entrepreneur can map the future of the company, along with the sources needed to achieve all of its goals. The process of identifying the business model for your startup is among the first responsibilities that you will be faced head-on with. However, note that these investors are more attracted to the type of business models that align with the needs of the current market as well as the trends. To Sum It Up To run your startup successfully, you should avoid running out of cash flow. If you can do this then you have a much better opportunity to be successful. Try ditching the mindset that says debt is good and embrace the mentality that positive cash flow is very healthy. Start saving today by coworking at Treehouse Society! Coworking is not only a good way to save money, but also a great way to save the environment. There is an impression of the remote interviews that they are comparatively easier than the interviews in person. This is a false impression because in remote interviews the interviewer will be more keenly observing your actions and gestures and the way you are talking since the camera is so focused on you. Being comfortable with the camera is very important in terms of remote work interviews. Although you might think it is an unnecessary skill to be comfortable with it, more jobs are growing to become remote. According to the Census Bureau, the remote interviewing practice is becoming common day by day. The remote workforce is growing!
If you are one of the people that are getting ready for remote interviews to join this remote workforce and not sure where to get started. Here are a few tips to help you out in a remote interview, these tips are as follows. Preparing for the interview: You need to know what you are talking about. Make sure to do plenty of research about the company you are interviewing with to know their core values and principles. Brush up on the skills that you are supposed to know as well as industry news. Check out the company profile on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Glassdoor, and Instagram to make sure you stay relevant during the interview. You are supposed to show enthusiasm: Take your remote interview as you are giving it in person, which means you should be showing enthusiasm for the company. This will be the key to impress the recruiter. If you look bored, distracted, or uninterested this will leave a bad impact. Even if you are restless during the interview, it will be perceived as though you are not eligible. In simple words, you should look happy and interested in the job, and you might look like you will appreciate it a lot if you get the job. You must look motivated enough to get the job, show your goals and enthusiasm to the interview. No one wants to hire a boring person and I am sure that is not you! So make sure your personality shines through! Your dress code matters: Appearance matters a lot either it is an interview in person or the remote one. The reason is that dressing sense somehow defines your personality. You have to properly dress for the job interview, maybe according to the dress code mentioned by the company. If it’s not mentioned then you should try to blend in the culture of the company. There are two things to follow, you should be over-dressed or under-dress. Here are few tips related to dressing, you should be avoiding the dressed that have trendy logos, splashy patterns or glittery stuff on them because they are unprofessional and distractive. You need to choose your clothing according to the job, you are applying for because it is obvious that you cannot dress too trendy in an office. In simple words you have to be casual, your dress should be properly pressed and should be presentable. Another pro tip is that if you feel like that you need a haircut then go for it because it could give you an enhanced casual look. Complete all of your Research: If you have no idea about the company, there is no way that you can give a good interview. You have to complete your research about the company, its management, and its employees and so on. You need to learn first and then apply for the job. You need to have proper information about the background of the company, the major information about the company should be gathered. You are supposed to maintain the level of noise: When you are being interviewed, you are supposed to keep a balance in everything either it’s your voice or the tone. In a remote interview, you should be keeping the voice level low or maybe moderate. We have mentioned this above but if you have children around, they should not be distracting you while the interview. If there is too much noise in the background it will be a mess. If you have pets at home, especially dogs you need to send them for a walk. No one should be watching the television at a higher volume in the background. Your phone should be on silent, even the notification sounds might distract the interviewer. You will fail to maintain the concentration level, your interview will be highly affected if any of these things happen. Be very polite: When someone is over-confident it is considered as arrogance or attitude, you have to avoid such a fuss. Being arrogant can be a big turn off for your interviewers because you have to keep in mind that they are the judges. You are supposed to mention how your talent can politely benefit the company. You should be confident about your talent and education, but not arrogant. Politeness and humble way of talking can take you to places, avoid bragging. Setting up for the interview: You have to set-up for the interview, obviously, you cannot just sit in a messy room in messy appearance for the interview. If your room is full of the children’s toys or any other personal items then it would not look like a professional environment. If there are kids at the background, or people yelling, running here and there can leave a bad impression. If not a bad impression, it is distracting in general if people are walking behind you or a kid is crying behind you. Also, you are not supposed to show the interviewer how and where you live, they might consider it a piece of unnecessary information. It is suggested that you sit an isolated room, better take care of what will be seen by the interviewer as background. Organize your desk neatly, get rid of any mess around. If you can't control your environment at home, make sure to come to our coworking space for your remote interview! For a more pro-tip, you could get a trial week pass and schedule all your interviews in one week. Any more tips on how to get ready for the remote work interview, then you can share it in the comments section below. Humans have affected greenhouse gas and caused global warming since the industrial revolution. Although it might mean that San Francisco will be at a nice 70 degrees weather all year and more time to enjoy the Baker Beach, it still affects other wild lives and our ocean level.
