What does Co-working, UX design,  and Samurai’s have in common? Me, Keisuke Kajitani the new intern at Citizen Space. I’m a Japanese university student and I will start my career as a venture capitalist this coming April in Japan. Working in California is like a dream come true to me since the US is the mecca for entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Anyway, my first assignment as a intern was to give feedback on the user experience of  a mobile application. Wow, commenting on a product’s UX in the first day of my internship!? I’m not a professional on the matter at all! However, my mentor knew how important it is to get an opinion from ”non-techy” users. After all, the customers who will use the application will mainly be normal people like myself.

I believe many app developers are wondering how to effectively get feedback more efficiently. When it comes to communicating with “non-techy” users, it becomes an even more difficult task. I have one suggestion, use  a simple collaborative service like Notableapp from Zurb <http://www.zurb.com> . Why did I emphasized the  simple part? Because many of the wireframing services has too many features that “non techy” commentator like me has no idea have to use it right. Notable is one solution for you. It allows commentator to just drag the part they want to make a comment and directly write comment on it intuitively. This simple experience will definitively reduce the stress of commentator.

If you have to create wire frames from scratch, Cacoo might work better. This web service from a Japanese team allows you to draw wireframe itself and what’s special about it is that the several people can edit the wireframe simultaneously, meaning the change or comment one person makes will reflect to other person’s screen. By using this service, two or more commentators
can have discussion at the same time, improving the quality and shortening the time and cost spent on the wireframing process.

http://youtu.be/IMC2QRH_gpU (checkout the video)

“Non-techy”  users can sometimes be helpful so please use me anytime when you drop by Citizen Space.

Follow all my adventures in the US here on our Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/citizenspace>  page.

The freelance Senior Designer will report to the creative director and art director and work alongside the account team, interaction designers and programmers. The successful candidate will be responsible for brainstorming creative concepts with the project team, developing original design concepts, executing designs based on established style guides, participating in visual design presentations to clients, developing detailed design specs for production, and overseeing junior design team members.

A stealth creative services company working in Citizen Space is looking for freelance Senior Visual Designers for short and long-term opportunities.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• Strong conceptual thinking
• Intimate Knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator
• 3-5 years of visual design experience.
• Strong leadership skills – ability to work with Art Directors and mentor Junior Designers
• A solid understanding of designing intuitive site functionality, interaction, site architecture, user interfaces, and navigation.
• Web development experience in an agency environment
• Great communications skills – both with internal teams and communicating with/presenting to clients.
• A great attitude – we value our creative talent tremendously and show it, but we operate a prima-donna free work zone.

Email us your resume, a link to your most recent portfolio, and your Linked In profile to be consider for this immediate position.

Happy Holidays, y’all!

As I’m sure you understand by now- I love social media….all of it!  So, after many “maybe so” and “ok, tomorrow” type scenarios, I have finally just skipped the writer’s block merry-g0-round and created The #Coworker, a desktop and mobile formatted #coworking digest, powered by paper.li (@SmallRivers).

Check it out, & follow us on Twitter (@CitizenSpace) to keep up with the best, and freshest variety of coworking news!

MOVE-IN SPECIALS FOR LAST WEEK OF DECEMBER 2011!!!

$999 – Lite Membership
Includes 3 months fees and deposit fee. Must pay upfront to secure this deal!

$1199 – Full Membership
Includes 3 months fees and deposit fee. Must pay upfront to secure this deal!!

$699 – Team Special
Includes 2 Tables/ 4 Memberships. Month-to-Month Deal

$425 – Café Membership Per Quarter/Receive Mail here!
Or $200.00, Drop-in Member Month-to-Month Fees

$150.00 – Drop-in Members – if you pay 3 months in advance
Or $200.00, Drop-in Member Month-to-Month Fees

So, if you’re interested in more information, or want to become a member before special ends, shoot me an e-mail! You can do that here: jhines@citizenspace.us

So how, exactly, does an idea turn into a company?  This is the road block that many entrepreneurs find themselves at when building their seedling ideas into profitable startups.  Of course there are numerous prominent and successful startups that were born overnight.  However, the problem for the average human being is that they cannot afford the time that it takes to guarantee success, and/or they lack the full range of skills necessary to build the startup entirely on their own — much less overnight.

The truth of the matter is that there is no possible way to establish a strong foundation for your new startup without a serious time commitment. Time, in and of itself, is most often one of the primary reasons that many entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts experience complication in the execution of the necessary planning stages of idea discovery. A lack of time and planning in the initial phases of this tedious process can often spillover into the actual development and long-term establishment of a new startup.

