Susan:

Before beginning my internship at Asobuyo I felt nervous about starting my first job, not knowing if I was going to be working with rude co-workers, and I thought I was going to feel alienated from the rest.  I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to do the tasks correctly and I would turn out disappointing my supervisors.  The first day I did feel a little isolated from the rest, as if I didn’t belong, but in a matter of just one day I felt a lot more comfortable with my co-workers and my working environment.  They are very kind, outgoing, and dedicated individuals.  They helped me feel welcome.  The environment is great.  It isn’t your usual “office space” it is more like a “spot” where I can focus to get the job done without feeling so uptight like a typical office.

Throughout my internship here I have taken a lot of skills with me and have also learned more about the marketing business.  I got a better understanding about how social media works, how essential it is to communicate with others, and how to adapt to a working environment.  I met some interesting individuals and Asobuyo, most importantly, reminded me that having play in my life makes my living style a lot more fun. That is why I thank Asobuyo and ARI for giving me this opportunity and unforgettable experience!

Ronado:

My first thought when I learned that I would be working at Asobuyo was “what is it exactly that this business does?” All that I had known before hand was that they want to “build communities through play”. I wasn’t sure what that meant at the time but I was really eager to learn more.  Now that I have been working here and attending the events that they have put on I have learned that Asobuyo’s aim in basic terms is that they want to promote more fun into people’s lives. They believe that life just shouldn’t always be about serious things but to have fun once in a while.

I like this idea because I know a lot of people when they’re older then to put their focus on things that have priority over things such as; socializing or spending time with those that we care about. I don’t necessarily think that being serious most of the time is a bad thing but if it makes us feel miserable then maybe we should try and change some things within our own lives. That is why I think having fun in our lives will make the things we focus on that much easier. I know the people who are a part of the Asobuyo team take their jobs seriously but still manage to have fun in the process. The way they want to promote having fun is the “Go Buyo Night” social events.

Not only does it give people the opportunity to have fun but to also have an opportunity to socialize, something we don’t always get the chance to do when we’re only focused on work, school, or whatever have you. From my internship I have learned how to make my life more fun. It has definitely taught me to take some time out for myself to enjoy life and to not take things so seriously, I would definitely recommend this internship to somebody just for the simple fact that the focus isn’t just about getting the work done but to also have fun as well. I will always remember what I took away from this experience from Asobuyo because it doesn’t matter how focused you are on something because if there is no fun in it then what is the point of doing it.

Here’s the Tasting Menu for the Open House:

• 3 Fires Lounge – Dessert – Chef’s Creation
• Azul Mexican Restaurant – Taquito & Quesadilla Appetizer’s and Signature Salsa
• Mani Imports Greek Wines – Different Variety of 3 to 5 wines and Organic Olive Oils
• Petra’s Greek Restaurant – Mini Gyro’s and Baklava
• Art Institute Culinary Student – [Live Cooking Demonstration] Roasted Corn Salad
• California Pizza Kitchen – Chicken Tequila – Tomatoe Basil and Chicken Kung Pao Pastas
• Chick-Fil-A @ Arden Fair – The usual Chicken Goodness!

And the Raffle Prizes have been confirmed:

• DJ Master Mix and Limousine – 3 HR Limousine Ride
• Sacramento River Cats – 4 River Cats Tickets
• Virtual Business Marketing – Social Media Start-up Package
• Boniform Design – Business card design
• Brand-Aid Media – Video Business Card
• Body Temple Massage – 1 HR Massage Session
• Fancy Four Paws – For Dog owners, variety of doggie treats
• Capsity Offices – 1 Month of our Free Agent Program
• Sacramento Hispanic Chamber - 1 Year of Hispanic Chamber Membership
• Sacramento Asian Chamber – 1 Year of Asian Chamber Membership & Any New Members who sign up at our Open House will receive a $200 Directory AD in the upcoming SACC Directory!
• Monkey Tree Creations – For artists, children, or playful minds.

And there will be grab bags provided by Downtowngrid.com!

How did this whole event come together? As most things go there’s always someone behind the scenes pulling strings and making it all come together. This time…it was Pamela Chokan of Chokandu Consulting. So the biggest thank you goes to Pam!

Thanks again to all of the participating vendors and restaurants, thank you Pam, thank you to all of the Capsity community members for making this space professional and fun, and thank you very much to all of our fans and supporters! See you all at the Open House!

So what are we waiting for and how come we haven’t revealed what we’re working on? Isn’t the best part about a Roller Coaster ride the anticipation? Here’s a little peek at what’s to come:

• New team members
• New buildings and locations
• New community members
• More strategic alliances
• New services targeted at small businesses and independent professionals
• Updated Packages/pricing with more amenities
• Updated calendaring system
• Videos

In the mean time, we’ve added a little button on the bottom right corner where you can chat live with us when we’re online. Feel free to drop in, give us a call, or email us.