It is more important than ever to take care of our environment. Our planet provides us with everything possible for life such as air, light, and water. There is so much plastic in our ocean that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans. We should take care of our planet as our future depends on it. Here at Treehouse Society, we try to eliminate waste in our coworking space. 1. Reusable silverware- Instead of using disposable utensils, we provide reusable silverware in our coworking space so you could eat your meal without feeling guilty about using disposable plastic utensils. 2. Reusable tote bags- We provide reusable tote bags for our members in case you forgot to bring your own. 3. Tupperware- We provide Tupperware in our kitchen and encourage you to take the Tupperware with you when you go out for lunch so you can pack it in case you have leftovers. 4. Mugs in our kitchen- We also provide mugs in our kitchen to make that morning coffee taste more delicious knowing that you didn’t make it in a disposable cup. 5. Filtered water- With our water filter, you can refill your water bottle and skip the disposable bottle of water. 6. We collect used packaging material- Got your packages sent here? No problem, we collect the packaging material from your Amazon packages and distribute it to the small businesses or nonprofits near us so they can save on costs for shipping. Contact us if you need some used packaging material. 7. Motion Sensor in our space- This is major! We installed motion sensors from our bathroom to our conference rooms. These sensors not only save electricity, but it also makes sure that you are active and alive so the lights can stay on. Although the real culprit of global warming is not individuals but an infrastructure problem, we should still do our part to help the environment. Coworking not only saves you money but also can save the environment. Be an environmental superhero today and sign up to cowork today! Meet one of our dearest members, Darren Overby. He is one of our beloved Treehouse Society members who found the Hostel Management. He founded HostelManagement.com in 2004 in the hopes to contribute management tools for potential hostel owners and workers internationally. His passion for sharing information, software, and technology to the hostel industry has developed into the #1 website for finding and sharing resources in the hostel industry. Read more about his intriguing and successful story!
What industry is your company in? Hostels and budget travel. Tell us about your background and how that led you to what you do today? I have always had a curious fascination for the world. I used to love road trip vacations with my parents but I always wanted to go further. I was told international travel was expensive and beyond the financial reach of most people. Still, I used to spin the globe, stop it with a finger, and wonder what it was like in far off lands. Was it day or night? What language was being spoken? What would be the talk of the town at the moment? As soon as I was able, I joined the Navy since it was the only way I knew how to travel internationally without being rich. While in the Navy we cruised to Townsville Australia. A friend Dave and I went scuba diving on Magnetic Island and met two beautiful and friendly Swedish women. At the end of our diving day, we missed the ferry to the mainland. It was then the Swedish women introduced us to the concept of a hostel. “A hospital?” we asked. “No, a hostel!” As it turned out, the place where we rented our scuba equipment was a hostel. Soon after that, as Dave and I settled in for a beer, I had my mind blown by the possibilities of travel. Backpackers began streaming to the hostel picnic tables with their round the world travel tales with little to no money. I was so excited. These backpackers were proof that I could travel the world on the extreme budget of a backpacker. Hostels would make my dreams of world travel possible. Over the next 8 months or so, I become enthralled by the freedom of adventure that these international backpackers exhibited and I began spending my free moments reading books such as "Europe Through the Back Door" by Rick Steves and "Work Your Way Around the World" by Susan Griffith. I had planned to sell all my things of value (tools, cameras, etc) to fund my trip, however, my car was broken into and I lost everything. After selling my car I only had $1600 to my name. Still, I was determined. I got a one-way air courier flight to London and just like that, I was off. At first, my financial situation in Europe was a little scary. It became apparent that if I wanted to stay in Europe I would need to find work and fast and frequently as possible. Hostels turned out to be great little employment agencies for me. I volunteered to clean or do odd jobs at every hostel. Sometimes work was available to me, and sometimes it wasn’t. However, hostel receptionists frequently thought of me when the odd job was available. Sometimes a job would last only for a few hours and sometimes it would be a