Participants at an "Idea Accelerator" pitch their initial ideas

Let’s face it: we’re all busy and things in this day and age move at a very high speed- and they’re only getting faster. Without the personal time and work commitment necessary for having a systematic and well-planned approach to the many “idea-to-seed funding” stages of building out your plan of action, you could easily see a great idea fall through.

Citizen Space  recently had the great pleasure of hosting Startup Monthly‘s IceBreaker 3.0, which is was the third iteration of their Idea Accelerator program. The beauty of hosting events such as this in our SoMa #coworking space is that the transformation of office space by day to startup incubator activities in the evenings (and on weekends!) allows our members to participate in these types of networking and team building opportunities, with the option for doing so being literally right at their doorstep.

The purpose of these types of events is to have seamless collaboration between people that might not have otherwise met at all. It is in this type of environment that much of the discovery, planning, and development of new ideas takes place. Having both seen and facilitated the growth of brand new ideas into concepts and eventually startups in our space, we have learned the ins-and-outs of the crucial milestones that must be incorporated into the development process of new ideas, and can summarize success for many by one simple thing: teamwork.

Having said over and over again that time and commitment are crucial in the beginning stages of implementing your new idea, it is likely a very difficult thing to do it all quickly enough to keep up with the rapid development of new technology. Many entrepreneurs moonlight with their ideas, and exhaust themselves with trying to do it all on their own- even to the extent of taking on the self-teaching method to very difficult, complex coding languages.

Team Building is Essential to Creating a Successful Pitch

While this is definitely feasible for some people to do, the easier and more well-rounded option in this case is to build and foster relationships with other people who can bring something to the table as a technical, marketing, or business co-founder. Lessening the workload on each person by working with others in the teamwork approach not only increases the technical resources that the idea will have to build upon in it’s early stages, but will also decrease the amount of total time that it takes to pitch your idea to investors for seed funding.

It is important to also remember that as you build a team around your idea, it might not always be the “best” one. Having a team brainstorm together and build upon an idea can often lead to the development of brand new, even better ideas- and this is what we see often, particularly at events such as the IceBreaker 3.0.

So, when you’re at the point that you’re ready to move forward with seeing your idea come to life, remember this Japanese proverb: “None of us are as smart as all of us.”

Still have questions? Ideas? Tweet them to us @CitizenSpace!

–

Citizen Space is the world’s first coworking space, located at 425 2nd Street in the SoMa district of San Francisco.  The idea of Citizen Space is to take the best elements of a coffee shop (social, energetic, creative) and the best elements of a workspace (productive, functional), and combine them to give indie workers the chance to have their own, affordable office space.  Citizen Space was built on the coworking philosophy.  Our residents (past and present) range from: software engineers, web developers, social media consultants/strategists, graphic designers, product designers, public relations specialists, and sustainable web hosting entrepreneurs.  Check us out today! 

Citizen Space is a coworking space for hard-working, fun-loving: entrepreneurs, designers, web and software developers, social media consultants, marketing professionals, etc. We’re looking for a few passionate and hard-working individual who is interested in coworking and is willing do what it takes to make Citizen Space thrive (while honing your marketing, client relations, and event management skills).

You will gain experience in the following areas:

• Marketing Communications: Assist with and lead marketing and outreach projects. Examples of the types of projects you will work on include: developing web site content, writing e-newsletter articles, designing e-newsletters, qualifying networking opportunities and working in social media. This role can grow or change depending on the interests of the intern.
• Membership/Visitor Relations: Be present in the space to answer resident, visitor and Drop-In inquiries. Help with general physical upkeep of the space. Other possible projects: Member Survey, Member events (lunches, happy hour, etc.), misc research projects.
• Event Production: Assist with organization and coordination of evening (and occasionally weekend) events. This includes planning, answering questions, promoting, set up and clean up.
• Coworking: How coworking works (history and how to), current residents, entrepreneurial practices, small business management, community development, etc.

Terms: Internship: 15-18 hours/week (including occasional evenings/weekends for events); hours flexible. Small stipend available, plus use of Citizen Space for your own projects. You will also be part of this community and develop relationships with the professionals that work in this space (who may offer paid work/internship opportunities as well)

Minimum commitment: 3 months. There is the possibility for this experience to turn into a paid part-time position at the end of the internship.

Qualifications. Mature, recent or soon-to-be college graduate or similar professional. Experience or interest in communications, marketing, community development or related areas. Must be detail-oriented, self-motivated, passionate, responsible and play well with others. Must be computer literate and have your own laptop. Sense of humor always appreciated.

To Apply: Email your resume and a cover letter explaining your work history, what you offer, what you hope to learn from Citizen Space, and why you stand out from other candidates.

