Been on the hunt for a new coworking space in Shenzhen, China. Sadly, its official, the current SZteam coworking office I as well as others worked so hard to build and publicize is closing over the Chinese New Years, and this week I had to move my things out of the high tech park SZteam coworking office… It wil be rented out to a company or some other fate….
Considering some new options, talking to the startup / web community in Shenzhen and Hong Kong….
Combining the Web/Business Community with a Hackerspace
I have kept in contact with Chai Huo hackerspace, dropping by meetings and staying in touch.
Eric Pan, the founder of SeeedStudio and ChaiHuo, has always been accommodating to me to host meetings there anytime, and the Startup Weekend committee group has been using the space for some nightly meetings. Cyril from China Accelerator will be down in Shenzhen after Chinese New Years as well, so this is a good group to cooperate with….
Eric would gladly let us get the Startup Tuesday meetups going in the Chai Huo space.
And they have already been hosting a bunch of meetings, such as:
- Wednesday night iOS (apple) programmers meetups – where apple iphone/ ipad developers in Shenzhen congregate and share ideas / tactics.
- Thursday night szDIY (shenzhen Do It Yourself) meetups – where product “hackers” show off their latest inventions
- Friday night (yes, I know… FRIDAY NIGHT) Google Android developer meetups, where the Shenzhen droid programmers gather and discuss ideas.
Here is a video I recorded:
Futian Border Location
Felix Lam, partner in startup with Jon Buford, has been in touch with a woman, Carman who has an office near the Futian border. I am going to check that out mid-next week as well, as she is looking to rent it out to entrepreneurs and SOHOs in the area. Its a bit far from me personally about 30 minutes by public transportation), but may be a nice option for those coming from Hong Kong, as well as in Futian district.
Thinking if the Shenzhen city could have a few locations, and have a loose fragmented network of locations for entrepreneurs and startups to choose from…all branded SZteam?
I’ll make a blog post next week about the Futian office space, stay tuned.
Whats the Status with the Shekou Cafe?
The owner of the cafe, where I videotaped and blogged a possible 2nd floor space last week called me to checkup….but from my reactions from the community was really not happy with it not being open 24 hours, and over and over people said why would I pay to have access to a public coffee shop?
The owner did offer a month or two at a deeper discount to get us started, but still overall I did not get the critical mass and too much resistance from people I feel would be good candidates. So for now, I’ll put that Shekou location on hold. Hoping the cafe owner can do a per-person fee instead of a flat monthly rent.
Welcome comments – so far comments and feedback has helped tremendously.
Comments
hey mike,
how’s it goin? i have a question that has been on my mind for a while. I noticed a few company or event names that have the word “hacker” in it. like above you mention hackerspace. From my understanding, the word hacker, is not necessarily a good business term, or somethign businesses would want to associate themselves with.
http://www.dictionary.com says
hack·er [hak-er]
noun 1. a person or thing that hacks. 2. Slang . a person who engages in an activity without talent or skill: weekend hackers on the golf course. 3. Computer Slang . a. a computer enthusiast. b. a microcomputer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems.
I guess the definition of “computer enthusiast” is positive. does it have a different connotation in china/hong kong? do businesses want to be associated with other businesses or events that have the word “hacker” in it – just curious because you associate yourself with businesses or events that use this word.
Piotr
i remember the first time i heard the term hackerspace, there is a better term called makerspace, maybe that is more clear
but hacker is meaning making products, hacking it together…. Like on the side, at night, with limited resources for fun,
___________________________________
Michael Michelini
eCommerce Consultant
twitter/weibo @michelini
On Jan 14, 2012 6:06 AM, “Disqus”