More coming soon!

If you’d like to know what the community’s been up to, here’s a brief list of what’s been going on:

1.) We have many new coworkers for which a section on this website is being created to showcase the awesome community of people that we have the opportunity to work in and around.
2.) We’ve been exploring more of our own neighborhood. Luigi’s Pizza and Jalepeno’s sure are getting a lot of business.
3.) Testing out new workshops and Meet-ups. We’ve already started playing Game Nights on Mondays. Where else could a person have to pay $25 million for a city called Diamond Hills?
4.) We have 6 interns working for various companies in our Coworking space. Prepare for Intern Wars!
5.) Key areas of our Midtown Coworking space are being streamlined and organized. It’s like treasure hunting in our own office!
6.) We’ve designed new pricing that we’re excited to provide to everyone new and existing. Stay tuned as we’ll be updating the Benefits section.
7.) Capsity Parks has moved completely to the 2nd floor at our 2nd location and we’re working on the interior design. Also check out changes at Pangaea Café and the other new businesses joining us at the Parks!
8.) And finally, don’t forget to put in your Calenders our Open Coworking Fridays: February 26th! Food, Games, and Serious Play.

And there’s much more for us to unveil! In the mean time, our Sacramento Midtown Coworking space is available for enrollment (sorry folks, no Full Times offices available at the moment as we have a waiting list now) or let us keep you informed through our Newsletter. And…and…please do drop by as we’re doing a Food Drive for the River City Food Bank (thanks to City Life Church for bringing in the bin) until Easter.

See you all very soon!

Sac-Coworking has been working hard to find solutions for Sacramento Coworking offices such as Capsity Offices and The Urban Hive. They’re looking at how we provide affordable health services and products to the coworking community at large. So they’ve given us the opportunity to work with them in the 1st steps towards finding those solutions.

The collaboration of Sac-Coworking and Capsity Offices will be hosting a Seasonal Flu Shot clinic . The event will take place on Monday the 9th of November at Capsity Offices the Parks (Map). Please register online and reserve your spot: http://flushot.eventbrite.com/.

Come and visit us at Capsity Offices at The Parks. We have plenty of goodies for you:

- Coffee and food from Pangeae Coffee Shop
- Massages (yes that’s right), provided by 3rd Avenue Atelier between the hours of 10 and 12.
- Ice cream coupons,
- Gym coupons,
- etc.

It will also be a Free Coworking Day at Capsity Offices for you to enjoy the facilities as you wait for your shot to be administered. On Free Coworking you can come find a desk space and jump onto the WiFi.

So let’s give Sac-Coworking a lot of praise for pioneering new solutions for existing obstacles!

Locally, Global Entrepreneurship Week highlights the resources available to and success stories of green, women-owned, high-tech, agriculture, service, live music and art business. Last year, Sacramento GEW activities attracted more than 700 people to seven unique events. This year, the event platinum sponsor is Entrepreneurs’ Organization-Sacramento. Learn more at http://sacgew.com or on twitter at http://twitter.com/sacgew

About Global Entrepre neurshi p Week / USA

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 involved an estimated up to five million young people in thousands of events across 77 countries with the specific aim of developing enterprising ideas to tackle both international challenges, such as poverty and climate change, and more specific problems in local communities. Global Entrepreneurship Week / USA is: sponsored nationally by the Kauffman Foundation and the Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence; founded globally by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign; sponsored globally by NYSE Euronext, IBM and Ernst & Young; and, supported by JA Worldwide, Endeavor, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, DECA, YPO-WPO, and National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Learn more at www.unleashingideas.org.

Here is the schedule that is planned for this year’s GEW:

The goal of this article is not to analyze At Home Businesses but more so to discover the symbiotic relationship that an At Home Office and a Coworking Space in Sacramento can do for someone that is currently working from home or is thinking about starting a business in this down economy.

I think the balance of working at home and a shared office space in Sacramento is found through:

1.)    Finding the right boundaries for your work schedule

2.)    Being aware of the non-tangible costs of having all of your work at your home

3.)    Finding a community that understands what it means to run a business

4.)    Leveraging the business concierge from a network of people that you trust

• Finding the right Boundaries
  • When I’m at home in the evenings, if I have access to a Laptop or my iPhone I’m checking email or getting documents filed. I realized that having too easy of access to my work enabled me to work, but I found I wasn’t enjoying my surroundings at home. Staycations just weren’t the same. The physical boundary was critical in establishing the line between what I would do at home and what I would do for professional work. The door to the den just wasn’t cutting it as a boundary. So by creating a physical boundary of not bringing work home I was able to clear my head in the evenings and feel better about my business quality of life.

