Posts Tagged ‘The Hive at 55’

Hive at 55 Getting Bigger and Better with Age

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
More than 100 folks celebrate the Hive at 55's 6-month anniversary

More than 100 folks celebrate the Hive at 55's 6-month anniversary

It’s hard to believe, but the Hive at 55 is now 6-months old. Yesterday, we raised a glass and celebrated this anniversary with friends, partners, and members that have supported us along the way.

We have partnered with countless organizations and had hundreds of individuals walk through our door and join our community.  It’s been amazing to become a resource for the many small businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers in New York City.

The Hive is definitely “on the map” when it comes to the greater technology and startup communities.

The celebration started at 6 PM, just about the time when our members start to wrap up their day. With drinks supplied by The Greene Grape and delicious food from Harry’s Italian, we pushed “play” on the stereo and let the fun begin!

We saw so many familiar faces: a mix of current members,  Meetup organizers, friends of our community, and even some new folks who have been supporting us from afar.  A women-based entrepreneur club was even discussed to empower the women of the Hive!

You can check out some of the festivities at our Flickr page. More than 100 people attended the party, including more than 20 members of our co-working community (some even brought their kids!).

The Hive will continue to evolve based on the people who work here. Their personalities and professional needs, as well as their input on programming and events, are what make the Hive a special place to do business.  We look forward to celebrating our first year with everyone and seeing what changes are made in the next six months!

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Update from the Hive

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Downtown Alliance President Liz Berger, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and William C. Rudin

Downtown Alliance President Liz Berger, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and William C. Rudin

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of parties, celebrity sightings, student promotions and good old-fashioned collaboration.

On May 12th, Mayor Mike Bloomberg visited the Hive to witness part of his “Media2020” campaign in action. The Mayor spent over an hour here, meeting with member companies, taking a tour of the facility and speaking with reporters about the success of the Hive and the technology industry in New York. It was a very exciting day, to say the least.

From my perspective—in the back of the room behind all the cameras and flashes—I gained a great appreciation for this man’s job. Throngs of reporters follow him around, and while talking about the NYC tech industry, he had to answer questions about oil spills, politics and the economy. I was exhausted just watching.

Speaking of big names coming to the Hive: Just last week we celebrated the launch of ShopKeep.com, and amid all the music, food, and drinks, John Legend paraded in to say hello to a friend! He was with his girlfriend, Chrissy Teigen, and the two of them mingled for 10 minutes before heading out to their next party. No, his appearance didn’t make it onto Page Six, but it was nice to meet them both!

Later this week, after the submissions are reviewed by the judges, the Hive will announce the winner of the Tech in Residence Student Competition. We are happy to engage and support the student community and be a part of the next generation of startups and entrepreneurs. The submissions were all excellent and it was really cool to see how many students have started their own companies. The winning team will get free space to work on its company here at the Hive for the summer. For all other students, we have some exciting discounts on our website.

Last, I wanted to update you about collaboration among our members. The Hive makes an effort to ask its members: “What do you need?” and “What can you offer?” Through this approach, we’ve set up members with new jobs and had other members collaborate with each other. For example, a friend of the Hive asked if we had any web designers. Two days later, this person was sitting here working with one of our members on her website. Meanwhile, a marketing company in our building asked if we had any app developers. Just a short time later, a member told us that he signed a contract with that company. Along with these two big examples there have been a number of other instances, and there will be many more to come.

Collaboration, exciting visitors and outreach to the technology and media communities in NYC are what make life at the Hive so much fun. If you haven’t been here yet, come on by and check it out!

More photos of the Mayor’s visit can be seen on our Flickr page

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Coworking vs. Corporate Office Suites

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Hive Logo for Blog

Many people who come to the Hive are new to the coworking movement.  Some don’t really get what we’re all about and make comments like: “So, you’re a corporate office suite.” Or, “How are you different than Regus?”  Well, here are some answers.

Corporate office suites have become increasingly popular, and Regus is one of the major players, with offices all over the world (and many right here in New York).  While corporate office spaces and coworking spaces both meet a need for workspace, they have distinctly different missions.

Corporate office suites are, in fact, corporate.  They generally have a receptionist answering the phones, banker-type furniture and closed-door offices. They’re a nice option for a small company that would like to appear a bit larger to their clients.  While this may be attractive option for some, it’s good to know there are alternatives.

Coworking spaces, like the Hive, are all about community and collaboration.  While we have a few private offices, you won’t find too many closed doors here.  And while you still have a professional office to come to for a meeting with a client, you also have the opportunity to network throughout the day with a group of cool, well, coworkers.

Everyone is working on something different and we encourage interaction and open communication.  Additionally, it’s our job as Hive staff to support our members.

Looking for a new gig? Looking to build some additional skill sets?  Just launched a new or updated website?  Let us know— we can help spread the word, work our contacts, and make things happen!  We serve as a resource for our members, and for our community.  We always make the time to get to know all our members—what they do and where they’re going.

Once a person walks through the door at the Hive, they can usually get an immediate feel for whether this space is right for them.  I always encourage people to come in and test out the space.  If it’s right for you, you’ll be hooked!  No reason not to come on by, check it out, and let us know what you are looking for.

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At The Hive: Hashtag #Ashtag

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

PlantTeam

They left last night… happily!

While using the twitter hashtag #ashtag, the Plant team, a Copenhagen based digital ad company, documented their journey in New York – a trip that became extended as a result of the Icelandic volcanic eruption.

But, they didn’t let some volcanic ash disrupt their workflow!  Instead, the entire team of 11 hopped into cabs toting all of their luggage and made their way down to the Hive at 55.  You can check out their blog (http://www.plantcph.dk/blog/) documenting their journey, with geo-tagged photos no less!

After a week attending conferences and some visits to tourist destinations thrown into the mix, the Plant team knew they needed to get some work accomplished for their clients. Having followed the Hive on twitter (@hiveat55) for several months, they reached out to us the night before, with an email subject line stating: “We’re stranded for a day and need a temporary office.”

We were happy to help!

Plant rolled into the Hive (literally!) with their Macs, iPhones, newly purchased iPads and, not to forget, lots of power convertors. All they required were desks to sit at and a WiFi hotspot. They fit right in with all of our fellow Hive members, similarly tech-minded professionals who also frequently work remotely. We managed to distract them from their work throughout the day with some interviews by media – radio, television and print – but all in all, they had a few hours of normalcy in a rather disruptive week.

As Jens, co-founder of Plant, said hesitantly: “We should be leaving today…hopefully.” Their plane took off just a few hours later. While we enjoyed having Plant here for the day, we hope they made it home safely, and we’ll keep the coffee brewing for their return, anytime!

(You can see more photos of the stranded co-workers on our Flickr Page)

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