Staying Late Learning Things

I stayed at Office Nomads late last night which gave me the opportunity to do two new things in the space, both of which you should do: Take a shower and attend a workshop hosted by Chris Haddad and Beth Yockey-Jones.

First, the shower. After my first-ever shower here, I’ve decided that the shower is an excellent ON benefit that doesn’t get enough props. Here’s why. One of things that I love about freelancing is that I can get up from my desk whenever I want and go for a run. This is really beneficial since I am training for this May’s Vancouver half marathon. But since I was already here, I didn’t want to spend the rest of the evening sweaty and I didn’t want to go home to run, shower and come back. So I brought my running clothes with me, took a shower and smelled like flowers (ok, peppermint) for the event. Yay showers at work!

After the shower and dinner was the workshop which helped me immeasurably.

I first heard about value-based pricing thanks to Chris (he likes to call himself “#1” since he is ON’s first monthly member). It’s a subject he talks to me about frequently so I know he’s got a lot to say about it and as I build my business, it’s something I’m thinking about. Last night he hosted a Biznik event in the space on value based pricing and pretty much convinced me that charging hourly rates is dumb. Charging for the value you offer your clients is where it’s at, and what I need to do from now on. Keep an eye on his Biznik profile and Web site. Word has it he’ll be hosting more of these in the future.

We’re on CNNMoney!

Office Nomads hit the big time with a great story about us on CNNMoney.com that also discusses the coworking movement in general.

But of course, we’re especially happy that a lot of the piece is about us. Thanks especially to Nomad #1 Chris Haddad who summed up perfectly our raison d’etre for writer Matthew Amster-Burton:

“I’ve been self-employed for four years now,” Haddad said. “It’s a lot of fun, I like doing it, but the walls close in really fast. There were several times where I realized I hadn’t put on pants or left the house in 30 hours.”

“When I was first here, it was like, wow! It’s all the good things about having an office, which are coworkers, a separate place to go, more space,” Haddad said. “But there’s nobody standing over your shoulder making sure you’re not checking personal e-mail.”

The piece goes on from there with quotes from Nomad/Office Manager Erik Von Blon and a story from Susan about a day when we all went off on a late-afternoon tangent about Britney Spears (don’t ask).

Of course, Susan gave some more serious reasons for working at Office Nomads, including the article’s closing quote

When I ask Evans how to connect to the network printer, she hands me a USB drive and quips, “You can’t bring a printer to a coffeehouse.”

What a great way to start out 2008!