No phone calls. Emails welcome. Email: Toby Morning, Chief Evangelist
manager@citizenspace.us

(this is an email for internship applications/inquiries.)

Application deadline: ASAP
Application review period: Sep
Internship to start date: Oct 1
Locations Available: SOMA, San Jose, Las Vegas

Look forward to hearing from you!

CITIZEN SPACE is currently seeking a freelance Art Director to lead visual design initiatives for some innovative client projects. These are major consumer facing websites and we’re looking for someone with experience working on large-scale engagements for the internet’s most highly trafficked content properties and ecommerce sites.

CITIZEN SPACE Art Directors report to the Creative Director and work alongside the Client Services, User Experience, and Technology Teams. They are responsible for developing creative concepts and approaches with the project team, developing original design concepts as well as oversee project design all the way through execution. They are also responsible for presenting work to executive level client stakeholders and representing CITIZEN SPACE’s visual design process and integrity at all stages of an engagement. Art Directors are also responsible for providing art direction and leadership to designers working on their project teams, scoping design phases of projects accurately and efficiently as well as attend pitches and industry events as required.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• 5+ years of interactive experience
• 2 years experience at top digital agency in an Art Director role or similar
• Strong conceptual thinking– both visual and interactive
• A solid understanding of designing intuitive site functionality, interaction, user interfaces, and navigation
• Driven to define the look and feel of large, industry-leading sites
• Strong leadership skills- ability to lead a team, manage and mentor junior designers
• Strong communication skills- ability to interface with clients as well as work with teams internally
• A great attitude- We value our creative talent tremendously and show it, but we operate a prima-donna free work zone

Email us your resume, a link to your most recent portfolio, and your Linked In profile to be consider for this immediate position.

Monday October 17, 2011

An evening to discuss coworking, collaboration, and innovation in Silicon Valley. Come learn about the principles of the coworking movement that have sparked and inspired over 600 collborative spaces to open globally in the last 6 years.

Koken-Kai headed by Dr. Kenichi Ohmae, one of the most prestigious management consultants. Koken-Kai is a study group consisted of company owners and business executives in Japan. Dr. Ohmae and the members have strong interest in learning why Silicon Valley and neighboring areas continually create innovation.

Event Schedule:
6:00- 6:30 Networking, Appetizers, and Drinks
6:30-8:00 Panel Discussion
8:00-8:30 Questions from the crowd for panelist
8:30-9:00 Networking, Appetizers, and Drinks

Panel moderated by: Jaymes Hines

Panel Speakers:
Dr. Kenichi Ohmae, Koken-Kai
Toby Morning, CEO, Citizen Spaces
Raines Cohen, Coworking Coach
Brandon Hill, CEO, BTrax

Citizen Space is a coworking space. What that means is Citizen Space isn’t just another ‘rent a desk’ type of place. The spaces (and the idea of coworking) are built on the following values:

Collaboration: One of the great benefits of working in a coworking space is that you will meet all sorts of people with all sorts of knowledge.

Openness: We believe in transparency and openness. In a world where people are free, but ideas are not, only a few benefit. When ideas are free, everyone benefits. Therefore, we encourage open spaces and discussions. Sorry, no NDAs allowed.

Community: We thrive on connections and mutual support here. It is important that everyone give into as well as benefit from the strong (international) community coworking has become.

Accessibility: In order to be fully open, we must make the effort to be accessible to all. This means that we endeavor to create both a financially and a physically accessible space. We are committed to this principle and welcome feedback on how we can make it even more accessible

Get tickets now!

Working from home can seem incredibly isolating, especially if the work requires little to no contact with the outside world. Technology has been a blessing by offering telecommunication tools to the workplace, which enable us to work outside of the office at the expense of losing something – namely our colleagues – when we leave. When we lose our coworkers, we stop sharing skills; we rely upon ourselves and ultimately limiting ourselves. Through isolation, we miss out on that intangible collaborative energy found only in coworking spaces like Citizen Space.

Not all coworking spaces focus on industry, professionals, or any other type of identity (for that matter). The best thing about coworking spaces is that they are micro-environments – communities formed by the individual and unique people sharing the same productive space. The synergy of everyone working together – bouncing ideas off of one another, sharing contacts, brainstorming, critiquing – can elevate your own ambitions and potential to levels you couldn’t achieve on your own.

All you need to get started is your computer, a smart phone, and all the chargers of course. Citizen Space provides the desks, monitors, whiteboards, internet, snacks, caffeine, and people.

Are you interested in learning more about coworking at a Citizen Space, checkout our membership pages, or give us a call at 415-501-9155for SF, and 408-556-976 for San Jose.