week but it was always interesting and afforded me a sense of freedom to roam from place to place that was fantastic. If you have read this far, I should say there’s something I haven’t mentioned in the previous stories. I was painfully shy and always felt socially awkward and I knew it. It had always been a personal mission of mine to get over my inhibitions. Hostels helped me overcome this in two ways. First of all, people in hostels are for the most part VERY social and friendly. Hostels are the easiest place in the world to meet new friends. Second, the community in a hostel is constantly changing. As a shy person, I tended to be afraid of saying or doing something that I would be embarrassed by or chastised for. Since the community in a hostel is constantly changing I was able to “try myself on for size” and when I did I found people were not repulsed by my true nature, my true sense of humor. They were attracted to it! I highly recommend hostels for all shy people. Eventually, I met the owner of the Inverness Student Hotel who offered me a job at his other hostel in Edinburgh called High Street Hostel. At the time, Peter MacMillan was a young ambitious entrepreneur making his way in the hostel industry. He was also a talented carpenter. Peter was very only with me about his business and let me travel back and forth between Edinburgh and Inverness. I learned a lot from Peter. Scotland and Peter’s hostel became my base for further European adventures. I still worked along the way but I was learning new techniques for extending my travel budget. One strategy was researching for a travel guidebook. I found a book called Youth Accommodation Centres International on a hostel book exchange shelf. It was a self-published directory of hostels from Malta. I wrote to the publisher and asked if I could be a field researcher for his book. He sent me a letter attesting to this fact. Now I was able to call hostels in advance and tell them I was a “guidebook researcher”. This enabled me to stay for free at many hostels. Although, the book only listed hostel name, address and phone number I took notes about each hostel's facilities, amenities, and atmosphere. What I learned is a hostel's facilities and amenities were no indication of its atmosphere. Some hostels had a vibrant social atmosphere and others were devoid of “soul”. I studied what attributes (both operational and architectural) were correlated with a hostel’s community vibe. I would later apply this to my own hostel. In Europe, I experienced humanity in a way I had not experienced during my upbringing in the US. When I made the decision to come back to my home country I was bound and determined to either find or create a hostel community in the US. I wanted to experience the life I had in Europe and make a living doing it. My first stop was Manhattan. I was totally broke when I arrived in Europe and again needed a job. I decided the community and like-minded people I was looking for was most likely to exist in San Francisco. I asked my girlfriend, who I met in Scotland if she wanted to go to San Francisco with me to start a hostel. She had just graduated and said, “sure, I don’t have anything better to do!” Together we took somebody else’s car, by way of a Driveway, and drove to San Francisco. Within about a year, a proposal to many landlords and lots of trips to various city departments I managed to start our small hostel. Here I was able to test my various theories about creating a genuine and social community of international travelers. After 20 years, I’ve learned that what people say they want and what people REALLY want can be very different things. We operate from the premise that most people are inherently shy and need and appreciate a little help to be social with others. Our hostel is very unlike other hostels but it has an intensely social community that has a loyal and enthusiast following. Back in 1992, I was already involved in the internet. I was intrigued by the possibility of people of the world communicating with each other and sharing what they know. Because I knew and was passionate about hostels I decided to write Frequently Asked Questions about Hostelling which was hosted on rec-travel libraries by Brian Lucas on Gopher servers at the University of Manitoba. At the bottom of the FAQ was my email address and I encouraged people to write me if they had further questions. I found the questions I received were along the lines of “do you know any other hostels in __________?” I learned that while there were about 11 hosteling organizations in the world and each of these organizations published book directories of hostels - they only listed hostels belonging to THEIR organization. I felt this was a problem. I decided there needed to be a database of ALL hostels. So I used my knowledge of computers and created “Hostels.com - The Internet Guide to Hostelling”. After 27 years in business, I now operate HostelManagement.com (a website to help other people start hostels), HostelJobs.net (a website for people to find jobs in hostels) and