• Awareness of Non-Tangible Costs of working at home
  • I think there are some costs that we don’t consider when we start our At Home Businesses, some of which include: cost of isolation, cost of distractions, cost of a non professional place to meet
  • The cost of isolation can sometimes lead to inspiration blocks or solution blocks. As businesses our whole end goal is to be solution oriented with our services and products, so a block means no business.
  • The cost of distractions is mainly a cost on your time. For every distraction in a day it takes 15 to 20 minutes to refocus. If you work an 8 hour day with at least 6 distractions, and a couple breaks, your day can be spent trying to refocus rather than actually accomplishing anything.
  • The cost of a meeting space can be crucial depending on who you’re meeting with. Casual acquaintance meetings can work with a coffee shop or even the dining table, but for a professional meeting for a big contract it’s best to have another option.

• Finding a supportive community
  • There was one quote from a friend of ours that said as she was leaving Capsity Offices one day, “You’re lucky that you have a business partner for you to bounce ideas and work with you through the day.” I immediately thought to myself that’s one of the main purposes of the Coworking space: to provide a community for sole proprietors and micro business owners in which they can share ideas and best practices. Business partners can be established without a contract. I think most of us as micro business owners understand that we rely on more than just ourselves to grow our companies. I cherish the fact that I can chat with an attorney, web designer, and a holistic behavioral therapist at different times of the day to get feedback and ideas on different parts of my business.  The diversity that comes with a Coworking space in Sacramento is great for getting multiple perspectives.

• Leverage the business network around you
  • Coworking in Sacramento leverages social networking to its fullest by having a community that simply likes working together. In what other space could a video production company knock on another person’s door and ask them if they want to be in a commercial or where the spouse of a business owner can come in and get help with the fax machine? Or to simply get the word out for a charitable event.

Coworking in Sacramento has given me a flexible place to which I can use as an extension of my Home Office or sometimes I see it as my main “Home” office. I could go to a coffee shop but I think there’s a general rule that you don’t inquire with people at a coffee shop what they do for their business.  I’m thankful that we have the opportunity to work in an office setting such as Capsity Offices. It’s the people here that make this shared office space possible and make me appreciate the meaning of Home.

We are the space for you! We will be opening our new offices on September 1st for business people that are looking to save money as they run their business. We already have clients reserving the conference rooms for workshops and seminars at our new location.

Give us a call if you are interested in holding a meeting at our locations. Also, click here for more information on the meeting spaces we offer.

Moreover, we will be holding our grand opening on September 1st from 11:30am to 2:00pm. Terrence Johnson, Executive Director of the Oak Park Partnership and Stockton Boulevard Partnership and candidate for the City Council District 5 seat, will be our special guest. RSVP here http://capsityparks.eventbrite.com

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I think the best part about our newest location is that you can go grab a bite before or after your meetings at Pangaea Cafe. You can also walk across the street to Gunther’s Ice Cream. Gunther’s is one of the oldest ice cream shops in Sacramento (Great ice cream btw, my favorite is Rocky Road).

-Ricardo Robles, Capsity Co-founder

Heresy is defined as “dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice; an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to generally accepted beliefs or standards”. That’s what you’re going to find here: dissent from the dominant theory that business is only about money, deviation from the practice of treating employees and customers like expendable commodities.

According to Canfield and Kennedy the reason they are spreading the word with Business Heretics is  they want more business folks challenging the status quo, more people clasting icons, more upstart thinking in business.

Here is a short clip with highlights of their last visit our space in The Parks.

You can also visit them at http://businessheretics.com

Here are a couple of the points that describe an Entrepreneurial Fueling Station:

1.)    Low cost business services such as copy, fax, print, mail handling, telephones, etc.
2.)    Motivated interdependent community members, usually business oriented
3.)    Collaboratively independent work stations and shared office space
4.)    Comfortable and professional meeting spaces for both business and social settings
5.)    Physically and Virtually interactive learning environment with fun and creative challenges
6.)    Supportive environment for getting things done and learning new techniques
7.)   Energized atmosphere for making the work day enjoyable

But even those points aren’t descriptive enough to delineate our concept. So then the next method is to point out what we’re similar to:

1.)    Executive Suites and Office Business Centers
2.)    Coworking Communities
3.)    Commercial Real Estate
4.)    Business Incubator

It’s a wonderful thing when people can work on independent projects in a community setting. I think there comes a point in an office setting when you just want to close the door so you can focus. At the same time, you don’t want to be in a dungeon. I suppose it’s all about finding balance for your work day.

I think the most important thing is the flexibility that comes with being in an environment that is both open and allows for privacy. While the environment should provide all of the typical business amenities; it should include as much concierge type services as possible to accommodate the needs of each community member.

The communities that we’re a part are expansive and we’re very fortunate that we can participate and provide services to more than just a 1 or 2 communities. From small business associations, start-ups, colleges, and community based organizations we’ve found some wonderful people to work with and call colleagues. We’re looking forwarding to meeting more groups, more associations, and seeing Sacramento grow!