OurHostels.com (a website for travelers to find and direct book hostels). We provide information and software to help their hostel be profitable. Who is your role model? Elon Musk - because he sees some important problem in the world and works hard to solve them What makes your company special? Rather than be just another online travel agency like booking.com or hostelworld.com (sites that end up costing travelers 15-25% more on every booking). We provide hostels with the tools and knowledge to control their destiny and receive more direct bookings. We also help travelers find and direct book hostels to save money. What are your biggest achievements and/or failures? Building several lifestyle businesses without the use of investors that give me the freedom to do whatever I want to do. How did you end up in Treehouse Society and why did you decide to stay longer? The coworking business I tried never worked as well as the Treehouse Society because it ended up catching on fire in the middle of the night, unfortunately. I wanted to find coworking space where it wasn’t too big like WeWork. Because then, everyone is just minding their own business but I liked the small friendly community that Treehouse has to offer. This is one of the reasons why I decided to stay longer with Treehouse. Another reason is that it’s a simple yet effective coworking place with a good community of people at a reasonable price and that is what I needed for my hostel. Any advice for the future hoteliers? Dream big - Start small - Work hard - Move fast (borrowed from Stride Travel) by Catherine Choy We All Scream for Ice Cream!
In July, the temperature rises and so does our craving for ice cream. Thankfully, July is National Ice Cream Month! And yes, this is a real thing. It all started in 1984 when Senator Walter Dee Huddleston of Kentucky sponsored a Joint resolution 298 followed by a Joint resolution 543 in the U.S. House of Representatives sponsored by Representative Kika de la Garza of Texas. In the same year, President Ronald Raegan signed a presidential proclamation that designated July the nation’s National Ice Cream Month and labeled the third Sunday of July National Ice Cream Day. This year, the third Sunday of July lands on the 21st which is a perfect day to binge eat your favorite ice cream flavors. The proclamation encouraged citizens to pay tribute to National Ice Cream Day by attending “appropriate ceremonies and activities” and emphasized that it is simply our duty as Americans to participate. This should not be difficult considering that Americans eat more ice cream than any other country in the world. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the average American consumes more than 23 pounds of ice cream each year. Ice cream companies contribute immensely to the nation’s economy by providing direct jobs and earning sales. According to Dairy Delivers, the nation’s ice cream industry earns and contributes 39 billion dollars to the United States economy and provides more than 180,000 jobs for people across the country. Now, that is something to celebrate! Various shops and vendors in San Francisco will offer sweet and cheap deals on this sweet day. These include popular stores such as Baskin Robbins, CREAM, Dippin Dots, and Sonic. Am event that one should definitely consider attending is The Scoop. The Scoop will be located at the SoMa StrEat Food Park or 428 11th Street, SF 94103. The event will be held on Sunday, July 21st from 11am-5pm. More than 15 vendors will be there to serve over 50 different flavors of ice cream for everyone. A $5 admission fee will be required but will remain free for children ages 10 and under. The event is open for everyone, dogs included! A DJ will also be there to blast music you can dance to as you enjoy your scooped, swirled, or rolled ice cream. There are over a thousand ice cream flavors created today and July is a great time to grab your favorite one with your family and friends. You are also welcome to join everyone here at Treehouse Society on National Ice Cream Day! This will be a great opportunity to network and try out exquisite ice cream flavors from Bi-Rite, one of the most famous ice cream shops in San Francisco. We will also be holding a coworking day which means a day full of collaborating and creating. This event will be held from 10am-5pm. As the famous English art historian, Iain Pears, once said, “A day without ice cream was a day wasted”, so be sure to not waste your day! Celebrate, eat delicious ice cream, and network with us at our Ice Cream Social Coworking Day as well! Sources: https://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/ice-cream-sales-trends http://www.holidayscalendar.com/event/national-ice-cream-day/ https://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-cream/july-is-national-ice-cream-month https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/national-ice-cream-month-deals-2019-free-ice-cream http://www.somastreatfoodpark.com/events-db/2019/6/4/ice-cream-sunday |
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